Jeremia 13:12 Kommentar

Still the prophet is attempting to awaken this secure and stubborn people to repentance, by the consideration of the judgments of God that were coming upon them. He is to tell them, I. By the sign of a girdle spoiled that their pride should be stained (Jer 13:1-11). II. By the sign of bottles filled with wine that their counsels should be blasted (Jer 13:12-14). III. In consideration hereof he is to call them to repent and humble themselves (Jer 13:15-21). IV. He is to convince them that it is for their obstinacy and incorrigibleness that the judgments of God are so prolonged and brought to extremity (Jer 13:22-27).

Here is, I. A judgment threatened against this people that would quite intoxicate them. This doom is pronounced against them in a figure, to make it the more taken notice of and the more affecting (Jer 13:12): Thus saith the Lord God of Israel, every bottle shall be filled with wine; that is, those that by their sins have made themselves vessels of wrath fitted to destruction shall be filled with the wrath of God as a bottle is with wine; and, as every vessel of mercy prepared for glory shall be filled with mercy and glory, so they shall be full of the fury of the Lord (Isa 51:20); and they shall be brittle as bottles; and, like old bottles into which new wine is put, they shall burst and be broken to pieces, Mat 9:17. Or, They shall have their heads as full of wine as bottle are; for so it is explained, Jer 13:13, They shall be filled with drunkenness; compare Isa 51:17. It is probable that this was a common proverb among them, applied in various ways; but they, not being aware of the prophet's meaning in it, ridiculed him for it: "Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? What strange thing is there in that? Tell us something that we did not know before." Perhaps they were thus touchy with the prophet because they apprehended this to be a reflection upon them for their drunkenness, and probably it was in part so intended. They loved flagons of wine, Hos 3:1. Their watchmen were all for wine, Isa 56:12. They loved their false prophets that prophesied to them of wine (Mic 2:11), that bade them be merry, for that they should never want their bottle to make them so. "Well," says the prophet, "you shall have your bottles full of wine, but not such wine as you desire." They suspected that he had some mystical meaning in it which prophesied no good concerning them, but evil; and he owns that so he had. What he meant was this, 1. That they should be a giddy as men in drink. A drunken man is fitly compared to a bottle or cask full of wine; for, when the wine is in, the wit, and wisdom, and virtue, and all that is good for any thing, are out. Now God threatens (Jer 13:13) that shall they shall all be filled with drunkenness; they shall be full of confusion in their counsels, shall falter in all their talk and stagger in all their motions; they shall not know what they say or do, much less what they should say or do. They shall be sick of all their enjoyments and throw them up as drunken men do, Job 20:15. They shall fall into a slumber, and be utterly unable to help themselves, and, like men that have drunk away their reason, shall lie at the mercy and expose themselves to the contempt of all about them. And this shall be the condition not of some among them (if any had been sober, they might have helped the rest), but even the kings that sit upon the throne of David, that should have been like their father David, who was wise as an angel of God, shall be thus intoxicated. Their priests and prophets too, their false prophets, that pretended to guide them, were as indulgent of their lusts, and therefore were justly as much deprived of their senses, as any other. Nay, all the inhabitants, both of the land and of Jerusalem were as far gone as they. Whom God will destroy he infatuates. 2. That, being giddy, they should run upon one another. The cup of the wine of the Lord's fury shall throw them not only into a lethargy, so that they shall not be able to help themselves or one another, but into a perfect frenzy, so that they shall do mischief to themselves and one another (Jer 13:14): I will dash a man against his brother. Not only their drunken follies, but their drunken frays, shall help to ruin them. Drunken men are often quarrelsome, and upon that account they have woe and sorrow (Pro 23:29, Pro 23:30); so their sin is their punishment; it was so here. God sent an evil spirit into families and neighbourhoods (as Jdg 9:23), which made them jealous of, and spiteful towards, one another; so that the fathers and sons went together by the ears, and were ready to pull one another to pieces, which made them all an easy prey to the common enemy. This decree against them having gone forth, God says, I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them; for they will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy one another; see Hab 2:15, Hab 2:16. II. Here is good counsel given, which, if taken, would prevent this desolation. It is, in short, to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God. If they will hearken and give ear, this is that which God has to say to them, Be not proud, Jer 13:15. This was one of the sins for which God had a controversy with them (Jer 13:9); let them mortify and forsake this sin, and God will let fall his controversy. "Be not proud.; when God speaks to you by his prophets do not think yourselves too good to be taught; be not scornful, be not wilful, let not your hearts rise against the word, nor slight the messengers that bring it to you. When God is coming forth against you in his providence (and by them he speaks) be not secure when he threatens, be not impatient when he strikes, for pride is at the bottom of both." It is the great God that has spoken, whose authority is incontestable, whose power is irresistible; therefore bow to what he says, and be not proud, as you have been. They must not be proud, for, 1. They must advance God, and study how to do him honour: "Give glory to the Lord your God, and not to your idols, not to other gods. Give him glory by confessing your sins, owning yourselves guilty before him, and accepting the punishment of your iniquity, Jer 13:16. Give him glory by confessing your sins, owning yourselves guilty before him, and accepting the punishment of your iniquity, Jer 13:16. Give him glory by a sincere repentance and reformation." The and not till then, we begin to live as we should, and to some good purpose, when we begin to give glory to the Lord our God, to make his honour our chief end and to seek it accordingly. "Do this quickly, while your space to repent is continued to you; before he cause darkness, before you will see no way of escaping." Note, Darkness will be the portion of those that will not repent to give glory to God. When those that by the fourth vial were scorched with heat repented not, to give glory to God. When those that by the fourth vial were scorched with heat repented not, to give glory to God, the next vial filled them with darkness, Rev 16:9, Rev 16:10. The aggravation of the darkness here threatened is, (1.) That their attempts to escape shall hasten their ruin: Their feet shall stumble when they are making all the haste they can over the dark mountains, and they shall fall, and be unable to get up again. Note, Those that think to out-run the judgments of God will find their road impassable; let them make the best of their way, they can make nothing of it, the judgments that pursue them will overtake them; their way is dark and slippery, Psa 35:6. And therefore, before it comes to that extremity, it is our wisdom to give glory to him, and so make our peace with him, to fly to his mercy, and then there will be no occasion to fly from his justice. (2.) That their hopes of a better state of things will be disappointed: While you look for light, for comfort and relief, he will turn it into the shadow of death, which is very dismal and terrible, and make it gross darkness, like that of Egypt, when Pharaoh continued to harden his heart, which was darkness that might be felt. The expectation of impenitent sinners perishes when they die and think to have it satisfied. 