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Jeremiah 5

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The Search for a Righteous Man 1–9

1
Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth; and I will pardon her. ​
2
And though they say, As Jehovah liveth; surely they swear falsely. ​
3
O Jehovah, do not thine eyes look upon truth? thou hast stricken them, but they were not grieved; thou hast consumed them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. ​
4
Then I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish; for they know not the way of Jehovah, nor the law of their God: ​
5
I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they know the way of Jehovah, and the law of their God. But these with one accord have broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. ​
6
Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, a wolf of the evenings shall destroy them, a leopard shall watch against their cities; every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces; because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased. ​
7
How can I pardon thee? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods. When I had fed them to the full, they committed adultery, and assembled themselves in troops at the harlots’ houses; ​
8
they were as fed horses roaming at large; every one neighed after his neighbor’s wife. ​
9
Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

Judgment Declared: The Treachery of Judah 10–19

10
Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her branches; for they are not Jehovah’s. ​
11
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith Jehovah.
12
They have denied Jehovah, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: ​
13
and the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. ​
14
Wherefore thus saith Jehovah, the God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them. ​
15
Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith Jehovah: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. ​
16
Their quiver is an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men. ​
17
And they shall eat up thy harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat; they shall eat up thy flocks and thy herds; they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig-trees; they shall beat down thy fortified cities, wherein thou trustest, with the sword. ​
18
But even in those days, saith Jehovah, I will not make a full end with you. ​
19
And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours. ​

Spiritual Blindness and Refusal to Fear God 20–25

20
Declare ye this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21
Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; that have eyes, and see not; that have ears, and hear not: ​
22
Fear ye not me? saith Jehovah: will ye not tremble at my presence, who have placed the sand for the bound of the sea, by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it? and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it. ​
23
But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
24
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear Jehovah our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in its season; that preserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. ​
25
Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good from you. ​

Oppression and Corrupt Leadership 26–31

26
For among my people are found wicked men: they watch, as fowlers lie in wait; they set a trap, they catch men. ​
27
As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxed rich. ​
28
They are waxed fat, they shine: yea, they overpass in deeds of wickedness; they plead not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, that they may prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. ​
29
Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30
A wonderful and horrible thing is come to pass in the land:
31
the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love to have it so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? ​

Bible text: American Standard Version (1901) · Public domain

Study Notes for Jeremiah 5

Verse 1

if ye can find a man — The test is a man who 'executeth judgment' (mishpat) and 'seeketh the truth' (emunah, faithfulness), the word again in v.3. 'Run to and fro' is shut, the verb of 2 Chr 16:9, 'the eyes of the LORD run to and fro'. The offer to 'pardon' (salach) echoes Abraham's bargaining for Sodom (Gen 18:32); in Ezek 22:30 the LORD 'sought for a man… but I found none'.

Verse 2

The LORD liveth — The oath is right in form; Jer 4:2 commands it, 'The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness'. Sheqer, falsehood, is what spoils it. The third commandment already forbids it: 'Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain' (Ex 20:7). The oath and the life do not agree, as Paul says of those who 'profess that they know God' (Titus 1:16).

Verse 3

refused to receive correction — Emunah, truth, is the word of v.1: the LORD's eyes are on it. Chul ('grieved') is the verb of writhing under a blow, and returns as 'tremble' in v.22. Musar, correction, is what the nation 'obeyeth not… nor receiveth' (Jer 7:28). 'Harder than a rock' is the posture of one who has 'refused to return' (shub).

Verse 4

Surely these are poor — Dal, low and weak; yaal, to act foolishly. The prophet's first thought is that the common people lack instruction: they 'know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God' (mishpat). Hosea gives the cost of that lack, 'My people are destroyed for lack of knowledge' (Hos 4:6).

Verse 5

the great men — Gadol, great: the leaders, who 'have known the way of the LORD' and so cannot plead ignorance. Their fault is of the will: 'broken the yoke, and burst the bonds', the words the LORD uses in Jer 2:20 of Israel's earlier refusal, 'I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress.'

Verse 6

a lion… a wolf… a leopard — The three beasts stand for the invader, as in Jer 4:7, 'The lion is come up from his thicket'. Habakkuk uses two of the same animals of the Chaldeans: 'swifter than the leopards, and… more fierce than the evening wolves' (Hab 1:6–8). The cause is stated: 'their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased'.

Verse 7

How shall I pardon thee for this? — The LORD returns to the offer of v.1 (salach, to pardon) and finds none to stand on. The people have 'sworn by them that are no gods' (lo elohim), as Deut 32:21 says, 'that which is not God'; Paul describes 'them which by nature are no gods' (Gal 4:8). The oath of v.2 was false; this one was to nothing.

Verse 8

fed horses in the morning — Tsahal, to neigh, said of a well-fed horse. The adultery of v.7 is named plainly: 'every one neighed after his neighbour's wife'. The same image is used again, 'I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings' (Jer 13:27), and the law set the penalty for it (Lev 20:10).

Verse 10

make not a full end — Kalah, an end or completion, the word of Jer 4:27, 'yet will I not make a full end'. The walls and 'battlements' (netishah, tendrils or offshoots) are to be taken away because 'they are not the LORD'S'. The limit is repeated in v.18 and in Jer 30:11: 'though I make a full end of all nations… yet will I not make a full end of thee'.

Verse 12

belied the LORD — Kachash, to deny or deal falsely, the verb of Josh 24:27, 'lest ye deny your God'. The denial is that judgment is coming: 'neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine'. The false prophets said exactly this, 'Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine' (Jer 14:13).

