Jeremiah 9:10

Jer 9:10 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through [them]; neither can [men] hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone.

Ver. 10. For the mountains will I take up a weeping.] Accingit se Tropheta ad luctum. Jeremiah was better at weeping than Heraclitus, and from a better principle. Lachrymas angustiae exprimit Crux: lachrymas poenitentiae peccatum: lachrymas sympathiae, affectus humanitatis, vel Christianitatis: lachrymas nequitiae, vel hypocrisis vel vindictae cupiditas. Jeremiah’s tears were of the best sort.

Because they are burnt up.] The Rabbis tell us, that after the people were carried captive to Babylon, the land of Jewry was burnt up with sulphur and salt. But this may well pass for a Jewish fable.

Both the fowl of the heaven.] See Jer 4:25.

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.

The punishment described in general terms in the preceding three verses is now detailed at great length.

Jer 9:10

The habitations i. e - the temporary encampments of the shepherds (see Jer 6:3).

So that none can ... - Or, “They are parched up, with no man to pass through them; neither do they hear the voice of cattle; from the birds of the heaven even to the beasts they “are fled, they are gone.”

Jer 9:11

Dragons - Rather, jackals.

Jer 9:12

For what the land perisheth ... - This is the question proposed for consideration. The prophet calls upon the wise man to explain his question; that question being, Wherefore did the land perish? He follows it by the assertion of a fact: “It is parched like the wilderness with no man to pass through.”

Jer 9:13

The cause of the chastisement about to fall upon Jerusalem, was their desertion of the divine Law.

Jer 9:14

Imagination - Or, as in the margin.

Which their fathers taught them - It was not the sin of one generation that brought upon them chastisement: it was a sin, which had been handed down from father to son.

Jer 9:15

I will feed them ... - Rather, I am feeding them. The present participle used here, followed by three verbs in the future, shows that the judgment has beam, of which the successive stages are given in the next clause.

Wormwood - See Deu 29:18, note, and for “water of gall,” Jer 8:14, note.

Jer 9:16

This verse is taken from Lev 26:33. The fulfillment of what had been so long before appointed as the penalty for the violation of Yahweh’s covenant is one of the most remarkable proofs that prophecy was something more than human foresight.

Till I have consumed them - See Jer 4:27 note. How is this “consuming” consistent with the promise to the contrary there given? Because it is limited by the terms of Jer 9:7. Previously to Nebuchadnezzars destruction of Jerusalem God removed into safety those in whom the nation should revive.

Jer 9:17

The mourning women - Hired to attend at funerals, and by their skilled wailings aid the real mourners in giving vent to their grief. Hence, they are called “cunning,” literally “wise” women, wisdom being constantly used in Scripture for anything in which people are trained.

Jer 9:18

Take up a wailing for us - i. e., for the nation once God’s chosen people, but long spiritually dead.

Jer 9:19

Forsaken - Or, left: forced to abandon the land.

Because our dwellings ... - Rather, “because they have east down our dwellings.” The whole verse is a description of their sufferings. See 2Ki 25:1-12.

Jer 9:20

The command is addressed to the women because it was more especially their part to express the general feelings of the nation. See 1Sa 18:6; 2Sa 1:24. The women utter now the death-wail over the perishing nation. They are to teach their daughters and neighbors the “lamentation, i. e., dirge,” because the harvest of death would be so large that the number of trained women would not suffice.

Jer 9:21

Death is come up ... - i. e., death steals silently like a thief upon his victims, and makes such havoc that there are no children left to go “without,” nor young men to frequent the open spaces in the city.

Jer 9:22

The “handful” means the little bundle of grain which the reaper gathers on his arm with three or four strokes of his sickle, and then lays down. Behind the reaper came one whose business it was to gather several of these bundles, and bind them into a sheaf. Thus, death strews the ground with corpses as thickly as these handfuls lie upon the reaped land, but the corpses lie there unheeded.