2. They must abase themselves, and take shame to themselves; the prerogative of the king and queen will not exempt them from this (Jer 13:18): "Say to the king and queen, that, great as they are, they must humble themselves by true repentance, and so give both glory to God and a good example to their subjects." Note, Those that are exalted above others in the world must humble themselves before God, who is higher than the highest, and to whom kings and queens are accountable. They must humble themselves, and sit down - sit down, and consider what is coming - sit down in the dust, and lament themselves. Let them humble themselves, for God will otherwise take an effectual course to humble them: "Your principalities shall come down, the honour and power on which you value yourselves and in which you confide, even the crown of your glory, your goodly or glorious crown: when you are led away captives, where will your principality and all the badges of it be then?" Blessed be God there is a crown of glory, which those shall inherit who do humble themselves, that shall never come down. III. This counsel is enforced by some arguments if they continue proud and unhumbled. 1. It will be the prophet's unspeakable grief (Jer 13:17): "If you will not hear it, will not submit to the word, but continue refractory, not only my eye, but my soul shall weep in secret places." Note, The obstinacy of people, in refusing to hear the word of God, will be heart-breaking to the poor ministers, who know something of the terrors of the Lord and the worth of souls, and are so far from desiring that they tremble at the thoughts of the death of sinners. His grief for it was undissembled (his soul wept) and void of affectation, for he chose to weep in secret places, where no eye saw him but his who is all eye. He would mingle his tears not only with his public preaching, but with his private devotions. Nay, thoughts of their case would make him melancholy, and he would become a perfect recluse. It would grieve him, (1.) To see their sins unrepented of: "My soul shall weep for your pride, your haughtiness, and stubbornness, and vain confidence." Note, The sins of others should be matter of sorrow to us. We must mourn for that which we cannot mend, and mourn the more for it because we cannot mend it. (2.) To see their calamity past redress and remedy: "My eyes shall weep sorely, not so much because my relations, friends, and neighbours are in distress, but because the Lord's flock, his people and the sheep of his pasture, are carried away captive." That should always grieve us most by which God's honour suffers and the interest of his kingdom is weakened. 2. It will be their own inevitable ruin, Jer 13:19-21. (1.) The land shall be laid waste: The cities of the south shall be shut up. The cities of Judah lay in the southern part of the land of Canaan; these shall be straitly besieged by the enemy, so that there shall be no going in or out, or they shall be deserted by the inhabitants, that there shall be none to go in and out. Some understand it of the cities of Egypt, which was south from Judah; the places there whence they expected succours shall fail them, and they shall find no access to them. (2.) The inhabitants shall be hurried away into a foreign country, there to live in slavery: Judah shall be carried away captive. Some were already carried off, which they hoped might serve to answer the prediction, and that the residue should still be left; but no: It shall be carried away all of it. God will make a full end with them: It shall be wholly carried away. So it was in the last captivity under Zedekiah, because they repented not. (3.) The enemy was now at hand that should do this (Jer 13:20): "Lift up your eyes. I see upon their march, and you may if you will behold, those that come from the north, from the land of the Chaldeans; see how fast they advance, how fierce they appear." Upon this he addresses himself to the king, or rather (because the pronouns are feminine) to the city or state. [1.] "What will you do now with the people who are committed to your charge, and whom you ought to protect? Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? Whither canst thou take them now for shelter? How can they escape these ravening wolves?" Magistrates must look upon themselves as shepherds, and those that are under their charge as their flock, which they are entrusted with the care of and must give an account of; they must take delight in them as their beautiful flock, and consider what to do for their safety in times of public danger. Masters of families, who neglect their children and suffer them to perish for want of a good education, and ministers who neglect their people, should think they hear God putting this question to them: Where is the flock that was given thee to feed, that beauteous flock? It is starved; it is left exposed to the beasts of prey. What account wilt thou give of them when the chief shepherd shall appear? [2.] "What have you to object against the equity of God's proceedings? What will thou say when he shall visit upon thee the former days? Jer 13:21. Thou canst say nothing, but that God is just in all that is brought upon thee." Those that flatter themselves with hopes of impunity, what will they say? What confusion will cover their faces when they shall find themselves deceived and that God punishes them! [3.] "What thoughts will you now have of your own folly, in giving the Chaldeans such power over you, by seeking to them for assistance, and joining in league with them? Thus thou hast taught them against thyself to be captains and to become the head." Hezekiah began when he showed his treasures to the ambassadors of the king of Babylon, tempting him thereby to come and plunder him. Those who, having a God to trust to, court foreign alliances and confide in them, do but make rods for themselves and teach their neighbours how to become their masters. [4.] "How will you bear the trouble that is at the door? Shall not sorrows take thee as a woman in travail? Sorrows which thou canst not escape nor put off, extremity of sorrows; and in these respects more grievous than those of a woman in travail that they were not expected before, and that there is no manchild to be born, the joy of which shall make them afterwards to be forgotten."

INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 13 In this chapter, under the similes of a girdle and bottles of wine, the destruction of the Jews is set forth. Some exhortations are given them to repent and humble themselves, even men of all ranks and degrees among them; and their sins, the source of their calamities, are pointed out to them. An order is given to the prophet to get him a linen girdle, with instructions what to do with it, and which he observed, Jer 13:1, a fresh order to take it and hide it in the hole of a rock by the river Euphrates, which he accordingly did, Jer 13:3 and he is bid a third time to go and take it from thence, which he did; when he found it spoiled, and good for nothing, Jer 13:6, then follows the application of this simile, or the signification of this sign; that in like manner the pride of Judah and Jerusalem should be marred, and for their wickedness and idolatry should become good for nothing, like that girdle; whereas they ought to have cleaved to the Lord, as a girdle does to a man's loins, and to have been an honourable people to him, Jer 13:8. By the simile of bottles filled with wine is signified that all the inhabitants of the land, king, priests, prophets, and common people, should be like drunken men, that should dash one against another, and destroy each other, which the mercy of God would not prevent, Jer 13:12, some exhortations are made to the people in general, to be humble, and confess their sins, and give glory to God, before it was too late; which are enforced by the prophet's affectionate concern for them, Jer 13:15 and to the king and queen in particular, since their crown and kingdom were about to be taken from them; the cities, in the southern parts, going to be shut up, and not opened; and even the whole land of Judea, and all its inhabitants, in a little time would be carried captive, Jer 13:18, and, to certify them of the truth of these things, they are bid to look to the north, from whence the enemy was coming to carry them captive, even the beautiful flock committed to their care, Jer 13:20, and to consider what they could say for themselves, when their punishment should come upon them suddenly, as the sorrows of a woman in travail, Jer 13:21 and should they ask the reason of this, it was owing to the multitude of their iniquities, and to their habit and custom of sinning, which made their case desperate, Jer 13:22, wherefore a resolution is taken to disperse them among the nations, and that this should be their lot and portion, because of their many abominations, and yet not without some concern that they might be purged from their iniquities, Jer 13:24.

