1 Thus said Jehovah unto me, `Go, and thou hast got for thee a girdle of linen, and hast placed it on thy loins, and into water thou dost not cause it to enter:'
2 and I get the girdle, according to the word of Jehovah, and I place `it' on my loins.
3 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, saying,
4 `Take the girdle that thou hast got, that `is' on thy loins, and rise, go to Phrat, and hide it there in a hole of the rock;
5 and I go and hide it by Phrat, as Jehovah commanded me.
6 And it cometh to pass, at the end of many days, that Jehovah saith unto me, `Rise, go to Phrat, and take thence the girdle, that I commanded thee to hide there;'
7 and I go to Phrat, and dig, and take the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and lo, the girdle hath been marred, it is not profitable for anything.
8 And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `Thus said Jehovah:
9 Thus do I mar the excellency of Judah, And the great excellency of Jerusalem.
10 This evil people, who refuse to hear My words, Who walk in the stubbornness of their heart, And go after other gods to serve them, And to bow themselves to them, Yea it is -- as this girdle, that is not profitable for anything.
11 For, as the girdle cleaveth unto the loins of a man, So I caused to cleave unto Me The whole house of Israel, And the whole house of Judah, an affirmation of Jehovah, To be to Me for a people, and for a name, And for praise, and for beauty, And they have not hearkened.
12 And thou hast said unto them this word, Thus said Jehovah, God of Israel, `Every bottle is full of wine,' And they have said unto thee: `Do we not certainly know that every bottle is full of wine?'
13 And thou hast said unto them, `Thus said Jehovah: Lo, I am filling all the inhabitants of this land, And the kings who sit for David on his throne, And the priests, and the prophets, And all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, `With' drunkenness,
14 And have dashed them one against another, And the fathers and the sons together, An affirmation of Jehovah, I do not pity, nor spare, nor have I mercy, So as not to destroy them.
15 Hear, and give ear -- be not haughty, For Jehovah hath spoken.
16 Give ye to Jehovah your God honour, Before He doth cause darkness, And before your feet stumble on dark mountains, And ye have waited for light, And He hath made it for death-shade, And hath appointed `it' for thick darkness.
17 And if ye do not hear it, In secret places doth my soul weep, because of pride, Yea, it weepeth sore, And the tear cometh down mine eyes, For the flock of Jehovah hath been taken captive.
18 Say to the king and to the mistress: Make yourselves low -- sit still, For come down have your principalities, The crown of your beauty.
19 The cities of the south have been shut up, And there is none opening, Judah hath been removed -- all of her, She hath been removed completely --
20 Lift up your eyes, and see those coming in from the north, Where `is' the drove given to thee, thy beautiful flock?
21 What dost thou say, when He looketh after thee? And thou -- thou hast taught them `to be' over thee -- leaders for head? Do not pangs seize thee as a travailing woman?
22 And when thou dost say in thy heart, `Wherefore have these met me?' For the abundance of thine iniquity Have thy skirts been uncovered, Have thy heels suffered violence.
23 Doth a Cushite change his skin? and a leopard his spots? Ye also are able to do good, who are accustomed to do evil.
24 And I scatter them as stubble, Passing away, by a wind of the wilderness.
25 This `is' thy lot, the portion of thy measures from Me -- an affirmation of Jehovah, Because thou hast forgotten me, And dost trust in falsehood.
26 I also have made bare thy skirts before thy face, And thy shame hath been seen.
27 Thine adulteries, and thy neighings, The wickedness of thy whoredom, on heights in a field, I have seen thine abominations. Wo to thee, O Jerusalem, Thou art not cleansed, after when `is it' again?
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 13
Commentary on Jeremiah 13 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 13
Jer 13:1-27. Symbolical Prophecy (Jer 13:1-7).
Many of these figurative acts being either not possible, or not probable, or decorous, seem to have existed only in the mind of the prophet as part of his inward vision. [So Calvin]. The world he moved in was not the sensible, but the spiritual, world. Inward acts were, however, when it was possible and proper, materialized by outward performance, but not always, and necessarily so. The internal act made a naked statement more impressive and presented the subject when extending over long portions of space and time more concentrated. The interruption of Jeremiah's official duty by a journey of more than two hundred miles twice is not likely to have literally taken place.
1. put it upon thy loins, &c.—expressing the close intimacy wherewith Jehovah had joined Israel and Judah to Him (Jer 13:11).
linen—implying it was the inner garment next the skin, not the outer one.
put it not in water—signifying the moral filth of His people, like the literal filth of a garment worn constantly next the skin, without being washed (Jer 13:10). Grotius understands a garment not bleached, but left in its native roughness, just as Judah had no beauty, but was adopted by the sole grace of God (Eze 16:4-6). "Neither wast thou washed in water," &c.
4. Euphrates—In order to support the view that Jeremiah's act was outward, Henderson considers that the Hebrew Phrath here is Ephratha, the original name of Beth-lehem, six miles south of Jerusalem, a journey easy to be made by Jeremiah. The non-addition of the word "river," which usually precedes Phrath, when meaning Euphrates, favors this view. But I prefer English Version. The Euphrates is specified as being near Babylon, the Jews future place of exile.
hole—typical of the prisons in which the Jews were to be confined.
the rock—some well-known rock. A sterile region, such as was that to which the Jews were led away (compare Isa 7:19) [Grotius].
6. after many days—Time enough was given for the girdle to become unfit for use. So, in course of time, the Jews became corrupted by the heathen idolatries around, so as to cease to be witnesses of Jehovah; they must, therefore, be cast away as a "marred" or spoiled girdle.
