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Jeremiah 9

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1
Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! ​

Jeremiah's Lament Over His People's Sin 2–6

2
Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. ​
3
And they bend their tongue, as it were their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah. ​
4
Take ye heed every one of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders. ​
5
And they will deceive every one his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity.
6
Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jehovah. ​

God Promises Judgment and Refining 7–11

7
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else should I do, because of the daughter of my people? ​
8
Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor with his mouth, but in his heart he layeth wait for him.
9
Shall I not visit them for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? ​
10
For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passeth through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the birds of the heavens and the beasts are fled, they are gone. ​
11
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling-place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant. ​

The Reason for the Land's Desolation 12–16

12
Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness, so that none passeth through? ​
13
And Jehovah saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, ​
14
but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them; ​
15
therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. ​
16
I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them. ​

Call for Lamentation and Mourning 17–22

17
Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skilful women, that they may come: ​
18
and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters.
19
For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we ruined! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings. ​
20
Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation.
21
For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. ​
22
Speak, Thus saith Jehovah, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman; and none shall gather them. ​

True Basis for Boasting 23–24

23
Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; ​
24
but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth lovingkindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith Jehovah. ​

Universal Judgment on the Heart 25–26

25
Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will punish all them that are circumcised in their uncircumcision: ​
26
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart. ​

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

Study Notes for Jeremiah 9

Verse 1

a fountain of tears — Maqor, a spring, the word of 'the fountain of living waters' that Israel forsook (Jer 2:13). The prophet wishes his eyes were one, to weep 'day and night' for the 'slain' (chalal, the pierced). It carries on the cry of Jer 8:21, 'For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt'.

Verse 2

all adulterers — Naaph, the verb for adultery, as in Jer 5:7–8 and 23:10, 'the land is full of adulterers'. 'Treacherous' is bagad, to deal faithlessly, the verb of Jer 12:1, 6. A 'lodging place of wayfaring men' (malon) is a travellers' shelter in the wilderness, to which he would sooner withdraw than live among them.

Verse 3

bend their tongues like their bow — Darak, to tread, is the verb for bending a bow. The tongue is the weapon and 'lies' (sheqer) its arrow, as v.8 says: 'Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit'. They are not valiant (gabar) for 'the truth' (emunah, faithfulness), and 'they know not me' (cf. vv.6, 24).

Verse 4

utterly supplant — Aqab, to seize by the heel, to circumvent: the verb of Jacob's name, 'Is not he rightly named Jacob? for he hath supplanted me these two times' (Gen 27:36). Brother and neighbour (rea) are alike not to be trusted; Mic 7:5 says the same, 'Trust ye not in a friend'.

Verse 6

in the midst of deceit — Mirmah, deceit, the word rendered 'subtilty' in Gen 27:35, when Jacob took his brother's blessing; it stands twice in this verse. 'Refuse' is ma'en. The knowing they refuse (yada) is what is missing in v.3 and what v.24 gives as the only boast.

Verse 7

melt them, and try them — The refiner's two verbs: tsaraph, to fuse metal, and bachan, to test. Isa 1:25 has 'purely purge away thy dross' and Zech 13:9 'refine them as silver is refined'. In Jer 6:27–28 the prophet was set to 'try their way' and found 'brass and iron'. The LORD asks, 'how shall I do for the daughter of my people?'

Verse 9

Shall I not visit them for these things? — This is the refrain of Jer 5:29, with 'them' added here (Jer 5:9 has 'and' before 'shall not my soul'). 'Visit' is paqad, the verb translated 'punish' in v.25. 'My soul' (nephesh) is the LORD's own self speaking, and 'avenged' is naqam.

Verse 10

weeping and wailing — Three words of grief: bekhi, weeping; nehi, wailing; qinah, the dirge, the word for the 'lamentations' made for Josiah (2 Chr 35:25). The grief is over mountains and wilderness pastures, burned up so that the 'fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled', as in Hos 4:3, where the land mourns 'with the beasts of the field, and with the fowls of heaven'.

Verse 11

a den of dragons — Tannim with maon, a dwelling. The same words end Jer 10:22, 'the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons'; they are spoken of Hazor in Jer 49:33 and of Babylon in Jer 51:37, which 'shall become heaps, a dwellingplace for dragons'. This verse names Jerusalem and the cities of Judah.

