Exegetical and Hermeneutical Commentary of Jeremiah 9:9
Shall I not visit them for these [things]? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
9. Here repeated from ch. Jer 5:9; Jer 5:29.
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges
See Jer 5:9,29.
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole
9. (Jer 5:9;Jer 5:29).
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord,…. The Targum adds,
“to bring evil upon them.”
Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? the Targum is,
“or of a people whose works are such, shall I not take vengeance according to my pleasure?”
[See comments on Jer 5:9].
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible
The land laid waste, and the people scattered amongst the heathen. – Jer 9:9. “For the mountains I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lament; for they are burnt up so that no man passeth over them, neither hear they the voice of the flock; the fowls of the heavens and the cattle are fled, are gone. Jer 9:10. And I make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling of jackals; and the cities of Judah I make a desolation, without an inhabitant. Jer 9:11. Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? and to whom the mouth of Jahveh hath spoken, that he may declare it? Wherefore doth the land come to ruin, is it burnt up like the wilderness, that none passeth through? Jer 9:12. Jahveh said: Because they forsake my law which I set before them, and have not hearkened unto my voice, neither walked therein, Jer 9:13. But went after the stubbornness of their heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers have taught them. Jer 9:14. Therefore thus hath Jahveh of hosts spoken, the God of Israel: Behold, I feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink, Jer 9:15. And scatter them among the nations which they knew not, neither they nor their fathers, and send the sword after them, until I have consumed them.”
Already in spirit Jeremiah sees God’s visitation come upon the land, and in Jer 9:9 and Jer 9:10 he raises a bitter lamentation for the desolation of the country. The mountains and meadows of the steppes or prairies are made so desolate, that neither men nor beasts are to be found there. Mountains and meadows or pastures of the steppes, as contrasted with the cities (Jer 9:10), represent the remoter parts of the country. is here not local: upon, but causal, concerning = because of, cf. Jer 4:24., as is usual with ( ) ; cf. 2Sa 1:17; Amo 5:1; Eze 26:17, etc. , kindled, burnt up, usually of cities (cf. Jer 2:15), here of a tract of country with the sig. be parched by the glowing heat of the sun, as a result of the interruption of agriculture. is steppe, prairie, not suitable for tillage, but well fitted for pasturing cattle, as e.g., the wilderness of Judah; cf. 1Sa 17:28. With , Jer 9:11, cf. Eze 33:28. Not only have the herds disappeared that used to feed there, but the very birds have flown away, because the parched land no longer furnishes food for them; cf. Jer 4:25. To “are fled,” which is used most properly of birds, is added: are gone away, departed, in reference to the cattle.
Jer 9:10-13 Jerusalem is to become stone-heaps, where only jackals dwell. is jackals ( canis aureus ), in Isa 13:22 called from their cry; see on Isa. l.c., and Gesen. thes. s. v. as in Jer 2:15; Jer 4:7. – That such a judgment will pass over Judah every wise man must see well, and every one enlightened by God is to declare it; for universal apostasy from God and His law cannot but bring down punishment. But such wisdom and such spiritual enlightenment is not found in the infatuated people. This is the idea of Jer 9:11-13. The question: Who is the wise man? etc., reminds us of Hos 14:9, and is used with a negative force: unhappily there is none so wise as to see this. “This” is explained by the clause, Wherefore doth the land, etc.: this, i.e., the reason why the land is going to destruction. The second clause, “and to whom,” etc., is dependent on the , which is to be repeated in thought: and who is he that, etc. Jeremiah has the false prophets here in view, who, if they were really illumined by God, if they had the word of God, could not but declare to the people their corruptness, and the consequences which must flow from it. But since none is so wise…Jeremiah proposes to them the question in Jer 9:11, and in Jer 9:12 tells the answer as given by God Himself. Because they have forsaken my law, etc. , to set before; as in Deu 4:8, so here, of the oral inculcation of the law by the prophets. “Walketh therein” refers to the law. The stubbornness of their heart, as in Jer 3:17; Jer 7:24. After the Baals, Jer 2:23. The relative clause, “which their fathers,” etc., refers to both clauses of the verse; with a neuter sense: which their fathers have taught them.
Jer 9:14-15 The description of the offence is again followed by the threatening of judgment. To feed with wormwood and give gall to drink is a figure for sore and bitter suffering at the overthrow of the kingdom and in exile. The meaning of the suffix in is shown by the apposition: this people. On water of gall see Jer 8:14, and for the use of and together see Deu 29:17. – ‘ implies a verbal allusion to the words of Deu 28:64 and Deu 28:36, cf. Lev 26:33. With this latter passage the second clause: I send the sword after them, has a close affinity. The purport of it is: I send the sword after the fugitives, to pursue them into foreign lands and slay them; cf. Jer 42:16; Jer 44:27. Thus it is indicated that those who fled into Egypt would be reached by the sword there and slain. This does not stand in contradiction to what is said in Jer 4:27; Jer 5:18, etc., to the effect that God will not make an utter end of them (Graf’s opinion). This appears from Jer 44:27, where those that flee to Egypt are threatened with destruction by famine and sword , while Jer 44:28 continues: but they that have escaped the sword shall return. Hence we see that the terms of the threatening do not imply the extirpation of the people to the last man, but only the extirpation of all the godless, of this wicked people.
