TRV
Translation
King James Version
Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Complete Jewish Bible
"Should I not punish for this?" asks ADONAI. "Should I not be avenged on a nation like this?
Berean Standard Bible
Should I not punish them for these things?” declares the LORD. “Should I not avenge Myself on such a nation as this?
American Standard Version
Shall I not visit for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
World English Bible Messianic
“Shall I not punish for these things?” says the LORD. “Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
Geneva Bible (1599)
Shall I not visite for these things, sayth the Lord? or shall not my soule be auenged on such a nation as this?
Young's Literal Translation
For these do not I inspect, an affirmation of Jehovah, On a nation such as this, Doth not My soul avenge itself?
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Commentary on Jeremiah 5 verses 25–31
25 ¶ Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
26 For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; 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 waxen rich.
28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.
29 Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
30 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed 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?
I. II. Main points1. 2. Sub-points
Here, I. The prophet shows them what mischief their sins had done them: They have turned away these things (Jer 5:25), the former and the latter rain, which they used to have in due season (Jer 5:24), but which had of late been withheld (Jer 3:3), by reason of which the appointed weeks of harvest had sometimes disappointed them. "It is your sin that has withholden good from you, when God was ready to bestow it upon you." Note, It is sin that stops the current of God's favour to us, and deprives us of the blessings we used to receive. It is that which makes the heavens as brass and the earth as iron.
II. He shows them how great their sins were, how heinous and provoking. When they had forsaken the worship of the true God, even moral honesty was lost among them: Among my people are found wicked men (Jer 5:26), some of the worst of men, and so much the worse they were for being found among God's people. 1. They were spiteful and malicious. Such are properly wicked men, men that delight in doing mischief. They were found (that is, caught) in the very act of their wickedness. As hunters or fowlers lay snares for their game, so did they lie in wait to catch men, and made a sport of it, and took as much pleasure in it as if they had been entrapping beasts or birds. They contrives ways of doing mischief to good people (whom they hated for their goodness), especially to those that faithfully reproved them (Isa 29:21), or to those that stood in the way of their preferment or whom they supposed to have affronted them or done them a diskindness, or to those whose estates they coveted; so Jezebel ensnared Naboth for his vineyard. Nay, they did mischief for mischief's sake. 2. They were false and treacherous (Jer 5:27): "As a cage, or coop, is full of birds, and of food for them to fatten them for the table, so are their houses full of deceit, of wealth obtained by fraudulent practices or of arts and methods of defrauding. All the business of their families is done with deceit; whoever deals with them, they will cheat him if they can, which is easily done by those who make no conscience of what they say and do. Herein they overpass the deed of the wicked, Jer 5:28. Those that act by deceit, with a colour of law and justice, do more mischief perhaps than those wicked men (Jer 5:26) that carry all before them by open force and violence; or they are worse than the heathen themselves, yea, the worst of them. And (would you think it?) they prosper in these wicked courses and therefore their hearts are hardened in them. They are greedy of the world, because they find it flows in upon them, and they stick not at any wickedness in pursuit of it, because they find that it is so far from hindering their prosperity that it furthers it: They have become great in the world; they have waxen rich, and thrive upon it. They have wherewithal to make provision for the flesh to fulfill all the lusts of it, to which they are very indulgent, so that they have waxen fat with living at ease and bathing themselves in all the delights of sense. They are sleek and smooth: The shine; they look fair and gay; every body admires them. And they pass by matters of evil (so some read the following words); they escape the evils which one would expect their sins should bring upon them; they are not in trouble as other men, much less as we might expect bad men," Psa 73:5, etc. 3. When they had grown great, and had got power in their hands, they did not do that good with it which they ought to have done: They judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, and the right of the needy. The fatherless are often needy, always need assistance and advice, and advantage is taken of their helpless condition to do them an injury. Who should succour them then but the great and rich? What have men wealth for but to do good with it? But these would take no cognizance of any such distressed cases: they had not so much sense of justice, or compassion for the injured; or, if they did concern themselves in the cause, it was not to do right, but to protect those that did wrong. And yet they prosper still; God layeth not folly to them. Certainly then the things of this world are not the best things, for often-times the worst men have the most of them; yet we are not to think that, because they prosper, God allows of their practices. No; though sentence against their evil works be not executed speedily, it will be executed. 