Verse 12

Who is the wise man? — Chakam, wise, and bin, to understand. The question is that of Hos 14:9, 'Who is wise, and he shall understand these things?' The one fit to explain the ruin is he 'to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken'; v.23 then turns from the wisdom of the wise to knowing the LORD.

Verse 13

forsaken my law — Torah, instruction, which the LORD 'set before' them as in 2 Chr 7:19, 'my statutes and my commandments, which I have set before you'. Azab, forsaken, is the verb of v.2 and v.19: they forsook the law (v.13) and now forsake the land (v.19). 'Obeyed my voice' recalls Jer 7:23–24, 'Obey my voice… But they hearkened not'.

Verse 14

the imagination of their own heart — Sheririth, obstinacy, found in Deut 29:19, Ps 81:12 and eight times in Jeremiah (3:17; 7:24; 9:14; 11:8; 13:10; 16:12; 18:12; 23:17), always of the heart. 'Baalim' is the plural of Baal, and the worship was 'which their fathers taught them'.

Verse 15

wormwood… water of gall — Laanah and rosh, the bitter pair of Deut 29:18, 'a root that beareth gall and wormwood', which grows from a heart turned to the gods of the nations. The same food is promised the prophets in Jer 23:15, 'I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink the water of gall'; Lam 3:15 recalls it.

Verse 16

scatter them also among the heathen — This is the curse set out in Lev 26:33, 'I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out a sword after you', and Deut 28:64, among gods 'which neither thou nor thy fathers have known'. 'Scatter' is puts; 'consumed' is kalah, to bring to an end.

Verse 17

the mourning women — Qonenoth, women who chant a dirge; the verb is used of David's lament over Saul (2 Sam 1:17) and of Jeremiah's for Josiah (2 Chr 35:25). 'Cunning' is chakam, the word 'wise' in vv.12 and 23: skilled in lament.

Verse 19

a voice of wailing — Nehi, wailing, as in vv.10, 18, 20. The voice from Zion says, 'we have forsaken the land', using azab, the verb of vv.2 and 13. 'Spoiled' is shadad, to be devastated, and 'confounded' bosh, put to shame; 'our dwellings have cast us out'.

Verse 21

death is come up into our windows — Death (mavet) is spoken of as one who comes up and enters 'our palaces' (armon), cutting off 'the children from without, and the young men from the streets' — the two groups of Jer 6:11, 'the children abroad, and… the assembly of young men together'.

Verse 22

as dung upon the open field — Domen, dung; the same picture is in Jer 8:2, 16:4 and 25:33, each with the dead left unburied. The 'handful' (amir) is a cut sheaf left behind the reaper, and no one gathers it. The prophet is told to 'Speak, Thus saith the LORD'.

Verse 23

Let not the wise man glory — Halal, to boast, three times here and twice in v.24. The wise (chakam), the mighty (gibbor) and the rich (ashir) are each named with their ground of boasting. Paul echoes the first two in the Corinthian calling: 'not many wise men after the flesh, not many mighty' (1 Cor 1:26).

Verse 24

let him that glorieth glory in this — Quoted in 1 Cor 1:31 and 2 Cor 10:17, 'He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord'. The boast is that he 'understandeth and knoweth' (sakal, yada) the LORD, who names three of his own works 'in the earth': 'lovingkindness' (chesed), 'judgment' (mishpat) and 'righteousness' (tsedaqah).

Verse 25

the days come — 'Punish' is paqad, the 'visit' of v.9. Circumcision (mul) is the 'token of the covenant' (Gen 17:11), but Paul says 'if thou be a breaker of the law, thy circumcision is made uncircumcision' (Rom 2:25). V.26 names who is meant.

Verse 26

uncircumcised in the heart — Five peoples are named, then those 'in the utmost corners' (pe'ah, corner; also Jer 25:23). Israel is 'uncircumcised in the heart', the condition named in Lev 26:41 and Deut 10:16 and set against the true Jew in Rom 2:28–29, 'circumcision is that of the heart, in the spirit'. Stephen says it to his hearers, 'uncircumcised in heart and ears' (Acts 7:51).