The document provides a commentary on Jeremiah 13, focusing on the symbolism of a linen girdle that represents the relationship between God and the people of Israel. The girdle, worn and later hidden by the prophet Jeremiah, symbolizes the moral decay of the Israelites, who have turned away from God's teachings. The text emphasizes that the decay of the girdle signifies the impending punishment of Israel for their stubbornness and unfaithfulness, indicating a parallel between physical deterioration and spiritual corruption.

1. JEREMIAH 13 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
A Linen Belt
1 This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a
linen belt and put it around your waist, but do not
let it touch water.”
BARNES, "A linen girdle - The appointed dress of the priestly order (Lev_16:4, ...).
Put it not in water - i. e., do not wash it, and so let it represent the deep-grained
pollution of the people.
CLARKE, "Thus saith the Lord unto me - This discourse is supposed to have
been delivered under the reign of Jeconiah, the son and successor of Jehoiakim, who
came to the throne in the eighteenth year of his age; when the Chaldean generals had
encamped near to Jerusalem, but did not besiege it in form till Nebuchadnezzar came up
with the great body of the army. In these circumstances the prophet predicts the
captivity; and, by a symbolical representation of a rotten girdle, shows the people their
totally corrupt state; and by another of bottles filled with wine, shows the destruction
and madness of their counsels, and the confusion that must ensue.
Go and get thee a linen girdle - This was either a vision, or God simply describes
the thing in order that the prophet might use it in the way of illustration.
Put it not in water - After having worn it, let it not be washed, that it may more
properly represent the uncleanness of the Israelites; for they were represented by the
girdle; for “as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto
me the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah.” And as a girdle is as well
for ornament as use; God took them for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, Jer_
13:11.
GILL, "Thus saith the Lord unto me,.... In a vision, and by the spirit of prophecy:
when this was said is not certain, very likely in the reign of Jehoiakim; the prophet gives
an account of what had been done, the present tense is put for the past.
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2. Go and get thee a linen girdle; or, "a girdle of linens" (l); a girdle made of flax or fine
linen, which the prophet had not used to wear; and having none, is bid to go, perhaps
from Anathoth to Jerusalem, to "get" one, or "buy" one: this girdle represents the people
of the Jews in their more pure and less corrupted state, when they were a people near
unto the Lord, and greatly regarded by him, and had a share in his affections; when they
cleaved unto him, and served him, and were to his praise and glory: "and put it upon thy
loins"; near the reins, the seat of affection and desire, and that it might be visible and
ornamental; denoting what has been before observed: "and" or
but put it not in water or, "bring it not through it" (m); meaning either before he put
it on his loins; and the sense is, that he was not to wash it, and whiten it, but to wear it
just as it was wrought, signifying that those people were originally taken by the Lord of
his own mercy, and without any merits of theirs, rough, unwashed, and unpolished as
they were: or else, after he had wore it, as Jarchi, when it was soiled with sweat; yet not
to be washed, that it might rot the sooner: and so may design the corrupt and filthy state
of this people, and the ruin brought thereby upon them, which was not to be prevented.
HENRY, "Here is, I. A sign, the marring of a girdle, which the prophet had worn for
some time, by hiding it in a hole of a rock near the river Euphrates. It was usual with the
prophets to teach by signs, that a stupid unthinking people might be brought to
consider, and believe, and be affected with what was thus set before them. 1. He was to
wear a linen girdle for some time, Jer_13:1, Jer_13:2. Some think he wore it under his
clothes, because it was linen, and it is said to cleave to his loins, Jer_13:11. It should
rather seem to be worn upon his clothes, for it was worn for a name and a praise, and
probably was a fine sash, such as officers wear and such as are commonly worn at this
day in the eastern nations. He must not put it in water, but wear it as it was, that it
might be the stronger, and less likely to rot: linen wastes almost as much with washing
as with wearing. Being not wet, it was the more stiff and less apt to bend, yet he must
make a shift to wear it. Probably it was very fine linen which will wear long without
washing. The prophet, like John Baptist, was none of those that wore soft clothing, and
therefore it would be the more strange to see him with a linen girdle on, who probably
used to wear a leathern one.
JAMISON, "Jer_13:1-27. Symbolical prophecy (Jer_13:1-7).
Many of these figurative acts being either not possible, or not probable, or decorous,
seem to have existed only in the mind of the prophet as part of his inward vision. [So
Calvin]. The world he moved in was not the sensible, but the spiritual, world. Inward
acts were, however, when it was possible and proper, materialized by outward
performance, but not always, and necessarily so. The internal act made a naked
statement more impressive and presented the subject when extending over long portions
of space and time more concentrated. The interruption of Jeremiah’s official duty by a
journey of more than two hundred miles twice is not likely to have literally taken place.
put it upon thy loins, etc. — expressing the close intimacy wherewith Jehovah had
joined Israel and Judah to Him (Jer_13:11).
linen — implying it was the inner garment next the skin, not the outer one.
put it not in water — signifying the moral filth of His people, like the literal filth of a
garment worn constantly next the skin, without being washed (Jer_13:10). Grotius
understands a garment not bleached, but left in its native roughness, just as Judah had
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3. no beauty, but was adopted by the sole grace of God (Eze_16:4-6). “Neither wast thou
washed in water,” etc.
