Jeremiah 15:13

Jer 15:13 Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil without price, and [that] for all thy sins, even in all thy borders.

Ver. 13. Thy substance and thy treasure.] This is spoken by an apostrophe to the people, who are here told again what to trust to for their national sins.

John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

Jer 15:13-14. Here God turns his speech from the prophet to the people. Thy substance and thy treasures will I give to the spoil — All thy riches and precious things shall be spoiled: there shall be no price taken for the redemption of them. For all thy sins in all thy borders — All parts of the country, even those which lay most remote, had contributed to the national guilt, and all shall be brought to account. And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies, &c. — They shall stay in their own country till they see their estates and all their property ruined, and then they shall be carried into captivity, to spend the remains of a miserable life in slavery. And all this is the fruit of God’s wrath; for a fire, says he, is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you — And, if not extinguished in time, will burn to eternity.

Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13, 14. These verses are repeated in Jer_17:3-4.

Thy substance — Jeremiah’s, as representing the people. The general meaning of the verses last preceding is substantially as follows: God will take care of his servant, and will give him deliverance from the strait place in which he now is, and will even cause the enemy to supplicate him. (Jer_15:11.) As one proof of this, he mentions the improbability that the Chaldean power will relent, (Jer_15:12,) and so the prophetical character of Jeremiah will be vindicated by his words coming fearfully true. And still further extending the thought, he says (Jer_15:13) that the substance of the people is to be cast away as worthless, because of their sins.

Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

15:13-14 It is not clear whether the Lord was speaking of Jeremiah’s or of Judah’s future. If Jeremiah’s, this prediction was fulfilled after the fall of Jerusalem (586 BC), when Jeremiah and Baruch were taken to Egypt against their will (see chs 41–44). If it refers to Judah’s future, the prediction was fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem and the Exile.

Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Or, ransom.

Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain. Text via Bolls.life.

Thy substance . . . sins--Judea's, not Jeremiah's.

without price--God casts His people away as a thing worth naught (Psa 44:12). So, on the contrary, Jehovah, when about to restore His people, says, He will give Egypt, &c., for their "ransom" (Isa 43:3).

even in all thy borders--joined with "Thy substance . . . treasures, as also with "all thy sins," their sin and punishment being commensurate (Jer 17:3).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Verse 13. Thy substance - will I give to the spoil without price] Invaluable property shall be given up to thy adversaries. Or, without price - thou shalt have nothing for it in return.

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

But, there is a difference among interpreters as to the word גבול gebul. I indeed allow that it means a border: but Jeremiah, as I think, when he intended to state things that are different, made use of different forms of speech; but as the construction is the same, I see not how the word can mean the borders of the land. I hence think that it is to be taken here metaphorically for counsels; as though he had said, “On account of all thy wicked deeds and on account of all thy ends, that is, of all thy counsels, I will make thy wealth and thy treasures a plunder.” For true is that saying of the heathen poet,

There is something where thou goest and to which thou levellest thy bow.

When we undertake any buiness, we have some end in view. Then the Prophet calls their adulteries, frauds, rapines, violencies and murders, wicked deeds; but he calls their counsels, borders, such counsels as they craftily took, by which they manifested their depravity and baseness.

Then, in the first place, he declares that God would be a just avenger against their wicked deeds, and against all the ends which the Jews had proposed to themselves; and at the same time he points out and mentions the kind of punishment they were to have, — that the Lord would give for a plunder all their wealth and treasures, and that without exchanging; some read, “without price,” and consider the meaning to be, — that the Jews would be so worthless, that no one would buy them: but this is too refined. I doubt not but that the Prophet intimates, that whatever the Jews possessed would become a prey to their enemies, so that it would be taken away from them without any price or bartering; as though he had said, “Your enemies will freely plunder all that you have without any permission from you, and will regard as their own, even by the right of victory, whatever ye think you have so laid up as never to be taken away.” He afterwards adds —

John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.

(13) Thy substance and thy treasures . . .—Assuming the words to stand in their right place, we must look on them as addressed to Jeremiah as the intercessor, and therefore the representative, of his people. If we admit a dislocation, of which there seem many signs, we may connect them with Jer_15:5-6, and then they are spoken to Jerusalem. The recurrence of the words in Jer_17:3-4, as addressed to the mountain of the plain, i.e., Zion, makes this probable.

Without price.—As in Psa_44:12; Isa_52:3, this implies the extremest abandonment. The enemies of Israel were to have an easy victory, for which they would not have to pay the usual price of blood; nor did God, on His side, demand from them any payment for the victory He bestowed. He gave away His people as men give that which they count worthless.

A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

13, 14. For these vv. which, as addressed to the people, break harshly into the dialogue between Jehovah and the prophet, and are most likely an insertion from Jer_17:3 f., see notes there.

