Jeremiah 9:16

of his enemies, he says that they had conspired to put him to death, and said, "Let us set wood for his bread." (Jeremiah 11:19) By these words then Jeremiah intended to express the dreadful vengeance of God; for he would not onty deprive the Jews of his benefits, but also turn their bread into poison, and their water into bitterness. We now then perceive the Prophet's meaning; and at the same time we must observe the expression, the God of Israel The foolish boasting, that they were the descendants of Abraham, and that they were a holy people, chosen by God, always deluded the Jews. In order then to check their glorying, the Prophet says, float the God who spoke to them was the God whose name they falsely professed, and that he was the God who had chosen the children of Abraham as his peculiar people. It follows -- But the reason why this herb is mentioned is its bitterness, — and not its wholesome effects. It was hence chosen to designate what is afflictive and distressing. This appears from. Proverbs 5:4, "bitter as wormwood." — Ed. See note on Jeremiah 8:14. Jeremiah 9:16 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. 16. Et dispergam eos inter gentes, quas non noverunt ipsi, neque patres eorum, et mittam post eos gladium, donec consumpsero ipsos.

The Targum is, "I will bring tribulation upon them, bitter as wormwood:'' and give them water of gall to drink; meaning either of the entrails of a beast so called, or of the juice of the herb hemlock, as the word is rendered in Hosea 10:4, as Kimchi; or of the poison of a serpent, as Jarchi; and so the Targum, "and I will give them the cup of cursing to drink as the heads of serpents:'' signifying that their punishment would be very severe, though just. Jeremiah 9:16 Ver. 16. I will scatter them also among the Heathen,.... Besides the bitter judgments of famine and pestilence during the siege, what remained of them should be carried captive out of their own land into foreign countries, than which nothing could be more distressing: whom neither they or their fathers have known; a circumstance greatly aggravating their captivity: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them; or men that kill with the sword, as the Targum: it chiefly regards such of them as were scattered among the Moabites and Ammonites, and especially that went into Egypt; see Jeremiah 44:27. Jeremiah 9:17 Ver. 17. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider ye,....

9:12-22 In Zion the voice of joy and praise used to be heard, while the people kept close to God; but sin has altered the sound, it is now the voice of lamentation. Unhumbled hearts lament their calamity, but not their sin, which is the cause of it. Let the doors be shut ever so fast, death steals upon us. It enters the palaces of princes and great men, though stately, strongly built, and guarded. Nor are those more safe that are abroad; death cuts off even the children from without, and the young men from the streets. Hearken to the word of the Lord, and mourn with godly sorrow. This alone can bring true comfort; and it can turn the heaviest afflictions into precious mercies.

I will scatter them also among the Heathen,.... Besides the bitter judgments of famine and pestilence during the siege, what remained of them should be carried captive out of their own land into foreign countries, than which nothing could be more distressing: whom neither they or their fathers have known; a circumstance greatly aggravating their captivity: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them; or men that kill with the sword, as the Targum: it chiefly regards such of them as were scattered among the Moabites and Ammonites, and especially that went into Egypt; see Jeremiah 44:27.

Verse 16. I will scatter them also , etc. (comp. Deuteronomy 28:64 ; Leviticus 26:33 ). I will send a [the] sword after them . Even in the land of their captivity they shall have no rest. A special prophecy to the same effect was addressed to the Jewish fugitives in Egypt ( Jeremiah 44:27 ). In both cases it is the unbelievers who are referred to; the nation as such was, through its Divine calling, indestructible. Jeremiah 9:16

This verse is taken from Leviticus 26:33 . The fulfillment of what had been so long before appointed as the penalty for the violation of Yahweh's covenant is one of the most remarkable proofs that prophecy was something more than human foresight. Till I have consumed them - See Jeremiah 4:27 note. How is this "consuming" consistent with the promise to the contrary there given? Because it is limited by the terms of Jeremiah 9:7. Previously to Nebuchadnezzars destruction of Jerusalem God removed into safety those in whom the nation should revive.

I will scatter them also among the heathen; either you shall wander up and down among strangers, like Cain’s curse; or rather, you shall have no friend abroad, but be sold as so many slaves from person to person. Whom neither they nor their fathers have known; part of the curse threatened Deu 28:64 . And I will send a sword after them: neither shall this serve their turn, but I will follow them with the sword till they be destroyed; probably meant of those that might escape out of Jerusalem, and flee into Egypt, the Chaldeans should pursue them thither, and either take or slay them there, i.e. such of them as were appointed for destruction; for otherwise they were not all consumed, a full end was not to be made, as is promised, Jeremiah 5:10 .

Zion laid waste. - Jeremiah 9:16 . "Thus hath Jahveh of hosts said: Give heed and call for mourning women, that they may come, and send to the wise women, that they may come, Jeremiah 9:17 . And may make haste and strike up a lamentation for us, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush out with water. Jeremiah 9:18 . For loud lamentation is heard out of Zion: How are we spoiled, sore put to shame! because we have left the land, because they have thrown down our dwellings. Jeremiah 9:19 . For year, ye women, the word of Jahve, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth, and teach your daughters lamentation, and let one teach the other the song of mourning! Jeremiah 9:20 . For death cometh up by our windows, he entereth into our palaces, to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the thoroughfares. Jeremiah 9:21 . Speak: Thus runs the saying of Jahve: And the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the field, and as a sheaf behind the shearer, which none gathereth." In this strophe we have a further account of the execution of the judgment, and a poetical description of the vast harvest death is to have in Zion. The citizens of Zion are called upon to give heed to the state of affairs now in prospect, i.e., the judgment preparing, and are to assemble mourning women that they may strike up a dirge for the dead. התבּונן, to be attentive, give heed to a thing; cf. Jeremiah 2:10.

Women cunning in song are to come with speed (תּמהרנה takes the place of an adverb). The form תּבואינה (Psalm 45:16; 1 Samuel 10:7) alternates with תּבואנהּ, the usual form in this verb, e.g., Genesis 30:38; 1 Kings 3:16, etc., in order to produce an alternating form of expression . "For us" Ng. understands of those who call the mourning women, and in it he finds "something unusual," because ordinarily mourners are summoned to lament for those already dead, i.e., others than those who summon them. "But here they are to raise their laments for the very persons who summon them, and for the death of these same, which has yet to happen." There is a misunderstanding at the bottom of this remark. The "for us" is not said of the callers; for these are addressed in the second person. If Ng.'s view were right, it must be "for you," not "for us." True, the lxx has εφ ̓ ὑμᾶς; but Hitz. has rejected this reading as a simplification and weakening expression, and as disturbing the plan. "For us" is used by the people taken collectively, the nation as such, which is to be so sorely afflicted and chastised by death that it is time for the mourning women to raise their dirge, that so the nation may give vent to its grief in tears.