K&D 1-5, "The spoilt girdle. - Jer_13:1. "Thus spake Jahveh unto me: Go and buy
thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, but into the water thou shalt not bring it.
Jer_13:2. So I bought the girdle, according to the word of Jahveh, and put it upon my
loins, Jer_13:3. Then came the word of Jahveh to me the second time, saying: Jer_13:4.
Take the girdle which thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, and go to
the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock. Jer_13:5. So I went and hid it, as
Jahveh had commanded me. Jer_13:6. And it came to pass after many days, that
Jahveh said unto me: Arise, go to the Euphrates, and bring thence the girdle which I
commanded thee to hide there. Jer_13:7. And I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and
took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred,
was good for nothing. Jer_13:8. And the word of Jahveh came to me, saying: Jer_13:9.
Thus hath Jahveh said, After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great
pride of Jerusalem. Jer_13:10. This evil people, which refuse to hear my words, which
walk in the stubbornness of their heart, and walk after other gods, to serve them and to
worship them, it shall be as this girdle which is good for nothing. Jer_13:11. For as the
girdle cleaves to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house
of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith Jahveh; that it might be to me for a people
and for a name, for a praise and for an ornament; but they hearkened not."
With regard to the symbolical action imposed on the prophet and performed by him,
the question arises, whether the thing took place in outward reality, or was only an
occurrence in the spirit, in the inward vision. The first view seems to be supported by the
wording of the passage, namely, the twice repeated account of the prophet's journey to
the Phrat on the strength of a twice repeated divine command. But on the other hand, it
has been found very improbable that "Jeremiah should twice have made a journey to the
Euphrates, merely to prove that a linen girdle, if it lie long in the damp, becomes spoilt, a
thing he could have done much nearer home, and which besides everybody knew
without experiment" (Graf.). On this ground Ros., Graf, etc., hold the matter for a
parable or an allegorical tale, But this view depends for support on the erroneous
assumption that the specification of the Euphrates is of no kind of importance for the
matter in hand; whereas the contrary may be gathered from the four times repeated
mention of the place. Nor is anything proved against the real performance of God's
command by the remark, that the journey thither and back on both occasions is spoken
of as if it were a mere matter of crossing a field. The Bible writers are wont to set forth
such external matters in no very circumstantial way. And the great distance of the
Euphrates - about 250 miles - gives us no sufficient reason for departing from the
narrative as we have it before us, pointing as it does to a literal and real carrying out of
God's command, and to relegate the matter to the inward region of spiritual vision, or to
take the narrative for an allegorical tale. - Still less reason is to be found in arbitrary
interpretations of the name, such as, after Bochart's example, have been attempted by
Ven., Hitz., and Ew. The assertion that the Euphrates is called ‫ר‬ ַ‫ה‬ְ‫נ‬ ‫ת‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫פּ‬ everywhere else,
including Jer_46:2, Jer_46:6,Jer_46:10, loses its claim to conclusiveness from the fact
that the prefaced rhn is omitted in Gen_2:14; Jer_51:63. And even Ew. observes, that
"fifty years later a prophet understood the word of the Euphrates at Jer_51:63." Now
even if Jer_51:63 had been written by another prophet, and fifty years later (which is not
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4. the case, see on Jer 50ff.), the authority of this prophet would suffice to prove every
other interpretation erroneous; even although the other attempts at interpretation had
been more than the merest fancies. Ew. remarks, "It is most amazing that recent
scholars (Hitz. with Ven. and Dahl.) could seriously come to adopt the conceit that ‫ת‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫פּ‬
is one and the same with ‫ת‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫פּ‬ ֶ‫א‬ (Gen_48:7), and so with Bethlehem;" and what he says is
doubly relevant to his own rendering. ‫ת‬ ָ‫ר‬ ְ‫,פּ‬ he says, is either to be understood like Arab.
frt, of fresh water in general, or like frdt, a place near the water, a crevice opening from
the water into the land - interpretations so far fetched as to require no serious refutation.
More important than the question as to the formal nature of the emblematical action
is that regarding its meaning; on which the views of commentators are as much divided.
from the interpretation in Jer_13:9-11 thus much is clear, that the girdle is the emblem
of Israel, and that the prophet, in putting on and wearing this girdle, illustrates the
relation of God to the folk of His covenant (Israel and Judah). The further significance of
the emblem is suggested by the several moments of the action. The girdle does not
merely belong to a man's adornment, but is that part of his clothing which he must put
on when about to undertake any laborious piece of work. The prophet is to buy and put
on a linen girdle. ‫ים‬ ִ‫תּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫,פּ‬ linen, was the material of the priests' raiment, Eze_44:17.,
which in Exo_28:40; Exo_39:27. is called ‫שׁ‬ֵ‫,שׁ‬ white byssus, or ‫ד‬ ַ‫,בּ‬ linen. The priest's
girdle was not, however, white, but woven parti-coloured, after the four colours of the
curtains of the sanctuary, Exo_28:40; Exo_39:29. Wool (‫ר‬ ֶ‫מ‬ֶ‫)צ‬ is in Eze_44:18 expressly
excluded, because it causes the body to sweat. The linen girdle points, therefore, to the
priestly character of Israel, called to be a holy people, a kingdom of priests (Exo_19:6).
