Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 25:38
He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
38. He hath forsaken his covert ] a repetition of the figure with which the section opened. As the lion seeks other shelter, when that which he has dwelt in hitherto is destroyed, so Jehovah forsakes his land now that it has become desolate. But perhaps we should omit “as,” and read “the lion leaves his covert,” i.e. the very jungle is cleared away in devastation. The future fate of Judah is spoken of as already accomplished.
the fierceness of the oppressing sword] Observe the italics in text. Owing to the word rendered “oppressing” being scarcely found elsewhere except as an adjective in the expression “oppressing sword” (Jer 46:16 and Jer 50:16), a reading which by a slight alteration of the Hebrew for “fierceness” (supported by LXX) we obtain here, we may safely adopt it, discarding “the fierceness of.” The Vulg. renders the Hebrew word above referred to in its more ordinary sense of a dove, i.e. Nebuchadnezzar, in reference to the Jewish belief that his standards bore that device.
and because of his fierce anger ] This clause is not found in LXX, but is wanted for parallelism, and so very possibly to be retained.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
Yahweh has risen up, like a lion that leaves its covert, eager for prey, that He may execute judgment upon the wicked.
Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible
Verse 38. As the lion] Leaving the banks of Jordan when overflowed, and coming with ravening fierceness to the champaign country.
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible
God had before compared himself to a lion, Jer 25:30; here he declares himself to be about to move like a lion, who when he goeth out to seek his prey, leaveth his covert: see Jer 50:44. The effects of this rising up of God out of his covert is the desolation of the land through the fierceness of the enemy, caused from the fierce anger of God now ready to be poured out upon this people.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
38. his covertthe temple,where heretofore, like a lion, as its defender, by the mere terror ofHis voice He warded off the foe; but now He leaves it a prey to theGentiles [CALVIN].
fierceness of . . .oppressorrather, as the Hebrew, for “oppressor”is an adjective feminine, the word “sword” isunderstood, which, in Jer 46:16;Jer 50:16, is expressed (indeed,some manuscripts and the Septuagint read “sword”instead of “fierceness” here; probably interpolated fromJer 46:16), “theoppressing sword.” The Hebrew for “oppressing”means also a “dove”: there may be, therefore, a covertallusion to the Chaldean standard bearing a dove on it, in honor ofSemiramis, the first queen, said in popular superstition to have beennourished by doves when exposed at birth, and at death to have beentransformed into a dove. Her name may come from a root referring tothe cooing of a dove. That bird was held sacred to the goddessVenus. Vulgate so translates “the anger of the dove.“
his . . . angerIf theanger of Nebuchadnezzar cannot be evaded, how much less that of God(compare Jer 25:37)!
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
He hath forsaken his covert as a lion,…. Which some understand of God leaving Jerusalem, or the temple, where he dwelt; who, while he made it his residence, protected it; but when he forsook it, it became exposed to the enemy. Kimchi says it may be understood of the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar; but he thinks it is most correct to interpret it of the destruction of the second temple; that is, by the Romans, when it was left desolate by Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But it may be understood of Nebuchadnezzar leaving Babylon, his den, and ranging about like a ]ion for his prey; see Jer 4:7. So the Targum,
“and a king has removed from his tower or fortress;”
and the land is desolate; the land of Judea, or whatsoever country he comes into with his army; that, or Egypt, or any other:
because of the fierceness of the oppressor; the tyrant Nebuchadnezzar; or “oppressing sword” w, as some supply it, it being feminine; and so the Targum,
“from before the sword of the enemy.”
