Jer 10:21 | KD | STEP | The cause of this calamity is that the shepherds, i.e., the princes and leaders of the people (see on ; ), are become brutish, have not sought Jahveh, i.e., have not sought wisdom and guidance from the Lord. And so they could not deal wisely, i.e., rule the people with wisdom. השׂכּיל is here not merely: have prosperity, but: show wisdom, deal wisely, securing thus the blessed results of wisdom. This is shown both by the contrasted "become brutish" and by the parallel passage, Jer 3:15. מרעיתם, their pasturing, equivalent to "flock of their pasturing," their flock, Jer 23:1. The calamity over which the people mourns is drawing near, Jer 10:22. Already is heard the tremendous din of a mighty host which approaches from the north to make the cities of Judah a wilderness. קול שׁמוּעה is an exclamation: listen to the rumour, it is coming near. From a grammatical point of view the subject to "comes" is "rumour," but in point of sense it is that of which the rumour gives notice. Graf weakens the sense by gathering the words into one assertory clause: "They hear a rumour come." The "great commotion" is that of an army on the march, the clattering of the weapons, the stamping and neighing of the war-horses; cf. ; Jer 8:16. From the land of midnight, the north, cf. ; , etc. "To make the cities," etc., cf. ; Jer 9:10. - The rumour of the enemy’s approach drives the people to prayer, -25. The prayer of these verses is uttered in the name of the congregation. It begins with the confession: Not with man is his way, i.e., it is not within man’s power to arrange the course of his life, nor in the power of the man who walks to fix his step (וbefore הכין merely marking the connection of the thought: cf. Ew. §348, a ). The antithesis to לאדם and לאישׁ is ליהוה, with God; cf. ; : Man’s heart deviseth his way, but Jahveh establisheth the steps. The thought is not: it is not in man’s option to walk in straight or crooked, good or evil ways, but: the directing of man, the way by which he must go, lies not in his own but in God’s power. Hitz. justly finds here the wisdom that admits: " Mit unserer Macht ist nichts getan ," - man’s destiny is ordained not by himself, but by God. Upon this acquiescence in God’s dispensation of events follows the petition: Chasten me, for I have deserved punishment, but chasten בּמשׁפּט, acc. to right, not in Thine anger; cf. ; Psa 38:2. A chastening in anger is the judgment of wrath that shall fall on obstinate sinners and destroy them. A chastening acc. to right is one such as is demanded by right (judgment), as the issue of God’s justice, in order to the reclamation and conversion of the repentant sinner. "Lest Thou make me little," insignificant, puny; not merely, diminish me, make me smaller than I now am. For such a decrease of the people would result even from a gentle chastisement. There is no comparative force in the words. To make small, in other words, reduce to a small, insignificant people. This would be at variance with "right," with God’s ordained plan in regard to His people. The expression is not equivalent to: not to make an utter end, , etc. The people had no call to pray that they might escape being made an utter end of; thus much had been promised by God, ; Jer 5:10. - God is asked to pour forth His fury upon the heathen who know not the Lord nor call upon His name, because they seek to extirpate Jacob (the people of Israel) as the people of God, at this time found in Judah alone. The several words in suggest the fury with which the heathen proceed to the destruction of Israel. The present verse is reproduced in , a psalm written during the exile, or at least after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; but in the reproduction the energetic expansion of the "devoured" is omitted. Judah’s Faithlessness to Covenant Obligations, and the Consequences Thereof - Jeremiah 11-13 In the first part of this compilation of discourses ( ) Judah is upbraided for disloyalty to the covenant, on account of which people and kingdom are threatened with sore disaster. In the second part (11:18-12:17), the murderous attempt of the people of Anathoth against the prophet’s life ( ) gives occasion for a description of Judah’s irreclaimable perverseness; while Jeremiah’s expostulation with God as to the prosperity of godless men, and the reproof therefor received by him from God ( ), call forth an announcement that, in spite of God’s long-suffering, judgment on Judah and all nations will not be for ever deferred ( ). Finally, in the third part, Jer 13, we have first a further account, by means of a symbolical action to be performed by the prophet, of the abasement of Judah’s pride in banishment to Euphrates ( ); and next, an account of the judgment about to fall on Judah in the destruction of Jerusalem, and this both in figurative and in direct language ( -27). From the contents of the discourses it appears unquestionable that we have here, gathered into the unity of a written record, various oral addresses of Jeremiah, together with some of the experiences that befell him in the exercise of his calling. There is no foundation for the assertion, that is a self-complete prophetic discourse (Hitz.), or a supplement to the rest, written in the last years of Jehoiakim (Graf); nor for the assumption of several commentators, that the composition of c. 13 falls into the time of Jehoiachin - as will be shown when we come to expound the passages referred to. The discourse throughout contains nothing that might not have been spoken or have happened in the time of Josiah; nor have we here any data for determining precisely the dates of the several portions of the whole discourse. Judah’s Disloyalty to the Covenant, with the Consequences Thereof In is a short summary of the covenant made with the fathers; in is an account of the breaking of this covenant by Judah, and of the calamity which results therefrom; and in further description of this calamity.

