Jeremiah 9:11

Jer 9:11 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, [and] a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant.

Ver. 11. And I will make Jerusalem heaps.] So small a distance is there, saith Seneca, between a great city and none. The world is as full of mutation as of motion.

And a den of dragons.] Because she made mine house a den of thieves. {Jer 7:11}

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.

9:11 The Lord clearly spoke these words, counterbalancing the deep emotion of 9:10 with a further declaration of judgment.

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

And--omit "And." Jehovah here resumes His speech from Jer 9:9.

heaps--(see on Isa 25:2).

dragons--jackals.

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 11. A den of dragons] תנים tannim is supposed to mean here jackals; the chakal is a beast frequent in the east, an attendant on the lion, the refuse of whose prey he devours. It is an animal that seems to have been bred originally between the wolf and the dog. The original is sometimes interpreted, dragons, whales, &c.

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

The Prophet comes now toJerusalem and the neighhouring cities. He said before, that ruin would reach the mountains and the farthest recesses; but he says now, I will turn Jerusalem into heaps This seemed incredible, for it was a well fortified city, and also full of inhabitants to defend it: we know besides that the Jews were in confederacy with the kingdom of Egypt. This denunciation then was extremely unwelcome to the Jews. But though they thought themselves hitherto safe, yet the Prophet set before their eyes their final destruction. They indeed regarded it as a fable; but they found too late, that the despisers of God gain no advantage in hardening· themselves against his threatenings. We shall meet with this verse again; I shall therefore now pass over it lightly.

He says, that it would be hereafter a place for dragons; as though he had said, that it would be no longer inhabited. He declares the same respecting the cities of Judah, — that they would all be a waste. We hence see how courageous and persevering a mind was Jeremiah endued with, that he dared to preach thus in the midst of the city, and to set himself in opposition to the king and his counsellors, and to the whole people, who wished to be soothed with flatteries, and who had been thus treated by the false prophets. As then Jeremiah was thus bold, as a celestial herald, to denounce on them this dreadful calamity, we hence learn that he was endued with the power of God, and that he did not speak as one commissioned by men; for had he not been sustained by God’s power, he must have been a hundred times disheartened, nor would he have dared to speak a word. This invincible courage seals his doctrine; ibr we hence with certainty learn, that it proceeded from God, because the wonderful power of the ttoly Spirit was evident. 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.

(11) A den of dragons.—Better, here and in Jer_10:22; Isa_13:22, jackals. The word means, literally, a howler. The English version follows the LXX. and Vulgate versions; but even taking “dragons” in its non-mythical sense as applied to some species of serpent, there is nothing in the word to lead us to assign this meaning. The mistake has probably arisen from the likeness of the word to those translated “serpent” in Exo_7:9-10; Exo_7:12, “whale” in Gen_1:21 and Job_7:12, and “dragons” in Psa_74:13; Psa_91:13.

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

11. jackals] mentioned again chs. Jer_10:22 [Jer_14:6], Jer_49:33 [Jer_51:37].

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 Jerusalem heaps,.... That is, the walls and houses of it shall be thrown down, and become heaps of stones and rubbish:

and a den of dragons; only inhabited by wild beasts:

and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without inhabitant; so that the calamity would be universal; not only Jerusalem, but all the cities of the land, would be destroyed, forsaken, and uninhabited.

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

Sand. The stones were burnt to dust, 2 Esdras iv. 2. (Calmet)

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).

Heaps, viz. of stones and rubbish.

A den of dragons; noting a desolate place, not any longer fit for fine habitation of mankind, as the next words do speak; but for hideous beasts; as they had made use of the temple for a den of thieves, Jer 7:11. The same also he afterwards threatens on Babylon herself, Jer 51:37.

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

11. Dragons — Rather, jackals. Fittingly associated with the ruinous stone heaps of Jerusalem.

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

I will make, etc. Notice how the utterances of the prophets stand side by side with those of Jehovah. A true prophet has no personal views; so that whether his revelations are expressed in the one form or the other makes no difference. Dragons; rather, jackals.

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

Who is the man so wise Who will understand this, and who is the prophet to whom the mouth of the Lord has spoken,

that he may declare it? And who will declare why the land is ruined and all this retribution has come?

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.