Fuente: Keil & Delitzsch Commentary on the Old Testament
We have already met with this verse; it will therefore be enough briefly to refer to what it contains. God shews here, that except he denied himself he must necessarily punish the Jews. How so? He takes it as granted that he is the judge of the world: he had said that the Jews were not only become wicked in one thing, but were so given up to all kinds of wickedness, that they wearied themselves; what then was to be done? God would not have acted in a manner worthy of himself, nor preserved consistency, had he not punished such men; for he must have changed his nature, had he not hated such a perverse nation. But he speaks after the manner of men when he mentions vengeance; for we know that no passions belong to God, as it has been often stated: but as he hates wickedness, so he is said to execute vengeance, when he appears as a judge and chastises those by whom he has been provoked to wrath.
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary
B. Impending Destruction Jer. 9:9-21
Because of the national corruption, destruction is necessary and imminent. The land will become desolate (Jer. 9:9-15) and death will reign supreme throughout the land (Jer. 9:16-21).
1. Desolation of the land (Jer. 9:9-16)
TRANSLATION
(9) On account of these things shall I not punish them (oracle of the LORD)? Shall not I take vengeance on a nation which is like this? (10) Upon the mountains I shall lift up weeping and lamentation and in the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation; for they are burned up so that no man passes by and they do not hear the noise of the cattle. The birds of the heavens as well as the cattle have fled, have gone away. (11) And I will make Jerusalem heaps, the habitation of jackals, and the cities of Judah I will make a desolation without inhabitant. (12) Who is the wise man that he may discern this and to whom has the mouth of the LORD spoken that he may declare it? Why is the land destroyed, burned like a wilderness so that no one passes by? (13) And the LORD said: Because they forsook My law which I placed before them and they did not hearken to My voice nor walk in it. (14) But they walked after the stubbornness of their heart and after the Baalim which their fathers taught them. (15) Therefore thus says the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I am about to cause them viz., this people, to eat wormwood and cause them to drink the poisoned water of gall. (16) And I will scatter them among nations which neither they nor their fathers have known and I will send after them the sword until I have consumed them.
COMMENTS
In view of the terribly corrupt conditions which prevail in Judah God is perfectly justified in taking vengeance upon that land (Jer. 9:9). Jeremiah knows what will befall his beloved land. He knows that when the judgment falls he will be weeping and lamenting the desolation which will befall that once proud little country. The pasture lands of the wilderness i.e., the uninhabited region, which once were covered with flocks and herds will become so utterly waste that even the birds depart for lack of food (Jer. 9:10). The cities of Judah will not escape the desolation. Their ruins will become the habitation of wild creatures (Jer. 9:11). The I of Jer. 9:11 is no longer Jeremiah, but God.
In Jer. 9:12 Jeremiah challenges the wise men of the land and those who claimed to have received divine revelation to explain why the land has become desolate (Jer. 9:12). They are unable to explain it and so God himself gives the explanation. God had placed His law before this people at Sinai. He had amplified His law and kept it before the people through the preaching of the prophets. Yet the people forsook the law of God, refused to hearken to His instruction or walk in His way (Jer. 9:13). In their stubborn rebellion they followed after the Canaanite deities, the Baalim. This apostasy and idolatry they had learned from their fathers (Jer. 9:14). Where fathers go, sons will follow. What an ungodly legacy the fathers had left to their descendants!. The iniquities of fathers are often magnified in the lives of sons and when iniquity is full the punishment is inevitable (cf. Exo. 20:5). The sons must now eat the wormwood and drink the water of gall (Jer. 9:15). Wormwood and gall, two bitter and noxious substances, were symbols in the Old Testament for bitter affliction. Judah will become desolate because she will be depopulated. God will scatter the Jews among the far-distant foreign nations. Even in captivity the sword of divine retribution will pursue them until they are consumed (Jer. 9:16). Those who would be consumed in captivity are, of course, the unbelieving and unrepentant (cf. Amo. 9:9-10). Those who turned to God in sincerity and truth would be restored to their homeland (Jer. 16:14-15; Jer. 31:9; Jer. 31:18-19).
Fuente: College Press Bible Study Textbook Series
(9) Shall I not visit . . .?The previous use of the same warning in Jer. 5:9; Jer. 5:29 gives these words also the emphasis of iteration.
Fuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)
Jer 9:9 Shall I not visit them for these [things]? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Ver. 9. Shall I not visit them? ] See on Jer 5:9 .
Fuente: John Trapp’s Complete Commentary (Old and New Testaments)
My soul = I myself (emphatic). Hebrew. nephesh. Figure of speech Anthropopatheia.
avenged. Compare Jer 5:9, Jer 5:29.
Fuente: Companion Bible Notes, Appendices and Graphics
Jer 5:9, Jer 5:29, Isa 1:24
Reciprocal: Lev 18:25 – therefore Psa 28:3 – speak Jer 19:8 – General Lam 4:11 – Lord
Fuente: The Treasury of Scripture Knowledge
Jer 9:9. Visit means to inflict some punishment of a severe character and the Lord declared that he would do so to such a nation as Judah had come to be. In making this visit the Lord declared he would he avenging his soul on the sinful nation. There would be nothing wrong in that because Paul has declared that vengeance belongs to God (Rom 12:19), and He always does the right thing with that which Is bis own.
Fuente: Combined Bible Commentary
Yahweh asked, rhetorically, if He should not punish such a nation for their deceits. His nation had become like all the other nations (cf. Jer 9:24-25). Should He not avenge Himself by punishing Judah for violating His covenant commands?
"The grief of God is caused not only by what the people have done to him but more especially by what they have done to each other." [Note: Kelley, p. 145.]