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

Jer 9:10-11. For the mountains will I take up a weeping — “These words,” says Houbigant, “as they now lie, must belong either to Jeremiah or the daughter of Zion; and yet it follows in the next verse, And I will make, which are the words of God: therefore this verse should be rendered, by a slight alteration of the text, ‘Take ye up a weeping and wailing on the mountains, a lamentation in the dwellings of the wilderness; for they are desolate, because there is no traveller; nor is the voice of cattle heard in them; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled.’“ The prophet laments that general desolation which he sees coming upon the whole land, and which would involve all the parts of it, both high and low, in one common destruction. I will make Jerusalem heaps — Of rubbish, and lay it in such ruins that it shall be fit for nothing but to be a den of dragons —

Or serpents, as the word תניםfrequently signifies, or such creatures as are usually found in ruins or desolate places.

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

9:10 It is unclear whether these words were uttered by the Lord or by Jeremiah. If the words belong to the Lord, they indicate that he pronounced judgment from a broken heart. If they come from Jeremiah, they show the depths of pain in his heart as he delivered the Lord’s decree. The prophet faced the difficult task of separating his patriotism and empathy for the people from his identity as the Lord’s messenger.

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

Signifying, that all the places about Jerusalem should be destroyed.

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

Jeremiah breaks in upon Jehovah's threats of wrath with lamentation for his desolated country.

mountains--once cultivated and fruitful: the hillsides were cultivated in terraces between the rocks.

habitations of . . . wilderness--rather, "the pleasant herbage (literally, 'the choice parts' of any thing) of the pasture plain." The Hebrew for "wilderness" expresses not a barren desert, but an untilled plain, fit for pasture.

burned up--because no one waters them, the inhabitants being all gone.

none can pass through them--much less inhabit them.

fowl-- (Jer 4:25).

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 10. Both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled] The land shall be so utterly devastated, that neither beast nor bird shall be able to live in it.

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

The Prophet had exhorted others to lament and to bewail. He now comes forth as though none had ears to attend to his admonition. As then he himself undertakes to mourn and to lament, he no doubt indirectly condemns the insensibility of the whole people. He saw by the spirit of prophecy, that all the rest thought what he said incredible and therefore fabulous. For though the kingdom of Judah was at that time much wasted, and the kingdom of Israel wholly fallen, they yet continued secure and heedless when they ought to have expected God’s vengeance every day, and even every hour. Since then there was such insensibility in the people, the Prophet here prepares himself for lamentation and mourning.

I will take up, he says, mourning and lamentation for the mountains The words may be explained, “I will take up mourning, which shall ascend as far as the mountains;” but the cause of mourning seems rather to be intended; for it immediately follows, and weeping for the pastures of the desert Had not this clause been added, the former meaning might be taken, that is, that mourning would be so loud as to penetrate into the mountains or ascend into the highest parts. But as Jeremiah connects the two clauses, for the mountains, and for the pastures of the desert, the other meaning is much more appropriate, — that the confidence of the people was very absurd, as they thougilt themselves beyond danger, dwelling as they did on the plains; for the enemies, he says, shall leave nothing untouched; they shall come to the mountains and to the pastures of the desert. It hence follows, that they were foolish who promised themselves quietness on the plains, where the enemy could easily come.

We now then understand the Prophet’s meaning: he sets here his own fear and solicitude in contrast with the stupor of the whole people. I will raise, he says, weeping and lamentation for the mountains: but others remained secure and thoughtless in their pleasures. He then shews, that while they were blind, his eyes were open, and he saw the coming ruin which was now at hand. And he sets the mountains and pastures of the desert in opposition to the level country. For when a country is laid waste, we know that still a retreat is sought on mountains; for enemies dread ambushes there, and access is not easy where the roads are narrow. Then the Prophet says, that even the mountains would not be beyond the reach of danger, for the enemies would march there: he says the same of the pastures of the desert. We hence learn how absurd was their confidence who thought themselves safe because they inhabited the plain country, which was the most accessible.

As to the word נאותnaut, it comes from נוהhue, which means to dwell. He then takes נאות haut, as signifying pleasant places, or pastures. Some render it sheds or cottages. David uses the same word in Psalm 23:2, in speaking of God’s favor to him, who was pleased to become his shepherd:

“He makes me to lie down,” he says, “in pleasant places.”