The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

And I will make thee to pass with thine enemies,.... Not Jeremiah, but the Jews, to whom these words are continued. The meaning is, that they should go along with the Chaldeans out of their own land into theirs:

into a land which thou knowest not; the land of Babylon; and there is another reading of the words in the margin, "I will cause thee to serve thine enemies (o), in a land that thou knowest not"; which is followed by the Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions. Some render the words, "I will bring thine enemies from, or through, a land that thou knowest not" (p); the place from whence they came, and those through which they came, being at a great distance:

for a fire is kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you; meaning the wrath of God, compared to fire, which was kindled and excited by their sins, and which would continue upon them until it had destroyed them.

(o) "et servire faciam". (p) "Et adducam inimicos tuos de terra quam nescis", V. L. "et transire faciam hostes tuos per terram quam nescis", De Dieu; so Cocceius.

John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jeremiah is personally addressed in the verse, because he stood before God as the intercessor, representing the people.

(1) God would give Judah’s treasures away for nothing; implying that He did not value them.

(2) the cause of this contempt is Judah’s sins.

(3) this is justified by Judah having committed them throughout her whole land.

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

All thy riches and precious things shall be spoiled, I will have no regard. saith God, to loss or gain in it, or there shall be no price taken for the redemption of them; for what shall be done shall be by me done for all the sins which thou hast been guilty of in all the parts of the country.

Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.

Vers. 13, 14. Thy substance, etc. These verses form an unlooked-for digression. The prophet has been in a state of profound melancholy, and the object of Jehovah is to rouse him from it. In Vers. 11, 12, the most encouraging assurances have been given him. Suddenly comes the overwhelming declaration contained in Vers. 13, 14. And when we look closely at these verses, two points strike us, which make it difficult to conceive that Jeremiah intended them to stand here. First, their contents are not at all adapted to Jeremiah, and clearly belong to the people of Judah; and next, they are repeated, with some variations, in Jer_17:3, Jer_17:4. It should also be observed that the Septuagint (which omits Jer_17:1-4) only gives them here, which seems to indicate an early opinion that the passage only ought to occur once in the Book of Jeremiah, though the Septuagint translator failed to choose the right position for it. Without price; literally, not for a price. In the parallel passage there is another reading, "thy high places," which forms part of the next clause. Hitzig and Graf suppose this to be the original reading, the Hebrew letters having been partly effaced and then misread, after which "not" was prefixed to make sense. However this may be, the present reading is unintelligible, if we compare Isa_52:3, where Jehovah declares that his people were sold for nothing, i.e. were given up entirely to the enemy, without any compensating advantage to Jehovah. And that for all thy sins, even, etc.; literally, and in all thy sins and in all thy borders. The text is certainly difficult. Externally a parallelism exists between the two halves of the clause, and one is therefore tempted to render literally. As this will not make sense, however, we are forced either to render as the Authorized Version, or to suppose that the text is not accurately preserved. The parallel passage has a different but not a more intelligible reading. Ewald omits "and" in both halves of the clause, which slightly diminishes the awkwardness. And I will make thee to pass, etc. The natural rendering of the Hebrew is, "And I will make thine enemies to pass," etc., which clearly cannot be the prophet"s meaning. The parallel passage (Jer_17:4) has, "And I will make thee to serve thine enemies," etc.; and so the Septuagint, the Syriac, the Targum, and many manuscripts here. For a fire is kindled in mine anger; a reminiscence of Deu_32:22, suggesting that the judgment described in the Song of Moses is about to fall upon Judah.

The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

The substance - All thy precious things shall be spoiled, there shall be no price taken for the redemption of them.

John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.

General Information:

In these verse, Yahweh speaks to the nation of Israel as if it were one person.

wealth and treasures

The words "wealth" and "treasures" mean the same thing and refer to anything that people consider to be valuable. (See: Doublet)

plunder

things that you steal from a city after conquering it

all your sins committed

This can be written in active form. AT: "all of the sins you have committed" (See: Active or Passive)

within all your borders

"throughout your country"

a land that you do not know

"to a land that is strange to you"

for a fire will ignite, kindled in my wrath against you

The wrath of God is spoken of as if it were a destructive fire. AT: "I will destroy you because I am very angry with you" (See: Metaphor)

for a fire will ignite, kindled in my wrath against you

Here Yahweh speaks of his wrath as if it were a fire. AT: "for my wrath is like a fire that I will kindle against you" or "for I will come against you in my wrath, and my wrath will be like a burning fire" (See: Metaphor)

kindled

to light a fire

translationWords

sin

know

fire

wrath

unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.

Your wealth An expression of money.

and your treasures He is addressing Israel.

and for all your sins And because of all your sins, this will befall you.

and throughout all your boundaries For you erected idols in all of them.

Rashi on the Tanakh — English translations: “The Judaica Press complete Tanach with Rashi, translated by A. J. Rosenberg” (CC BY 4.0); “Pentateuch with Rashi's commentary by M. Rosenbaum and A.M. Silbermann, 1929-1934” (public domain); “The Metsudah Tanach series, Lakewood, N.J” (CC BY 4.0); and “The Book of Joshua, Metsudah Publications, 1997” (CC BY 4.0). Text via Sefaria.