12<\/strong>. Who is the wise man<\/em> ] meaning that there are none such found, with a hint at the would-be wise, the false prophets. Cp. Hos 14:9<\/span>, where however there is no suggestion of sarcasm.<\/p>\n 12 16<\/strong>. Du. and Gi. consider this passage to be condemned by prosaic wording and the vagueness or absence of metre. Co. thinks it to contain Jeremianic elements, worked up later. It certainly forms a remarkable contrast to the poetical sub-section which follows.<\/p>\n Verse 12<\/span>. Who<\/B><\/I> is <\/B>the wise man<\/B><\/I>] To whom has God revealed these things? He is the truly wise man. But it is to his prophet alone that God has revealed these things, and the speedy fulfilment of the predictions will show that the prophet has not spoken of himself.<\/P> <\/p>\n Who is the wise man, that may understand this, viz. the ground of all these evils? q.d. Is there not a wise man among you, that will concern himself and search into the cause of all these threatened judgments, which hath provoked God to so great displeasure? See Hos 14:9<\/span>. It is a question that implies there is none, or very few, that consider common calamities in the causes of them; but rather say of judgments, it is a chance, 1Sa 6:9<\/span>. <\/P><\/p>\n 12.<\/B> Rather, “Who is a wiseman? (that is, Whosoever<\/I> has inspired wisdom, 2Pe3:15<\/span>); let him understand this (weigh well the evils impending,and the causes of their being sent); and he to whom the mouth of theLord hath spoken (that is, whosoever is prophetically inspired<\/I>),let him declare it to his fellow countrymen,” if haply they maybe roused to repentance, the only hope of safety.<\/P><\/p>\n Who is the wise man that may understand this<\/strong>?…. Not the calamity, but the cause of it; a man of wisdom would inquire into it, find it out, and understand it; but the intimation is, that there was not a wise man among them, at least very few; there were scarce any that took any notice of these things, or were concerned about them:<\/p>\n and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken<\/strong>; and foretold this desolation and destruction; meaning a prophet:<\/p>\n that he may declare it<\/strong>; as from the Lord, namely, what follows:<\/p>\n for what the land perisheth, and is burnt like a wilderness, that none passeth through<\/strong>? that is, what were the sins of the inhabitants of the land, which brought such distress upon it, and for which it became such a ruinous heap, and like the heath in the wilderness, so that it had no inhabitant, nor even a passenger: they must be some very great and abominable iniquities that were the cause of all this.<\/p>\n Punishment Predicted.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/I><\/span><\/P> <\/TD> B. C.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN> 606.<\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/SPAN><\/FONT><\/P> <\/TD> <\/TR> <\/TABLE> 12 Who is<\/I> the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he<\/I> to whom the mouth of the LORD<\/B> hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and<\/I> is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through? 13 And the LORD<\/B> saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; 14 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: 15 Therefore thus saith the LORD<\/B> of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even<\/I> this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. 16 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. 17 Thus saith the LORD<\/B> of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women,<\/I> that they may come: 18 And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. 19 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us<\/I> out. 20 Yet hear the word of the LORD<\/B>, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. 21 For death is come up into our windows, and<\/I> is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and<\/I> the young men from the streets. 22 Speak, Thus saith the LORD<\/B>, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.<\/I><\/P> Two things the prophet designs, in these verses, with reference to the approaching destruction of Judah and Jerusalem:– 1. To convince people of the justice of God in it, that they had by sin brought it upon themselves and that therefore they had no reason to quarrel with God, who did them no wrong at all, but a great deal of reason to fall out with their sins, which did them all this mischief. 2. To affect people with the greatness of the desolation that was coming, and the miserable effects of it, that by a terrible prospect of it they might be awakened to repentance and reformation, which was the only way to prevent it, or, at least, mitigate their own share in it. This being designed,<\/P> I. He calls for the thinking men, by them to show people the equity of God’s proceedings, though they seemed harsh and severe (v.<\/I><\/span> 12<\/span>): “Who,<\/I> where, is the wise man,<\/I> or the prophet, to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken?<\/I> You boast of your wisdom, and of the prophets you have among you; produce me any one that has but the free use of human reason or any acquaintance with divine revelation, and he will soon understand this himself, and it will be so clear to him that he will be ready to declare it to others, that there is a just ground of God’s controversy with this people.” Do these wise men enquire, For what does the land perish?