Jeremiah 5 — with JFB Commentary
The King James text with the Jamieson-Fausset-Brown commentary (1871, public domain) directly beneath the verses it explains. Verses without a JFB note stand alone.
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1Run 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 executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it.
CHAPTER 5
Jr 5:1-31. The Cause of the Judgments to Be Inflicted Is the Universal Corruption of the People.
1. a man--As the pious Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah lived in Jerusalem at that time, Jeremiah must here mean the mass of the people, the king, his counsellors, the false prophets, and the priests, as distinguished from the faithful few, whom God had openly separated from the reprobate people; among the latter not even one just person was to be found (Is 9:16) [Calvin]; the godly, moreover, were forbidden to intercede for them (Jr 7:16; compare Ge 18:23, &c.; Psa 12:1; Eze 22:30).
see ... know--look ... ascertain.
judgment--justice, righteousness.
pardon it--rather, her.
2And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely.
2. (Tit 1:16).
swear falsely--not a judicial oath; but their profession of the worship of Jehovah is insincere (Jr 5:7; Jr 4:2). The reformation under Josiah was merely superficial in the case of the majority.
3O LORD, are not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have 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.
3. eyes upon the truth--(De 32:4; 2Ch 16:9). "Truth" is in contrast with "swear falsely" (Jr 5:2). The false-professing Jews could expect nothing but judgments from the God of truth.
stricken ... not grieved--(Jr 2:30; Is 1:5; 9:13).
refused ... correction--(Jr 7:28; Zep 3:2).
4Therefore I said, Surely these are poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, nor the judgment of their God.
4. poor--rather, "the poor." He supposes for the moment that this utter depravity is confined to the uninstructed poor, and that he would find a different state of things in the higher ranks: but there he finds unbridled profligacy.
5I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, and the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, and burst the bonds.
5. they have known--rather, "they must know." The prophet supposes it as probable, considering their position.
but these--I found the very reverse to be the case.
burst ... bonds--set God's law at defiance (Psa 2:3).
6Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, and a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, and their backslidings are increased.
6. lion ... wolf ... leopard--the strongest, the most ravenous, and the swiftest, respectively, of beasts: illustrating the formidable character of the Babylonians.
of the evenings--Others not so well translate, of the deserts. The plural means that it goes forth every evening to seek its prey (Psa 104:20; Ha 1:8; Zep 3:3).
leopard ... watch ... cities--(Ho 13:7). It shall lie in wait about their cities.
7How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by them that are no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots’ houses.
7. It would not be consistent with God's holiness to let such wickedness pass unpunished.
sworn by--(Jr 5:2; Jr 4:2); that is, worshipped.
no gods--(De 32:21).
fed ... to the full--so the Keri (Hebrew Margin) reads. God's bountifulness is contrasted with their apostasy (De 32:15). Prosperity, the gift of God, designed to lead men to Him, often produces the opposite effect. The Hebrew Chetib (text) reads: "I bound them (to Me) by oath," namely, in the marriage covenant, sealed at Sinai between God and Israel; in contrast to which stands their "adultery"; the antithesis favors this.
adultery ... harlots' houses--spiritually: idolatry in temples of idols; but literal prostitution is also included, being frequently part of idol-worship: for example, in the worship of the Babylonian Mylitta.
8They were as fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour’s wife.
8. in the morning--(Is 5:11). "Rising early in the morning" is a phrase for unceasing eagerness in any pursuit; such was the Jews' avidity after idol-worship. Maurer translates from a different Hebrew root, "continually wander to and fro," inflamed with lust (Jr 2:23). But English Version is simpler (compare Jr 13:27; Eze 22:11).
9Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
9. (Jr 5:29; Jr 9:9; 44:22).
10Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they are not the LORD’s.
10. Abrupt apostrophe to the Babylonians, to take Jerusalem, but not to destroy the nation utterly (see on Jr 4:27).
battlements--rather, tendrils [Maurer]: the state being compared to a vine (Jr 12:10), the stem of which was to be spared, while the tendrils (the chief men) were to be removed.
11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD.
11. (Jr 3:20).
12They have belied the LORD, and said, It is not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine:
12. belied--denied.
It is not he--rather, "(Jehovah) is not He," that is, the true and only God (Jr 14:22; De 32:39; Is 43:10, 13). By their idolatry they virtually denied Him. Or, referring to what follows, and to Jr 5:9, "(Jehovah) is not," namely, about to be the punisher of our sins (Jr 14:13; Is 28:15).
13And the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in them: thus shall it be done unto them.