But the Prophet no doubt means pastures here. And he calls them the pastures of the desert. The word מדבר midbar, we know, is taken to designate not only waste and sterile places, but also a mountainous country. Though then the richest pastures were on mountains, yet the Jews were wont to call them deserts: there is therefore nothing absurd in saying, the pleasant places or pastures of the desert. But we must bear in mind the contrast, of which I have reminded you: for he intended to condemn the foolish confidence of the people, who thought that they were dwelling in safety, when yet they were exposed to enemies, and had no means to repel or retard their progress.

Because they are laid waste, He says. This word may be taken in another sense, “burnt up;” but it is not suitable here. He says then that these places are laid waste, so that no one passed through. He means that mountains would not only be without inhabitants, but would be so deserted and solitary that there would be none passing over them. There would then be none to frequent them. It hence follows, that there would be no inhabitants, He then adds, that no voice of cattle was heard; as though he had said, that their enemies would take away as their spoil whatever should be found there: for the wealth of mountains consists in cattle; for there is neither sowing nor reaping there; but inhabitants of mountains get their living and whatever is necessary to support life, from flesh and skin and milk and cheese. When therefore the Prophet declares that there would be no voice of cattle, it is the same as though he had said, that the mountains would become altogether uninhabited, for their enemies would take away all the cattle found there.

He then adds, From the bird of the heavens to the earthly beast they shall migrate and depart Here he seems again indirectly to reprove the insensibility of the people, as though he had said, that the birds would feel it to be the judgment of God, while yet men were wholly insensible; and that there would be a similar feeling in brute animals; as though he had said, that there would be more understanding in birds and animals than in the Jews, who had not only been created in the image of God, but had also been enlightened as to the truth of salvation; for shine among them did the truth of God in the law. Hence the Prophet shews that this stupidity was most shameful; for they were as stupid as if they had no thought and no understanding, while yet birds acknowledged the vengeance of God, and brute animals were terrified by it. We now perceive the meaning of the Prophet. It 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.

(10) For the mountains . . .—The Hebrew preposition means both “upon” and “on account of,” and probably both meanings were implied. The prophet sees himself upon the mountains, taking up the lamentation for them because they are “burned up.”

The habitations.—Better, as in the margin, pastures. The wilderness is simply the wild open country.

So that none can pass . . . neither can men hear.—Better, with none to pass through them . . . neither do men hear.

Both the fowl . . .—The Hebrew is more emphatic; from the fowl of the heavens to the beast . . . they are fled.

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

10. Cp. Jer_4:23-26.

a lamentation] lit. a ḳinah, i.e. a composition carefully constructed in a definite rhythmical form. See Intr. p. xlix, also notes in C. B. on Amo_5:2; Amo_5:16, with pp. 232 ff. there.

burned up] better, laid waste.

10–16. See introd. summary to the section.

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.

For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing,.... Because of the desolation of them; because no pasture upon them, nor flocks feeding there; or "concerning" them, as the Arabic version; or "upon" them (y), in order to cause the lamentation to be heard the further; but the former sense seems best, as appears by what follows. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read it as an exhortation to others, "take up a weeping": but they are the words of the prophet, declaring what he would do.

And for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation; for the cottages of the shepherds, erected for their convenience, to look after their flocks, feeding on the mountains, and in the valleys; for the wilderness does not denote barren places, but pastures:

because they are burnt up; by the fire of the Chaldeans, who burnt the cottages, and drove off the cattle:

so that none can pass through them; or there is none that passes through; as no inhabitant there, so no passenger that way; which shows how very desolate these places were:

neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; the lowing of the oxen, or the bleating of the sheep, there being none to be heard, being all carried off; and indeed no men to hear them, had there been any:

both the fowl of the heavens and the beasts are fled, they are gone; or, "from the fowl of the heavens to the beasts", &c. (z), the places lying waste and uncultivated; there were no seed for the fowls to pick up, which generally frequent places where there is sowing, and where fruit is brought to perfection; and no pasture for the beasts to feed upon. Kimchi says these words are an hyperbole. The word "beast", being by geometry, or numerically, fifty two, the Jews (a) gather from hence, that for the space of fifty two years no man passed through the land of Judah; which they reckon from the time that Zedekiah was carried captive, to the commandment of Cyrus.