"The purchased white girdle of linen, a man's pride and adornment, is the people bought
out of Egypt, yet in its innocence as it was when the Lord bound it to Himself with the
bands of love" (Umbr.). The prohibition that follows, "into water thou shalt not bring it,"
is variously interpreted. Chr. B. Mich. says: forte ne madefiat et facilius dein
computrescat; to the same effect Dahl., Ew., Umbr., Graf: to keep it safe from the hurtful
effects of damp. A view which refutes itself; since washing does no kind of harm to the
linen girdle, but rather makes it again as good as new. Thus to the point writes Näg.,
remarking justly at the same time, that the command not to bring the girdle into the
water plainly implies that the prophet would have washed it when it had become soiled.
This was not to be. The girdle was to remain dirty, and as such to be carried to the
Euphrates, in order that, as Ros. and Maur. observed, it might symbolize sordes quas
contraxerit populus in dies majores, mores populi magis magisque lapsi, and that the
carrying of the soiled girdle to the Euphrates might set forth before the eyes of the
people what awaited it, after it had long been borne by God covered with the filth of its
sins. - The just appreciation of this prohibition leads us easily to the true meaning of the
command in Jer_13:4, to bring the girdle that was on his loins to the Euphrates, and
there to conceal it in a cleft in the rock, where it decays. But it is signifies, as Chr. B.
Mich., following Jerome, observes, populi Judaici apud Chaldaeos citra Euphratem
captivitas et exilium. Graf has objected: "The corruptness of Israel was not a
consequence of the Babylonish captivity; the latter, indeed, came about in consequence
of the existing corruptness." But this objection stands and falls with the amphibolia of
the word corruptness, decay. Israel was, indeed, morally decayed before the exile; but
the mouldering of the girdle in the earth by the Euphrates signifies not the moral but the
physical decay of the covenant people, which, again, was a result of the moral decay of
the period during which God had, in His long-suffering, borne the people
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5. notwithstanding their sins. Wholly erroneous is the view adopted by Gr. from Umbr.:
the girdle decayed by the water is the sin-stained people which, intriguing with the
foreign gods, had in its pride cast itself loose from its God, and had for long imagined
itself secure under the protection of the gods of Chaldea. The hiding of the girdle in the
crevice of a rock by the banks of the Euphrates would have been the most unsuitable
emblem conceivable for representing the moral corruption of the people. Had the girdle,
which God makes to decay by the Euphrates, loosed itself from him and imagined it
could conceal itself in a foreign land? as Umbr. puts the case. According to the
declaration, Jer_13:9, God will mar the great pride of Judah and Jerusalem, even as the
girdle had been marred, which had at His command been carried to the Euphrates and
hid there. The carrying of the girdle to the Euphrates is an act proceeding from God, by
which Israel is marred; the intriguing of Israel with strange gods in the land of Canaan
was an act of Israel's own, against the will of God.
CALVIN, "I have said that there is here a new prophecy; for the Prophet is said to
buy for himself a girdle or a belt, or, according to some, a truss or breeches; and as
mention is made of linen, this opinion may be probable; but ‫,אזור‬ asur, means not
only the breeches which they then wore, but also a girdle or belt, according to what
Isaiah says, when, speaking figuratively of Christ’s kingdom, that faithfulness
would be the girdle of his loins. (Isaiah 11:5) It, may here, however, be taken for
breeches as well as for a girdle. (70)
As to the matter in hand, it makes no great difference. The Prophet then is bidden to
buy for himself a linen girdle or a linen breeches, and he is also bidden to go to
Euphrates, and to hide the girdle in a hole. He is again bidden to go the second time
to Euphrates, and to draw the girdle from the hole, and he found it marred. The
application follows; for God declares that he would thus deal with the Jews; though
he had had them as a belt, he would yet cast them away. As he had adorned them, so
he designed them to be an ornament to him; for the glory of God shines forth in his
ChurJeremiah The Jews then, as Isaiah says, were a crown of glory and a royal
diadem in God’s hand. (Isaiah 62:3) Hence he compares them here most fitly to a
belt or a girdle. Though then their condition was honorable, yet God threatens that
he would cast them away; so that, being hidden, they might contract rottenness in a
cavern of the Euphrates, that is, in Assyria and Chaldea. This is the meaning of the
prophecy.
But no doubt a vision is here narrated, and not a real transaction, as some think,
who regard Jeremiah as having gone there; but what can be imagined more absurd?
He was, we know, continually engaged in his office of a teacher among his own
people. Had he undertaken so long a journey, and that twice, it would have taken
him some months. Hence contentious must he be, who urges the words of the
Prophet, and holds that he must have gone to the Euphrates and hidden there his
girdle. We know that this form of speaking is common and often used by the
prophets: they narrate visions as facts.
