1Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in her open places, if you can find a man, if there is one who does justice, who seeks the truth; and I will pardon her. 2And though they say, As Jehovah lives; surely they swear falsely. 3O Jehovah, are not Your eyes on the truth? You have stricken them, but they have not grieved; You have destroyed them, but they have refused to receive correction; they have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to return. 4So I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they do not know the way of Jehovah, nor the judgment of their God. 5I will go to the great men, and will speak to them; for they have known the way of Jehovah and the judgment of their God. But these have broken the yoke together and have torn off the bonds! 6Therefore a lion out of the forest shall kill them, and a wolf of the deserts shall destroy them; a leopard shall watch over their cities. Everyone who goes out from there shall be torn in pieces, because their transgressions are many and their backslidings are increased. 7How shall I pardon you for this? Your children have forsaken Me, and have sworn by those that are not gods. When I adjured them, then they committed adultery, and gathered themselves by troops in a harlot's house. 8They were like lusty, well-fed stallions in the morning; every one neighing after his neighbor's wife. 9Shall I not punish for these things? says Jehovah. And shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 10Go up on her vine rows and destroy; but do not make a full end; take away her branches, for they are not Jehovah's. 11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against Me, says Jehovah. 12They have denied Jehovah and said, It is not He; neither shall evil come upon us; nor shall we see sword nor famine. 13And the prophets shall become wind, for the Word is not in them; thus it shall be done to them. 14Therefore thus says Jehovah the God of Hosts, Because you speak this word, behold, I will make My Words in your mouth fire, and these people wood, and it shall devour them. 15Lo, I will bring a nation against you from afar, O house of Israel, says Jehovah. It is an enduring nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language you do not know, nor understand what they say. 16Their quiver is as an open grave; they are all mighty men. 17And they shall eat up your harvest and your bread. They will devour your sons and your daughters. They shall eat up your flocks and your herds; they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees. They shall beat down your fortified cities, in which you trust, with the sword. 18But even in those days, says Jehovah, I will not make a complete end of you. 19And it will be when you shall say, Why does Jehovah our God do all these things to us? then you shall answer them, Just as you have forsaken Me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours. 20Declare this in the house of Jacob, and proclaim it in Judah, saying, 21Now hear this, O foolish people, without understanding; who have eyes and see not; who have ears and hear not. 22Do you not fear Me? says Jehovah. Will you not tremble at My presence, I who have placed the sand for the boundary of the sea by a perpetual decree, so that it cannot pass it? And though its waves toss to and fro, yet they cannot prevail; though they roar, yet they cannot pass over it? 23But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart; they have turned aside and departed. 24Neither do they say in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, who gives both the former and the latter rain in its season; He reserves unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. 25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withheld good from you. 26For among My people are found wicked ones; they lie in wait, as one who sets snares; they set a trap, they catch men. 27Like a cage full of birds, so their houses are full of deceit; therefore they have become great and grown rich. 28They have grown fat, they gleam. Yes, they surpass the deeds of the wicked; they do not plead the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may get rich; and they do not judge the right of the needy. 29Shall I not punish for these things? says Jehovah. Shall not My soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 30An appalling and horrible thing has happened in the land. 31The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their own power; and my people love to have it so, and what will you do in the end?
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 THE CAUSE OF THE JUDGMENTS TO BE INFLICTED IS THE UNIVERSAL CORRUPTION OF THE PEOPLE. (Jer. 5:1-31)
a man--As the pious Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah lived in Jerusalem at that time, Jeremiah must here mean the mass of the people, the king, his counsellors, the false prophets, and the priests, as distinguished from the faithful few, whom God had openly separated from the reprobate people; among the latter not even one just person was to be found (
Isa 9:16) [CALVIN]; the godly, moreover, were forbidden to intercede for them (
Jer 7:16; compare
Gen 18:23, &c.;
Ps 12:1;
Ezek 22:30).
see . . . know--look . . . ascertain.
judgment--justice, righteousness.
pardon it--rather, her.