4. There was a general corruption of all orders and degrees of men among them (Jer 5:30, Jer 5:31); A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land. The degeneracy of such a people, so privileged and advanced, was a wonderful thing, and to be viewed with amazement. How could they ever break through so many obligations? It was a horrible thing, a thing to be detested and the consequences of it dreaded. To frighten ourselves from sin, let us call it a horrible thing. What was the matter? In short, this: (1.) The leaders misled the people: The prophets prophesy falsely, counterfeit a commission from heaven when they are factors for hell. Religion is never more dangerously attacked than under colour and pretence of divine revelation. But why did not the priests, who had power in their hands for that purpose, restrain these false prophets? Alas! instead of doing that they made use of them as the tools of their ambition and tyranny: The priests bear rule by their means; they supported themselves in their grandeur and wealth, their laziness and luxury, their impositions and oppressions, by the help of the false prophets and their interest in the people. Thus they were in a combination against every thing that was good, and strengthened one another's hands in evil. (2.) The people were well enough pleased to be so misled: "They are my people," says God, "and should have stood up for me, and borne their testimony against the wickedness of their priests and prophets; but they love to have it so." If the priests and prophets will let them alone in their sins, they will give them no disturbance in theirs. They love to be ridden with a loose rein, and like those rulers very well that will not restrain their lusts and those teachers that will not reprove them.
III. He shows them how fatal the consequences of this would certainly be. Let them consider,
1.What the reckoning would be for their wickedness (Jer 5:29): Shall not I visit for these things? as before, Jer 5:9. Sometimes mercy rejoices against judgment: How shall I give thee up, Ephraim? Here, judgment is reasoning against mercy: Shall I not visit? We are sure that Infinite Wisdom knows how to accommodate the matter between them. The manner of expression is very emphatic, and denotes, (1.) The certainty and necessity of God's judgments: Shall not my soul be avenged? Yes, without doubt, vengeance will come, it must come, if the sinner repent not. (2.) The justice and equity of God's judgments; he appeals to the sinner's own conscience, Do not those deserve to be punished that have been guilty of such abominations? Shall he not be avenged on such a nation, such a wicked provoking nation as this?
2.What the direct tendency of their wickedness was: What will you do in the end thereof? That is, (1.) "What a pitch of wickedness will you come to at last! What will you do? What will you not do that is base and wicked. What will this grow to? You will certainly grow worse and worse, till you have filled up the measure of your iniquity." (2.) "What a pit of destruction will you come to at last! When things are brought to such a pass as this, nothing can be expected from you but a deluge of sin, so nothing can be expected from God but a deluge of wrath; and what will you do when that shall come?" Note, Those that walk in bad ways would do well to consider the tendency of them both to greater sin and utter ruin. An end will come; the end of a wicked life will come, when it will be all called over again, and without doubt will be bitterness in the latter end.
Matthew Henry (1662–1714) — Commentary on the Whole Bible. This section covers verses 25–31. Public domain.
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JeromeAD 420
Commentary on Jeremiah
(Verse 27 and following) Therefore they have been magnified and enriched: they have become fat and grown thick, and have passed over my words wickedly: they have not judged the cause, the cause of the orphan, so they did not direct the judgment of the poor (or widow). Will I not visit them for these things, says the Lord: or will not my soul take vengeance upon a nation of this kind? If I were to list all the things that have been omitted in the Septuagint edition, it would be a long task. Those who plot, he says, delight in the nudity of others, thus they have been magnified and enriched because they have done superior things. They have become thick and fat, according to what is written: He has grown fat and has become fat, and he kicked. And they have disregarded my words, because with the conscience of wealth they have said about the Gospel: Soul, you have many good things stored up for many years: rest, eat, drink, revel. However, they have gone astray in their wickedness, and they have not set the judgment of God before their eyes, despising all men. They have scorned the orphan and the poor: for which reason the LXX have said, 'widows,' which is not found in the Hebrew; for 'Ebionim' properly signifies the poor, not widows. But what follows, 'Shall I not visit for these things?' says the Lord: 'or shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation?' has already been explained above.
Source: Quotations drawn from early Church Fathers and historical Christian theologians (AD 100–1500). Some quotes address the surrounding passage context rather than this verse alone.