(y) "super montibus", Cocceius; "super montes", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus. (z) "ab ave coelorum usque ad bestiam", Schmidt. (a) T. Bab. Sabbat, fol. 145. 2. & Gloss. in ib. Vid. T. Bab. Megilla, fol. 11. 1, 2.

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

Owner. Hebrew mikne, "cattle," or (Haydock) "substance." (St. Jerome) --- Departed. Beasts and birds will not continue long after men cease to cultivate the country. (Theodoret) (Chap. iv. 25., and xii. 4., and Sophonias i. 3.)

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).

The prophet having, Jer 9:1, taken up a lamentation for the slaughter of the people, he now reassumes it for the desolation of the whole land, every part of it being to be laid waste: see Jer 4:23,26. And it either sets forth the greatness of his grief, that shall reach to he very mountains, as the words may be read; or rather, the cause of his mourning, because he presently adds, for

the habitations of the wilderness. Of the wilderness; plain, or valley, as it often signifies; so the word is used Isa 63:13,14; or, pleasant plains. The country of Judea being mountainous, these plains and valleys were their chief places for pasturage, vhich dealt greatly aggravate the devastation; these shall be burnt up, the herbage so burnt that it shall be left utterly barren, like a parched heath, Jer 9:12. The mountains shall not be able to secure them, nor the valleys to feed them. None can pass through them; either there being no path; the LXX. render it, on the paths of the wilderness; or none to pass to and fro, and so leave it desolate; or so parched and waste that none can pass through it, so far are they from being inhabited, Jer 2:6. Neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; there, where once all sorts of cattle and fowls in great plenty where wont to feed and graze, there is not so much as the chirping of a bird, the bleating of a sheep or lowing of an ox to be heard: see Jer 23:10-12; 50:3. They are said to be fled and gone; either the enemy hath swept away all, or they have forsaken the land, because there was no food, Jer 12:4. A figurative expression of a universal desolation.

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

THE DESOLATION OF THE LAND AND THE DISPERSION OF THE PEOPLE, Jer_9:9-15.

10. The whole passage to the twenty-second verse is devoted to setting forth in detail the punishment which is about to come upon the land and the people.

For the mountains — Once cultivated and fruitful, and covered with happy flocks, but now desolate.

For the habitations — Namely, of the shepherds, who pitch their tents or construct their booths wherever is pasturage for their flocks. But these pastures are to be burned up, so that there will be no life left.

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

This and the next six verses contain a description of the sad fate of the sinful land and people. At first the prophet speaks as if he saw it all spread out before him. Then, in the character of a surprised spectator, he inquires how this came to pass, and receives the Divine answer, that it is the doom of self-willed rebellion. The habitations should rather be pastures. The country, once covered with grazing flocks and herds, is now so utterly waste that even the birds cannot find subsistence.

Vers. 10-22. The terrible threatenings of love.

There are few more awful passages of Scripture than this. The doom denounced on the guilty people is indeed dreadful. Nevertheless that doom had not yet descended. There was a merciful pause, during which space was given for repentance. Meanwhile the prophet was bidden to utter these threatenings. Notice

I How TERRIBLE THEY ARE.

1. In themselves. The fertile hills and pastures of their country shall be laid waste, so that no living creature can find food (Ver. 10). Jerusalem is to be utterly destroyed and desolate (Ver. 11). The deep anguish of the people-their very meat to be as "wormwood," and their drink as" water of gall "( Ver. 15). They shall be carried captive and scattered among the heathen, and even then shall not escape the sword (Ver. 16). They shall be overwhelmed with sorrow, their eyes shall gush out with tears (Vers. 17-19). Death shall reign everywhere (Ver. 21); and shall be accompanied with deepest degradation (Ver. 22). It is not possible to conceive of more hopeless misery than is portrayed in these vivid descriptions of the wrath that was to come.