2 (
Titus 1:16).
swear falsely--not a judicial oath; but their profession of the worship of Jehovah is insincere (
Jer 5:7;
Jer 4:2). The reformation under Josiah was merely superficial in the case of the majority.
3 eyes upon the truth-- (
Deut 32:4;
2Chr 16:9). "Truth" is in contrast with "swear falsely" (
Jer 5:2). The false-professing Jews could expect nothing but judgments from the God of truth.
stricken . . . not grieved-- (
Jer 2:30;
Isa 1:5;
Isa 9:13).
refused . . . correction-- (
Jer 7:28;
Zeph 3:2).
4 poor--rather, "the poor." He supposes for the moment that this utter depravity is confined to the uninstructed poor, and that he would find a different state of things in the higher ranks: but there he finds unbridled profligacy.
5 they have known--rather, "they must know." The prophet supposes it as probable, considering their position.
but these--I found the very reverse to be the case.
burst . . . bonds--set God's law at defiance (
Ps 2:3).
6 lion . . . wolf . . . leopard--the strongest, the most ravenous, and the swiftest, respectively, of beasts: illustrating the formidable character of the Babylonians.
of the evenings--Others not so well translate, of the deserts. The plural means that it goes forth every evening to seek its prey (
Ps 104:20;
Hab 1:8;
Zeph 3:3).
leopard . . . watch . . . cities-- (
Hos 13:7). It shall lie in wait about their cities.
7 It would not be consistent with God's holiness to let such wickedness pass unpunished.
sworn by-- (
Jer 5:2;
Jer 4:2); that is, worshipped.
no gods-- (
Deut 32:21).
fed . . . to the full--so the Keri (Hebrew Margin) reads, God's bountifulness is contrasted with their apostasy (
Deut 32:15). Prosperity, the gift of God, designed to lead men to Him, often produces the opposite effect. The Hebrew Chetib (text), reads: "I bound them (to Me) by oath," namely, in the marriage covenant, sealed at Sinai between God and Israel; in contrast to which stands their "adultery"; the antithesis favors this.
adultery . . . harlots' houses--spiritually: idolatry in temples of idols; but literal prostitution is also included, being frequently part of idol-worship: for example, in the worship of the Babylonian Mylitta.
8 in the morning-- (
Isa 5:11). "Rising early in the morning" is a phrase for unceasing eagerness in any pursuit; such was the Jews' avidity after idol-worship. MAURER translates from a different Hebrew root, "continually wander to and fro," inflamed with lust (
Jer 2:23). But English Version is simpler (compare
Jer 13:27;
Ezek 22:11).
9 (
Jer 5:29;
Jer 9:9;
Jer 44:22).
10 Abrupt apostrophe to the Babylonians, to take Jerusalem, but not to destroy the nation utterly (see on
Jer 4:27).
battlements--rather, tendrils [MAURER]: the state being compared to a vine (
Jer 12:10), the stem of which was to be spared, while the tendrils (the chief men) were to be removed.
11 (
Jer 3:20).
12 belied--denied.
It is not he--rather, "(Jehovah) is not HE," that is, the true and only God (
Jer 14:22;
Deut 32:39;
Isa 43:10,
Isa 43:13). By their idolatry they virtually denied Him. Or, referring to what follows, and to
Jer 5:9, "(Jehovah) is not," namely, about to be the punisher of our sins (
Jer 14:13;
Isa 28:15).
13 Continuation of the unbelieving language of the Jews.
the prophets--who prophesy punishment coming on us.
the word--the Holy Spirit, who speaks through true prophets, is not in them [MAURER]. Or else, "There is no word (divine communication) in them" (
Hos 1:2) [ROSENMULLER].
thus, &c.--Their ill-omened prophecies shall fall on themselves.