Verse 13

the prophets shall become wind — This is the people's answer to the warning: in their mouths the prophets are ruach, wind, empty breath, and 'the word is not in them' (davar). The LORD replies in v.14, 'Because ye speak this word', and turns the charge round. Elsewhere the same fault is named in the false prophets 'that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not' (Jer 14:15).

Verse 14

my words in thy mouth fire — The LORD had put his words in Jeremiah's mouth at his call, 'Behold, I have put my words in thy mouth' (Jer 1:9). Here the words become fire and the people 'wood' (ets). Elsewhere: 'Is not my word like as a fire? saith the LORD; and like a hammer that breaketh the rock in pieces?' (Jer 23:29).

Verse 15

a nation upon you from far — The warning goes back to Deut 28:49, 'a nation whose tongue thou shalt not understand'. Jeremiah later names the nation: 'the king of Babylon' (Jer 20:4). 'Mighty' is eythan, enduring; 'ancient' is olam. Isaiah has the same speech for it, 'with stammering lips and another tongue will he speak to this people' (Isa 28:11).

Verse 16

an open sepulchre — Qeber, a grave. The enemy's quiver (ashpah) is compared to a grave standing open, and the invaders are 'all mighty men' (gibbor). Paul uses the same figure of a different thing: 'Their throat is an open sepulchre' (Rom 3:13, after Ps 5:9). Isaiah describes a nation from far in like terms: 'Whose arrows are sharp, and all their bows bent' (Isa 5:28).

Verse 17

they shall eat up — The verb akal falls four times: harvest and bread, what the sons and daughters 'should eat', flocks and herds, vines and fig trees. It reverses the covenant's blessings, as Deut 28:33 warned, 'The fruit of thy land… shall a nation which thou knowest not eat up'. The 'fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst' are the walls of Deut 28:52, 'wherein thou trustedst'.

Verse 18

I will not make a full end — The promise of v.10, in the same words and kalah. The same assurance comes in Jer 30:11, 'yet will I not make a full end of thee'. Paul asks 'Hath God cast away his people?' and answers with the remnant 'according to the election of grace' (Rom 11:1, 5). The judgment is real and so is the limit.

Verse 19

serve strangers in a land that is not yours — This is measure for measure. 'Strange gods' are nekar, foreign; 'strangers' is zur, outsiders. The sentence stands in Deut 28:47–48: 'Therefore shalt thou serve thine enemies which the LORD shall send against thee'. Solomon was told the same answer to the question 'Why?' (1 Kgs 9:8–9): 'Because they forsook the LORD their God'.

Verse 21

eyes, and see not — Sakal, foolish, and 'without understanding' is literally 'without heart' (leb). The words 'eyes have they, but they see not… They have ears, but they hear not' are used of idols in Ps 115:5–6. Ezekiel is told of the same people (Ezek 12:2), and Christ applies Isaiah's like word to his hearers (Matt 13:14).

Verse 22

the sand for the bound of the sea — Chol, sand, gebul, border, chuq olam, a 'perpetual decree'. The sea is held by the word that Job heard: 'Hitherto shalt thou come, but no further: and here shall thy proud waves be stayed' (Job 38:11); Ps 104:9 and Prov 8:29 say the same. 'Tremble' is chul, the word 'grieved' in v.3: the sea obeys, but the people did not.

Verse 24

the former and the latter — The early rain (yoreh) and the late (malqosh), the pair of Deut 11:14, 'the first rain and the latter rain'. 'Appointed weeks of the harvest' recalls Deut 16:9, 'Seven weeks shalt thou number unto thee'. The covenant promised rain 'in due season' (Lev 26:4); the giver is not thanked.

Verse 25

have turned away these things — Natah, to turn aside: the rain, the weeks, the harvest were put out of reach by sin. Isaiah gives the same cause: 'your iniquities have separated between you and your God' (Isa 59:2). The prophet speaks for the LORD with 'iniquities' (avon, crookedness) and 'sins' (chattah) together.

Verse 26

they lay wait, as he that setteth snares — The wicked are hunters; 'trap' is mashchith, a destroying thing, and they 'catch men'. Micah says the same of the land: 'they all lie in wait for blood; they hunt every man his brother with a net' (Mic 7:2). The next verse shows what the hunt brings home.

Verse 27

As a cage is full of birds — Kelub, a cage or basket, full of caught birds. The houses are 'full of deceit' (mirmah), the word for false balances, 'falsifying the balances by deceit' (Amos 8:5). Wealth that comes from such trapping is shown as the proceeds of the hunt in v.26: 'therefore they are become great, and waxen rich'.

Verse 28

they judge not the cause — Shaman, to grow fat, as in Deut 32:15, 'Jeshurun waxed fat, and kicked'. The charge is that 'they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless' (din), nor the right of the needy. Isaiah's charge against the princes is the same, 'they judge not the fatherless' (Isa 1:23); Zechariah forbids the opposite, 'oppress not the widow, nor the fatherless' (Zech 7:10).

Verse 31

my people love to have it so — The prophets 'prophesy falsely' (sheqer), the priests 'bear rule by their means' (literally at their hands, under their direction), and the people want it. Paul foresees the same wish: 'after their own lusts shall they heap to themselves teachers, having itching ears' (2 Tim 4:3). The question 'what will ye do in the end thereof?' (acharit) stands unanswered.