<\/I> What is the matter, that such a change is made with this land? It used to be a land that God cared for, and he had his eyes upon it for good (Deut. xi. 12<\/span>), but it is now a land that he has forsaken and that his face is against. It used to flourish as the garden of the Lord and to be replenished with inhabitants; but now it is burnt up like a wilderness, that none passeth through<\/I> it, much less cares to settle in it. It was supposed, long ago, that it would be asked, when it came to this, Wherefore has the Lord done thus unto this land? What means the heat of this great anger?<\/I> (Deut. xxix. 24<\/span>), to which question God here gives a full answer, before which all flesh must be silent. He produces out of the record,<\/P> 1. The indictment preferred and proved against them, upon which they had been found guilty, Jer 9:13<\/span>; Jer 9:14<\/span>. It is charged upon them, and it cannot be denied, (1.) That they have revolted from their allegiance to their rightful Sovereign. Therefore.<\/I> God has forsaken their land,<\/I> and justly, because they have forsaken his law,<\/I> which he had so plainly, so fully, so frequently set before them,<\/I> and had not observed his orders, not obeyed his voice,<\/I> nor walked in<\/I> the ways that he had appointed. Here their wickedness began, in the omission of their duty to their God and a contempt of his authority. But it did not end here. It is further charged upon them, (2.) That they have entered themselves into the service of pretenders and usurpers, have not only withdrawn themselves from their obedience to their prince, but have taken up arms against him. For, [1.] They have acted according to the dictates of their own lusts, have set up their own will, the wills of the flesh, and the carnal mind, in competition with, and contradiction to the will of God: They have walked after the imagination of their own hearts;<\/I> they would do as they pleased, whatever God and conscience said to the contrary. [2.] They have worshipped the creatures of their own fancy, the work of their own hands, according to the tradition received from their fathers: They have walked after Baalim:<\/I> the word is plural; they had many Baals, Baal-peor and Baal-berith, the Baal of this place and the Baal of the other place; for they had lords many,<\/I> which their fathers taught them<\/I> to worship, but which the God of their fathers had again and again forbidden. This was it for which the land perished.<\/I> The King of kings never makes war thus upon his own subjects but when they treacherously depart from him and rebel against him, and it has become necessary by this means to chastise their rebellion and reduce them to their allegiance; and they themselves shall at length acknowledge that he is just in all that is brought upon them.<\/P> 2. The judgment given upon this indictment, the sentence upon the convicted rebels, which must now be executed, for it was righteous and nothing could be moved in arrest of it: The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, hath said it<\/I> (Jer 9:15<\/span>; Jer 9:16<\/span>), and who can reverse it? (1.) That all their comforts at home shall be poisoned and embittered to them: I will feed this people with wormwood<\/I> (or rather with wolf’s-bane,<\/I> for it signifies a herb that is not wholesome, as wormwood is though it be bitter, but some herb that is both nauseous and noxious), and<\/I> I will give them water of gall<\/I> (or juice of hemlock<\/I> or some other herb that is poisonous) to drink.<\/I> Every thing about them, till it comes to their very meat and drink, shall be a terror and torment to them. God will curse their blessings,<\/I> Mal. ii. 2<\/I><\/span>. (2.) That their dispersion abroad shall be their destruction (v.<\/I><\/span> 16<\/span>): I will scatter them among the heathen.<\/I> They were corrupted and debauched by their intimacy with the heathen, with whom they mingled<\/I> and learned their works;<\/I> and now they shall lose themselves, where they lost their virtue, among the heathen.<\/I> They set up gods which neither they nor their fathers had known,<\/I> strange gods, new gods (Deut. xxxii. 17<\/span>); and now God will put them among neighbours whom neither they nor their fathers have known,<\/I> whom they can claim no acquaintance with, and therefore can expect no favour from. And yet, though they are scattered so as that they will not know where to find one another. God will know where to find them all out (Ps. xxi. 8<\/span>) with that evil which still pursues impenitent sinners: I will send a sword after them,<\/I> some killing judgment or other, till I have consumed them;<\/I> for when God judges he will overcome, when he pursues he will overtake. And now we see for what the land perishes; all this desolation is the desert of their deeds and the performance of God’s words.<\/P> II. He calls for the mourning women, and engages them, with the arts they practise to affect people and move their passions, to lament these sad calamities that had come or were coming upon them, that the nation might be alarmed to prepare for them: The Lord of hosts<\/I> himself says, Call for the mourning women, that they may come,<\/I> v.