We must also observe, that God might have spoken plainly and without any
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6. similitude; but as they were not only ignorant, but also stupid, it was found
necessary to reprove their torpidity by an external symbol. This was the reason why
God confirmed the doctrine of his Prophet by an external representation. Had God
said, “Ye have been to me hitherto as a belt, ye were my ornament and my glory, not
indeed through your merit or worthiness, but because I have united you to myself,
that ye might be a holy people and a priestly kingdom; but now I am constrained to
cast you away; and as a person throws from him and casts a girdle into some hole,
so that after a long time he finds it rotten, so it will be with you, after having been
hidden a long time beyond Euphrates; ye shall there contract rottenness, which will
mar you altogether, so that your appearance will be very different, when a remnant
of you shall come from thence:” This indeed might have been sufficient; but in that
state of security and dullness in which we know the Jews were, such a simple
statement would not have so effectually penetrated into their hearts, as when this
symbol was presented to them. The Prophet, therefore, says, that he was girded with
a belt, that the belt was hid in a hole near Euphrates, and that there it became
marred; and then he adds, so shall it be done to you. This statement, as I have said,
more sharply touched the Jews, so that they saw that the judgment of God was at
hand.
With regard to the similitude of girdle or breeches, we know how proudly the Jews
gloried in the thought that God was bound to them; and he would have really been
so, had they been in return faithful to him: but as they had become so disobedient
and ungrateful, how could God be bound to them? He had indeed chosen them to be
a people to himself, but this condition was added, that they were to be as a chaste
wife, as he had become, according to what we have seen, a husband to them. But
they had prostituted themselves and had become shamefully polluted with idols. As
then they had perfidiously departed from their marriage engagement, was not God
freed from his obligations? according to what is said by Isaiah,
“There is no need to give you a bill of divorcement, for your mother is an
adulteress.” (Isaiah 1:1)
The Prophet then, in this place, meant in a few words to shake off from the Jews
those vain boastings in which they indulged, when they said that they were God’s
people and the holy seed of Abraham. “True,” he says, “and I will concede more to
you, that you were to God even as a belt, by which men usually adorn themselves;
but God adopted you, that you might serve him chastely and faithfully; but now, as
ye have made void his covenant, he will cast away this belt, which is a disgrace to
him and not an ornament, and will throw it into a cavern where it will rot.” Such is
the view we are to take of this belt, as we shall hereafter see more clearly.
Calvin makes no remark on the command, not to put it in water before he wore it.
Various has been the explanation. The view the Rabbins give is inconsistent with the
passage, — that it was to be left dirty after wearing, that it might rot the sooner; for
the Prophet is bidden, when commanded to wear it, not to wash it. Grotius and
others think that he was to wear it as made, in its rough state, in order to shew the
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7. rude condition of the Jews when God adopted them. Venema is of the opinion that
in order to shew that is was newly made, and had not been worn by another, nor
polluted. Gataker says that the purpose was to shew that nothing was to be done by
the Prophet to cause the girdle to rot, as wet might have done so, in order to prove
that the rottenness proceeded only from the Jews themselves. Lowth regards it as
intended to teach the Jews their corrupt state by nature, so that it was through favor
or grace only that God adopted them; and he refers to Ezekiel 16:4. The last, which
is nearly the same with the view of Grotius, seems the most suitable. — Ed.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:1 Thus saith the LORD unto me, Go and get thee a linen
girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.
Ver. 1. Go, get thee a linen girdle.] Or, Belt, or swath.
And put it not in water.] Or, Lye, to wash it or whiten it; but take it as it is first
made, Ut sorditiem magis contrahat, to show, say some, that the Jewish nation,
when first chosen, was black by sin and nothing amiable; better skilled and
exercised in making mortar and bricks in Egypt than in the worship of God and in
good manners.
Or put it not in water,] i.e., Keep it from being rotted, as a type of God’s care of, and
kindness to, that people.
ELLICOTT, "The prophecies of Jeremiah are arranged, it must be remembered, in
an order which is not chronological, and that which we have now reached belongs to
a later date than many that follow. Comparing the notes of time in the writings of
the prophet with those in the history, we get the following as the probable sequence
of events. In the early years of Jehoiakim the prophet’s preaching so provoked the
priests and nobles that they sought his life (Jeremiah 26:15). Then came the burning
of the roll (Jeremiah 36:23), which Jeremiah had not ventured to read in person.
This was in the fourth year of that king’s reign (Jeremiah 36:1). During the seven
years that followed we hear little or nothing of the prophet’s work. Then came the
short three months’ reign of Jehoiachin, and he re-appears on the scene with the
prophecy in this chapter. The date is fixed by the reference, in Jeremiah 13:18, to
the queen (i.e., as the Hebrew word implies, the queen-mother) Nehushta (2 Kings
24:8), who seems to have exercised sovereign power in conjunction with her son.
