Jeremiah 25:34–37

Jeremiah 25:34

Jeremiah 25:34

34. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry; and wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the flock: for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel.

34. Ulalate pastores, et clamate, et volutate vos eximii gregis; quia impleti sunt dies vestri ad mactandum, et dispersiones vestrae (vel, afflictiones, confractiones;) et cadetis tanquam vas desiderii (id est, pretiosum.)

I doubt not but that the Prophet now turns his discourse especially to his own nation, which interpreters have not observed, and hence have not understood the meaning of the Prophet. He prophesied of God’s judgments, that the Jews might know that they in vain looked for impunity, as the Lord would not pardon the ignorant and destitute of all true knowledge, who might have pretended their ignorance as an excuse; and also that this comfort might support the minds of the godly, that the heathens, involved in the same guilt, would be subjected to the same judgment; and lastly, that knowing the difference between them and other nations, they might flee to God’s mercy and be encouraged to repent by entertaining a hope of pardon. After having then treated this general subject, he now returns to the people over whom he was appointed a teacher. He might indeed have declared from an eminence what was to take place through the whole earth; for so extensive was the office of a herald which God had conferred on him. He might then by the virtue of his office have denounced ruin on all nations; but he ought not to neglect his special care for the chosen people. And so I explain this passage; for he now again directs his discourse to the Jews.

Hence he says, Howl, ye pastors, and cry, etc. By pastors he means the king and his counsellors, the priests and other rulers; and by the choice of the flock he seems to understand the rich, whose condition was better than that of the common people. Some in a more refined manner consider the choice of the flock to have been those void of knowledge, unlike the scribes and priests and the king’s counsellors; but this view seems not to be well-founded. I therefore adopt what is more probable, — that the choice of the flock were those who were rich and high in public esteem, and yet held no office of authority in the commonwealth or in the Church. However this may be, the Prophet shews, that as soon as God began to put forth his hand to punish the Jews, there would be no ranks of men exempt from lamentation, for he would begin with the pastors and the choice of the flock.

He adds that their days were fulfilled Here he indirectly condemns that wicked security which had for a long time hardened them, so that they despised all threatenings; for God had now for many years called on them, and had sent his Prophets one after another; when they saw the execution of judgment suspended over them, they considered it only as a bugbear, “Well, let the prophets continue to pronounce their terrors, if they will do so, but nothing will come of them.” Thus the ungodly turned God’s forbearance into an occasion for their obstinacy. As then this evil was common among the Jews, the Prophet now says, by way of anticipation, that their days were fulfilled For there is to be understood this contrast, that God had spared them, not that he had his eyes closed, or that he had not observed their wicked deeds, but that he wished to give them time to repent; but when he saw that their wickedness was unhealable, he now says that their days were completed. And he adds, to be killed or slain. I wonder that learned interpreters render this, “that they may slay one another.” There is no need of adding anything, for the Prophet meant to express no such sentiment, nor to restrict what he denounces here on the Jews, to intestine or domestic wars; on the contrary, we know that they were slain by aliens, even by the Chaldeans. This sense then is forced, and is also inconsistent with history. It is added, and your dispersions also are fulfilled, or your breakings. The verb פוף, puts, means to scatter or to dissipate, and also to afflict, to tear; and the sense of tearing or breaking is what I prefer here. And he adds, And ye shall fall as a precious vessel This simile appears not to be very appropriate, for why should he not rather compare them to an earthen vessel, which is of no value and easily broken? But his object was to point out the difference in their two conditions, that though God had honored them with singular privileges, yet all their excellency would not keep them safe; for it often happens that a vessel, however precious, is broken. And he speaks not of gold or silver vessels, but of fragile vessels, once in great esteem. That he might then more grievously wound them, he says that they had been hitherto precious vessels, or a precious vessel; for he speaks of them all in the singular number, and that they were to be broken; and thus he confirms what I said on the last verse, that hypocrites in vain trusted in their present fortune, or in the superior blessings of God, for he could turn to shame whatever glory he had conferred on them. It follows, —

Note 153. This word is omitted by the Sept., and Calvin’s rendering is that of the Vulg., and it is a verb like the former in the Syr. and the Targ. On the contrary, the two words are nouns, and ought to be so rendered, — 34. Howl, ye pastors, and cry, And roll yourselves in the dust, ye illustrious of the flock, Because fulfilled are your days For the slaughter and for your dispersions; And ye shall fall like a precious vessel. The word באפר, “in the dust,” is connected with the verb here used in Jeremiah 6:26, and in Ezekiel 27:30, and it is supplied here by the Vulg. and the Targ. The line is rendered by the Sept., — And mourn, ye rams of the flock. But the verb has no other sense but that of rolling, though the other word may be rendered “rams,” as it is in the masculine gender. Venema gives the following version, — Howl, ye pastors, and cry aloud, And sprinkle yourselves with dust, ye illustrious of the flock; For fulfilled are your days to be sacrificed; And there shall be your breakings, And ye shall fall like a precious vessel. He considers the first and the fourth line as connected, and the second and the third; the pastors were to be broken, and the illustrious of the flock to be slain in sacrifice. There is certainly a congruity in the parts thus viewed. — Ed.

