Jeremiah 6:23

Jer 6:23 They shall lay hold on bow and spear; they [are] cruel, and have no mercy; their voice roareth like the sea; and they ride upon horses, set in array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion.

Ver. 23. They shall lay hold on bow and spear.] To destroy et eminus et comminus, both afar off and at hand.

Their voice roareth like the sea.] Which is so dreadful, that the horrible shriekings of the devils are set out by it {Jas 2:19). {a} They who would not hear the prophet’s sweet words, shall hear the enemies roaring in the midst of their congregations. {Psa 74:4}

{a} φρισσουσι.

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.

like the sea-- (Isa 5:30).

as men for war--not that they were like warriors, for they were warriors; but "arrayed most perfectly as warriors" [MAURER].

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 23. They shall lay hold on bow and spear] Still pointing out the Chaldeans: or according to Dahler, the Scythians, who had before their invasion of Palestine overrun many parts of Asia, and had spread consternation wherever their name was heard.

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

He adds other particulars, in order more fully to render the Chaldeans objects of dread: They shall lay hold, he says, on the bow and the lance They who render the last word shield, do not sufficiently attend to the design of the Prophet. For there is no mention here made of defense; but it is the same as though the Prophet had said, that they would come furnished with bows and spears, that they might shoot at a distance. The word כידון, kidun, means a spear and a lance; and it means also a shield: but in this place the Prophet, I doubt not, means a spear; as though he had said, “They will strike at a distance, or near at hand.”

He afterwards adds, that they would be cruel, according to what Isaiah says, when he speaks of the Persians and Medes,

“They will covet neither gold nor silver,” (Isaiah 13:17)

and yet they were a rapacious people. This is indeed true; but the Prophet meant both these things, that as the Persians and Medes were to be the executioners of divine vengeance, they would come with a new disposition and character, despising gold and silver, and other kinds of spoil, and seeking only blood. And they will shew, he says, no mercy; and then he adds, their voice shall make an uproar, or sound, like the sea He touches, I have no doubt, on the stupor of the people in not attending to the voice of God; for the teaching of Jeremiah had for many years sounded in their ears: Isaiah and others had preceded him; but the people had continued deaf. He says now, “Ye shall hereafter hear other teachers; they will not warn you, nor give you counsel, nor be satisfied with reproofs and threatenings, but they will come like a tempest on the sea; their voice shall make an uproar ”

He adds, Ascend shall they on horses, and be set in order as a man for war; that is, “Thou, Jerusalem, shalt find that thou wilt have to do with military men.” The Prophet means, in short, that the Jews most foolishly trusted in their own strength, and thus heedlessly despised the threatenings of the prophets. But as their security was of this kind, he says that they would at length really find out how stupid they had been, for the Chaldeans would come with dreadful violence, prepared for war — against whom? Against thee, he says, O daughter of Sion I cannot proceed further, on account of some other business.

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.

(23) Bow and spear.—As before (Jer_5:16), the special weapons of the Chaldæans. The “spear” was a javelin, shot or hurled against the enemy.

Cruel.—The ferocity of the Chaldæans seems to have been exceptional. Prisoners impaled, or flayed alive, or burnt in the furnace (Jer_29:22; Dan_3:11), were among the common incidents of their wars and sieges.

They ride upon horses.—This appears to have been a novelty to the Israelites, accustomed to the war-chariots of Egypt and their own kings rather than to actual cavalry. (Comp. Jer_8:16; Job_39:21-25; Hab_1:8; Isa_30:16.) Both archers and horsemen appear as prominent in the armies of Gog and Magog, i.e., of the Scythians, in Eze_38:4; Eze_39:3.

Set in array . . .—The Hebrew is singular, and implies a new clause. It (the army of bowmen and riders) is set in array as a warrior, for war against thee.

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

23. set in array, as a man to the battle] equipped as a man for war.

23, 24. A large part of ch. 50 reads as an expansion of these vv.

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 shall lay hold on bow and spear,.... That is, everyone of them should be furnished with both these pieces of armour, that they might be able to fight near and afar off; they had bows to shoot arrows at a distance, and spears to strike with when near. The Targum renders it bows and shields. "They are cruel, and have no mercy"; this is said, to strike terror into the hearts of the hardened Jews:

their voice roareth like the sea; the waves of it, which is terrible, Luk 21:25,

and they ride upon horses; which still made them more formidable, as well as suggests that their march would be quick and speedy, and they would soon be with them:

set in array as men for war; prepared with all sorts of armour for battle: or, "as a man" (a); as one man, denoting their conjunction, ardour, and unanimity; being not only well armed without, but inwardly, resolutely bent, as one man, to engage in battle, and conquer or die; see Jdg 20:8,

against thee, O daughter of Zion; the design being against her, and all the preparation made on her account; which had a very dreadful appearance, and threatened with ruin, and therefore filled her with terror and distress, as follows.