<\/span> 17<\/span><\/U><\/I><\/span>. the scope of this is to show how very woeful and lamentable the condition of this people was likely to be. 1. Here is work for the counterfeit mourners: Send for cunning women,<\/I> that know how to compose mournful ditties, or at least to sing them in mournful tunes and accents, and therefore are made use of at funerals to supply the want of true mourners. Let these take up a wailing<\/I> for us, v.<\/I><\/span> 18<\/span>. The deaths and funerals were so many that people wept for them till they had no power to weep,<\/I> as those, 1 Sam. xxx. 4<\/span>. Let those therefore do it now whose trade it is. Or, rather, it intimates the extreme sottishness and stupidity of the people, that laid not to heart the judgments they were under, nor, even when there was so much blood shed, could find in their hearts to shed a tear. They cry not when God binds them,<\/I> Job xxxvi. 13<\/I><\/span>. God sent his mourning prophets to them, to call them to weeping and mourning, but his word in their mouths did not work upon their faith; rather therefore than they shall go laughing to their ruin, let the mourning women come, and try to work upon their fancy, that their eyes may<\/I> at length run down with tears, and their eyelids gush out with waters.<\/I> First or last, sinners must be weepers. 2. Here is work for the real mourners. (1.) There is that which is a lamentation. The present scene is very tragical (v.<\/I><\/span> 19<\/span>): A voice of wailing is heard out of Zion.<\/I> Some make this to be the song of the mourning women: it is rather an echo to it, returned by those whose affections were moved by their wailings. In Zion the voice of joy and praise used to be heard, while the people kept closely to God. But sin has altered the note; it is now the voice of lamentation.<\/I> It should seem to be the voice of those who fled from all parts of the country to the castle of Zion for protection. Instead of rejoicing that they had got safely thither, they lamented that they were forced to seek for shelter there: “How are we spoiled!<\/I> How are we stripped of all our possessions! We are greatly confounded,<\/I> ashamed of ourselves and our poverty;” for that is it that they complain of, that is it that they blush at the thoughts of, rather than of their sin: We are confounded<\/I> because we have forsaken the land<\/I> (forced so to do by the enemy), not because we have<\/I> forsaken the Lord, being drawn aside of our own lust and enticed–because our dwellings have cast us out,<\/I> not because our God has cast us off. Thus unhumbled hearts lament their calamity, but not their iniquity, the procuring cause of it. (2.) There is more still to come which shall be for a lamentation. Things are bad, but they are likely to be worse. Those whose land has spued them out<\/I> (as it did their predecessors the Canaanites, and justly, because they trod in their steps, Lev. xviii. 28<\/span>) complain that they are driven into the city, but, after a while, those of the city, and they with them, shall be forced thence too: Yet hear the word of the Lord;<\/I> he has something more to say to you (v.<\/I><\/span> 20<\/span>); let the women<\/I> hear it, whose tender spirits are apt to receive the impressions of grief and fear, for the men will not heed it, will not give it a patient hearing. The prophets will be glad to preach to a congregation of women that tremble at God’s word. Let your ear receive the word of God’s mouth,<\/I> and bid it welcome, though it be a word of terror. Let the women teach their daughters wailing;<\/I> this intimates that the trouble shall last long, grief shall be entailed upon the generation to come. Young people are apt to love mirth, and expect mirth, and are disposed to be gay and airy; but let the elder women teach the younger to be serious, tell them what a vale of tears they must expect to find this world, and train them up among the mourners in Zion, Tit 2:4<\/span>; Tit 2:5<\/span>. Let every one teach her neighbour lamentation;<\/I> this intimates that the trouble shall spread far, shall go from house to house. People shall not need to sympathize with their friends; they shall all have cause enough to mourn for themselves. Note, Those that are themselves affected with the terrors of the Lord should endeavour to affect others with them. The judgment here threatened is made to look terrible. [1.] Multitudes shall be slain, v.<\/I><\/span> 21<\/span>. Death shall ride in triumph, and there shall be no escaping his arrests when he comes with commission, neither within doors nor without. Not within doors, for let the doors be shut ever so fast, let them be ever so firmly locked and bolted, death comes up into our windows,<\/I> like a thief in the night; it steals upon us ere we are aware. Nor does it thus boldly attack the cottages only, but it has entered into our palaces,<\/I> the palaces of our princes and great men, though ever so stately, ever so strongly built and guarded. Note, No palaces can keep out death. Nor are those more safe that are abroad; death cuts off<\/I> even the children from without and the young men from the streets.