Some render it, “because of the fierceness of the dove”; so the Vulgate Latin; and understand it of the Babylonians or Chaldeans; who, as the Romans had an eagle, they had the dove on their standards or ensigns; which they received from the Assyrians, when they succeeded them in their monarchy; and those from Semiramis their first queen, who had it, it is said, on her standard x; and was retained in honour of her, and in memory of her being nourished by a dove, and turned into one after her death, as commonly believed y; and who had her name, as is affirmed z, from the word , “semira”, signifying, in the Chaldee language, the song or cooing of the dove; but fierceness ill agrees with the dove, which is a meek and harmless creature;
and because of his fierce anger; either of God, or of the king of Babylon his instrument, in destroying nations; not Judea only, but many others.
w “gladii opprimentis”, Junius Tremellius “gladii abripientis”, Piscator. So Gataker and Ben Melech. x R. David Gantz, Tzemach David, par. 2. fol. 4. 1. Vid. Lydium, de Re Militare, l. 3. c. 7. p. 83, 84. y Vid. Diodor. Sicul l. 2. p. 92, 107. Ed. Rhodoman. z R. Azarias, Meor, Enayim, c. 21. fol. 89. 2. Vid Selden, De Dieu, Syris, l. 2. c. 3. p. 275.
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The Prophet in the last verse reminds us, that the Jews in vain trusted in God’s protection, for he would forsake his own Temple as well as the city. It was as it were a common saying among them,
“
He has said, This is my rest for ever.” (Psa 132:14.)
But hypocrites did not consider that he could still stand faithful to his promises, though he did not suffer them to go unpunished. They could not therefore connect these two things together, — that God would be always mindful of his covenant, — and that still he would be the judge of his Church.
This is the reason why the Prophet now says, that God would forsake as a lion his tabernacle Some give this explanation, that he would go forth for a short time, as hungry lions are wont to do; but this is too far-fetched. I therefore have no doubt that God sets forth his power under the character of a lion; for the Jews would have been feared by all their enemies, had not God changed as it were his station. But as they had expelled him by their vices, so that he had no more an habitation among them, hence it was that they became exposed to the plunder of all nations. The import of the passage then is, that as long as God dwelt in the Temple he was like a lion, so that by his roaring alone he kept at a distance all nations and defended the children of Abraham; but that now, though he had not changed his nature, nor was there anything taken away or diminished as to his power, yet the Jews would not be safe, for he would forsake them. (157)
And the reason is added, which clearly confirms what has been said, For their land (he refers to the Jews) shall be desolate But whence this desolation to Judea, except that it was deprived of God’s protection? For had God defended it, he could have repelled all enemies by a nod only. But as he had departed, hence it was that they found an easy access, and that the land was thus reduced to a waste.
It is added, on account of the indignation of the oppressor. Some render the last word “dove,” but not correctly. They yet have devised a refined meaning, that God is called a dove because of his kindness and meekness, though his wrath is excited, for he is forced to put on the character of another through the perverseness of men, when he sees that he can do nothing by his benevolence towards them. But this is a far-fetched speculation. The verb ינה, inc, means to oppress, to take by force; and as it is most frequently taken in a bad sense, I prefer to apply it here to enemies rather than to God himself. There are many indeed who explain it of God, but I cannot embrace their view; for Jeremiah joins together two clauses, that God would forsake his Temple, as when a lion departs from his covert, and also that enemies would come and find the place naked and empty; in short, he intimates that they would be exposed to the will and plunder of their enemies, because they would be at that time destitute of God’s aid. And as he had before spoken of the indignation of God’s wrath, so now he ascribes the same to their enemies, and justly so, for they were to execute his judgments; what properly belongs to God is ascribed to them, because they were to be his ministers. (158)
(157) Another view is taken by many, that God is compared to a lion forsaking his covert for the sake of prey; so Crotius, Gataker, Lowth, Henry, and Adam Clarke. Scott seems to agree with Calvin’s view; which seems to be favored by what follows, “for become has their land a waste,” etc.; though this may comport also with the other view, for this may have been stated as a proof that God had gone forth as a lion seeking his prey; that is, to destroy them. — Ed.
(158) There are several MSS. which have חרב, sword, for חרון, burning or indignation, and so the Sept. and the Targ.; and “the oppressing sword,” חרב היונה, is found in two other places in Jeremiah, 46:16, and Jer 1:16. It is to be also observed, that חרון is very seldom used but in connection with אף, and we have it again in the next clause. The true reading then most probably is חרב. The verse would then be as follows, —
38. Left hath he like a lion his covert; For their land hath become a desolation Through the oppressing sword, And through the burning of his wrath.
