Jeremiah 13:24–26

Jeremiah 13:24

Jeremiah 13:24

24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind of the wilderness.

24 Et dispergam (vel, dissipabo) eos quasi stipulam transeuntem ad ventum deserti.

This is an inference which Jeremiah draws from the last verse. As long as there is any hope of repentance, there is also room for mercy; God often declares that he is long-suffering. Then the most wicked might object and say, that God is too rigid, because he waits not until they return to a sound mind. Now the Prophet had said that it was all over with the people: here therefore he meets the objection, and shews that extreme calamity was justly brought on them by God, because the Jews had obstinately hardened themselves in their vices and wickedness.

After having shewn, therefore, that corruption was inherent in them, as blackness in the skin of an Ethiopian, and as spots in panthers, he now comes to this conclusion — I will scatter them as stubble which passes away by the wind of the desert This scattering denotes their exile; as though he had said, “I will banish them, that they may know that they are deprived of the inheritance in which they place their safety and their happiness.” For the Jews gloried in this only — that they were God’s people, because the Temple was built among them, and because they dwelt in the land promised to them. They then thought that God was in a manner tied to them, while they possessed that inheritance. Hence Jeremiah declares, that they would become like stubble carried away by the wind.

He mentions the wind of the desert, that is, the wind of the south, which was the most violent in that country. The south wind, as we know, was also pestilential; the air also was more disturbed by the south wind than by any other, for it raised storms and tempests. Therefore the Scripture, in setting forth any turbulent movement, often adopts this similitude. Some think that Jeremiah alludes to the Egyptians; but I see no reason to seek out any refined explanation, when this mode of speaking is commonly adopted. Then by this similitude of south wind God intimates the great power of his vengeance; as though he had said, “Even if the Jews think that they have a firm standing in the promised land, they are wholly deceived, for God will with irresistible force expel them.” And he compares them to stubble, while yet they boasted that they were like trees planted in that land; and we have before seen that they had been planted as it were by the hand of God; but they wanted the living root of piety, they were therefore to be driven far away like stubble.

Note 97. Our version begins with “therefore,” giving this meaning to ו, vau, but Gataker considers this verse as connected with the 22d, and regards the 23d as parenthetic; and then he renders the vau “and.” The literal rendering of the latter part is, “Passing to the wind of the desert,” that is, the stubble which is exposed to that violent wind. The meaning may be thus given, — And I will scatter them like the stubble That is subject to the wind of the desert. To pass over to a thing is to become within its range, or to its possession. The sense would be given by the following version, — That is carried away by the wind of the desert. The meaning is not what the Septuagint give, “carried by the wind to the desert;” nor what the Vulgate presents, “carried by the wind in the desert;” but what is meant is, “the wind of the desert,” or, as Calvin says, the south wind. When the stubble was exposed to that, it is carried away with the greatest violence: such would be the scattering of the Jews. — Ed.

Let us then learn from this passage not to abuse the patience of God: for though he may suspend for a time the punishment we deserve, yet when he sees that we go on in our wickedness, he will come to extreme measures, and will deal with us without mercy as those who are past remedy. It follows —

Jeremiah 13:25

Jeremiah 13:25

25. This is thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me, saith the LORD; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.

25. Haec sors tua, portio mensurarum tuarum a me, dicit Jehova; quia oblita es mei, et confisa in mendacio.

The Prophet no doubt wished to strip the Jews of their vain confidence, through which they acted arrogantly and presumptuously towards God, while yet they professed his name and claimed his favor. They said that they had obtained that land by an hereditary right, because it had been promised to their father Abraham. This indeed was true. They also said, that the land was God’s rest; and they derived this from the prophets. They said farther that God was their heritage; and this also was true. But since they had wickedly profaned God’s name, he takes from them these false boastings, and says, This is thy lot But still they said, When God divided the nations, his lot fell on Israel, for so says Moses. (Deuteronomy 32:8) As then they were wont to say, that God afterwards deceived them, the Prophet here on the other hand reminds them, that they foolishly confided in that lot, because God had rejected them, and did not acknowledge them now as his children, as they were become degenerate and perfidious. This, he says, is thy lot

Note 98. It may be thus rendered, — This thy lot is the share of thy measures From me, saith Jehovah. The “lot” was the scattering threatened in the previous verse. “The share of thy measures,” is a Hebrew idiom for “a measured share,” or “a measured portion,” as rendered by Blayney. Some say that “measures” are mentioned, because the length and breadth were included. — Ed.

