Jeremiah 12:7-9
7. I have forsaken--Jehovah will forsake His temple and the people peculiarly His. The mention of God's close tie to them, as heretofore His, aggravates their ingratitude, and shows that their past spiritual privileges will not prevent God from punishing them. beloved of my soul--image from a wife (Jr 11:15; Is 54:5). 8. is unto me--is become unto Me: behaves towards Me as a lion which roars against a man, so that he withdraws from the place where he hears it: so I withdrew from My people, once beloved, but now an object of abhorrence because of their rebellious cries against Me. 9. speckled bird--Many translate, "a ravenous beast, the hyena"; the corresponding Arabic word means hyena; so the Septuagint. But the Hebrew always elsewhere means "a bird of prey." The Hebrew for "speckled" is from a root "to color"; answering to the Jewish blending together with paganism the altogether diverse Mosaic ritual. The neighboring nations, birds of prey like herself (for she had sinfully assimilated herself to them), were ready to pounce upon her. assemble ... beasts of ... field--The Chaldeans are told to gather the surrounding heathen peoples as allies against Judah (Is 56:9; Eze 34:5). Jeremiah 50:17
17. lions--hostile kings (Jr 4:7; 49:19). Assyria--(2Ki 17:6, Shalmaneser; Ezr 4:2, Esar-haddon). Nebuchadnezzar--(2Ki 24:10, 14). Ezekiel 34:5
5. scattered, because ... no shepherd--that is, none worthy of the name, though there were some called shepherds (1Ki 22:17; Mt 9:36). Compare Mt 26:31, where the sheep were scattered when the true Shepherd was smitten. God calls them "My sheep"; for they were not, as the shepherds treated them, their patrimony whereby to "feed themselves." meat to all ... beasts--They became a prey to the Syrians, Ammon, Moab, and Assyria.
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