Jeremiah 9:13

Jer 9:13 And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein;

Ver. 13. And the Lord saith.] Or, Therefore the Lord saith, q.d., Because neither yourselves know, nor have any else to tell you, the true cause of your calamities; hear it from God’s own mouth.

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.

Jer_9:13-16

Because they have forsaken My law . . . give them water of gall to drink.

The wages of sin

A quaint preacher, addressing miners, drew a picture of two mines. He represented payday at one of the mines, and described the long line of men coming to the cashiers desk to receive their wages. Presently some men came up whom the cashier did not know. Where have you been working? he asked. We were working in the other pit, they answered. Then that is the place to go for your money. No, they said, we like your pay best; we are tired, and we want rest, and we want peace and plenty. At the pit where we have been working they are treating us cruelly, and we get no pay, but blows and hard words. Wont you pay us? But the cashier says, No; you chose to work in the other pit, and you must take the wages they pay; you cannot work for one employer and get your wages from another. That was fair, was it not? the preacher asked. His hearers answered that it was. Then, said he, dont you serve the devil unless you want his wages.

The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.

9:13-14 The Lord answered the questions (9:12) by repeating what he had said before. The people caused the destruction of city, towns, and land. They rejected the Lord’s covenant instructions and deliberately disobeyed his commands. They became dedicated idol worshipers because their ancestors taught them to worship images of Baal, the Canaanite god of storm and fertility.

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

Answer to the "for what the land perisheth" (Jer 9:12).

Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.

Jeremiah now confirms what I have stated, and more fully explains it, — that though no teacher or a disciple was found in the land, yet there was sufficient power in God’s word alone, and that his judgment depended not on the will or the perceptions of men. After having then complained that all were foolish, and that there were no prophets to reprove their security and indifference, he adds, Thus saith Jehovah Here he sets God in opposition to all men, to the king and his courtiers, as well as to the common people. Who then is a wise man? as though He looked around him; and there was no man who considered. he was then in suspense; and afterwards he said, “There is no prophet to rouse them from their usual stupor.” He remained still in suspense; and then he turned to God and said, “But Jehovah has spoken;” that is, “Be it, that they are like brute beasts, though they arrogate to themselves great wisdom; nevertheless God speaks, and we ought to be satisfied. We ought then to be silent, and to make no stir; though no one approves, though no one attends to God speaking, there is yet sufficient authority and power in his voice alone.” We now then more fully understand the Prophet’s design: He had said that all men were stupid, and that there was no prophet; and now, on the other hand, he shews that God was not silent nor asleep.

Thus saith Jehovah, Because this people have forsaken my law, etc. He shews that the cause of all evils was a departure from God’s law. No one was willing to confess this, and all the prophets were silent; yet Jeremiah says here, that the cause was to be asked of God why he so grievously afflicted the people. But he takes as granted what was most true, that God was not without reason displeased with the chosen people. It hence then follows, that they were apost, ates, and had forsaken the law: God would not have otherwise so severely punished them. Though then no one perceived the cause of their evils, though no one shewed it, yet God himself ought to have been attended to, who said, that they had forsaken the law

He then adds, Which l have set before their face. Here he takes away every pretense for ignorance; for they might have objected and said, that the doctrine of the law was obscure, and that they were deceived through want of knowledge. The Prophet anticipates this objection by saying, that the law was set before them; that is, that they were abundantly taught what was right, what pleased God; so that they now in vain and even falsely pleaded ignorance; for they went astray wilfully by closing their eyes against clear light., For this is what he means by saying that the law was set before their face: and it is what Moses often repeats,

“Behold, I have set before thee,” (Deuteronomy 11:32, and elsewhere:)

and this he said, that the people might not seek for themselves vain excuses for ignorance, as they were wont to do.

But while we are not to overlook this circumstance, we may yet hence learn this general truth, — that the law of God is not so obscure but that we may learn from it what is right. When, therefore, Moses is quoted, and the prophets are added as interpreters, there is no ground for us to evade, or to make the excuse, that the truth is too hidden or profound; for the law is set before our face, that, the will of God may be made known to us. Whosoever then can read and hear what God has revealed once to the world by Moses and the prophets is inexcusable; for we are taught here, and in other places, that it is a mere perverseness in all who hear the law, when they do not obey: I have set the law, he says, before their face

And he adds, And they have not hearkened to my voice, and have not walked in it He defines what it is not to hearken to his voice: for even hypocrites pretend to hear, and nod with their ears like asses; but as they obey not God when he speaks, it is evident that they are deaf. Hence He says that they walked not in his voice, that is, that they obeyed not his voice. He hence concludes that they were deaf; for their life ought to have testified that they had heard the voice of God speaking to them.

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.

13. I set before them] See e.g. Deu_4:8; Deu_4:44.

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 the Lord saith,.... The Septuagint version adds, "to me"; there being no wise and understanding man, nor prophet (b), to take up this affair, and open the cause of it, therefore the Lord undertakes it himself: the question was put to them, but they not answering it, the Lord does it,

because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; in a plain and easy manner, so as to be readily understood; yet this they attended not unto, but forsook it, neglected it, and cast it behind their backs. Kimchi's note on the phrase, "before them", is,

"not in heaven is it, nor beyond the sea is it;''

see Deu 30:11,

and have not obeyed my voice; in the law, and by the prophets:

neither walked therein: according to it, as the Lord directed; they neither hearkened to the voice of the Lord, nor did as they were instructed by it.

(b) Vid. T. Nedarim, fol. 81. 1. & Bava Metzia fol. 85. 1, 2.

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

Either this and the next verse refer to the former, viz. because there are none can give the reason why the land perisheth, therefore God will; or else they refer to Jer 9:15,16, as showing the causes of those judgments threatened; for either of the references do not alter the sense: see Jer 5:19; this verse contains negative reasons.

They have forsaken my law; he chargeth them with their apostacy, and refusing to obey his precepts, and conform their conversation to them.

Which I set before them: lest they should plead they were obscure and hard to be understood, therefore he tells them he had made it plain to them, they could not be ignorant of it, except it were out of wilfulness and obstinacy: the like expression Deu 11:32.

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

There is no answer, for the wise men are ashamed; (Jer_8:9) so Jehovah himself takes up his speech. My law which I set before them; not in reference to the publication of the Law on Sinai, but, as Keil rightly points out, to the oral exhibition of the Torah by the prophets. Neither walked therein; viz. in the Law. (On the precise contents of the term here rendered "Law," see note on Jer_8:8)

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

General Information:

Yahweh continues speaking about the people of Judah.

It is because

"These things will happen because"

they have abandoned my law

Yahweh speaks of the people not obeying his law as if it were something that they had walked away from. AT: "they have rejected my law" (See: Metaphor)

they do not listen to my voice

Here Yahweh's "voice" represents what he says. AT: "they do not pay attention to the things I tell them" (See: Metonymy)

or walk by it

Here "walk" is an idiom for "live." AT: "or live the way I tell them to live" (See: Idiom)

they have walked by their stubborn hearts

Here the people's "stubborn hearts" represent their stubborn desires and stubborn will. Also, here "walked" represents living. AT: "they have been stubborn and lived the way they want to live" (See: Metonymy and Idiom)

have followed the Baals

"have worshiped the Baals"

translationWords

law

voice

walk

stiff-necked

heart

Baal

ancestor

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