The כי might be rendered “therefore,” instead of “for;” and thus the meaning would be more evident. See Jer 25:30, where “the roaring” as of a lion, and the “sword,” are both mentioned; and this confirms the view here given. In the two last lines, “the oppressing” or “devastating sword” is first referred to, — the visible effect, and then “the burning of his wrath” — the cause; an order often to be seen in the Prophets. — Ed
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
(38) He hath forsaken his covert . . .The image of Jer. 25:30 is reproduced. The thunder of Jehovahs wrath is as the roaring of the lion (Amo. 3:8). He is as the lion leaving its hiding-place in the forest, and going forth to do its work of vengeance.
Because of the fierceness of the oppressor.A slight alteration, adopted by many commentators, gives because of the sword of oppression, as in Jer. 46:16; Jer. 50:16. The word for oppressor or oppression also means dove, and is so taken by the Vulg., a facie ir columb, and it has been stated that this bird was blazoned on the standards of the Babylonians (Diod. Sic. ii. 4), and so had become a symbol of their power. In Jer. 46:16; Jer. 50:16 the LXX., which here gives the great sword, reads the Greek sword, as though the Hebrew word (Iona) meant Javan or Ionia. That meaning is, of course, out of the question here. On the whole there seems no reason for altering the English version, though the precise combination of words is an unusual one.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
38. Forsaken his covert Here the prophet returns to his original figure of a fierce and terrible lion stalking forth for his prey.
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments
Jer 25:38. He hath forsaken his covert, &c. For who would have dared to approach it, if he had thought good to protect it? if Jerusalem, if the temple, if Judaea, are delivered into the hand of the Chaldeans, it is because He who guarded and protected them hath forsaken and abandoned them.
REFLECTIONS.1st, This prophesy bears date in the first year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and the fourth of Jehoiakim; and it is directed to the people in general, probably when assembled at Jerusalem on one of the three annual feasts. If the princes will not hear, perhaps the people may; at least it will leave both inexcusable.
1. The prophet reminds them how long and how earnestly God had been exhorting them, by his ministers and others, to turn from the evil of their ways. Three-and-twenty years he had preached, from the 13th of Josiah, to the 4th of Jehoiakim, rising early, and speaking diligently, constantly, faithfully, while Michah, Nahum, and Habakkuk, had just preceded him, and Zephaniah was his cotemporary; besides many others whom God in mercy had sent to warn them, unwilling they should perish, and accompanying his admonitions with the most gracious promises. They are plainly told of their sins, and exhorted to repent of them; if they would return from their shameful idolatries, and from all their other evil works, then God’s threatenings should not light upon them, but they should long and peaceably enjoy their good land. Note; (1.) God will remember against the sinner all the means of grace that he has abused, as one of his greatest condemnations in the day of judgment. (2.) They who are sent on God’s messages need be earnest and diligent in delivering them, that they may at least be free from the blood of all men. (3.) God doth not strike without warning; but if we will not hear, we must perish.
2. The prophet upbraids them with their impenitence and hardness of heart. They hearkened not, nor inclined their ear; they would not so much as pay a moment’s attention to the message, their heart was so averse to it; they resolved to abide in their sins and provocations, let the consequence be never so much to their hurt; and thus, as all impenitent sinners do, destroyed themselves.
2nd, The judgment is pronounced on the rebellious people of Judah, and their destroyers shall not go unpunished.
1. Judah shall be destroyed by the king of Babylon, God’s servant in this behalf to execute vengeance on this devoted nation. Around his standard the families of the north are summoned, his victorious army marches, and desolation marks their way; Judaea falls; and all her neighbours, so far from affording her assistance, are involved in the general ruin; and so terrible the ravages, that they shall be an astonishment and an hissing, and perpetual desolations: during seventy years that their miseries should last, the voice of joy be never heard in the city, no nuptial songs, no sound of mirth, no provision should be left, no candle burn in it, but melancholy silence reign; the land uncultivated, destitute of inhabitants, and swept with the besom of destruction. Note; (1.) They who will not be ruled by God’s word, must be ruined. (2.) God often uses wicked instruments to chastise his own people; and they are made to do his work, when meaning only to aggrandize themselves.