We see that there is to be understood here a contrast: God was the lot of the people, and they were also the lot of God, according to the passages to which we have referred. They were the heritage of God, and they boasted that God was their heritage; the land was a symbol and a pledge of this heritage. The Prophet now says: “This lot shall be to thee the portion of thy measures from me.” He alludes to an ancient custom; for they were wont to divide fields and meadows by lines, as they afterwards used poles; and we call such measures in the present day perches (perticas.)

We now then understand what the Prophet means; for he intimates that the Jews vainly and presumptuously and foolishly boasted, that God was their heritage; for he owned them not now as his children: and he also declares that another lot was prepared for them, far different from that of heritage, — that God would banish them from the promised land, which they had polluted by their vices. Thus we see that we ought not presumptuously and falsely to pretend or profess the name of God; for though he has been pleased to choose us as his people, it is yet required of us to be faithful to him; and if we forsake him, the same reward for our impiety will no doubt await us as Jeremiah threatens here to his own nation. Let us then so use the favor of God and of Christ, and all the blessings which are offered to us by the gospel, that we may not have to fear that vengeance which happened to the Jews.

He adds the reason, Because thou hast forgotten me and trusted in falsehood By falsehood the Prophet means not only the superstitions in which the Jews involved themselves, but also the false counsels which they adopted, when at one time they had recourse to the Egyptians, at another to some other ungodly nations, in order to get aids in opposition to the will of God. For wherever there was any danger, they thought they had a remedy at hand by having the favor and help of the Egyptians, or of the Assyrians, or of the Chaldeans. In the word falsehood, then, the Prophet includes those perverse designs which they formed, when they sought to defend themselves against God, who would have protected them by his power, had it not been necessary to punish them for their sins. What Jeremiah then condemned in the people was, that they placed their trust in falsehood, that is, that they souglint here and there vain helps, and at the same time disregarded God; nay, they thought themselves safer when God was displeased with them: and hence he says, Thou hast forgotten me For the Jews could not have sought deliverance from the Egyptians or from other heathen nations, or from their idols, without having first rejected God; for if this truth had been really fixed in their minds, — that God cared for their safety, they would no doubt have been satisfied with his protection. Their ingratitude was therefore very manifest in thus adopting vain and impious hopes; for they thus dishonored God, and distrusted his power, as though he was not sufficient to preserve them. It now follows—

Note 99. It is better to render אשר here “because” or for, according to all the versions and the Targum, than “who,” as by Blayney. — Ed.

Jeremiah 13:26

Jeremiah 13:26

26. Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear.

26. Et etiam ego nudabo, (vel, discooperiam) fimbrias tuas in faciem tuam (super faciem tuam,) et aspicietur ignominia tua (potest etiam in proeterito tempore exponi hic versus; sed quoniam vaticinium est, ideo non insisto curiose in verbis aut in syllabis, sed sensum duntaxat respicio; quamquam non male etiam conveniet, si vertamus in tempore proeterito, quasi propheta de re jam facta disserat.)

He continues the same subject, — that God did not deal with his people with so much severity without the most just cause; for it could not be expected that he should treat them with more gentleness, since they rejected him and had recourse to vain confidences. I also, he says; for the particle גם, gam, denotes something mutual, as though he had said, “I also will have my turn; for I have it in my power to avenge myself: I will retaliate,” he seems to say, “this thine ingratitude; for as thou hast despised me, so will I expose thee to reproach and shame.” For God was shamefully despised by the Jews, when they substituted the Egyptians and their idols in his place: they could not have done him more dishonor than by transferring his glory to the ungodly and to their own figments. We hence see that there is an emphasis in the particle also, I will also make bare, or discover, thy skirts on thy face; that is, I will cast thy skirts on thy face.

Note 100. This is no doubt the meaning. See Nahum 3:5. The verb means to strip off, so as to make bare. The threatening is, to strip off the skirts and throw them over the face; and this is the rendering of the Syriac. Probably the most literal rendering would be the following, — And I also will strip (or roll) up thy skirts over thy face. The versions all differ, but the Septuagint convey this idea. Blayney’s uncovering “thy skirts before thee,” imparts no meaning. — Ed.

This mode of speaking often occurs in the Prophets; and as I have elsewhere explained, it means the uncovering of the uncomely parts: it is as though a vile woman was condemned to bear the disgrace of being stripped of her garments and exposed to the public, that all might abhor a spectacle so base and disgraceful. God, as we have before seen, assumed the character of a husband to his people: as then he had been so shamefully despised, he now says, that he had in readiness the punishment of casting the skirts of his people over their faces, that their reproach or baseness might appear by exposing their uncomely parts. It then follows —