2. Because of their righteousness. Unrighteous suffering can be borne, and those who bear it are bidden by the Lord to count themselves as "blessed" because of it. (Mat_5:11, Mat_5:12) And sorrows that come to us in the course of God"s providence, and the reason of which we do not know, these we can bear sustained by the faith of the Father"s love. But when sore suffering is sent to us as the direct punishment of sin, and the righteous because so deserved anger of Cod is evident, then those consolations which are open to us under other sufferings are closed to us under these. The bitter reflection, "It was all our own fault; it might, it ought to have been avoided," makes the pain we endure, and the calamities that overtake us, more terrible than otherwise they could possibly be. We take refuge from man"s anger and from ordinary sorrows in God"s love, but sin that has brought down God"s righteous judgment has also closed against us that most blessed shelter and every shelter, and we are left without defense. And another element in their terribleness is:

3. The certainty of their fulfillment, "God is not mocked: whatsoever a man soweth, that shall he also reap." The threatenings of God are not, as are many of the threatenings of men, mere empty vaporings, great swelling words, never designed to be fulfilled. Let the records of all human history, of all human lives, Whether told of within or without the pages of the Bible, attest the absolute certainty of fulfillment which evermore characterizes the threatenings of God. When and where has be ever threatened and failed to fulfill his threat? Let the Fall, the Flood, the destruction of Sodom, the plagues on Egypt, the deaths of the generation of unbelievers in the wilderness, and ten thousand instances more, all prove the steadfastness of God to his word. And it is this fact of the absolute certainty of his threatenings being fulfilled that adds to them a yet further terribleness. There is no chance of escape, no hope of God"s relenting; as certain as the fixed laws of nature are these awful denunciations of God to him who persists in brining them upon himself.

II BUT THEY ARE THE THREATENINGS OF LOVE.

1. He who utters them is the God who in his very nature and essence is love. How manifold are the proofs of this in creation, in providence, in grace! He, therefore, has no pleasure in the death of the wicked; judgment is his "strange work.

2. Those against whom they are uttered are the objects of his love. His love for them is deeper than his anger against them. Hence it is that the contrite sinner never fails to gain the pardon he seeks. "Fathers of our flesh" may "chasten after their own pleasure, but he for our profit" (cf. Ver. 7).

3. His purpose in these threatenings is a loving purpose. He would compel by the scourge of fear his rebellious children to abandon their evil ways.

4. And if at length he is compelled to execute his threatenings, it is out of love that he does so. For the love of God is towards his children, not to any one particular child, and the welfare of the family is the chief consideration. Salus populi suprema lex. If consistently with that the transgressor can be restored, he will be, but not else. Hence, as an earthly father would not permit one of his children, ill with terrible and contagious disease, to mingle with the other children; or, as in the far more sad case of utter moral wickedness, intercourse with the rest would be forbidden; so, for the sake of the rest of his children, God will separate them from the wicked and the wicked from them. But it is love which constrains to this, and hence it is that the seeming contradiction is true, that he who is the God of love is also "a consuming fire." The very fatherhood of God is the most fearful fact of all others against the persistently rebellious and ungodly soul. Hence

III Such THREATENINGS ARE EVER THE MOST TERRIBLE OF ALL, Cf. the threatenings of our Savior. The most awful utterances to be found in the whole Bible proceeded from his lips-the lips whose words were wont to be so "gracious" that the people "wondered" at them. It is his sayings which have lit up the lurid glare of the fires unquenchable of hell, and it is he who has made our souls shudder at the sight of" the worm that dieth not," and of the "outer darkness" where there is "weeping and wailing and gnashing of teeth." See, too, the Revelation of St. John. That apostle, whose great theme is the love of God, whose soul was more attuned to the music of love than that of any other, wrote that awful book, which is full throughout of "mourning, lamentation, and woe;" and which almost reeks with the Mood and fire and smoke of torments of which it tells. These facts can only be accounted for and there are more like them on the ground that the threatenings of love are ever the most terrible of all. And they are so, for such reasons as these:

1. Love so hates what tends to the harm of those it loves. Hence it brands with its deepest curse that sin which harms God"s children most of all. One chief argument with many minds for the retention of capital punishments is that only so can a government or nation mark its sense of the supreme wickedness of the crime it so punishes. Punish it as other crimes are punished, and it will come to be regarded as no worse than they. And in like manner God would inspire us with a holy abhorrence of sin by the awful condemnation that he has pronounced against it.