2. Babylon, the destroyer of others, shall herself also, after seventy years, be destroyed for her iniquity, her tyranny, pride, and cruelty to God’s Israel; and the land of the Chaldeans shall be made perpetual desolations, when all the evil pronounced by Jeremiah, chap. xlvi-li. shall come upon them; and as she hath served herself of other nations, subduing and plundering them, God will recompense her in kind, and raise up many nations and great kings, the Medea, Persians, and their allies, to lay her waste, and enrich themselves with her spoils.
3rdly, Judgment begins at the house of God, but it spreads far and near. The neighbouring nations must drink of the same cup, and at last Babylon herself take it in turn.
1. The judgment is represented under a wine-cup of fury. The sins of all these nations had provoked God’s wrath, and heavy it falls on them; like men intoxicated with liquor, without wisdom or might, they should become an easy conquest, and the sword of God devour them. Nor would their reluctance to submit to their doom avail any thing. The prophet is commanded to make them drink, denouncing the judgments of God, which would quite overwhelm them and sink them into ruin, from which they should never, or at least not for a long while, recover. Note; It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God: then all resistance is vain.
2. The nations who are the subjects of this prophesy are; first, Jerusalem and the cities of Judah: their sins being most aggravated, they suffer first. Egypt, on whom they placed dependence, next falls under the Babylonish yoke: then all the mingled people, the bordering nations; some, as Tyre and Zidon, that had been the friends; others, as Moab and Edom, who had been the inveterate foes of Judah, but now sink in the promiscuous ruin: far and wide the rapid conqueror spreads his arms, even to all the kingdoms of the then known world, at least to the whole extent of that great monarchy, which was termed, from its vast territory, universal. At last, the lofty queen of nations herself must be laid in the dust, and the king of Sheshach, or Babylon, must drink of the same cup, and perish as the kingdoms he had destroyed. It is added, as it is this day, in a parenthesis: probably that was inserted by Jeremiah, who lived to see the ruin of his country; or by him (whether Baruch or Ezra) who collected these prophesies when the event had verified the prediction.
3. If God spares not his own people, let not the rest of the nations of whom they have learned idolatry, think to go unpunished. His determination is fixed, and the accomplishment of it is inevitable. Note; (1.) When God arises to judge, the greatest nations are but as stubble before the whirlwind. (2.) Wherever sinners are, however many, however mighty, surely they shall not go unpunished.
4thly, The sword threatened is Nebuchadnezzar’s; but the war is of God, who clothes him with his power, and ensures to him the victory. The terribleness of the judgment is described.
1. The tremendous voice of God shall be heard from on high in mighty thunderings. He shall roar upon his habitation, the earth in general, or Jerusalem in particular; or out of his habitation, from the heavens, where he hath placed his radiant throne. He shall give a shout, as when contending armies rush into the battle, and as those who tread the grapes at the vintage; and so loud the sound, that the most distant realms shall hear, even to the ends of the earth.
2. Righteous vengeance shall seize the wicked. The Lord hath a controversy with the nations for their wickedness, and he will plead with all flesh, will bring them to his tribunal; and he will give them that are wicked to the sword; from nation to nation the judge shall go in circuit. A great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth; the Chaldean army first, then the Medes, afterwards the Greeks, and lastly the Romans, all God’s executioners of vengeance; and those who fall by their arms are the slain of the Lord, from one end of the earth to the other. Unlamented they shall fall for want of mourners, or because their friends and relations are so occupied with their own danger that they are insensible to every thing beside; unburied they shall lie as dung upon the earth, and no compassionate hand be found to gather the scattered corpses and hide them in a grave.