14 ye . . . thy . . . this people--He turns away from addressing the people to the prophet; implying that He puts them to a distance from Him, and only communicates with them through His prophet (
Jer 5:19).
fire . . . wood--Thy denunciations of judgments shall be fulfilled and shall consume them as fire does wood. In
Jer 23:29 it is the penetrating energy of fire which is the point of comparison.
15 (
Jer 1:15;
Jer 6:22). Alluding to
Deut 28:49, &c.
Israel--that is, Judah.
mighty--from an Arabic root, "enduring." The fourfold repetition of "nation" heightens the force.
ancient--The Chaldeans came originally from the Carduchian and Armenian mountains north of Mesopotamia, whence they immigrated into Babylonia; like all mountaineers, they were brave and hardy (see on
Isa 23:13).
language . . . knowest not--
Isa 36:11 shows that Aramaic was not understood by the "multitude," but only by the educated classes [MAURER]. HENDERSON refers it to the original language of the Babylonians, which, he thinks, they brought with them from their native hills, akin to the Persic, not to the Aramaic, or any other Semitic tongue, the parent of the modern Kurd.
16 open sepulchre--(Compare
Ps 5:9). Their quiver is all-devouring, as the grave opened to receive the dead: as many as are the arrows, so many are the deaths.
17 (
Lev 26:16).
18 Not even in those days of judgments, will God utterly exterminate His people.
I will not make a full end with you-- (
Jer 5:10;
Jer 4:27).
19 Retribution in kind. As ye have forsaken Me (
Jer 2:13), so shall ye be forsaken by Me. As ye have served strange (foreign) gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers (foreigners) in a land not yours. Compare the similar retribution in
Deut 28:47-
Deut 28:48.
21 eyes . . . ears, and--Translate, "and yet" (compare
Deut 29:4;
Isa 6:9). Having powers of perception, they did not use them: still they were responsible for the exercise of them.
22 sand--Though made up of particles easily shifting about, I render it sufficient to curb the violence of the sea. Such is your monstrous perversity, that the raging, senseless sea sooner obeys Me, than ye do who profess to be intelligent [CALVIN], (
Job 26:10;
Job 38:10-
Job 38:11;
Pro 8:29;
Rev 15:4).
23 (
Jer 6:28).
24 rain . . . former . . . latter--The "former" falls from the middle of October to the beginning of December. The "latter," or spring rain in Palestine, falls before harvest in March and April, and is essential for ripening the crops (
Deut 11:14;
Joel 2:23).
weeks of . . . harvest--the seven weeks between passover and pentecost, beginning on the sixteenth of Nisan (
Deut 16:9). By God's special providence no rain fell in Palestine during the harvest weeks, so that harvest work went on without interruption (see
Gen 8:22).
25 National guilt had caused the suspension of these national mercies mentioned in
Jer 5:24 (compare
Jer 3:3).
26 (
Pro 1:11,
Pro 1:17-
Pro 1:18;
Hab 1:15).
as he that setteth snares--rather, "as fowlers crouch" [MAURER].
trap--literally, "destruction": the instrument of destruction.
catch men--not as Peter, to save (
Luke 5:10), but to destroy men.
27 full of deceit--full of treasures got by deceit.
rich-- (
Ps 73:12,
Ps 73:18-
Ps 73:20).
28 shine--the effect of fatness on the skin (
Deut 32:15). They live a life of self-indulgence.
overpass . . . the wicked--exceed even the Gentiles in wickedness (
Jer 2:33;
Ezek 5:6-
Ezek 5:7).
judge not . . . fatherless-- (
Isa 1:23).
yet . . . prosper-- (
Jer 12:1).
29 (
Jer 5:9;
Mal 3:5).
30 (
Jer 23:14;
Hos 6:10).
31 bear rule by their means--literally, "according to their hands," that is, under their guidance (
1Chr 25:3). As a sample of the priests lending themselves to the deceits of the false prophets, to gain influence over the people, see
Jer 29:24-
Jer 29:32.
love to have it so-- (
Mic 2:11).
end thereof--the fatal issue of this sinful course when divine judgments shall come.