<\/I> The children who might have been spared by the enemy in pity, because they had never been hurtful to them, and the young men who might have been spared in policy, because capable of being serviceable to them, shall fall together by the sword. It is usual now, even in the severest military executions, to put none to the sword. It is usual now, even in the severest military executions, to put none to the sword but those that are found in arms; but then even the boys and girls playing in the streets were sacrificed to the fury of the conqueror. [2.] Those that are slain shall be left unburied (v.<\/I><\/span> 22<\/span>): Speak, Thus saith the Lord<\/I> (for the confirmation and aggravation of what was before said), Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung,<\/I> neglected, and left to be offensive to the smell, as dung is. Common humanity obliges the survivors to bury the dead, even for their own sake; but here such numbers shall be slain, and those so dispersed all the country over, that it shall be an endless thing to bury them all, nor shall there be hands enough to do it, nor shall the conquerors permit it, and those that should do it shall be overwhelmed with grief, so that they shall have no heart to do it. The dead bodies even of the fairest and strongest, when they have lain awhile, become dung, such vile bodies have we. And here such multitudes shall fall that their bodies shall lie as thick as heaps of dung in the furrows of the field,<\/I> and no more notice shall be taken of them than of the handfuls<\/I> which the harvestman<\/I> drops for the gleaners, for none shall gather them,<\/I> but they shall remain in sight, monuments of divine vengeance, that the eye of the impenitent survivors may affect their heart. Slay them not,<\/I> bury them not, lest my people forget,<\/I> Ps. lix. 11<\/I><\/span>.<\/P> <\/p>\n Here the Prophet reproves more sharply the insensibility of the people, because none attended to the judgments of God; for though they were apparent, no one considered them. The question arose from astonishment; for it was like something dreadfully monstrous, that so few among the people knew that God would be the punisher of crimes so apparent to all. Had they a particle of understanding, they must have known that a dreadful calamity was nigh at hand, since they continued in so many ways to provoke God. And now that the labor of the Prophet, after having said what ought to have roused them all, had been all in vain; was not this doubly monstrous? For he had spent a long time, and had never ceased to cry; and yet all were deaf, nay, his teaching was treated with contempt. <\/p>\n Hence is his astonishment, when he says, Who is a wise man? he intimates that there was hardly one in a hundred whom the fear of God influenced. It must then be remembered, that the Prophet complains of the few number of those who perceived:, that it could not be but that God would shortly put forth his hand to punish the wickedness which then everywhere prevailed. But yet he exhorts all the faithful children of God to disregard the nmltitude, and to gather courage, and to make more account of God’s word than of the contumacy of them all. There are then two things in this sentence; for the question means, that few could be found among the people who were wise, and who applied their minds and thoughts to consider the miserable state of the people; but, on the other hand, he intimates that it is true wisdom in God’s faithful servants, not to despond, and not to follow the nmltitude. He then intimates that they are alone truly wise who consider God’s judgments before He openly executes them. There is a similar sentence in Psa 107:0<\/span> : 43; for the Prophet, after having spoken of God’s judgments, which are visible through the whole world, exclaims, <\/p>\n “<\/p>\n Who is a wise man, that he may understand these things?” <\/p>\n as though he had said, that though the works of God, which evidence both his goodness and his judgment, might indeed be observed in every part of the world, yet that all were blind. The Prophet then by this exclamation reprobates the insensibility of men, who overlook God’s judgments, though they are apparent before their eyes. So also the same thing is meant in this place, Who is a wise man? But we must further notice the second thing, to which I have referred, namely, that all the faithful are here encouraged, as the Prophet teaches us, that this is the rule of wisdom, — to open our eyes to see God’s judgments, which are hid from the world: while others are drawn away by their lusts or sunk in their stupor, the Prophet teaches us, that we are wise, when we duly consider, as I have already said, what the Lord has made known to us in his word. Hence it follows, that all the wise men of this world are foolish, who so harden themselves, that they do not perceive in God’s word what is yet open to their eyes. Who then is a wise man, and he will understand these things? <\/p>\n He afterwards adds, To whom has the mouth of Jehovah spoken to declare this? He complains here that there were no prophets. He said, at the beginning of the verse, that there were none wise, because all heedlessly despised the threatenings and judgments of God: now in the second place he adds, there were none to arouse the careless people who were asleep in their sins. But by this sentence he claims authority for himself; for though he was without associates and assistants, he yet intimates that his teaching was not, on that account of less value: “Be it,” he says, (for he speaks by way of concession,) “be it, that there is no prophet to recall the people from their sins, to exhort