3. The shepherds are called upon to howl for these horrible desolations; either the kings of the earth in general, or the rulers of Judah in particular, to whom the words seem to be addressed. Wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock, in the deepest agony, most bitter sorrow, and hopeless misery, for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions, are accomplished, like sheep before the wolf, torn, worried, and dispersed; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel, irreparably broken in pieces. Then flight will be vain, and all hope of escape desperate. See chap. Jer 39:4-6. Shrieks shall ascend on every side, the heart of the mightiest fail, ruin and desolation universal be spread around, and even the peaceable habitations are cut down, the palaces where peace and plenty reigned; or, as is common in the ravages of war, they who lived inoffensively, and never provoked the scourge, share in the general calamity of the land, because of the fierce anger of the Lord, the cause of all these fearful judgments. He hath forsaken his covert as the lion; either God, going forth against the shepherds and their flocks to destroy them; or rather Nebuchadnezzar, roused up from Babylon; and the land is desolate, ravaged by his army, because of the fierceness of the oppressor, or oppressing sword, and because of his fierce anger; either the wrath of God or of the king of Babylon, rushing forth to the slaughter. Note; (1.) War is a dreadful scourge. (2.) The rulers, who were deepest in transgression, shall be chief in suffering. (3.) Woe unto the sinful soul against which God rises up as an enemy! May the judgment, of others be our warnings, that we may hear and fear, and do no more wickedly!
Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke
REFLECTIONS
DEAREST Lord Jesus! who can read the sad requital thy faithful servants met with in all ages of the Church, when rising early and speaking to the people, without calling to mind the awful state of the Jews rejecting thee, the Lord of life and glory, when thou camest to thine own, and thine own received thee not, How did Jerusalem, the holy city, kill thy prophets, and despise thy word, when thou wouldest have gathered her people, as the hen gathereth her chickens under her wings, and they would not. And yet, blessed Lord, thy patience was not exhausted, neither thy love given over, for in the moment of thy departure, when giving thy farewell commission to thy disciples, to go into all the world, and to preach the gospel to every creature, the charter of grace still ran the same, beginning at Jerusalem. Oh! for grace always to keep in remembrance, that love of Christ which passeth knowledge.
And Lord, I pray thee, that I may always preserve alive through thine Holy Spirit in me the remembrance of thy grace to thy Church, during the seventy years captivity: and the sure fulfillment of thy Covenant promise, in bringing thy people from it. Even, so Lord now, all thy promises, and all thine engagements are the same, and like the great Author and Finisher of salvation; they remain eternally, and unchangeably the same, yesterday, and to-day; and forever. God be blessed and adored in all his faithfulness, and truth, made to a thousand generations: and before ever blessed in all his redeemed, and their enjoyment of them, from henceforth and forever. Amen.
Fuente: Hawker’s Poor Man’s Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 25:38 He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion: for their land is desolate because of the fierceness of the oppressor, and because of his fierce anger.
Ver. 38. He hath forsaken his covert, as a lion. ] God hath, or, as some will, Nebuchadnezzar hath. He is come out of Babylon his den, to range about for prey. Ut in praeda involet.
Because of the fierceness of the oppressor.
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
as the lion. Figure of speech Simile (App-6). Compare Jer 25:30.
the fierceness of the oppressor. Some codices, with one early printed edition, Aramaean, and Septuagint, read “the (Septuagint “great”) sword of oppressors”. Compare Jer 46:16; Jer 50:16.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
hath: Jer 4:7, Jer 5:6, Jer 49:19, Jer 50:44, Psa 76:2, Hos 5:14, Hos 11:10, Hos 13:7, Hos 13:8, Amo 8:8, Zec 2:3
desolate: Heb. a desolation, Jer 25:12
Reciprocal: Lev 26:32 – And I Isa 21:8 – General Jer 44:22 – your land Dan 7:4 – like
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 25:38. A covert is a hiding place such as the den of a lion. The beast is secure in his covert in ordinary circumstances, but when a flood from the overthrow of the river reaches the den he will forsake It. The Lord was going to bring the flood of the invading army over the land and the unfaithful shepherds would be driven from their situation of false security.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
The Lord would leave His place of obscurity and attack His enemies like a lion (cf. Jer 25:30; Rev 19:11-21). The earth would become a devastation because the Divine Warrior would vent His fury.
This is the end of the collection of prophecies that presented warnings of judgment on Judah and Jerusalem (chs. 2-25).