6 8. The Scythians would not make their approaches to the city in this fashion, while the absence of metre makes us hesitate to take the passage as inserted by the prophet in Jehoiakim’s time, when the Chaldaeans were the enemy expected. Hence it may be of later date.

Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

Hew ye down trees – Rather, her trees: for the simple purpose of clearing the approaches.

Cast a mount – literally, pour: the earth was emptied out of the baskets, in which it was carried to the required spot upon the backs of laborers.

Wholly – Or,

She is the city that is visited:

Wholly oppression is in the midst of her!

She is visited, – i. e., punished; she is ripe for punishment.

Fuente: Albert Barnes’ Notes on the Bible

Verse 6. Hew ye down trees] To form machines.

And cast a mount] That may overlook the city, on which to place our engines.

This is the city to be visited] We are sure of success, for their God will deliver it into our hands, for it is full of oppression, and he has consigned it to destruction.

Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible

Said, viz. to the Chaldeans. Here God declares whence they have their commission: q.d. They come not up on their own heads: see Jer 5:14,15. God would have the Jews to know that they have not so much to do with the Chaldeans as with him; that they are his rod to scourge them for their sins, Jer 1:15,16. See 2Ki 18:25. And thus God is said to hiss for such whom he will employ in such work, Isa 5:26; 7:18. And he styles himself the Lord of hosts, to show that it is in vain to contend in battle with them, whom he sends forth, and will be, as it were, the captain of their hosts.

Hew ye down trees, Heb. a tree, collectively taken: q.d. Cut them down all as one tree, not sparing their very fruit trees, which indeed were to be spared in such a case, Deu 20:19; either such as lie in the way of your march, or all round about Jerusalem; or such as you may have need of there or elsewhere for your use, either to raise up works against the strong places, Deu 20:20, or to make other instruments of war.

Cast a mount; throw up one continued trench, as a mount round about it. See on Isa 37:38. Heb. pour out the engine; of that see 2Sa 20:15.

To be visited; God is said to visit sometimes in mercy, Ge 1 24; Zep 2:7, and sometimes in judgment, as here, and Jer 5:9; 23:2. They are ripe for it, Eze 7:10-12; see 1Th 2:16; and it is decreed against them, and ready to come upon them, chap, 23:12; Hos 9:7. All attempts have failed, and now there is no remedy. She is wholly oppression; in the abstract, she doth nothing but oppress; there are found in her all kinds of oppression and injustice; a synecdoche for all other cruelties, 2Ki 24:3,4; Eze 7:23; even in that city which was once full of judgment, and righteousness lodged in it, Isa 1:21, swallowed up with oppression.

Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole

6. castHebrew, “pourout”; referring to the emptying of the baskets of earth to makethe mound, formed of “trees” and earthwork, toovertop the city walls. The “trees” were also used to makewarlike engines.

thispointing theinvaders to Jerusalem.

visitedthat is,punished.

wholly oppressionorjoin “wholly” with “visited,” that is, she isaltogether (in her whole extent) to be punished [MAURER].

Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible

For thus hath the Lord of hosts said,…. To the Chaldeans; for as it was the Lord that brought them out of their own country, and directed them to Jerusalem, and ordered them to prepare war against it; so they were as an army under his command, and he it was that ordered them to do this, and that, and the other thing: the whole affair was of the Lord, and the Jews had more to fear from him, who is the Lord of armies, than from the army of the Chaldeans; for, as they could do nothing without his divine permission, so, having that, there was a certainty of succeeding:

hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: in the Hebrew text it is, “pour out a mount” q; the reason of which is, because there were a ditch or ditches about the city; and into these they poured in stones, and dirt, and trees, and pieces of wood, and so filled them up, and cast up a mount, on which they could raise their batteries, and demolish the walls and houses; hence mention is made of hewing down of trees, in order to cast the mount; for these were to be cut down, not so much to make battering rams, and other instruments of war, as to fill up the ditch, and raise the mount, so that the walls might be more easily battered and scaled: though some r interpret it of taking precise, fixed, determined counsel, about the war, and the manner of carrying it:

this is the city to be visited; or punished; not only that deserves to be so visited, but which would certainly be visited, and that immediately; its punishment was not far off; vengeance would soon be taken on it, and that for its sins: and so the Targum,

“this is the city whose sins are visited;”

as it follows:

she is wholly oppression in the midst of her; there were nothing but oppression and oppressors in her; not only full of oppressors, but oppression itself. This is instanced in for all kind of wickedness; the meaning is, that she was a sink of sin, and very wickedness itself.

q “fundite aggerem”, V. L. Munster, Tigurine version; “fundite vallum”, Schmidt. r “decidite, [vel] decernite consilium”. So Gussetius, Ebr. Comment. p. 628.

Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible

The Prophet now points out the cause why a near calamity awaited both the city and the whole of Judea. Two things were necessary to be done: as the Jews had hardened themselves in their thoughtlessness, so that they disregarded all the threatenings of the prophets, it was necessary to expose and reprove this stupidity. This is what the Prophet has hitherto done. But the other thing needful to be done was, to make the Jews to know that they had not to do with the Chaldeans or other nations, but with God himself, with whom they had for a long time carried on war. The Prophet then, after having set before the eyes of his own kindred the calamity which was then nigh at hand, shews now that God was its author.

Thus saith Jehovah of hosts. He reminds them here of the judgment of God, lest they thought that they could overcome their enemies, even if they fought with the greatest ardor and the greatest courage, for they could not overcome God. Thus then saith the God of hosts; as though he had said, “The Chaldeans will indeed bring their forces, which shall be great and strong; but the contest will be now with God, whom ye have so often and for a long time and so pertinaciously provoked.” Thus then saith now the God of hosts, —

Cut ye down wood; that is, “The Chaldeans will not of themselves attack you, but they will fight for God, and serve him as hired soldiers.” As we have seen elsewhere that God blows the trumpet, and sends by a hiss for whomsoever he pleases; so also he says now that the Chaldeans would carry on war under the authority and banner of God. Command them then did God to cut down wood and to cast up a mound. We indeed know that warlike engines were made of timber, but the most suitable word here, as it is evident, is mound.

It follows, She is the city of visitation. Jeremiah shews here that God would justly act towards the Jews, though with much severity, because they had nearly become putrid in their vices; for this reason he calls it the city of visitation. They therefore who render the words, “that it may be laid waste, “or, “it is laid waste, “misconceive the meaning; and indeed they touch neither heaven nor earth, for they consider not the Prophet’s design, but only dwell on the words. But it is certain, that Jerusalem is called the city of visitation, because God had exercised long patience and suspended punishment, until the ripened time of vengeance came, so that it could no longer be endured, inasmuch as it had become more and more corrupt through the forbearance of God. It is, he says, the city of visitation; that is, “The time of extreme vengeance is now come; for I have tried all means to see whether there was any hope of repentance; but I now find that she is wholly irreclaimable. She is then the city of visitation; its ruin cannot be suspended any longer.”

The Prophet obviates here, as I have already said, all those complaints which the Jews were ever ready to make; for they were wont to murmur when any severity appeared, and say, “God deals cruelly with us; where is his covenant? where is that paternal kindness which he has promised to us?” As then the Jews were wont thus to expostulate with God, the Prophet says that it was the city of visitation, and the whole of it, and not a part only. As then there was nothing pure in it, he says that it could no longer be spared: and he adds one kind of evil; but stating a part for the whole, he means (as it is said elsewhere, Jer 7:11) that Jerusalem was a den of thieves: he therefore says that it was full of rapines, and that oppression was in its very bowels. (166) It follows —

(166) The two last lines may be thus rendered, —

She, the city, to be visited is the whole of it: Oppression is in the midst of it.

The verb הפקד is an infinite Niphal. Some, not perhaps without reason, have rendered the first line,

“

For thus has Jehovah of hosts said.”

—

Ed.

Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary

2. The siege of Jerusalem (Jer. 6:6-8)

TRANSLATION

(6) For thus says the LORD of hosts: Cut her trees and pour out against Jerusalem a mound! This is the city to be punished; everywhere there is oppression in her midst. (7) As the well causes its water to bubble forth so she bubbles forth her wickedness; violence and oppression are heard in her; before Me continually are sickness and wounds. (8) Be corrected, O Jerusalem, lest My soul be removed from you; lest I make you an astonishment, a land not inhabited.

COMMENTS

The God of Israel is the Lord of the enemy hosts. He issues the commands; they are merely instruments in His hands. Cut her trees! Pour out against Jerusalem a mound! The Assyrian kings boast of how they cut down the trees of the enemy. The timber was sometimes taken home, sometimes used to construct battering rams, catapults and other weapons used in the siege. Baskets of earth were poured out to form high mounds from which missiles could the more easily be hurled against the walls or into the besieged city. Jerusalem is to be punished by God because oppression exists throughout that city (Jer. 6:6). Just as a well always yields a supply of cool, fresh water so Jerusalem seems to constantly cause her wickedness to bubble forth. Deeds of violence and oppression against the less fortunate are commonplace. As a result of this mistreatment people suffer physical agony. Diseases produced by deprivation, want and wounds resulting from violent deeds cause the people to cry out to God about their plight (Jer. 6:7). Jeremiah earnestly appeals to Jerusalem to accept divine chastisement, to amend her ways, to repent. If they fail to heed this appeal God will completely, finally, and totally remove (lit., pull out, tear away) Himself from their midst. The land of Judah will become uninhabited, an astonishment to all who might look upon the desolation (Jer. 6:8).

Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series

(6) Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount.The words describe graphically the process of an Eastern siege as seen in the Assyrian bas-reliefs (Layard, Mon. of Nineveh, i. 73-76). Compare 2Sa. 20:15; Job. 19:12; Isa. 29:3; Eze. 4:2. First the neighbouring country is cleared by cutting down the trees; next, either by piling earth on these as a timber framework, or using the earth alone, a mount (or, in later English, a mound) was raised till it reached the level of the wall of the besieged city; and then the assault was made. The law of Israel forbade, it may be noted, this destruction, but apparently only in the case of fruit-trees (Deu. 20:19-20). There is no adequate ground for the marginal rendering, pour out the engine of shot.

Is . . . to be visited.Literally, is visited, in the sense of punished, but Hebrew usage gives to the verb so employed a gerundive force. The words admit, however, of the rendering, this is the city; it is proved that wholly oppression is in the midst of her.

Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)

THE SIEGE, Jer 6:6-8.

6. Hew ye down trees In Deu 20:19, the Israelites were forbidden to cut down fruit trees in the siege, but here the enemies of Jerusalem are commanded to hew down her trees without reservation. Some think they were to be used in the construction of a rampart and for battering rams; but there is no proof that the orientals prosecuted their sieges by walls of circumvallation. On the contrary, this plan of warfare seems to have been confined to the Greeks and Romans. It would seem, then, that the trees were to be cut down simply to clear the approaches to the city.

Cast Literally, pour out. It refers to the carrying of the earth in baskets, and pouring it out to make the mount. When this “mount” was carried up to the top of the walls the assault was made.

Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

Jer 6:6. Cast a mount The margin of our Bibles reads, Pour out the engine of shot. The original word solelah, signifies a warlike engine used in sieges for casting stones or missile weapons. See Pilkington’s Remarks, and Calmet’s Dissertation, Sur la Milice des anciens Hebreux.

Fuente: Commentary on the Holy Bible by Thomas Coke

Jer 6:6 For thus hath the LORD of hosts said, Hew ye down trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem: this [is] the city to be visited; she [is] wholly oppression in the midst of her.

Ver. 6. For thus hath the Lord of hosts said, ] q.d., It is he who setteth these Chaldean warriors to work, and giveth them these words of command. So Totilas, Gensericus, and others, were the scourge in God’s hand, as now also the Turks are.

She is wholly oppression. ] She was full of judgment, righteousness lodged in her; but now nothing less.

“ Nomen Alexandri ne te fortasse moretur,

Hospes, abi: iacet hic et scelus et vitium. ” a

a De Alex. VI, Papa. Pasquil.

Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)

the LORD of hosts = Jehovah Zebbaioth, the first of thirtynine occurrences of this title in Jeremiah (Jer 6:6, Jer 6:9; Jer 8:3; Jer 9:7, Jer 9:17; Jer 10:16; Jer 11:17, Jer 11:20, Jer 11:22; Jer 19:11; Jer 20:12; Jer 23:15, &c.)

cast a mount = pour out: i.e. the earth from baskets to make a mount.

Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics

Reciprocal: Deu 20:20 – thou shalt build Jer 20:8 – I cried Jer 30:15 – for the Jer 32:31 – this city Eze 4:1 – even Eze 5:5 – This Eze 26:8 – cast a mount Dan 11:15 – cast up Amo 4:1 – which oppress Mic 6:12 – the rich Zep 3:1 – to the

Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge

Jer 6:6. An inspired prediction is often made in the form of a command for the Ihing to be done. In fact, the Lord did decree that the Babylonian army should come against bis beloved city although it did not realize that it was carrying out such an edict. A mount is a military position prepared for conducting a siege. Such a position needed to be supported by a rampart and that called for the trees, hence the prediction hew ye down trees. She is wholly oppression refers to the injustices that Jerusalem (through her leaders) bad committed against the people, and for which the siege and captivity was to be a punishment.

Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary

Jer 6:6-7. For thus hath the Lord of hosts said To the Chaldeans: God would have the Jews to know, that they have not so much to do with the Chaldeans as with him; that they are his rod to scourge them for their sins. And thus God is said to hiss for, or hist, those whom he would employ in such work, Isa 5:26; Isa 7:18. And he styles himself the Lord of hosts, to show that it is in vain to contend in battle with them whom he sent forth, and would be, as it were, the captain of their hosts. Hew down trees, &c. That is, to be employed in the siege: see Deu 20:19, where the same word is used as here. Cast up a mount Throw up one continued trench, as a mount, round about it. This is the city, &c. The Hebrew may be literally rendered, She is a city to be visited That is, a proper object of punishment; the reason of which follows in the next words. As a fountain casteth out her waters, &c. A metaphor, to express how natural all manner of wickedness was to her, how full she was of it, and how incessant in it. Violence and spoil is heard in her I hear the continual complaints of those that groan under the oppression that they suffer, being cruelly used and spoiled in her.

Fuente: Joseph Bensons Commentary on the Old and New Testaments

In attacking Jerusalem, the enemy soldiers would be responding to the instructions of Yahweh of armies for them to: cut down the trees around the city, with which to make implements of war, and to lay siege. Jerusalem was due for punishment because its people were responsible for so much social oppression.

Fuente: Expository Notes of Dr. Constable (Old and New Testaments)