9. (Le 26:19).
10. imagination—rather, "obstinacy."
11. (Jer 33:9; Ex 19:5).
glory—an ornament to glory in.
12. A new image.
Do we not … know … wine—The "bottles" are those used in the East, made of skins; our word "hogshead," originally "oxhide," alludes to the same custom. As they were used to hold water, milk, and other liquids, what the prophet said (namely, that they should be all filled with wine) was not, as the Jews' taunting reply implied, a truism even literally. The figurative sense which is what Jeremiah chiefly meant, they affected not to understand. As wine intoxicates, so God's wrath and judgments shall reduce them to that state of helpless distraction that they shall rush on to their own ruin (Jer 25:15; 49:12; Isa 51:17, 21, 22; 63:6).
13. upon David's throne—literally, who sit for David on his throne; implying the succession of the Davidic family (Jer 22:4).
all—indiscriminately of every rank.
14. dash—(Ps 2:9). As a potter's vessel (Re 2:27).
15. be not proud—Pride was the cause of their contumacy, as humility is the first step to obedience (Jer 13:17; Ps 10:4).
16. Give glory, &c.—Show by repentance and obedience to God, that you revere His majesty. So Joshua exhorted Achan to "give glory to God" by confessing his crime, thereby showing he revered the All-knowing God.
stumble—image from travellers stumbling into a fatal abyss when overtaken by nightfall (Isa 5:30; 59:9, 10; Am 8:9).
dark mountains—literally, "mountains of twilight" or "gloom," which cast such a gloomy shadow that the traveller stumbles against an opposing rock before he sees it (Joh 11:10; 12:35).
shadow of death—the densest gloom; death shade (Ps 44:19). Light and darkness are images of prosperity and adversity.
17. hear it—my exhortation.
in secret—as one mourning and humbling himself for their sin, not self-righteously condemning them (Php 3:18).
pride—(see on Jer 13:15; Job 33:17).
flock—(Jer 13:20), just as kings and leaders are called pastors.
18. king—Jehoiachin or Jeconiah.
queen—the queen mother who, as the king was not more than eighteen years old, held the chief power. Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan, carried away captive with Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki 24:8-15).
Humble yourselves—that is, Ye shall be humbled, or brought low (Jer 22:26; 28:2).
your principalities—rather, "your head ornament."
19. cities of the south—namely, south of Judea; farthest off from the enemy, who advanced from the north.
shut up—that is, deserted (Isa 24:10); so that none shall be left to open the gates to travellers and merchants again [Henderson]. Rather, shut up so closely by Nebuchadnezzar's forces, sent on before (2Ki 24:10, 11), that none shall be allowed by the enemy to get out (compare Jer 13:20).
wholly—literally, "fully"; completely.
20. from … north—Nebuchadnezzar and his hostile army (Jer 1:14; 6:22).
flock … given thee—Jeremiah, amazed at the depopulation caused by Nebuchadnezzar's forces, addresses Jerusalem (a noun of multitude, which accounts for the blending of plural and singular, Your eyes … thee … thy flock), and asks where is the population (Jer 13:17, "flock") which God had given her?
21. captains, and as chief—literally, "princes as to headship"; or "over thy head," namely, the Chaldeans. Rather, translate, "What wilt thou say when God will set them (the enemies, Jer 13:20) above thee, seeing that thou thyself hast accustomed them (to be) with thee as (thy) lovers in the highest place (literally, 'at thy head')? Thou canst not say God does thee wrong, seeing it was thou that gave occasion to His dealing so with thee, by so eagerly courting their intimacy." Compare Jer 2:18, 36; 2Ki 23:29, as to the league of Judah with Babylon, which led Josiah to march against Pharaoh-necho, when the latter was about to attack Babylon [Maurer].
sorrows—pains, throes.
22. if thou say—connecting this verse with "What wilt thou say" (Jer 13:21)?
skirts discovered—that is, are thrown up so as to expose the person (Jer 13:26; Isa 3:17; Na 3:5).
heels made bare—The sandal was fastened by a thong above the heel to the instep. The Hebrew, is, "are violently handled," or "torn off"; that is, thou art exposed to ignominy. Image from an adulteress.
23. Ethiopian—the Cushite of Abyssinia. Habit is second nature; as therefore it is morally impossible that the Jews can alter their inveterate habits of sin, nothing remains but the infliction of the extremest punishment, their expatriation (Jer 13:24).
24. (Ps 1:4).
by the wind—before the wind.
of the wilderness—where the wind has full sweep, not being broken by any obstacle.
25. portion of thy measures—the portion which I have measured out to thee (Job 20:29; Ps 11:6).
falsehood—(Jer 13:27), false gods and alliances with foreign idolaters.
26. discover … upon thy face—rather, "throw up thy skirts over thy face," or head; done by way of ignominy to captive women and to prostitutes (Na 3:5). The Jews' punishment should answer to their crime. As their sin had been perpetrated in the most public places, so God would expose them to the contempt of other nations most openly (La 1:8).
27. neighings—(Jer 5:8), image from the lust of horses; the lust after idols degrades to the level of the brute.
hills—where, as being nearer heaven, sacrifices were thought most acceptable to the gods.
wilt thou not … ? when—literally, "thou wilt not be made clean after how long a time yet." (So Jer 13:23). Jeremiah denies the moral possibility of one so long hardened in sin becoming soon cleansed. But see Jer 32:17; Lu 18:27.