Jeremiah 25:7

Jer 25:7 Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the LORD; that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands to your own hurt.

Ver. 7. That ye might provoke me.] See Jer 7:17-18.

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.

25:7-9 The people had not listened to the Lord’s decrees to turn from their evil ways; instead, they kept worshiping idols. So the Lord would completely destroy them.

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

Though ye provoke Me to anger (Deu 32:21), yet it is not I, but yourselves, whom ye thereby hurt (Pro 8:36; Pro 20:2).

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 7. That ye might provoke] Ye would not hearken; but chose to provoke me with anger.

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

He proves what he had said before, that the Jews had been wholly disobedient, though God had kindly offered and shewed that he would be reconciled to them, provided they turned from the heart to him. The fact that this message was not received by the Jews, was an evidence of extreme and irreclaimable obstinacy. And he enhances their guilt by saying, that ye might provoke me; for he intimates that they were led away to evil by a voluntary purpose, as though they wished to provoke God. The Prophet, then, by saying that ye might provoke me, accuses them of deliberate wickedness. It, indeed, often happens that men go astray through ignorance, and do not attend because no one warns them; but since God had so many times exhorted the Jews to repent, no other opinion could have been formed of them, but that they designedly wished, not only to despise God, but also to provoke him to the contest.

And this is what we ought carefully to notice, for whosoever has been taught the will of God, unless he obeys, he cannot escape the charge of a voluntary obstinacy, as he has resolved, as it were, to carry on war with God. Though the ungodly do not confess this, yet the fact is evident; and God, who is a righteous judge, has declared that they who despised the prophetic doctrine were so regarded.

And he says, for evil to you, in order that they might know that God did not plead his own cause because he stood in need of their service, but that he cared for their welfare. For there is to be understood here an implied contrast, as though the Prophet had said, “What loss has God suffered by your perverseness? Ye have, indeed, tried to deprive him of his glory, for ye have adorned your idols by spoils taken from him; but it is not in men’s power to subtract anything from the rights of God; he remains ever perfect: then it only turns out to your ruin when ye are rebellious. When, therefore, God now reproves you, he does not maintain his own right, as though he received any gain or loss from you; but it is an evidence of his mercy, because he would not have you to perish, though he sees that you are led into destruction by an insane impulse.” It afterwards follows, —

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.

7. unto me] i.e. Jeremiah.

saith the Lord] The words were inserted through the same error which led to the insertion of Jer_25:4.

that ye might … own hurt] The gloss was suggested by the similar language of Jer_25:6.

work of your hands] idols. Cp. Jer_10:3; Jer_10:9, Jer_32:30; Deu_31:29.

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.

Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith the Lord,.... Though it was he that spake unto them by his prophets; and though it was so much to their own good and advantage; and the neglect of him and his word were so much to their disadvantage, and even ruin:

that ye might provoke me to anger with the works of your hands, to your own hurt: which, though not signed to do either, yet eventually did both; both provoked the Lord, and brought destruction upon themselves; for whatever is against the glory of God is to the hurt of man; and whatever provokes him is pernicious to them in its consequences.

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

Ye heard me and other the Lord’s prophets thus speaking to you, but you did not obey and hearken. As if you had done it on purpose to incense me against you, who am of myself slow to wrath, and must be provoked to execute vindictive justice by men’s own wicked works; which do not otherwise affect or hurt me, but are to their hurt who do them.

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

Vers. 7-11. Judgment plainly declared.

The agents of the visitation are more precisely defined than hitherto, and the leader of the invasion is actually named. The extent also of the region to be devastated, and the time the captivity is to last, viz. seventy years, are set forth.

I THIS TENDED TO HEIGHTEN THE MORAL CONSCIOUSNESS OF THE PEOPLE. A vague indefinite calamity or series of calamities would have failed to strike deeply enough into the conscience of the transgressors; whereas a precisely marked off and defined set of occurrences could not be misunderstood.

1. The nearness and inevitable character of the judgment are thereby realized.

2. It is seen to be imposed by the moral government of God. "My servant." God permits, nay, appoints, Nebuchadnezzar.

II IT PRESENTED THE PERIOD OF CALAMITY AS PART OF AN ORDERED WHOLE, WITH A DEFINITE OVERCOME AND OBJECT. Great as the trial would be, it was nevertheless a measured and therefore a bearable one. There need be no wild abandonment to despair. The believer could possess his soul in patience. The allurements of heathenism would lose much of their power. A quiet, reverent, and repentant study of the meaning of the dispensation would be encouraged; and in this way it would act as discipline for the future. We can never be certain as to the limits of our trials; but we have the assurance that our Savior, who has a fellow-feeling with his people, will not impose anything above what we are able to bear. And through the revelation of spirituality in the gospel, and the greater spiritualization of our hopes and aims through its teaching, we are able with greater calmness to contemplate our "light affliction, which is but for a moment.

III THE PROPHECY WAS THEREBY PROVED TO BE GENUINE, AND THE PROVIDENCE OF GOD REVEALED BEYOND DISPUTE. As if conscious of this, Jeremiah for the first time calls himself "the prophet," when he has fairly committed himself to exact dates and personages. It would be open to the survivors of that predicted dispensation to denounce him an impostor, and to discredit the practice of prophesying. But the seer was certain; and the verdict of history confirms his forecast, and demonstrates that it was no ex post facto fabrication, but real Divine foreknowledge of events yet future. M.

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

this is Yahweh's declaration

Yahweh speaks of himself by name to express the certainty of what he is declaring. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 1:8. AT: "this is what Yahweh has declared" or "this is what I, Yahweh, have declared" (See: First, Second, or Third Person)

you have provoked me with the work of your hands to do harm to you

See how you translated a similar phrase in Jeremiah 25:6. Possible meanings for the phrase "the work of your hands" are 1) it is a reference to the idols that the people have made with their hands. AT: "you have provoked me to harm you because of the idols that you have made with your hands" or 2) It is an idiom that refers to the actions of a person, with the word "hands" being a synecdoche that represents the person who does those actions. AT: "you have provoked me to harm you because of the things that you do" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information and Synecdoche and Idiom)

to do harm to you

"so that I do harm to you"

Yahweh of hosts says this

Jeremiah often uses these words to introduce an important message from Yahweh. See how you translated this in Jeremiah 6:6.

see

"look" or "listen" or "pay attention to what i am about to tell you"

bring them against this land

The idiom to "bring ... against this land" means that they will attack the people who live in the land. AT: "bring them to attack this land" (See: Idiom)

I will set them apart for destruction

The idiom "set ... apart for destruction" means to destroy something completely. AT: "I will destroy them completely" (See: Idiom)

I will turn them into a horror

The word "horror" may be translated with a verbal phrase. AT: "I will turn them into something that horrifies people" (See: Abstract Nouns)

an object for hissing

The word "hissing" refers to a sound that shows strong disapproval and can be translated with a verbal phrase. AT: "an object at which people will hiss"

translationWords

Yahweh of hosts

send

command

nation

horror

desolate

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