Jeremiah 25:35

Jeremiah 25:35

35. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, nor the principal of the flock to escape.

35. Et peribit fuga a pastoribus, et evasio ab eximiis gregis.

He explains what we have now observed, for he had bidden the pastors to howl and the choice of the flock to roll or to prostrate themselves in the dust; he now gives the reason, even because they could not preserve their lives, no, not by an ignominious flight. It is indeed very miserable, when any one cannot otherwise secure his life than by seeking exile, where he must be poor, and needy, and despised; but even this is denied by the Prophet to the king and his counsellors, as well as to the rich through the whole city and the whole land: Perish, he says, shall flight from them. This mode of speaking is common in Hebrew:

“Flight,” says David, “has perished from me,”
(Psalm 142:5;)

that is, I find no way of escape. So here, Perish shall flight; that is, while looking here and there in order to escape from danger, they shall be so shut up on every side, that they shall necessarily fall a prey to their enemies. It follows, —

Jeremiah 25:36

Jeremiah 25:36

36. A voice of the cry of the shepherds, and an howling of the principal of the flock, shall be heard: for the LORD hath spoiled their pasture.

36. Vox clamoris pastorum et ululatus eximoirum gregis, quia perdidit jehova pascua eorum.

He not merely repeats the same thing in other words, but adds also something more grievous, that God would render desolate their pastures. He pursues the same metaphor; for as he used this comparison in speaking of the king’s counsellors and the priests, so now he does the same; and what he means by pastures is the community, the people, in the city and in the country; as though he had said, that they had hitherto ruled over that land which was rich and fertile, and in which they enjoyed power and dignity, but that now they would be deprived of all these benefits. He afterwards adds, —

Note 154. So the Targ. renders the sentence, “For the Lord hath destroyed their people.” — Ed.

Jeremiah 25:37

Jeremiah 25:37

37. And the peaceable habitations are cut down because of the fierce anger of the LORD.

37. Et peribunt (vel, succidentur, vertunt alii) pascua pacis (tuguria pacis, hos est, tranquilla) a facie excandescentiae (vel, furoris) irae Jehovae.

He goes on with the same subject, that the tents, previously tranquil, would perish or be destroyed. And he designedly calls their dwellings peaceable; for the Jews, having found that their enemies had not before disturbed them, still promised to themselves the same good fortune in future.

And the faithful indeed do act thus rightly, and justly conclude from God’s previous benefits that he will be kind to them as he had ever been so; but hypocrites, though they repent not, yet absurdly think that God is bound to them; and though they daily provoke his wrath, they yet securely continue in their confidence of having peace. Since God then had until that time deferred the grievousness of his wrath, the Prophet says, that though their tents had been peaceable, yet they could not be exempted from destruction as soon as the indignation of God’s wrath went forth. It might have been enough to make use of one of these words, either of חרון, cherun, or of אף, aph; but the Prophet used the two, indignation and wrath, in order that he might fill the wicked with more terror; for as they were obstinate in their wickedness, so they were not moved except God doubled his strokes and set forth the extremity of his wrath. It follows, —

Note 155. The word rendered “tents” means sometimes dwellings, or habitations, and sometimes pastures; and it is thus variously translated in our version, according to what the context requires. As “pastures” are mentioned in the previous verse, tents, or habitations, would be the best word here, and more suitable to the verb that is used, which means to reduce to silence, or to level, that is, with the ground, and hence to demolish. The rendering of the Vulg. is “fields — arva,” but of the Syr. and Targ. “habitations.” Venema and Blayney have “folds,” which are probably the habitations intended. — Ed.

Note 156. Literally it is, “through the burning of the wrath of Jehovah.” The word “fury,” by which it is often rendered, is by no means suitable. The Versions vary: “the wrath of indignation” is the Sept.; “the wrath of fury” the Vulg., “boiling wrath” the Sept.; and “the fury of wrath” the Targ. The same words occur at the end of the next verse. — Ed.