During this interval, probably towards its close, we must place the journey to the
Euphrates now recorded. There are absolutely no grounds whatever for looking
upon it as a vision or a parable, any more than there are for so looking on the
symbolic use of the “potter’s earthen bottle” (Jeremiah 19:1) or the “bonds and
yokes” (Jeremiah 27:2), or on Isaiah’s walking “naked and barefoot” (Isaiah 20:2).
It may be added that the special command given by Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah’s
favour (Jeremiah 39:11) implies some previous knowledge which may reasonably be
connected with this visit.
Verse 1
7

8. (1) A linen girdle.—The point of comparison is given in Jeremiah 13:11. Of all
garments worn by man the girdle was that most identified with the man’s activity,
nearest to his person. The “linen girdle” was part of Jeremiah’s priestly dress
(Exodus 28:40; Leviticus 16:4), and this also was significant in the interpretation of
the symbolic act. Israel, represented as the girdle of Jehovah, had been chosen for
consecrated uses. The word “get” implies the act of purchasing, and this too was not
without its symbolic significance.
Put it not in water.—The work of the priest as a rule necessarily involved frequent
washings both of flesh and garments. The command in this case was therefore
exceptional. The unwashed girdle was to represent the guilt of the people unpurified
by any real contact with the “clean water” of repentance (Ezekiel 36:25). In the
“filthy garments” of Joshua, in Zechariah 3:3, we have a like symbolism. This seems
a much more natural interpretation than that which starts from the idea that water
would spoil the girdle, and sees in the command the symbol of God’s care for His
people.
COFFMAN, "FIVE WARNINGS FOR ISRAEL
There are five warnings given to Israel in this chapter. The nation of the Chosen
people, which should have been living in a happy and intimate relationship with the
Creator, and also should have been busily engaged in teaching the benighted nations
of mankind the wonderful facts regarding the true and Almighty God, had,
contrary to all reason, itself succumbed to the sensual allurements of paganism.
Their spiritual discernment had almost disappeared; and the whole nation was
thoroughly overcome with abandoned wickedness. The dramatic warnings of this
chapter were designed to stem the headlong rash of Israel to destruction; but the
warnings were not heeded.
The warnings were: (1) the parable of the mined linen loin-cloth (Jeremiah 13:1-11),
(2) the parable of the wine jars (Jeremiah 13:12-14), (3) the warning against pride
and arrogance toward God (Jeremiah 13:15-17), (4) the warning to the king and the
queen-mother (Jeremiah 13:18-19), (5) the warning that identified "friends" of
Israel, such as Babylon, as their conquerors and exploiters.
Jeremiah 13:1-2
PARABLE OF THE RUINED LOINCLOTH
"Thus said Jehovah unto me, Go, and buy thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy
loins, and put it not in water. So I bought a girdle according to the word of Jehovah,
and put it upon my loins."
"Linen girdle ..." (Jeremiah 13:1). Why linen? This was a mark of the priesthood;
and because this garment was given as a representation of Israel, it had to be linen
8

9. in order properly to symbolize that nation of "priests unto God" which Israel was
intended to be.
"Put it upon thy loins ..." (Jeremiah 13:1). "This was not an outer girdle, but a
covering worn next to the skin."[1] This very intimate and personal garment
symbolized the intimate relationship between God and Israel during the long
centuries of the nation's development.
"And put it not in water ..." (Jeremiah 13:1). This meant that Jeremiah was not to
wash the garment either before or after he had worn it. This would illuminate the
meaning of the linen loincloth in later portions of the parable.
BENSON, "Verse 1-2
Jeremiah 13:1-2. Thus saith the Lord unto me — The prophet here begins a new
discourse. Go and get thee a girdle, &c. — “God explains, at Jeremiah 13:11, what
was meant by the symbol of the girdle, or sash, worn about the loins, namely, his
people Israel, whom he redeemed of old, and attached to himself by a special
covenant; that as a girdle served for an ornament to the wearer, so they should be
subservient to the honour and glory of his name. But it is added, They would not
hear, or conform to his intentions; therefore, being polluted with the guilt of their
disobedience, they were, in that state, and on that very account, to be carried into
captivity; conformably to which the prophet was commanded not to put the girdle
in water, that is, not to wash it, but to leave it in that state of filthiness which it had
contracted in wearing.” So I got the girdle, according to the word of the Lord —
That is, according to God’s command. And put it on my loins — Used it as God
directed me, not disputing the reason why God commanded me to do such a thing.
EXPOSITOR'S BIBLE COMMENTARY,"THE FALL OF PRIDE
Jeremiah 13:1-27
THIS discourse is a sort of appendix to the preceding; as is indicated by its abrupt
and brief beginning with the words "Thus said Iahvah unto me," without the
addition of any mark of time, or other determining circumstance. It predicts
captivity, in retribution for the pride and ingratitude of the people; and thus
suitably follows the closing section of the last address, which announces the coming
deportation of Judah and her evil neighbours. The recurrence here (Jeremiah 13:9)
of the peculiar term rendered "swelling" or "pride" in our English versions,
[Jeremiah 12:5] points to the same conclusion. We may subdivide it thus: It presents
us with
(1) a symbolical action, or acted parable, with its moral and application (Jeremiah
13:1-11);
(2) a parabolic saying and its interpretation, which leads up to a pathetic appeal for
9

10. penitence (Jeremiah 13:12-17);
(3) a message to the sovereigns (Jeremiah 13:18-19); and
(4) a closing apostrophe to Jerusalem-the gay and guilty capital, so soon to be made
desolate for her abounding sins (Jeremiah 13:20-27).
