Jeremiah 9:22 Komentář

In this chapter the prophet goes on faithfully to reprove sin and to threaten God's judgments for it, and yet bitterly to lament both, as one that neither rejoiced at iniquity nor was glad at calamities. I. He here expresses his great grief for the miseries of Judah and Jerusalem, and his detestation of their sins, which brought those miseries upon them (Jer 9:1-11). II. He justifies God in the greatness of the destruction brought upon them (Jer 9:9-16). III. He calls upon others to bewail the woeful case of Judah and Jerusalem (Jer 9:17-22). IV. He shows them the folly and vanity of trusting in their own strength or wisdom, or the privileges of their circumcision, or any thing but God only (Jer 9:23-26).

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 9 This chapter is a continuation of the judgments of God upon the Jews for their sins and transgressions herein mentioned; illustrated by the lamentation of the prophet; by calling for the mourning women, and upon other women that had lost their husbands or children, with an intimation that none of any rank and class should escape. The prophet is introduced mourning over the destruction of his people, Jer 9:1, and as uneasy at his stay with them, because of their uncleanness, treachery, lying, unfaithfulness, and deceit, Jer 9:2, wherefore the Lord threatens to melt and try them; and for their deceitfulness particularly to visit them, and avenge himself on them, Jer 9:7, the destruction is described by the desolation of the mountains and habitations of the wilderness; they being so burnt up, that there were neither grass upon them, nor beasts nor birds to be seen or heard about them; and of Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, so that there was no inhabitant in them, Jer 9:10, upon which a wise man is inquired after, to give the true reason of all this, Jer 9:12 but none appearing, the Lord gives it himself; which were their disobedience to his law, and their worship of idols, following the imagination of their own hearts, Jer 9:13 wherefore they are threatened to be fed with wormwood and gall; to be scattered among the nations, and a sword sent after them to their utter consumption, Jer 9:15, hence, for the certainty of it, mourning women are ordered to be called for in haste, to assist them in their mourning, on account of their distress, Jer 9:17, and such as were mothers of children are bid to teach their daughters and neighbours lamentation, because of the children and young men cut off by death, and for the carcasses of men that should fall as dung in the field, and as the handful after the harvestman, Jer 9:20, and it is suggested that none should escape; not the wise man by any art or cunning he was master of; nor the strong man by his strength; nor the rich man by his riches; and therefore ought not either of them to glory in these things, but in the Lord, as exercising lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth, Jer 9:23, and the chapter is concluded with a strong asseveration, that the wicked, both circumcised and uncircumcised, should be punished, Jer 9:25.

Speak, thus saith the Lord,.... These are the words of the Lord to Jeremiah, to go on with his prophecy in his name; so the Targum, "prophesy, thus saith the Lord:'' even the carcasses of men shall fall as dung upon the open field; or, "upon the face of the field" (f); this shows the reason why the women are called to mourning, because the men would fall by the sword in the open field, and there lie and rot, and become dung upon it. The Targum is, "as dung spread upon the face of the field;'' which denotes the great number that should fall, which would cover the face of the field; the condition they should be in; and the contempt and neglect they should be had in: and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them; as a handful of corn that is forgot, and left by the harvestman; or as ears of corn which are dropped by the reaper, or binder, and are usually gleaned or gathered up by the poor that follow; but in the case referred to, or supposed, are not gathered; so it would be with these people; they should be left upon the ground, like a handful forgot, or like ears of corn dropped, and not gathered up, and there they should lie, and none should bury them. (f) "super faciebus agri", Montanus, Schmidt; "in facie agri", Cocceius; "in superficie agri", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.

Amid so many passions of this body of ours, amid so many enticements of this world, who indeed can keep his footstep safe and undefiled? The eye looks back and leads the mind’s perception astray, the ear hears and turns one’s attention away, a whiff of fragrance hinders thought, a kiss of the mouth introduces guilt, a touch kindles the fire of passion. “Death has entered in through the window,” the prophet said. Your eye is your window. If you look at a woman to lust after her, death has entered in; if you listen to the harlot’s words, death has entered in; if licentiousness takes hold of your senses, death has gone in.

(Verse 22.) Speak these things, says the Lord, and the mortality of man (or the corpses of men) will fall like dung on the face of the region (or the field) and like hay behind the reaper, and there is no one to gather. The Hebrew word, which is written with three letters Daleth, Beth, Res (for it does not have vowels in the middle), signifies speech for a consequence and at the discretion of the reader if it is read as Dabar (), it signifies a word; if Deber, it signifies death; if Daber, it signifies speak. And both the Septuagint and Theodotion joined that previous chapter, so that they said, 'They will scatter the little ones outside, and the young men will die in the streets.' But Aquila and Symmachus translated λάλησον, which means 'speak': so that God commands the Prophet to speak what follows: Thus says the Lord, and the rest. And the meaning is: When death ascends through our windows, and enters the houses of Jerusalem, and the little ones and young men outside perish in the streets: then there will be their death, or the corpses of the dead, like dung on the face of the earth, and like straw that is left behind by those who have reaped, and is not collected as useless. He wants to show by these things that such a great slaughter will happen in Jerusalem and around the city that there will be no one to bury the fallen.

O Lord, keep watch over my mouth, for it is written, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Again, you have declared, “I tell you, that of every idle word people speak, they shall give account on the day of judgment.” The prophet prays, therefore, that his words may not be vain but holy and pleasing to God. “Set a guard at the door of my lips.” He is asking for a guard around his lips like the rampart of a castle, that he may never capitulate to sin. It is Jeremiah who says, “Death has come up through our windows.” A person has five windows: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. If I look at a woman to lust after her, I have already committed adultery in my heart, and death has come through my window of sight. If the sound of the harp, organ or flute unnerves me, death has entered my soul through the sense of hearing. Again, if I touch something soft and supple, and wantonness breaks down the resistance of my flesh, death has entered through touch, and so down the line.

By “windows” he refers to the error of their thinking: through them they gave entrance to the error and the blow inflicted by it. You would not be wide of the mark to call the body’s senses “windows”—sight, taste, smell, hearing and touch. Both life and death can enter through these. For example, the person who looks with restraint reaps life, while the one looking immoderately gains death. The truthful tongue procures salvation for the soul, while the lying one brings about ruin; and likewise with the rest, as you can easily learn.

The prophet says, “Death is come up through the windows.” Surely he does not mean actual windows—otherwise we could shut our windows and never die. But the bodily senses—sight, hearing, and so on—are windows to us and death enters us through them if we sin with them.

JEREMIAH'S LAMENTATION FOR THE JEWS' SINS AND CONSEQUENT PUNISHMENT. (Jer. 9:1-26) This verse is more fitly joined to the last chapter, as Jer 9:23 in the Hebrew (compare Isa 22:4; Lam 2:11; Lam 3:48).

saith the Lord--continuing the thread of discourse from Jer 9:20. dung-- (Jer 8:2). handful . . . none . . . gather them--implying that the handful has been so trodden as to be not worth even the poor gleaner's effort to gather it. Or the Eastern custom may be referred to: the reaper cuts the grain and is followed by another who gathers it. This grain shall not be worth gathering. How galling to the pride of the Jews to hear that so shall their carcasses be trodden contemptuously under foot!