Jeremiah 13:17

13:12-17 As the bottle was fitted to hold the wine, so the sins of the people made them vessels of wrath, fitted for the judgments of God; with which they should be filled till they caused each other's destruction. The prophet exhorts them to give glory to God, by confessing their sins, humbling themselves in repentance, and returning to his service. Otherwise they would be carried into other countries in all the darkness of idolatry and wickedness. All misery, witnessed or foreseen, will affect a feeling mind, but the pious heart must mourn most over the afflictions of the Lord's flock.

But if ye will not hear it,.... The advice and exhortation now given, to repent of sin, be humble before God, and glorify him: my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; he would no more act in a public character; but, laying aside his office as a prophet and public instructor, would retire to some corner, where he might not be seen or heard, and there lament the sins of the people, particularly their "pride", which had been the cause of their ruin; or mourn on account of their glory and excellency, as the word may be rendered, which would depart from them; their city and temple would be burnt; and their king, princes, and nobles, and the flower of the nation, carried into Babylon; so the Jews (a) interpret it of the glory of Israel, which should cease from them, and be given to the nations of the world; See Gill on Jeremiah 13:9; mine eyes shall weep sore; or, "shedding tears it shall shed tears" (b); in great abundance, being, as he wished his eyes might be, a fountain of tears to weep night and day, Jeremiah 9:1, and run down with tears; or, "mine eye let down tears" (c); upon the cheek in great plenty.

The phrases are expressive of the sorrow of his heart for the distresses of his people, and of the certainty of them; the reason of which follows: because the Lord's flock is carried away captive: that is, the Lord's people, as the Targum; to whom he stood in the relation of a shepherd, and they to him under the character of a flock; and this was what so sensibly touched the heart of the prophet, that they were a people that the Lord had an interest in, a regard unto, and among whom he had been formerly glorified; wherefore it was to the loss of his honour and interest that these should be given into the hands of their enemies, and be carried captive; and this troubled him, for nothing lies nearer the heart of a good man than the glory of God. (a) T. Bab. Chagiga, fol. 5. 2.((b) "et lachrymando lachrymabitur", Pagninus, Montanus, Schmidt. (c) "et descendet oculus meus lachrymam", Montanus, "lachrymis", Cocceius; "descendere faciet", Pagninus; "demittet", Targ.

But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall {f} weep in secret places for your pride; and my eye shall weep bitterly, and run down with tears, because the LORD'S flock is carried away captive. (f) You will surely be led away captive and I, according to my affection toward you, will weep and lament for your stubbornness.

(17) My soul shall weep in secret places for your pride. —The words present no difficulty that requires explanation, but deserve to be noted in their exquisite tenderness as characteristic of the prophet’s temperament (comp. Lamentations 1:16 ), reminding us of the tears shed over Jerusalem ( Luke 19:41 ) and of St. Paul’s “great heaviness and continual sorrow” ( Romans 9:2 ). Nothing remained for one who found his labours fruitless but silent sorrow and intercession. The “secret places” find a parallel in our Lord’s withdrawal for prayer into a “solitary place” ( Mark 1:35 ).

The Lord's flock - The people carried away captive with Jeconiah formed the Jewish Church, as we are expressly told, whereas Zedekiah and the people of Jerusalem possessed only the externals of the Church and not its reality. It is for this reason that the seventy years' exile counts from Jeconiah's captivity.

That is, if you will not listen to what I say, take heed to what I say, and obey the counsel which I give you, I shall seriously and secretly mourn for your rebellion and obstinacy, which is rooted in your pride, and lifting up yourselves against the Lord’s monitions and counsels; and I shall also mourn for your calamity when it comes upon you, I shall have a personal and family concern with you, but that will not so much trouble me as to consider that you who are the church and people of God should be led into captivity.

Knowing their obstinacy, the prophet adds: if ye hear it (what I have declared to you) not, my soul shall weep. In the concealment, quo secedere lugentes amant, ut impensius flere possint (Chr. B. Mich.). For the pride, sc. in which ye persist. With tears mine eye shall run down because the flock of Jahveh, i.e., the people of God (cf. Zechariah 10:3 ), is carried away into captivity (perfect. proph).

[Bible] 13:8. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: 13:9. Thus saith the Lord: After this manner will I make the pride of Juda, and the great pride of Jerusalem to rot. 13:10. This wicked people, that will not hear my words, and that walk in the perverseness of their heart, and have gone after strange gods to serve them, and to adore them: and they shall be as this girdle, which is fit for no use. 13:11. For as the girdle sticketh close to the loins of a man, so have I brought close to me all the house of Israel, and all the house of Juda, saith the Lord: that they might be my people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear. 13:12. Thou shalt speak therefore to them this word: Thus saith the Lord the God of Israel: Every bottle shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to thee: Do we not know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? 13:13. And thou shalt say to them: Thus saith the Lord: Behold I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings of the race of David that sit upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. 13:14. And I will scatter them every man from his brother, and fathers and sons in like manner, saith the Lord: I will not spare, and I will not pardon: nor will I have mercy, but to destroy them. 13:15. Hear ye, and give ear: Be not proud, for the Lord hath spoken. 13:16. Give ye glory to the Lord your God, before it be dark, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains: you shall look for light, and he will turn it into the shadow of death, and into darkness. 13:17. But if you will not hear this, my soul shall weep in secret for your pride: weeping it shall weep, and my eyes shall run down with tears, because the flock of the Lord is carried away captive. 13:18. Say to the king, and to the queen: Humble yourselves, sit down: for the crown of your glory is come down from your head.