HarperCollins Study Bible
Page 274
4.3a A prose insertion specifying, at least in the mind of the editor, the recipient of the last “summons.”
4.4 Circumcise, to ritually remove the foreskin of the penis, signifying a male’s membership in the covenant community (Gen 17.9–27; Lev 12.1–5). Here circumcision is used metaphorically to describe repentance and submission of the human will to divine purpose.
4.5–10.25 Most of chs. 4–10 is a collection of oracular poems of Jeremiah with the theme of the “foe from the north.” These oracles consist mainly of prophecies of judgment containing a commission/appeal for attention (e.g., 5.20–21), an indication of the situation (often introduced by Thus says the LORD, e.g., 5.22–28), a prediction of disaster (e.g., 5.29), and a concluding characterization (e.g., 5.30–31). These poetic prophecies of judgment were probably delivered in the early stage of Jeremiah’s prophetic career, prior to his coming to Jerusalem in 609 BCE. They are addressed to both Israel and Judah, partially reunited during the reign of Josiah. The identification of the foe is not clear from the poetry itself. The prose identifies the foe as Babylonia (25.8–14). The collection dealing with the “foe from the north” consists of eleven sections: 4.5–26+28–31; 5.1–9; 5.10–17; 5.20–31; 6.1–8; 6.9–15;6.16–30; 8.4–13; 8.14–9.11; 9.17–22; 10.17–25. It was edited during the exile (after 587 BCE) and following it (after 539), and the following prose speeches were inserted: 4.27; 5.18–19; 7.1–8.3; 9.12–16; 9.23–26. These additions indicate that the destruction by the “foe from the north” will not be total, that the failure to be faithful to the Mosaic covenant led to the destruction of the Jerusalem temple and the Babylonian exile, and that the uncircumcised foreign nations and Jews uncircumcised in the heart will be punished.
4.5–31 The invasion from the north threatened. This section is addressed to Judah and Jerusalem. God is sending an unidentified enemy to invade and devastate the Southern Kingdom. There will be mass destruction, likened to the end of the world. Three oracles of judgment, plus two interludes, are woven together into a literary masterpiece: first prophecy of judgment (vv. 5–8), first interlude (vv. 9–12), second prophecy of judgment (vv. 13–18), second interlude (vv. 19–26), and third prophecy of judgment (vv. 28–31; v. 27 is a prose insertion). The inclusio (a repetition signaling the beginning and end of a unit) for the section is Jerusalem/Zion in vv. 5–6 and Zion in v. 31.
4.5–8 This speech describes the sounding of the alarm to signal people in the countryside and unfortified villages to take refuge in Zion because of an approaching invader.
4.8 Put on sackcloth, lament and wail, a ritual of lamentation designed to arouse the Lord to defend his city (see Pss 44; 60; 74; 79; 80; 83; 89; 123; 129).
4.9–12 First interlude. The prophet’s anguish over the invasion is expressed in vv. 9–10 (the leaders are appalled and…astounded over the invasion, and the prophet objects). Ah, Lord GOD. See note on 1.6. The prophet accuses God of deception by promising peace but then bringing destruction (see 1 Kings 22).
4.13–18 Second prophecy of judgment. The enemy lays siege to Jerusalem, and Jeremiah urges its inhabitants to repent and engage in lamentation (v. 14).
4.19–26 The anguish of God is experienced by the prophet who sees the holocaust rendered by the invaders (vv. 19–22). Vv. 23–26 contain a macabre poem depicting the result of the invasion as the return of chaos (i.e., the state of reality prior to creation). The strong literary allusions to Gen 1.1–2.4a (the first creation account) point to a reversal of creation. Although hyperbolic, the poem indicates that the devastation of war is like the end of the world and a return to primordial nothingness.
4.27 A later prose insertion promising that the devastation will not be total.
4.28–31 The final prophecy of judgment in the larger poem describes the lamentation of earth and the heavens, the two spheres of creation (see Gen 1.1; 2.1, 4); the destruction of the nation; and the failure of Zion, personified as a woman, to escape death. Zion (Jerusalem) takes on the appearance of a prostitute to offer herself to the invaders to avoid death, but to no avail (see 3.2–3).
JEREMIAH 5
The Utter Corruption of God’s People
1Run to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem,
look around and take note!
Search its squares and see
if you can find one person
who acts justly
and seeks truth—
so that I may pardon Jerusalem.a
2Although they say, “As the LORD lives,”
yet they swear falsely.