In the first of these four sections, we are told how the prophet was bidden of God to
buy a linen girdle, and after wearing it for a time, to bury it in a cleft of the rock at a
place whose very name might be taken to symbolise the doom awaiting his people. A
long while afterwards he was ordered to go and dig it up again, and found it
altogether spoiled and useless. The significance of these proceedings is clearly
enough explained. The relation between Israel and the God of Israel had been of the
closest kind. Iahvah had chosen this people, and bound it to Himself by a covenant,
as a man might bind a girdle about his body; and as the girdle is an ornament of
dress, so had the Lord intended Israel to display His glory among men (Jeremiah
13:11). But now the girdle is rotten; and like that rotten girdle will He cause the
pride of Judah to rot and perish (Jeremiah 13:9-10).
It is natural to ask whether Jeremiah really did as he relates; or whether the
narrative about the girdle be simply a literary device intended to carry a lesson
home to the dullest apprehension. If the prophet’s activity had been confined to the
pen; if he had not been wont to labour by word and deed for the attainment of his
purposes; the latter alternative might be accepted. For mere readers, a parabolic
narrative might suffice to enforce his meaning. But Jeremiah, who was all his life a
man of action, probably did the thing he professes to have done, not in thought, nor
in word only, but in deed and to the knowledge of certain competent witnesses.
There was nothing novel in this method of attracting attention, and giving greater
force and impressiveness to his prediction. The older prophets had often done the
same kind of things, on the principle that deeds may be more effective than words.
What could have conveyed a more vivid sense of the Divine intention, than the
simple act of Ahijah the Shilonite, when he suddenly caught away the new mantle of
Solomon’s officer, and rent it into twelve pieces, and said to the astonished courtier,
"Take thee ten pieces! for thus saith Iahvah, the God of Israel, Behold I am about to
rend the kingdom out of the hand of Solomon, and will give the ten tribes to thee?"
[1 Kings 11:29 sqq.} in like manner when Ahab and Jehoshaphat, dressed in their
robes of state, sat enthroned in the gateway of Samaria, and "all the prophets were
prophesying before them" about the issue of their joint expedition to Ramoth-
gilead, Zedekiah, the son of a Canaanitess-as the writer is careful to add of this false
prophet-"made him horns of iron, and said, Thus said Iahvah, With these shalt thou
butt the Arameans, until thou make an end of them." {1 Kings 22:11] Isaiah, Hosea,
and Ezekiel, record similar actions of symbolical import. Isaiah for a time walked
half-clad and bare foot, as a sign that the Egyptians and Ethiopians, upon whom
Judah was inclined to lean, would be led away captive, in this comfortless guise, by
the king of Assyria. [Isaiah 20:1-6] Such actions may be regarded as a further
development of those significant gestures, with which men in what is called a state of
10

11. nature are wont to give emphasis and precision to their spoken ideas. They may also
be compared with the symbolism of ancient law. "An ancient conveyance," we are
told, "was not written but acted. Gestures and words took the place of written
technical phraseology, and any formula mispronounced, or symbolical act omitted,
would have vitiated the proceeding as fatally as a material mistake in stating the
uses or setting out the remainders would, two hundred years ago, have vitiated an
English deed" (Maine, "Ancient Law," p. 276) Actions of a purely symbolical
nature surprise us, when we first encounter them in Religion or Law, but that is
only because they are survivals. In the ages when they originated, they were familiar
occurrences in all transactions between man and man. And this general
consideration tends to prove that those expositors are wrong who maintain that the
prophets did not really perform the symbolical actions of which they speak. Just as
it is argued that the visions which they describe are merely a literary device; so the
reality of these symbolical actions has needlessly enough been called in question.
The learned Jews Abenezra and Maimonides in the twelfth century, and David
Kimehi in the thirteenth, were the first to affirm this opinion. Maimonides held that
all such actions passed in vision before the prophets; a view which has found a
modern advocate in Hengstenberg: and Staudlin, in the last century, affirmed that
they had neither an objective nor a subjective reality, but were simply a "literary
device." This, however, is only true, if true at all, of the declining period of
prophecy, as in the case of the visions. In the earlier period, while the prophets were
still accustomed to an oral delivery of their discourses, we may be quite sure that
they suited the action to the word in the way that they have themselves recorded; in
order to stir the popular imagination, and to create a more vivid and lasting
impression. The narratives of the historical books leave no doubt about the matter.
