Jeremiah 5:28

Jer 5:28 They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge.

Ver. 28. They are waxen fat, they shine.] Pingues, nitidi sunt; cutem curant ut Epicuri de grege porci; fat they are, and fair-liking, slick, and smooth.

Yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked.] They outsin others. Or, as some sense it, they escape better than others. {Psa 73:5}

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.

They feel not the plague of God for it.

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

shine--the effect of fatness on the skin (Deu 32:15). They live a life of self-indulgence.

overpass . . . the wicked--exceed even the Gentiles in wickedness (Jer 2:33; Eze 5:6-7).

judge not . . . fatherless-- (Isa 1:23).

yet . . . prosper-- (Jer 12:1).

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 28. They judge not the cause, yet they prosper] Perhaps we might be justified in translating, "And shall they prosper?"

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

Here the Prophet reproves those who were high in dignity, station, and wealth, and who wished at the same time to be deemed inviolable, because they were the rulers of the people. He had spoken before generally, but now he assails the higher orders, the king’s counselors, the priests, the judges, and all endowed with authority. He says, that they were swoln with fatness, that they were shining, though they had exceeded, etc We see how he confirms what he had briefly referred to; for as they protected themselves under the pretense of being rich, that they might not be called to an account, he says, by way of concession, “I allow that ye are bright and splendid, and indeed that ye are all over gold; but whence is this splendor? whence is this specious appearance, which dazzles the eyes of the simple? Ye are bright, ye are fat, though ye have surpassed the words of the impious, that is, the ways, the doings, and the designs of the impious.” He means, in short, that it was of no avail to the wicked, that by their aspect they terrified people, that they gained great respect by their riches, and made men afraid of them: the Prophet admits that they had honors, wealth, splendor, repute, dignity, and such things; but he says, at the same time, Ye have surpassed all the doings of the wicked And then he brings this charge against them, that they did not judge judgment

It hence appears that the Prophet was not dealing with the common people nor with private individuals; but that he openly and avowedly reproved the king’s court and the judges. “They judge not judgment, “he says; which means, that they had no care for executing justice, but suffered thefts and robberies to go unpunished: and he still enhances their guilt and says, They judge not the judgment of the fatherless Pity towards young orphans is often found in those who are otherwise cruel; for that age, especially when deprived of all protection, touches our feelings in a peculiar manner. Since then young orphans were plundered with impunity, and found no defense from the judges, their dishonesty appeared most glaringly.

And he says, that they yet prospered. He again repeats, by way of concession, what he had before intimated, — that it was a foolish and vain pretense, that they openly boasted of their wealth, honors, and fortunes. How is this, he says? They prosper; but yet they judge not the judgment of the poor, that is, they help not the poor, but dissemble and connive at all the wrongs done to them. We now then see that he exposes to view the wickedness of the people, so that not even the principal men should be able to hide themselves; for the Lord shews that they had wholly neglected their duties, and were even destitute of all humanity. 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.

(28) They overpass the deeds of the wicked.—Better (the English being ambiguous), they exceed in deeds (literally, words or things) of wickedness. The prophet dwells not only on the prosperity of the wicked, but on their callous indifference to the well-being of the poor.

Yet they prosper.—Better, so that they (the fatherless) may prosper. They do not judge with a view to that result. The words admit, however, in Hebrew as in English, of the sense that they (the wicked themselves) may prosper. That was all they aimed at or cared for.

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

28. waxen fat] Fatness was looked on as a mark of prosperity. Cp. Deu_32:15; Psa_92:14; Pro_28:25.

shine] referring to their sleekness of skin.

that they should prosper] i.e. that the orphans by their help may receive succour.

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.

They are waxen fat, they shine,.... Becoming rich they grew fat, and their faces shone through fatness; so oil, delicious food, and good living, as it fattens men, it makes their faces to shine; see Psa 104:15,

yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked; though they pretended to religion, the fear and worship of God, yet they committed crimes more heinous than the most abandoned and profligate sinners: or, "they exceed the words of the wicked" (f); either they speak words more wicked than they; or do such actions as are not to be expressed by words, and which even a wicked man would hardly choose to name. The Targum is,

"they transgress the words of the law;''

and the Vulgate Latin version comes pretty near it, "they have passed over my words very badly"; as if they referred to the words of the law and the prophets:

they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless; this shows that it was not the common people only that were become so wicked, but the judges and civil magistrates; and who were so far from doing justice between man and man, in all civil cases that came before them, that they would not even exercise right judgment in the case of the fatherless; who not only require justice to be done them, but mercy and pity to be shown them:

yet they prosper; in the world, and increase in riches; have health of body and prosperity in their families; nor are they in trouble, as other men: this sometimes has been trying to good men to observe; see Psa 73:3 and particularly to the Prophet Jeremiah, Jer 12:1, or, "that they may prosper" (g); as Jarchi interprets it; and to the same sense is the Targum,

"if they had judged the judgment of the fatherless they would have prospered;''

but the former sense is best; and which Kimchi gives into, and agrees with what goes before, concerning the riches and prosperous estate of those men:

and the right of the needy do they not judge: because they are poor, and can not fee them, they will not undertake their cause; or, if it comes before them, they will not do them justice, being bribed by the rich that oppose them.

(f) "transcendunt verba mali", Schmidt; "transierunt verba mali", Cocceius. (g) "ut prosperentur", Gataker.

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

Of the widow, is not in Hebrew. (Calmet) --- Fatherless. Protestants add, "yet they prosper, and they," &c. (Haydock)

George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).

They are waxen fat, they shine; or, so fat that they shine; by reason.of their wealth and riches they pamper themselves till their eyes stand out with fatness, Psa 73:7; their wrinkles are filled up with fat, which makes their faces shine.

They overpass the deeds of the wicked; either, they go beyond the very heathen themselves in wickedness, Eze 5:6,7; or rather, they escape the hardships and sufferings that others undergo, Psa 73:5-8, they escape better than others; or they slightly pass over judgments threatened.

They judge not the cause of the fatherless; such whom even the law of nature commits to their patronage, they either disregard them, or wrong and injure them, either by refusing them a fair hearing, Isa 1:23, or giving wrong sentence against them in courts of judicature, Zec 7:10, expressly forbidden, Exo 22:22.

Yet they prosper; things go well with them, they live happily, according to their desire, prosperum scelus, Job 21:7, &c.; or, that they might prosper, viz. that God might bless them.

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

They overpass the deeds of the wicked; rather, they overpass the common measure of wickedness (literally, the cases of wickedness); or, as others, they exceed in deeds of wickedness. Yet they prosper ; rather, so that they (the fatherless) might prosper; or, that they (the rich) might make it to prosper.

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

Overpass - They go beyond the Heathens themselves in wickedness.

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

they have become thick Heb. עשתו, an expression of “a block (עֶשֶת) of ivory” (Song 5:14), a thick body, and in O.F. enboeront.

they transgressed in deeds of wickedness If evil or a sin came into their hand, they did not turn away from it, but transgressed it and committed it.

they did not plead the cause of the orphan in order that they prosper.

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.