3O LORD, do your eyes not look for truth?
You have struck them,
but they felt no anguish;
you have consumed them,
but they refused to take correction.
They have made their faces harder than rock;
they have refused to turn back.
4Then I said, “These are only the poor,
they have no sense;
for they do not know the way of the LORD,
the law of their God.
5Let me go to the richb
and speak to them;
surely they know the way of the LORD,
the law of their God.”
But they all alike had broken the yoke,
they had burst the bonds.
6Therefore a lion from the forest shall kill them,
a wolf from the desert shall destroy them.
A leopard is watching against their cities;
everyone who goes out of them shall be torn in pieces—
because their transgressions are many,
their apostasies are great.
7How can I pardon you?
Your children have forsaken me,
and have sworn by those who are no gods.
When I fed them to the full,
they committed adultery
and trooped to the houses of prostitutes.
8They were well-fed lusty stallions,
each neighing for his neighbor’s wife.
9Shall I not punish them for these things?
says the LORD;
and shall I not bring retribution
on a nation such as this?
10Go up through her vine-rows and destroy,
but do not make a full end;
strip away her branches,
for they are not the LORD’s.
11For the house of Israel and the house of Judah
have been utterly faithless to me,
says the LORD.
12They have spoken falsely of the LORD,
and have said, “He will do nothing.
No evil will come upon us,
and we shall not see sword or famine.”
13The prophets are nothing but wind,
for the word is not in them.
Thus shall it be done to them!
14Therefore thus says the LORD, the God of hosts:
Because theyc have spoken this word,
I am now making my words in your mouth a fire,
and this people wood, and the fire shall devour them.
15I am going to bring upon you
a nation from far away, O house of Israel,
says the LORD.
It is an enduring nation,
it is an ancient nation,
a nation whose language you do not know,
nor can you understand what they say.
16Their quiver is like an open tomb;
all of them are mighty warriors.
17They shall eat up your harvest and your food;
they shall eat up your sons and your daughters;
they shall eat up your flocks and your herds;
they shall eat up your vines and your fig trees;
they shall destroy with the sword
your fortified cities in which you trust.
18But even in those days, says the LORD, I will not make a full end of you. 19And when your people say, “Why has the LORD our God done all these things to us?” you shall say to them, �
��As you have forsaken me and served foreign gods in your land, so you shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours.”
20Declare this in the house of Jacob,
proclaim it in Judah:
21Hear this, O foolish and senseless people,
who have eyes, but do not see,
who have ears, but do not hear.
22Do you not fear me? says the LORD;
Do you not tremble before me?
I placed the sand as a boundary for the sea,
a perpetual barrier that it cannot pass;
though the waves toss, they cannot prevail,
though they roar, they cannot pass over it.
23But this people has a stubborn and rebellious heart;
they have turned aside and gone away.
24They do not say in their hearts,
“Let us fear the LORD our God,
who gives the rain in its season,
the autumn rain and the spring rain,
and keeps for us
the weeks appointed for the harvest.”
25Your iniquities have turned these away,
and your sins have deprived you of good.
26For scoundrels are found among my people;
they take over the goods of others.
Like fowlers they set a trap;d
they catch human beings.
27Like a cage full of birds,
their houses are full of treachery;
therefore they have become great and rich,
28they have grown fat and sleek.
They know no limits in deeds of wickedness;
they do not judge with justice
the cause of the orphan, to make it prosper,
and they do not defend the rights of the needy.
29Shall I not punish them for these things?
says the LORD,
and shall I not bring retribution
on a nation such as this?
30An appalling and horrible thing
has happened in the land:
31the prophets prophesy falsely,
and the priests rule as the prophets direct;e
my people love to have it so,
but what will you do when the end comes?
next chapter
* * *
a Heb it
b Or the great
c Heb you
d Meaning of Heb uncertain
e Or rule by their own authority
5.1–31 A series of judgment oracles.
5.1–9 This oracle of judgment describes the continued disobedience and sinfulness of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, in spite of the siege.
5.1 Like Abraham’s efforts to save Sodom and Gomorrah for the sake of ten righteous people (Gen 18.22–33), Jeremiah is commissioned to find one righteous person who may save Jerusalem.
5.2 The oath probably involves faithfulness to the covenant, but it is sworn falsely (see note on 4.2).
5.10–17 Faithlessness leads to destruction. This oracle of judgment is directed against the cities and countryside of Israel and Judah for being unfaithful to the covenant.