But in later times, when spoken addresses had for the most part become a thing of
the past, and when prophets published their convictions in manuscript, it is possible
that they were content with the description of symbolical doings, as a sort of
parable, without any actual performance of them. Jeremiah’s hiding his girdle in a
cleft of the rock at "Euphrates" has been regarded by some writers as an instance of
such purely ideal symbolism. And certainly it is difficult to suppose that the prophet
made the long and arduous journey from Jerusalem to the Great River for such a
purpose. It is, however, a highly probable conjecture that the place whither he was
directed to repair was much nearer home; the addition of a single letter to the name
rendered "Euphrates" gives the far preferable reading "Ephrath," that is to say.
Bethlehem in Judah. [Genesis 48:7] Jeremiah may very well have buried his girdle
at Bethlehem, a place only five miles or so to the south of Jerusalem; a place,
moreover, where he would have no trouble in finding a "cleft of the rock," which
would hardly be the case upon the alluvial banks of the Euphrates. If not accidental,
the difference may be due to the intentional employment of an unusual form of the
name, by way of hinting at the source whence the ruin of Judah was to flow. The
enemy "from the north" (Jeremiah 13:20) is of course the Chaldeans.
The mention of the queen mother (Jeremiah 13:18) along with the king appears to
point unmistakably to the reign of Jehoiachin or Jechoniah. The allusion is
compared with the threat of Jeremiah 22:26 : "I will cast thee out, and thy mother
11

12. that bare thee into another country." Like Josiah, this king was but eight years old
when he began to reign (2 Chronicles 36:9, after 2 Kings 24:8 must be corrected);
and he had enjoyed the name of king only for the brief period of three months, when
the thunderbolt fell, and Nebuchadrezzar began his first siege of Jerusalem. The
boy-king can hardly have had much to do with the issue of affairs, when "he and his
mother and his servants and his princes and his eunuchs" surrendered the city, and
were deported to Babylon, with ten thousand of the principal inhabitants. [2 Kings
24:12 sqq.} The date of our discourse will thus be the beginning of the year B.C. 599,
which was the eighth year of Nebuchadrezzar. {2 Kings 24:12]
It is asserted, indeed, that the difficult Jeremiah 13:21 refers to the revolt from
Babylon as an accomplished fact; but this is by no means clear from the verse itself.
"What wilt thou say (demands the prophet) when He shall appoint over thee-albeit,
thou thyself hast instructed them against thyself; -lovers to be thy head?" The term
"lovers" or "lemans" applies best to the foreign idols, who will one day repay the
foolish attachment of Iahvah’s people by enslaving it; {cf. Jeremiah 3:4, where
Iahvah Himself is called the "lover" of Judah’s youthful days} and this question
might as well have been asked in the days of Josiah, as at any later period. At
various times in the past Israel and Judah had courted the favour of foreign deities.
Ahaz had introduced Aramean and Assyrian novelties; Manasseh and Amon had
revived and aggravated his apostasy. Even Hezekiah had had friendly dealings with
Babylon, and we must remember that in those times friendly intercourse with a
foreign people implied some recognition of their gods, which is probably the true
account of Solomon’s chapels for Tyrian and other deities.
The queen of Jeremiah 13:18 might conceivably be Jedidah, the mother of Josiah,
for that king was only eight at his accession, and only thirty-nine at his 2 Kings 22:1.
And the message to the sovereigns (Jeremiah 13:18) is not couched in terms of
disrespect nor of reproach: it simply declares the imminence of overwhelming
disaster, and bids them lay aside their royal pomp, and behave as mourners for the
coming woe. Such words might perhaps have been addressed to Josiah and his
mother, by way of deepening the impression produced by the Book of the Law, and
the rumoured invasion of the Scythians. But the threat against "the kings that sit on
David’s throne" (Jeremiah 13:13) is hardly suitable on this supposition; and the
ruthless tone of this part of the address-"I will dash them in pieces, one against
another, both the fathers and the sons together: I will not pity, nor spare, nor relent
from destroying them"-considered along with the emphatic prediction of an utter
and entire captivity (Jeremiah 13:19), seems to indicate a later period of the
prophet’s ministry, when the obduracy of the people had revealed more fully the
hopelessness of his enterprise for their salvation. The mention of the enemy "from
the north" will then be a reference to present circumstances of peril, as
triumphantly vindicating the prophet’s former menaces of destruction from that
quarter. The carnage of conquest and the certainty of exile are here threatened in
the plainest and most direct style; but nothing is said by way of heightening the
popular terror of the coming destroyer. The prophet seems to take it for granted
that the nature of the evil which hangs over their heads is well known to the people,
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13. and does not need to be dwelt upon or amplified with the lyric fervour of former
utterances (see Jeremiah 4:1-31, Jeremiah 5:15 sqq., Jeremiah 6:22 sqq.). This
appears quite natural, if we suppose that the first invasion of the Chaldeans was
now a thing of the past; and that the nation was awaiting in trembling uncertainty
the consequences of Jehoiakim’s breach of faith with his Babylonian suzerain. [2
Kings 24:10] The prophecy may therefore be assigned with some confidence to the