‏ Jeremiah 10:21

The cause of this calamity is that the shepherds, i.e., the princes and leaders of the people (see on Jer 2:8; Jer 3:15), are become brutish, have not sought Jahveh, i.e., have not sought wisdom and guidance from the Lord. And so they could not deal wisely, i.e., rule the people with wisdom. השׂכּיל is here not merely: have prosperity, but: show wisdom, deal wisely, securing thus the blessed results of wisdom. This is shown both by the contrasted "become brutish" and by the parallel passage, Jer 3:15. מרעיתם, their pasturing, equivalent to "flock of their pasturing," their flock, Jer 23:1.

The calamity over which the people mourns is drawing near, Jer 10:22. Already is heard the tremendous din of a mighty host which approaches from the north to make the cities of Judah a wilderness. קול שׁמוּעה is an exclamation: listen to the rumour, it is coming near. From a grammatical point of view the subject to "comes" is "rumour," but in point of sense it is that of which the rumour gives notice. Graf weakens the sense by gathering the words into one assertory clause: "They hear a rumour come." The "great commotion" is that of an army on the march, the clattering of the weapons, the stamping and neighing of the war-horses; cf. Jer 6:23; Jer 8:16. From the land of midnight, the north, cf. Jer 1:14; Jer 4:6, etc. "To make the cities," etc., cf. Jer 4:7; Jer 9:10. - The rumour of the enemy’s approach drives the people to prayer, Jer 10:23-25. The prayer of these verses is uttered in the name of the congregation. It begins with the confession: Not with man is his way, i.e., it is not within man’s power to arrange the course of his life, nor in the power of the man who walks to fix his step (וbefore הכין merely marking the connection of the thought: cf. Ew. §348, a). The antithesis to לאדם and לאישׁ is ליהוה, with God; cf. Psa 37:23; Pro 16:9 : Man’s heart deviseth his way, but Jahveh establisheth the steps. The thought is not: it is not in man’s option to walk in straight or crooked, good or evil ways, but: the directing of man, the way by which he must go, lies not in his own but in God’s power. Hitz. justly finds here the wisdom that admits: "Mit unserer Macht ist nichts getan," - man’s destiny is ordained not by himself, but by God. Upon this acquiescence in God’s dispensation of events follows the petition: Chasten me, for I have deserved punishment, but chasten בּמשׁפּט, acc. to right, not in Thine anger; cf. Psa 6:2; Psa 38:2. A chastening in anger is the judgment of wrath that shall fall on obstinate sinners and destroy them. A chastening acc. to right is one such as is demanded by right (judgment), as the issue of God’s justice, in order to the reclamation and conversion of the repentant sinner. "Lest Thou make me little," insignificant, puny; not merely, diminish me, make me smaller than I now am. For such a decrease of the people would result even from a gentle chastisement. There is no comparative force in the words. To make small, in other words, reduce to a small, insignificant people. This would be at variance with "right," with God’s ordained plan in regard to His people. The expression is not equivalent to: not to make an utter end, Jer 30:11, etc. The people had no call to pray that they might escape being made an utter end of; thus much had been promised by God, Jer 4:27; Jer 5:10. - God is asked to pour forth His fury upon the heathen who know not the Lord nor call upon His name, because they seek to extirpate Jacob (the people of Israel) as the people of God, at this time found in Judah alone. The several words in Jer 10:25 suggest the fury with which the heathen proceed to the destruction of Israel. The present verse is reproduced in Psa 79:6-7, a psalm written during the exile, or at least after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans; but in the reproduction the energetic expansion of the "devoured" is omitted. Judah’s Faithlessness to Covenant Obligations, and the Consequences Thereof - Jeremiah 11-13

In the first part of this compilation of discourses (Jer 11:1-17) Judah is upbraided for disloyalty to the covenant, on account of which people and kingdom are threatened with sore disaster. In the second part (11:18-12:17), the murderous attempt of the people of Anathoth against the prophet’s life (Jer 11:18-23) gives occasion for a description of Judah’s irreclaimable perverseness; while Jeremiah’s expostulation with God as to the prosperity of godless men, and the reproof therefor received by him from God (Jer 12:1-6), call forth an announcement that, in spite of God’s long-suffering, judgment on Judah and all nations will not be for ever deferred (Jer 12:7-17). Finally, in the third part, Jer 13, we have first a further account, by means of a symbolical action to be performed by the prophet, of the abasement of Judah’s pride in banishment to Euphrates (Jer 11:1-11); and next, an account of the judgment about to fall on Judah in the destruction of Jerusalem, and this both in figurative and in direct language (Jer 11:12 -27).

From the contents of the discourses it appears unquestionable that we have here, gathered into the unity of a written record, various oral addresses of Jeremiah, together with some of the experiences that befell him in the exercise of his calling. There is no foundation for the assertion, that Jer 12:7-17 is a self-complete prophetic discourse (Hitz.), or a supplement to the rest, written in the last years of Jehoiakim (Graf); nor for the assumption of several commentators, that the composition of c. 13 falls into the time of Jehoiachin - as will be shown when we come to expound the passages referred to. The discourse throughout contains nothing that might not have been spoken or have happened in the time of Josiah; nor have we here any data for determining precisely the dates of the several portions of the whole discourse.

Judah’s Disloyalty to the Covenant, with the Consequences Thereof

In Jer 11:2-8 is a short summary of the covenant made with the fathers; in Jer 11:9-13 is an account of the breaking of this covenant by Judah, and of the calamity which results therefrom; and in Jer 11:14-17 further description of this calamity.