5.13 The prophets are nothing but wind, a play on Hebrew ruach (“spirit,” “wind,” “breath”). One of the forms of prophetic inspiration is the “spirit” or “breath” of God (see Num 27.18; 2 Kings 2.15; Isa 29.10). Jeremiah, in effect, calls the false prophets “windbags” or “full of hot air.”
5.18–19 A prose speech inserted by a later editor that, while promising that destruction is not to be total, still explains the invasion as punishment for unfaithfulness to God.
5.20–31 A prophecy of judgment against Israel (house of Jacob, v. 20) and Judah. God’s power as creator to still the powers of chaos and to bring fertility to the land does not inspire fear and covenantal obedience in the people.
5.22 The sea (Hebrew yam) is often personified as chaos or its ruler (Prince Yam). In Canaanite mythology Prince Yam, representing saltwater, was the nemesis of Baal, the storm god, who provided freshwater and therefore fertility. The two deities contended for rulership of the earth. Chaos is a destructive power that threatens the order of creation (see Job 38.8–11; Ps 74.12–14), but one that is limited here by the Lord.
JEREMIAH 6
The Imminence and Horror of the Invasion
1Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin,
from the midst of Jerusalem!
Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,
and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem;
for evil looms out of the north,
and great destruction.
2I have likened daughter Zion
to the loveliest pasture.f
3Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her.
They shall pitch their tents around her;
they shall pasture, all in their places.
4“Prepare war against her;
up, and let us attack at noon!”
“Woe to us, for the day declines,
the shadows of evening lengthen!”
5“Up, and let us attack by night,
and destroy her palaces!”
6For thus says the LORD of hosts:
Cut down her trees;
cast up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.
This is the city that must be punished;g
there is nothing but oppression within her.
7As a well keeps its water fresh,
so she keeps fresh her wickedness;
violence and destruction are heard within her;
sickness and wounds are ever before me.
8Take warning, O Jerusalem,
or I shall turn from you in disgust,
and make you a desolation,
an uninhabited land.
9Thus says the LORD of hosts:
Gleanh thoroughly as a vine
the remnant of Israel;
like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again
over its branches.
10To whom shall I speak and give warning,
that they may hear?
See, their ears are closed,a
they cannot listen.
The word of the LORD is to them an object of scorn;
they take no pleasure in it.
11But I am full of the wrath of the LORD;
I am weary of holding it in.
Pour it out on the children in the street,
and on the gatherings of young men as well;
both husband and wife shall be taken,
the old folk and the very aged.
12Their houses shall be turned over to others,
their fields and wives together;
for I will stretch out my hand
against the inhabitants of the land,
says the LORD.
13For from the least to the greatest of them,
everyone is greedy for unjust gain;
and from prophet to priest,
everyone deals falsely.
14They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,
saying, “Peace, peace,”
when there is no peace.
15They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;
yet they were not ashamed,
they did not know how to blush.
Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;
at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,
says the LORD.
16Thus says the LORD:
Stand at the crossroads, and look,
and ask for the ancient paths,
where the good way lies; and walk in it,
and find rest for your souls.
But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
17Also I raised up sentinels for you:
“Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!”
But they said, “We will not give heed.”
18Therefore hear, O nations,
and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.
19Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on this people,
the fruit of their schemes,
because they have not given heed to my words;
and as for my teaching, they have rejected it.
20Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,
or sweet cane from a distant land?
Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,
nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.
21Therefore thus says the LORD:
See, I am laying before this people
stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;
parents and children together,
neighbor and friend shall perish.
22Thus says the LORD:
See, a people is coming from the land of the north,
a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.
23They grasp the bow and the javelin,
they are cruel and have no mercy,
their sound is like the roaring sea;
they ride on horses,
equipped like a warrior for battle,
against you, O daughter Zion!
24“We have heard news of them,
our hands fall helpless;
anguish has taken hold of us,
pain as of a woman in labor.
25Do not go out into the field,
or walk on the road;
for the enemy has a sword,
terror is on every side.”
26O my poor people, put on sackcloth,
and roll in ashes;
make mourning as for an only child,
most bitter lamentation:
for suddenly the destroyer
will come upon us.
27I have made you a tester and a refinerb among my people
so that you may know and test their ways.
28They are all stubbornly rebellious,
going about with slanders;
they are bronze and iron,
all of them act corruptly.
29The bellows blow fiercely,
the lead is consumed by the fire;
in vain the refining goes on,