2. Love so yearns to rescue those it loves. The rope may cut and wound the hands of the drowning sailor to whom we have thrown it, but we do not mind that if thereby he be drawn safe to shore. The knife of the surgeon may cut deep and cause fearful pain, but if it saves the imperiled life we are thankful notwithstanding. So God sends forth these stern, rough, and terrible threatenings, that souls under the spell of sin may be awakened, alarmed, made to tremble, and to "seek the Lord while he may be found." No gentler means will avail; therefore these, so love resolves, shall not be left untried. It will shrink from nothing to accomplish its compassionate purpose of rescuing from the murderous sin the soul it loves.

3. And there is no wickedness so deep as that of outraging love. Men will never see sin in all its hatefulness until they see it as outrage done to love. Whilst they are taught only that it is disobedience to sovereign rule rather than despite and shameful wrong done to a Father"s heart, they will not look upon it as they should, nor repent of it as they must. Even in human esteem, outrage done to a loving heart adds intensity to the condemnation with which we view and sentence disobedience done to law. We all recognize that such wickedness is the worst of all. We cannot wonder, then, that the threatenings against wrong persistently done to the love of God are terrible as they are, and the most terrible of all.

CONCLUSION.

1. Beware of bringing upon yourselves such threatenings as these. Those which are fulminated forth by hatred, or by pride, or by sovereignty, or by law, these, though they may be terrible, are not to be compared with those that we have been considering. "The wrath of the Lamb" is the most awful of all.

2. Beware of despising them. So far from believing what has now been shown, men argue in directly opposite way, and, because the threatenings are those of love, they conclude that they may safely be disregarded, they will never be carried out. But what has now been shown proves that this is the very last thing we can venture to do.

3. Beware of concealing them. It is to be feared that, in these soft, easy days on which we have fallen, the Lord"s watchmen do very often fail to "blow the trumpet and give warning." From blood-guiltiness such as that let us pray to be delivered. For are there not many now whom nothing but the startling peal of the trumpet of God"s threatened judgments will ever arouse or alarm? Assuredly there are. Therefore, in view of the doom of the ungodly, as well as by the love of Christ, let us "beseech men to be reconciled to God. C.

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

Wailing - The prophet having taken up a lamentation for the slaughter of the people, now re-assumes it for the desolation of the whole land. The mountains shall not be able to secure them, nor the valleys to feed them.

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

The Desolation of the Land

v. 10. For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, the prophet once more taking up his lament, and for the habitations of the wilderness, for the pastures of the steppes, a lamentation because they are burned up, singed by the sun’s excessive heat, no one remaining to tend and to irrigate them, so that none can pass through them, much less inhabit them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle, their contented lowing in luscious pastures; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone, the land being deserted by every form of life. Upon this complaint Jehovah answers.

v. 11. (And) I will make Jerusalem heaps, a shapeless ruin, and a den of dragons, or jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant, the standing expression for the very height of desolation. The application of the prophet now follows.

v. 12. Who is the wise man that may understand this? Who will heed and apply this lesson, this warning, in a proper manner? And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken that he may declare it, explain it to his countrymen, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness that none passeth through? Evidently there is not one who possesses this divine wisdom.

v. 13. And the Lord said, in answering the question which has just been proposed. Because they have forsaken My Law which I set before them and have not obeyed My voice, the message brought by the true prophets, neither walked therein, not making the Word of the Lord their one rule of life,

v. 14. but have walked after the imagination of their own heart, following their own sinful desires in all the acts of their lives, and after Baalim, the idols of the heathen, which their fathers taught them, whose idolatry they made their own, thus becoming guilty of the same transgressions:

v. 15. therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, the almighty and only God, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, a bitter and poisonous food, and give them water of gall to drink, poison-water, Cf. Jer 8:14.