them to repent, to terrify the ungodly: however this may be, yet the Lord has appointed me to teach and to exhort the people.” We hence see that the Prophet claims for himself full and complete authority, though he alone denounced God’s vengeance. Many indeed then boasted that they were prophets; but they were only false flatterers. When the Prophet saw that many abused the name, and did not perform the office faithfully and sincerely, he set himself in opposition to them all; as though he had said, “It is enough that the Lord has commanded me to do this; I therefore denounce on you this calamity, which ye heedlessly disregard, because false teachers deeeive you by their mischievous adulations.” <\/p>\n Who will declare, he says, why the land is to perish, and to be laid waste like the desert, so that there should be no inhabitant? We may apply this to two periods. For when Jeremiah spoke, the kingdom was yet standing, and, as I have said, the Jews were not so subdued as to humble themselves before God: they were therefore still indulging themselves in their sins. Now whence did this indulgence proceed, except from their prosperous condition? Yet the Prophet says that the land had perished, and justly so; but he says this, because he did not judge of the people’s state according to what it appeared then to be, but according to the judgment which he saw by the prophetic spirit was impending over them. And we may extend this farther; as though Jeremiah had said, “When God shall have so chastised this people, that there may be as it were a visible monument of celestial wrath; there shall yet be then no prophets to remind them whence these evils have proceeded.” This indeed we know was the case, when the city was partly burnt and partly demolished, and the temple pulled down: the contumacy of the people was so great, that their hearts were stone, and their minds iron. There was then a monstrous hardness in that calamity. They indeed cried for their evils; but no one perceived that God was executing what he had denounced for so many years. For Jeremiah, as we have said, exercised his office of teaching for a long time: but before he began, Isaiah had already been were out; and before Isaiah, Micah had prophesied. Though, however, threatenings had been renewed daily for a hundred years, and terrors had been announced, yet there was no one who attended. (244) <\/p>\n This passage, then, may be thus explained, — That when threatenings should appear by the effect not to have been announced in vain, yet the people would even then be insensible, for no one would attend to nor consider God’s judgment: they would all indeed feel their evils, but no one would regard the hand of him who smote them, as it is said in another place. (Isa 9:13<\/span>.) Either meaning may be allowed; but, as I think, the Prophet here deplores the hardness and contumacy of the people at that time; as though he had said, that there were none who considered God’s judgments, and that there was no prophet to rouse those who were torpid. But yet, as it has been stated, he thus intimates, that he had sufficient authority, though he had no associate or assistant; for he had been chosen by God, and had been sent to carry this message. It follows — <\/p>\n (244) Somewhat a different view may be taken of this verse, as it will appear from the following version, — <\/p>\n Who is the man that is wise, And he will understand this, — And to whom the mouth of Jehovah has spoken, And he will declare it, — Even why destroyed is the land, Made waste like the desert, without a traveler. <\/p>\n The wise man is the same with him to whom God had spoken: and what he had to understand and to declare was the reason why the land was destroyed. Then in the next verse God himself, by the mouth of his prophet, makes this known. “Made waste” is rendered “burnt up” by the Septuagint and the Vulgate, but desolated, or desolate, by the Targum, Syriac, and Arabic; and no doubt rightly, as “without a traveler,” or one passing through, explains what is meant: in like manner, “without an inhabitant,” in the preceding verse, is an explanation of “the cities of Judah” being made “desolate,” or rather, entirely desolate. — Ed. <\/p>\n (12) Who is the wise man . . .?<\/strong>Sage (comp. Jer. 8:9<\/span>) and prophet are alike called on to state why the misery of which Jeremiah speaks is to come upon the people. But they are asked in vain, and Jehovah, through the prophet, makes answer to Himself.<\/p>\n That none passeth through.<\/strong>The English is ambiguous. That stands either for a relative with wilderness as its antecedent, or as a conjunction equivalent to so that. Better, and none there is that passeth through. 12<\/strong>. <\/strong> For what the land perisheth <\/strong> This is the question which is proposed for the consideration of the wise men, and should stand out: Wherefore doth the land come to ruin?<\/p>\n Those Who Are Truly Wise Will Know The Truth About God And Will Thus Understand Why He Acts Like He Does In Bringing Final Judgment On Judah ( Jer 9:12-26<\/strong><\/span><\/strong> ).