Then shall thou say unto them,.... Explaining the above words: thus saith the Lord, behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land; this is the application of the parable, and shows that by every bottle is meant every inhabitant of Judea: even the kings that sit upon David's throne; or, "that sit for David on his throne" (w); that succeed him one after another; more kings may be meant than one, as Jehoiakim and Zedekiah; or the present reigning king, and the princes of the brood, are designed; who, though of David's family, and on his throne, yet this could not secure them from the calamity threatened: and the priests; who ministered in holy things; their sacred office and function would not preserve them from ruin: and the prophets; the false prophets, as the Targum, that prophesied smooth things, and prophesied them peace and safety, these should be involved in the common destruction: and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness; with tribulation, as the Targum interprets it; and adds, "and shall be like a drunken man;'' giddy, stupid, unable to help themselves, or to advise one another. (w) "sedentes Davidi", Montanus, Schmidt, Cocceius; "pro David", Pagninus, Calvin, Junius & Tremellius.

Understand these skins in terms of evil and virtue in order to envision how every skin is filled with wine. But if it is necessary to see the effects of evil and of virtue—punishments due to the evil, blessings and promises due to virtue—let us set down from the sacred Scriptures how the punishments and the promises are discussed as wine: “Take the cup of this undiluted wine, and give to all of the nations to which I have sent you to drink”—he says this to Jeremiah, and he adds to it—“and they will drink and vomit and go mad and fall.” Hence he has called the punishments here “undiluted wine,” which those deserving of “undiluted wine drink,” that is, an “undiluted” punishment. But there are others who drink a punishment that is not undiluted but that has been diluted. For “in the hand of the Lord is a cup filled with a mixture of undiluted wine, and he poured it from this into this. Though its lees were not emptied out, all of the sinners of the earth drink.” If you also wish to know the “cup of blessing” that the righteous drink, the text from Wisdom then also suffices, in which it says, “Drink the wine that I diluted for you.” But see with me the Savior on the Passover who goes up into “a large upper room furnished and ornamented” and who feasts with the disciples and gives to them a cup, about which it is not written that he diluted. For Jesus, who cheers up the disciples with undiluted wine, cheers them up and says to them, “Take, drink, this is my blood, which is poured out for you for the forgiveness of sins. Do this as often as you drink in memory of me,” and, “Truly I say to you, I shall not drink again of this until that day when I drink it new with you in the kingdom of God.” You see the promise that is the cup of the new covenant. You see the punishments as the cup of the undiluted wine, and another form of punishment as the cup that has been diluted so that in each person what he drinks is diluted according to the amount the worthwhile action mingles with the futile action. Notice that those who are strangers in every way to the worship of God and who do not commit themselves but live as it happens drink the undiluted wine—to which we apply the text from Jeremiah—while those who are not in every way apostates and sinners but are still unworthy of the cup of the new covenant, these people sometimes do better, sometimes the opposite acts, and drink wine of an undiluted mixture.