13. Continuation of the unbelieving language of the Jews.
the prophets--who prophesy punishment coming on us.
the word--the Holy Spirit, who speaks through true prophets, is not in them [Maurer]. Or else, "There is no word (divine communication) in them" (Ho 1:2) [Rosenmuller].
thus, &c.--Their ill-omened prophecies shall fall on themselves.
14Wherefore thus saith the LORD 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.
14. ye ... thy ... this people--He turns away from addressing the people to the prophet; implying that He puts them to a distance from Him, and only communicates with them through His prophet (Jr 5:19).
fire ... wood--Thy denunciations of judgments shall be fulfilled and shall consume them as fire does wood. In Jr 23:29 it is the penetrating energy of fire which is the point of comparison.
15Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say.
15. (Jr 1:15; 6:22). Alluding to De 28:49, &c.
Israel--that is, Judah.
mighty--from an Arabic root, "enduring." The fourfold repetition of "nation" heightens the force.
ancient--The Chaldeans came originally from the Carduchian and Armenian mountains north of Mesopotamia, whence they immigrated into Babylonia; like all mountaineers, they were brave and hardy (see on Is 23:13).
language ... knowest not--Is 36:11 shows that Aramaic was not understood by the "multitude," but only by the educated classes [Maurer]. Henderson refers it to the original language of the Babylonians, which, he thinks, they brought with them from their native hills, akin to the Persic, not to the Aramaic, or any other Semitic tongue, the parent of the modern Kurd.
16Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all mighty men.
16. open sepulchre--(Compare Psa 5:9). Their quiver is all-devouring, as the grave opened to receive the dead: as many as are the arrows, so many are the deaths.
17And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword.
17. (Le 26:16).
18Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you.
18. Not even in those days of judgments, will God utterly exterminate His people.
I will not make a full end with you--(Jr 5:10; Jr 4:27).
19And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these things unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours.
19. Retribution in kind. As ye have forsaken Me (Jr 2:13), so shall ye be forsaken by Me. As ye have served strange (foreign) gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers (foreigners) in a land not yours. Compare the similar retribution in De 28:47, 48.
20Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying,
21Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not:
21. eyes ... ears, and--Translate, "and yet" (compare De 29:4; Is 6:9). Having powers of perception, they did not use them: still they were responsible for the exercise of them.
22Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which 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?
22. sand--Though made up of particles easily shifting about, I render it sufficient to curb the violence of the sea. Such is your monstrous perversity, that the raging, senseless sea sooner obeys Me, than ye do who profess to be intelligent [Calvin], (Job 26:10; 38:10, 11; Pr 8:29; Re 15:4).
23But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone.
23. (Jr 6:28).
24Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest.
24. rain ... former ... latter--The "former" falls from the middle of October to the beginning of December. The "latter," or spring rain in Palestine, falls before harvest in March and April, and is essential for ripening the crops (De 11:14; Joe 2:23).
weeks of ... harvest--the seven weeks between passover and pentecost, beginning on the sixteenth of Nisan (De 16:9). By God's special providence no rain fell in Palestine during the harvest weeks, so that harvest work went on without interruption (see Ge 8:22).
25Your iniquities have turned away these things, and your sins have withholden good things from you.
25. National guilt had caused the suspension of these national mercies mentioned in Jr 5:24 (compare Jr 3:3).
26For among my people are found wicked men: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men.
26. (Pr 1:11, 17, 18; Ha 1:15).
as he that setteth snares--rather, "as fowlers crouch" [Maurer].
trap--literally, "destruction": the instrument of destruction.
catch men--not as Peter, to save (Lu 5:10), but to destroy men.
27As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich.
27. full of deceit--full of treasures got by deceit.
rich--(Psa 73:12, 18-20).
28They 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.
28. shine--the effect of fatness on the skin (De 32:15). They live a life of self-indulgence.
overpass ... the wicked--exceed even the Gentiles in wickedness (Jr 2:33; Eze 5:6, 7).
judge not ... fatherless--(Is 1:23).
yet ... prosper--(Jr 12:1).
29Shall I not visit for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
29. (Jr 5:9; Mal 3:5).
30A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land;
30. (Jr 23:14; Ho 6:10).
31The 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?
31. bear rule by their means--literally, "according to their hands," that is, under their guidance (1Ch 25:3). As a sample of the priests lending themselves to the deceits of the false prophets, to gain influence over the people, see Jr 29:24-32.
love to have it so--(Mi 2:11).
end thereof--the fatal issue of this sinful course when divine judgments shall come.