<\/p>\n <\/strong><\/p>\n The passage commences by asking who the true wise man is, the one who will understand why YHWH will do what He is about to do in devastating the land and sending His people into exile where they will be pursued by the sword until they are consumed. And the question is answered as it being the one who understands and knows YHWH for What He is, the One Who practises covenant love, justice and righteousness throughout the earth. Once that is understood all else falls into place. Meanwhile YHWH calls on the mourning women to lament in unison with Zion over their ruin, and ends with the warning that His judgment will not only be visited on Judah but on all the nations round about (something expanded on in chapters 46-49).<\/p>\n There is a clear chiastic pattern to this part of the narrative, as follows:<\/p>\n a <\/strong> The call to the wise man and the prophet to explain YHWH’s actions and YHWH’s response to their silence (Jer 9:12-14<\/span>).<\/p>\n b <\/strong> The warning of what will happen to Judah as a result (Jer 9:15-16<\/span>).<\/p>\n c <\/strong> YHWH’s call to the mourning women to raise up a lament over Judah (Jer 9:17-18<\/span>).<\/p>\n d <\/strong> The people as a whole mourn because of their desolation and ruin (Jer 9:19<\/span>).<\/p>\n c <\/strong> YHWH’s further call to the women to raise up a lament over Judah (Jer 9:20-21<\/span>).<\/p>\n b A further warning of what will happen to Judah (Jer 9:22<\/span>).<\/p>\n a <\/strong> The call to the wise and the mighty and the wealthy calling on them to recognise What YHWH is, and what He will do to the nations (Jer 9:23-26<\/span>).<\/p>\n Jer 9:12<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘Who is the wise man who may understand this?<\/p>\n And he to whom the mouth of YHWH has spoken, that he may declare it?<\/p>\n Why is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness,<\/p>\n So that no one passes through?’<\/p>\n Jeremiah turns in his questioning to the two kinds of people who strictly speaking should be able to understand and declare the truth, the wise man who claims understanding and the prophet who claims that YHWH has spoken through him. But the clear implication is that both are lacking, and that, despite what they may claim about themselves, there are no wise men or prophets in Jerusalem who can cope with his query. We will learn later that this is because they do not have true understanding, that is, they do not truly know YHWH for What He is (Jer 9:24<\/span>). And the question now put to them is this, “Why is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?”<\/p>\n Jer 9:13-14<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘And YHWH says,<\/p>\n “Because they have forsaken my law,<\/p>\n Which I set before them,<\/p>\n And have not obeyed my voice,<\/p>\n Nor walked in it,<\/p>\n But have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart,<\/p>\n And after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them,”<\/p>\n Because they can give no answer to the question YHWH Himself provides the answer. It is because they have forsaken His Instruction (Torah, Law) which He had set before them, and because they have not obeyed His voice or walked in accordance with it. Rather they have walked in accordance with the stubbornness of their own hearts, and after the Baalim (‘lords’, indicating all false gods and especially those involved in Baal and Asherah worship) concerning which their fathers taught them. Thus they have listened to their own stubborn hearts rather than obeying the voice of YHWH, and they have followed after their false gods, listening to their fathers, rather than following after and listening to YHWH.<\/p>\n Jer 9:15-16<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n “Therefore thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel,<\/p>\n Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood,<\/p>\n And give them water of gall to drink.”<\/p>\n “I will scatter them also among the nations,<\/p>\n Whom neither they nor their fathers have known,<\/p>\n And I will send the sword after them,<\/p>\n Until I have consumed them.”<\/p>\n And the consequence of their failure will be that ‘YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel’ will feed them with wormwood and give them gall to drink. Both wormwood and gall have the same characteristic, that they are very bitter, and even poisonous, and both regularly symbolise awful judgment (see for the wormwood varieties of plant Amo 5:7<\/span>; Amo 6:12<\/span>; Pro 5:4<\/span>; Lamentation Jer 3:15<\/span>. For the gall plant see Jer 8:14<\/span>; Hos 10:14<\/span>; Deu 29:18<\/span>; Amo 6:12<\/span>; Lam 3:19<\/span>. Drinking gall probably has in mind an extract from the colocynth gourd fruit). The awful judgment is then spelled out, He will scatter them among the nations (Lev 26:33<\/span>; Deu 28:64<\/span>) who were unknown to either them or their fathers (compare Deu 28:49<\/span>), and He will send a sword after them in order to further consume them (compare Lev 26:36-37<\/span>). Their cosy life in Canaan is over. There will be no rest from their troubles, and it will be away from the promised land. Compare the very descriptive words in Deu 28:65-67<\/span>. In other words they will be subjected to the curses of the covenant.<\/p>\n There is an interesting contrast here with Jeremiah’s desire to leave the land for a khan in the wilderness. He wanted to get away from their corruption. They will be removed because they have made the land corrupt.<\/p>\n ‘YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel.’ This is a title found regularly throughout Jeremiah. It occurred previously in Jer 7:3<\/span> where YHWH had said, “Amend your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place, ” thus associating it with the offered continuation of the covenant. And it occurred in Jer 7:21<\/span> where YHWH said, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and eat flesh” thereby indicating that He no longer saw their sacrifices as being the ones that He had ordained (of which the burnt offering could not be eaten), and thus indicating that He no longer saw them as within the covenant. There could, however, be no greater evidence of their ceasing to be within the covenant than that of being expelled from the land and scattered among the nations as here (compare Lev 18:28-29<\/span>).<\/p>\n Jer 9:17-18<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘Thus says YHWH of hosts,<\/p>\n “Consider you, and call for the mourning women,<\/p>\n That they may come,<\/p>\n And send for the skilful (wise) women,<\/p>\n That they may come,”<\/p>\n ‘And let them make haste,<\/p>\n And take up a wailing for us,<\/p>\n That our eyes may run down with tears,<\/p>\n And our eyelids gush out with waters.’<\/p>\n YHWH now calls on the nation to in turn call on the mourning women and the skilful singing women to come in haste and take up a wailing and lamentation for the people so that they may learn how to weep more profusely. Judah’s funeral is at hand and it is a time for deep mourning, with the result that the women who are skilled in the art are called on to lead it with a view to all then partaking in it. This practise of using professional mourners recognised that those most deeply affected often did not always feel like expressing themselves fully or might be somewhat shy of calling attention to themselves. Thus the presence of professionals enable them to express their grief more fully. (In Judah, as elsewhere, mourning was a skilled art exercised by professionals who were called on at funerals and times of dire need. See Jer 22:18<\/span>; Ecc 12:5<\/span>; Amo 5:16<\/span>; Eze 27:32<\/span>; Mar 5:38<\/span>. Certain Egyptian tomb paintings also depict boatloads of professional mourners, with their hair and clothing suitably dishevelled, accompanying a dead body on its way to burial).<\/p>\n A deliberate play on ‘wise’ may be intended in comparison with Jer 9:12<\/span> with the idea being that ‘the truly wise who understand’ will be weeping and wailing at what is coming..<\/p>\n Jer 9:19<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,<\/p>\n How we are ruined! we are greatly confounded,<\/p>\n Because we have had to leave the land,<\/p>\n Because they have cast down our dwellings.’<\/p>\n And the reason for the call is because a wailing is coming out of Zion, which needs supplementing by others because of the dire situation. It is the cry of those who have been cast out of the land and whose dwellings have been destroyed. Thus they see themselves as ruined, and as greatly confounded. It is a prophetic foretaste of the coming judgment, and is the central theme of the passage.<\/p>\n Jer 9:20<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘Yet hear the word of YHWH, O you women,<\/p>\n And let your ear receive the word of his mouth,<\/p>\n And teach your daughters wailing,<\/p>\n And every one her neighbour lamentation.’<\/p>\n YHWH’s call is now expanded from the professional women mourners to all the women of Judah. They are to hear what He is saying and to teach their daughters how to wail, and their neighbours how to lament. For the whole land is to be filled with mourning.<\/p>\n Jer 9:21<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘For death is come up into our windows,<\/p>\n It is entered into our palaces,<\/p>\n To cut off the children from outdoors,<\/p>\n The young men from the streets.’<\/p>\n The reason for the mourning is made clear. Death has taken over the whole of their society. It has come through their windows (like paid assassins), and entered their palaces (like ravagers in search of spoil), and it has cut off the children playing in the streets, and the young men gathered there (compare Jer 6:11<\/span>). All are involved. This can only be either pestilence, which can spread and strike anywhere, or invaders who are irresistible once the city has fallen. This is presumably the slaughter over which the prophet (or YHWH) had wept in Jer 9:1<\/span>.<\/p>\n Some see the idea of death (maweth) coming in through the window as rooted in Canaanite and Babylonian mythology. In the Baal myths we find Baal refusing to have windows in his palace lest Moth (death) climb in and seize members of his family<\/p>\n Jer 9:22<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n “Speak!” the word of YHWH, “The dead bodies of men will fall as dung on the open field, and as the handful after the harvester, and none will gather them.”<\/p>\n YHWH then abruptly calls on Jeremiah to ‘speak out’ because ‘His word’ is concerning the dead bodies which will fall on the open fields, lying there rotting until they become dung, and deserted there like the gleanings which lie in the fields once the harvesters have passed by. And there will be none to gather the gleanings for those who normally did so (the body gatherers in the case of the dead) would all themselves be dead. For this picture of many left unburied compare Jer 7:33<\/span>.