And these things he said, setting laws and rules for his own disciples, that when they should have to receive as disciples those of all sorts that should come from the whole world, they might deal with them very gently. “Neither is new wine put into old wineskins.” Consider how his illustrations are like those in the Old Testament. The garment? The wineskins? For Jeremiah, too, calls the people “a waistcloth” and makes mention again of “jar” and of “wine.” Thus, the discourse being about gluttony and a table, he takes his illustrations from the same.

(Verse 12 onwards) You shall say therefore to them (or to the people) this message. Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Every pitcher (or vessel) shall be filled with wine. And they shall say to you: Do we not know that every pitcher (or vessel) shall be filled with wine? And you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings who sit on David's throne, and the priests and the prophets and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. And I will scatter them, man from his brother, and fathers and sons together, says the Lord. I will not spare (or show mercy) and I will not relent, nor will I have compassion, so as not to destroy them. The Hebrew word Nebel () has been translated by the Aquila's first edition as 'laguncula', by the second edition as 'nebel' itself, by Symmachus as 'crater', by the LXX as 'utres', and by Theodotion as 'vas'. All of them interpret it as a vessel that is not filled with oil, water, honey, milk, or any other liquid material, but with wine and drunkenness. This shows that we are fragile vessels, as the Apostle says: 'But we have this treasure in earthen vessels' (2 Corinthians 4:7), and that it is impossible for us not to be filled with what is written: 'For no good dwells in me, that is, in my flesh'. And again, I do not do the good that I want, but the evil that I do not want, that is what I practice (Rom. VII, 18). And then, wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body of death (Ibid., 19)? But by this drunkenness, where we forget the commandments of God, and every human condition is filled with vice and sin, as the Prophet says: No living being will be justified in your sight (Psal. CXLII, 2), not in comparison to God (as the ancient and new heretics claim, and the supporters of heretics), but in knowledge of Him: for man sees the face, but God sees the heart (I Sam. XVI, 7); and what may appear clean to us, is found filthy in His eyes: not only the common and lowly crowd, but also the kings of the Church, descendants or sons of David, who lie back with their heads raised and stretch their necks, and with outstretched necks, sit upon His throne. The priests themselves, the second in rank in ecclesiastical honor, and the prophets, who are thought to have knowledge of the Scriptures, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, are filled with a variety of sins: whether Jewish, as the Seventy have added. And when they are drunk, they are scattered from the company of their own, and fathers are separated from sons and sons from fathers, so that they are polluted by various heresies, and under the name of Christ they fight among themselves, and they fight against their mother, who gave birth to them, the Church. Where it says: I will not desire them, but I will have them in everlasting hatred: I will not spare, and I will not grant mercy, nor will I show compassion: not out of cruelty of judgment, but out of the truth of justice. For those who have slain my people, they themselves shall perish forever. This can be understood simply according to history, that kings, priests, and prophets, and all the people of Jerusalem must be made drunk with the cup of Babylon, and overwhelmed by the evils of captivity.

And showing the unchangeable nature of his wrath, God introduced these words: “I will not yearn after them, and I will not spare them, and I will not have pity on them because of their destruction,” rather than “[I will not have pity on] their destruction.” Then he calls their punishment drunkenness since those who fall into great misfortunes resemble those who are intoxicated inasmuch as they are not able even to mourn because they are suffering so much.

SYMBOLICAL PROPHECY (Jer 13:1-7). (Jer. 13:1-27) 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.

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; Jer 49:12; Isa 51:17, Isa 51:21-22; Isa 63:6).

The Humiliation of Judah's Pride. - The first section of this chapter contains a symbolical action which sets forth the corruptness of Judah (Jer 13:1-11), and shows in figurative language how the Lord will bring Judah's haughtiness to nothing (Jer 13:12-14). Upon the back of this comes the warning to repent, and the threatening addressed to the king and queen, that the crown shall fall from their head, that Judah shall be carried captive, and Jerusalem dishonoured, because of their disgraceful idolatry (Jer 13:15-27).