v. 16. I will scatter them also among the heathen, in shameful captivity and exile, whom neither they nor their fathers have known, as an adequate punishment for their transgression; and I will send a sword after them till I have consumed them, a large number of them thus being destroyed, especially among those who sought the shelter of Egypt, against the warning of God. Cf. Jer 44:27.

v. 17. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Consider ye and call for the mourning women, those hired to give expression to their grief by plaintive cries and a general mournful behavior, found also in the New Testament, Mat 9:23, that they may come, and send for cunning women that they may come, for those most skilful in lamentation were required in this instance;

v. 18. and let them make haste and take up a wailing for us, for the whole nation of Judah, that our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush out with waters, in the strongest expression of excessive sorrow.

v. 19. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, in a lamentation over the city’s pitiful fate, but without a true repentance of the heart. How are we spoiled, laid waste by the enemy! We are greatly confounded, heaped with shame and disgrace, because we have forsaken the land, having been compelled to leave it, because our dwellings have cast us out, or, "because the enemy has driven us out. "

v. 20. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth, in ready obedience to the suggestion which He here makes, and teach your daughters wailing and every one her neighbor lamentation, so that the older generation of mourning women might quickly be replaced, and that there might always be a sufficient number of professional mourners in view of the coming slaughter.

v. 21. For death is come up into our windows, unexpectedly, stealthily, like a thief in the night, and is entered into our palaces, for the soldiers of the invading army, finding the doors barred, would gain admission through openings which are not so firmly barred, to cut off the children from without, those playing out in the streets and in the open places, and the young men from the streets. Thus death would take its harvest both in the houses and outside, in the streets and market-places.

v. 22. Speak, this being addressed to the prophet, in continuing the command of verse 20, Thus saith the Lord, Even the carcasses of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, there to rot away, and as the handful after the harvest-man, the grain ready to be gathered into sheaves, and none shall gather them, there would be neither a gathering of the bundles nor the labor of gleaners to take care of this grain. The words imply utter destruction, an utter casting aside on the part of Jehovah.

Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking about the people of Judah. In verse 12, Jeremiah makes a comment.

I will sing a song of mourning ... a funeral song will be sung for the meadows

Yahweh is mourning for the land of Israel as if it were a person who died. (See: Parallelism and Personification)

a funeral song will be sung

This can be stated in active form. AT: "I will sing a funeral song" (See: Active or Passive)

the meadows

"the fields of grass that the livestock eats"

For they are burned

This can be stated in active form. AT: "Because someone has burned the meadows and pastures" (See: Active or Passive)

They will not hear the sound of any cattle

"Nobody will hear the sound of cattle there"

a hideout for jackals

"a place for jackals to hide." Jackals are fierce wild dogs.

places without inhabitants

"places where no people live"

What man is wise enough to understand this?

Yahweh uses this rhetorical question to emphasize that only a very wise person will understand the things he has said. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "Only people who are very wise can understand these things." (See: Rhetorical Question)

To whom has the mouth of Yahweh spoken, and he will declare it?

Yahweh uses this rhetorical question to emphasize that only the people he has spoken to can declare these things. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "Only those who have been taught by Yahweh can explain these things to others." (See: Rhetorical Question)

the mouth of Yahweh

Here Yahweh's speech is represented by his "mouth." AT: "Yahweh" (See: Synecdoche)

Why has the land perished and been destroyed ... pass through?

Yahweh uses this rhetorical question to emphasize that only a wise person could explain why the land has been destroyed. This question can be written as a statement. AT: "Only a wise person could explain why the land has perished and been destroyed ... pass through." (See: Rhetorical Question)

has the land perished and been destroyed

This can be stated in active form. Both "perished" and "been ruined" describe the land being ruined. AT: "is the land ruined" (See: Active or Passive and Doublet)

translationWords

mourn

cow

Jerusalem

ruin

kingdom of Judah

wise

understand

perish

desert

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

heaps Heb. דגורין heaps.

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.