<\/p>\n All present would have seen dung covered fields as farmers flung dung on them as they sought to renew their small patches of land, and would bring to mind the fields temporarily filled with small sheaves of grain cast aside by the reaper as he emptied his hand so that he could begin again to fashion another sheaf, with the intention of collecting up all the small sheaves when he had finished. In the same way would dead bodies be scattered over the fields, but with none to gather them.<\/p>\n Jer 9:23<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n ‘Thus says YHWH, “Let not the wise glory in his wisdom, nor let the mighty glory in his might, let not the rich glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this, that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am YHWH who exercises covenant love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, the word of YHWH.”<\/p>\n Reflecting back on Jer 9:12<\/span> where the wise man and the prophet failed to be able to discern why YHWH did what He did, and on Jer 9:17<\/span> where the wise were mourners, YHWH now tells us what ‘the wise — the mighty — and the wealthy’ are not to glory in, (their own wisdom, their own might and their own riches), and what they are to glory in, (‘having understanding and knowing YHWH’). Whilst Jer 9:12<\/span> had concentrated on supposedly ‘illuminated’ men, (the ‘wise man’ (Ha ish hechacam) and the prophet), this verse extends the idea to all who saw themselves as ‘wise (chacam) and great’. And it underlines that what is of vital importance to all is to have true understanding and to truly know YHWH in all that He essentially is. It is being emphasised that that was what men should ‘glory’ in, not the failing attainments of this world. And ‘What He is’ is then summed up in terms of the exercise of three attributes, covenant love, justice and righteousness throughout the whole earth, which are the things in which YHWH delights as confirmed by His sure word. ‘What does YHWH require of you but to fulfil justice, to show covenant love and to walk humbly with your God?’ (Mic 6:8<\/span>).<\/p>\n Indeed had they understood and known YHWH they would not have been puzzled as to why He was about to do what He was about to do (Jer 9:12-14<\/span>). They would have recognised that it was perfectly in accordance with what He was revealed to be. He was strong on covenant love, but they had broken the covenant, had tossed it away and had failed to love YHWH. He was strong on justice, but they had made a mockery of justice. He was strong on righteousness, but they were totally unrighteous (not walking in His righteous ways as laid out in His Instruction). The contrasts are also interesting. Covenant love, involving close association with God’s wisdom, contrasts with men being ‘wise’ in their own eyes. True justice contrasts with ‘the mighty’, who all too often sought to override justice for its own ends. Righteousness contrasts with ‘the rich’ and with wealth, which tends to divert men from the way of righteousness (compare Pro 30:8-9<\/span>; Mat 19:23<\/span>).<\/p>\n It was because of the essential nature of God in contrast with Judah’s dependence on earthly wisdom, might and wealth, that judgment was coming on Judah. They had followed their own ways, ignoring the covenant, they had looked to their own might, ignoring justice for the helpless and needy, and they had gloried in their own wealth, spurning righteousness and the need to hear the cry of the poor. All these things revealed a lack of understanding, and of ‘knowing YHWH’ essentially, something which was a mark of true believers. No wonder then that YHWH had had to act.<\/p>\n This is a remarkable equivalent to ‘flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but My Father in Heaven’ (Mat 16:17<\/span>), and ‘You have hidden these things from the wise and understanding and have revealed them to babes’ (Mat 11:25<\/span>), for the only ones here who can be seen as having understanding and glorying in what YHWH is are Jeremiah’s adherents.<\/p>\n It is a salutary thought that today men and women certainly boast in how clever they are, how strong they are, and how wealthy they are. It is such people who are feted. But those who reveal ‘covenant love’ (a true and humble following of Jesus Christ), true concern for the rights of others, and true righteousness as they walk in the ways of God are often thrust into the background and even vilified.<\/p>\n His Punishment Must Also Come On All Their Neighbours.<\/p>\nFuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Adam Clarke’s Commentary and Critical Notes on the Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: English Annotations on the Holy Bible by Matthew Poole<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Jamieson, Fausset and Brown’s Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible <\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: John Gill’s Exposition of the Entire Bible<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Matthew Henry’s Whole Bible Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Calvin’s Complete Commentary<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
<\/em><\/p>\nFuente: Ellicott’s Commentary for English Readers (Old and New Testaments)<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n
Fuente: Whedon’s Commentary on the Old and New Testaments<\/b><\/i><\/h4>\n