(a) "tanquam vir", Pagninus; "ut vir", Schmidt; "quam unus vir", Grotius.

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

Spear - Properly, a javelin for hurling at the enemy (see 1Sa 17:6 note): an ordinary weapon of the Babylonians.

Cruel - ruthless, inhuman. In the Assyrian monuments warriors put the vanquished to death; rows of impaled victims hang round the walls of the besieged towns; and men collect in heaps hands cut from the vanquished.

Horses, set in array - A full stop should be put after horses. It - the whole army, and not the cavalry only - is “set in array.”

As men for war against thee - Rather, as a warrior for battle “against thee.”

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

They shall lay hold on bow and spear; or, They shall carry; they shall not want military ammunition of all sorts for the despatch of this great work; synecdochically expressed for all sorts of weapons. So Psa 35:2,3.

Have no mercy; see Jer 50:42; not be entreated, or have any pity to sex or age, poor or rich, Jer 21:7. See the like Isa 13:17,18. And this was as duly executed as here prophesied, 2Ch 36:17.

Their voice roareth like the sea; which, as it is very violent, so it causeth great consternation by its noise, compared to the roaring of the devils, Jam 2:19. Possibly it may intimate, they would not hearken to the voice of his prophets, now they shall hear the terrifying noise of armies, like the roaring of the sea.

They ride upon horses; which is a creature in especial manner adapted by God for war, as he is described. Job 9:19,20, &c.; implying their speed, strength, and fierceness, Jer 50:42.

Set in array; the whole nation set as it were in battalia against them, that they may perceive they have to do with soldiers. The LXX. reading אש esh, fire, for איש ish, man, render it, as fire to the war.

O daughter of Zion, or Jerusalem; for these two titles are promiscuously used for the same place; and the term daughter is often given to cities and countries, as Psa 45:12; 137:8; Isa 23:12; 47:1.

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

23. Spear — Rather, javelin. These bows and javelins are abundantly illustrated in the Assyrian monuments. And these monuments fully justify the epithet cruel, as applied to these peoples.

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

Spear; rather, javelin (or, lance). They are cruel. The cruelty of the Assyrians and Babylonians seems to have spread general dismay. Nahum calls Nineveh "the city of bloodshed"; (Nah_3:1) Habakkuk styles the Chaldeans "bitter and vehement, terrible and dreadful". (Hab_1:6, Hab_1:7) The customs brought out into view m the monuments justify this most amply, though Professor Rawlinson thinks we cannot call the Assyrians (with whom the Babylonians may of course be coupled) naturally hard. hearted. "The Assyrian listens to the enemy who asks for quarter; he prefers making prisoners go slaying.; he is very terrible in the battle and the assault, but afterwards he forgives and spares" ("Ancient Monarchies," 1:243). Their voice roareth. The horrid roar of the advancing hosts seems to have greatly struck the Jews. (comp. Isa_5:30 Isa_17:12, Isa_17:13)

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

They will pick up bows and spears

"The soldiers will carry bows and spears"

Their sound is like the sea roar

The loud noise that the soldiers make is compared to the loud noise of the ocean. AT: "The sound that they make is very loud, like the sound of the ocean" (See: Simile)

they are riding on horses, set out in order as men for battle

The phrase "set out in order" means that they have organized themselves and are riding in rows. The phrase "as men for battle" indicates that they are ready to fight. AT: "they are riding on horses in their assigned rows, and they are ready to fight against you" (See: Assumed Knowledge and Implicit Information)

We have heard

The word "We" probably refers to Jeremiah and the people of Judah.

our hands fall limp in distress

"our hands are weak because we are anxious"

Anguish seizes us

Feeling great anguish is spoken of as if the anguish grabs them. AT: "We feel terrible anguish" (See: Metaphor)

as a woman giving birth

The anguish that they feel because the enemy coming to attack them is compared to the anguish that a woman feels when she is about to give birth to a baby. AT: "like a woman who is about to give birth" (See: Simile)

translationWords

bow and arrow

spear

compassion

horse

daughter of Zion

anguish

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

They will grasp Heb. יחזיקו, they will take. Comp. (Exodus 4:4) “And he stretched out his hand and took it (ויחזק).” Comp. also (infra verse 24) “trouble grasped us (החזיקתנוּ) held us.”

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.