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SUMMARY
Jeremiah 5:29 presents a profound rhetorical question from the LORD, expressing His righteous indignation and unwavering commitment to justice in response to the pervasive sin and rebellion of the nation of Judah. It serves as a climactic declaration, underscoring the divine necessity of judgment when a people persistently rejects God's covenant and embraces widespread moral decay and injustice. This verse encapsulates the solemn truth that God is not indifferent to sin but will assuredly hold nations accountable for their actions.
CONTEXT
EXPOSITION AND ANALYSIS
Key Word Analysis
Verse Breakdown
Literary Devices
Jeremiah 5:29 is rich in Rhetorical Questions, a prominent literary device used to emphasize a point rather than elicit an answer. The repeated "Shall I not...?" powerfully conveys the undeniable certainty and justness of God's impending judgment, making the conclusion self-evident to the audience. Anthropomorphism is also evident in the phrase "shall not my soul be avenged," attributing human-like emotional and volitional qualities (a "soul" being "avenged") to God. This device helps human audiences grasp the depth of God's righteous indignation and His personal commitment to justice, making His divine attributes more relatable. The verse also employs Parallelism through the repetition of the rhetorical question structure, intensifying the message and underscoring the divine resolve to act.
THEOLOGICAL AND THEMATIC CONNECTIONS
This verse underscores the profound theological truth of God's unyielding justice and His active involvement in the moral affairs of humanity and nations. It reveals that God is not a detached deity but one who sees, is offended by, and will ultimately respond to persistent injustice and rebellion against His moral order. While God is long-suffering and merciful, His holiness demands that sin be addressed, especially when it becomes systemic and unrepentant within a covenant people. This divine commitment to justice ensures that moral chaos will not prevail indefinitely, and that ultimately, righteousness will be vindicated.
REFLECTION AND APPLICATION
Jeremiah 5:29 serves as a timeless and sobering reminder of God's character as a holy and just judge who holds individuals and nations accountable for their actions. It challenges us to confront the reality that persistent sin, particularly injustice and spiritual rebellion, has inevitable consequences. While God's patience and mercy are boundless, His justice is equally infinite, ensuring that He will not allow wickedness to go unaddressed indefinitely. This verse calls us to a profound self-examination, prompting us to consider whether our lives, communities, or nations exhibit patterns of injustice, idolatry, or a casual disregard for God's commands that might warrant divine displeasure. It compels us to seek sincere repentance, turning away from sin and actively pursuing righteousness and justice in all spheres of life, trusting that God sees and will ultimately bring all things to account.
Questions for Reflection
FAQ
Does God's desire for "vengeance" imply a human-like vindictiveness?
Answer: No, God's "vengeance" (Hebrew: nâqam) as described in Jeremiah 5:29 and other biblical texts is fundamentally different from human vindictiveness or spite. It is a righteous, judicial act that stems from His perfect holiness and justice. Unlike human vengeance, which is often driven by personal injury or emotion, divine vengeance is a necessary act to uphold God's moral order, demonstrate the seriousness of sin, and ensure that righteousness ultimately prevails. It is a just recompense for covenant breaking and persistent rebellion, not an emotional outburst. It reflects God's commitment to setting things right and restoring justice where it has been violated, as seen in passages like Deuteronomy 32:35 and Romans 12:19.
CHRIST-CENTERED FULFILLMENT
Jeremiah 5:29, with its declaration of God's righteous judgment against a sinful nation, finds its ultimate and most profound fulfillment in the person and work of Jesus Christ. The "visitation" and "vengeance" of God against sin, which were justly deserved by humanity, were not poured out on the unrepentant nation of Judah in isolation, but were ultimately absorbed by the Lamb of God. On the cross, Jesus became the propitiation for our sins, bearing the full weight of God's righteous wrath against all ungodliness and unrighteousness (see Romans 3:25 and Romans 5:8-9). He, the innocent one, was "visited" by the judgment that we deserved, so that we might be "visited" by God's mercy and grace. Through His atoning sacrifice, the demand of God's "soul to be avenged on such a nation as this" was satisfied for all who believe, offering forgiveness and reconciliation instead of condemnation (see 2 Corinthians 5:21). Thus, the justice of God is perfectly upheld, and His mercy is gloriously displayed, all in Christ Jesus, who has delivered us from the wrath to come (1 Thessalonians 1:10).