How the Lord will destroy His degenerate people, and how they may yet escape the impending ruin. - Jer 13:12. "And speak unto them this word: Thus hath Jahveh the God of Israel said, Every jar is filled with wine. And when they say to thee, Know we not that every jar is filled with wine? Jer 13:13. Then say to them: Thus hath Jahve said: Behold, I fill all inhabitants of this land - the kings that sit for David upon his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem - with drunkenness, Jer 13:14. And dash them one against another, the fathers and the sons together, saith Jahve; I will not spare, nor pity, nor have mercy, not to destroy them. - Jer 13:15. Hear ye and give ear! Be not proud, for Jahveh speaketh. Jer 13:16. Give to Jahveh, your God, honour, ere He bring darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the mountains of dusk, and ye look for light, but He turn it into the shadow of death and make it darkness. Jer 13:17. But if ye hear it not, then in concealment shall my soul weep for the pride, and weep and run down shall mine eye with tears, because the flock of Jahve is carried away captive." To give emphasis to the threatening conveyed in the symbolical action, the kind and manner of the destruction awaiting them is forcibly set before the various ranks in Judah and Jerusalem by the interpretation, in Jer 13:12-14, of a proverbial saying and the application of it to them. The circumstantial way in which the figurative saying is brought in in Jer 13:12, is designed to call attention to its import. נבל, an earthenware vessel, especially the wine jar (cf. Isa 30:24; Lam 4:2), is here the emblem of man; cf. Jer 18:6; Isa 29:16. We must not, as Ng. does, suppose the similar to be used because such jars are an excellent emblem of that carnal aristocratic pride which lacked all substantial merit, by reason of their being of bulging shape, hollow within and without solidity, and of fragile material besides. No stress is laid on the bulging form and hollowness of the jars, but only on their fulness with wine and their brittleness. Nor can aristocratic haughtiness be predicated of all the inhabitants of the land. The saying: Every jar is filled with wine, seemed so plain and natural, that those addressed answer: Of that we are well aware. "The answer is that of the psychical man, who dreams of no deeper sense" (Hitz.). Just this very answer gives the prophet occasion to expound the deeper meaning of this word of God's. As one fills all wine jars, so must all inhabitants of the land be filled by God with wine of intoxication. Drunkenness is the effect of the intoxicating wine of God's wrath, Psa 60:5. This wine Jahveh will give them (cf. Jer 25:15; Isa 51:17, etc.), so that, filled with drunken frenzy, they shall helplessly destroy one another. This spirit will seize upon all ranks: upon the kings who sit upon the throne of David, not merely him who was reigning at the time; upon the priests and prophets as leaders of the people; and upon all inhabitants of Jerusalem, the metropolis, the spirit and temper of which exercises an unlimited influence upon the temper and destiny of the kingdom at large. I dash them one against the other, as jars are shivered when knocked together. Here Hitz. finds a foreshadowing of civil war, by which they should exterminate one another. Jeremiah was indeed thinking of the staggering against one another of drunken men, but in "dash them," etc., adhered simply to the figure of jars or pots. But what can be meant by the shivering of pots knocked together, other than mutual destruction? The kingdom of Judah did not indeed fall by civil war; but who can deny that the fury of the various factions in Judah and Jerusalem did really contribute to the fall of the realm? The shattering of the pots does not mean directly civil war; it is given as the result of the drunkenness of the inhabitants, under which they, no longer capable of self-control, dash against and so destroy one another. But besides, the breaking of jars reminds us of the stratagem of Gideon and his 300 warriors, who, by the sound of trumpets and the smashing of jars, threw the whole Midianite camp into such panic, that these foes turned their swords against one another and fled in wild confusion: Jdg 7:19., cf. too Sa1 14:20. Thus shall Judah be broken without mercy or pity. To increase the emphasis, there is a cumulation of expressions, as in Jer 21:7; Jer 15:5, cf. Eze 5:11; Eze 7:4, Eze 7:9, etc.