short reign of Jehoiachin, to which perhaps the short section, Jeremiah 10:17-25,
also belongs; a date which harmonises better than any other with the play on the
name Euphrates in the opening of the chapter. It agrees, too, with the emphatic
"Iahvah hath spoken!" (Jeremiah 13:15), which seems to be more than a mere
assertion of the speaker’s veracity, and to point rather to the fact that the course of
events had reached a crisis; that something had occurred in the political world
which suggested imminent danger; that a black cloud was looming up on the
national horizon, and signalling most unmistakably to the prophet’s eye the
intention of Iahvah. What other view so well explains the solemn tone of warning,
the vivid apprehension of danger, the beseeching tenderness, that give so peculiar a
stamp to the three verses in which the address passes from narrative and parable to
direct appeal? "Hear ye and give ear: be not proud: for Iahvah hath spoken! Give
glory to Iahvah your God"-the glory of confession, of avowing your own guilt and
His perfect righteousness; [Joshua 7:19; St. John 9:24] of recognising the due
reward of your deeds in the destruction that threatens you; the glory involved in the
cry, "God be merciful to me a sinner!"-"Give glory to Iahvah your God before the
darkness fall, and before your feet stumble upon the twilight mountains; and ye
wait for dawn, and He make it deepest gloom, He turn it to utter darkness." The
day was declining; the evening shadows were descending and deepening; soon the
hapless people would be wandering bewildered in the twilight, and lost in the
darkness, unless, ere it had become too late, they would yield their pride, and throw
themselves upon the pity of Him who "maketh the seven stars and Orion, and
turneth the deepest gloom into morning". [Amos 5:8]
The verbal allusiveness of the opening section does not, according to Oriental taste,
diminish the solemnity of the speaker; on the contrary, it tends to deepen the
impression produced by his words. And perhaps there is a psychological reason for
the fact, beyond the peculiar partiality of Oriental peoples for such displays of
ingenuity. It is, at all events, remarkable that the greatest of all masters of human
feeling has not hesitated to make a dying prince express his bitter and desponding
thoughts in what may seem an artificial toying and trifling with the suggestiveness
of his own familiar name: and when the king asks: "Can sick men play so nicely
with their names?" the answer is: "No; misery makes sport to mock itself" (Rich.
#II, Acts 2:1-47, Sc. 1:72 sqq.). The Greek tragedian, too, in the earnestness of bitter
sport, can find a prophecy in a name. "Who was for naming her thus, with truth so
entire? (Was it One whom we see not, wielding tongue happily with full foresight of
what was to be?) the Bride of Battles, fiercely contested Helen: seeing that, in full
accord with her name, haler of ships, haler of men, haler of cities, forth of the soft
and precious tapestries away she sailed, under the gale of the giant West" (AEsch.,
"Ag.," 68, sqq.). And so, to Jeremiah’s ear, Ephrath is prophetic of Euphrates, upon
13

14. whose distant banks the glory of his people is to languish and decay. "I to Ephrath,
and you to Phrath!" is his melancholy cry. Their doom is as certain as if it were the
mere fulfilment of an old world prophecy, crystallised long ages ago in a familiar
name; a word of destiny fixed in this strange form, and bearing its solemn witness
from the outset of their history until now concerning the inevitable goal.
There is nothing so very surprising, as Ewald seems to have thought, in the
suggestion that the Perath of the Hebrew text may be the same as Ephrath. But
perhaps the valley and spring now called Furah (or Furat) which lies at about the
same distance N.E. of Jerusalem, is the place intended by the prophet. The name,
which means fresh or sweet water, is identical with the Arabic name of the
Euphrates (Furat), which again is philologically identical with the Hebrew Perath. It
is obvious that this place would suit the requirements of the text quite as well as the
other, while the coincidence of name enables us to dispense with the supposition of
an unusual form or even a corruption of the original; but Furat or Forah is not
mentioned elsewhere in the Old Testament. The old versions send the prophet to the
river Euphrates, which Jeremiah calls simply "The River" in one place, [Jeremiah
2:18] and "The river of Perath" in three others; [Jeremiah 46:2; Jeremiah 46:6;
Jeremiah 46:10] while the rare "Perath," without any addition, is only found in the
second account of the Creation, [Genesis 2:14] in 2 Chronicles 35:20, and in a
passage of this book which does not belong, nor profess to belong, to Jeremiah.
[Jeremiah 51:63] We may, therefore, conclude that "Perath" in the present passage
means not the great river of that name, but a place near Jerusalem, although that
place was probably chosen with the intention, as above explained, of alluding to the
Euphrates.
I cannot assent to the opinion which regards this narrative of the spoiled girdle as
founded upon some accidental experience of the prophet’s life, in which he
afterwards recognised a Divine lesson. The precision of statement, and the nice
adaptation of the details of the story to the moral which the prophet wished to
convey, rather indicate a symbolical course of action, or what may be called an
acted parable. The whole proceeding appears to have been carefully thought out
beforehand. The intimate connection between Iahvah and Israel is well symbolised
by a girdle-that part of an Easter dress which "cleaves to the loins of a man," that
is, fits closest to the body, and is most securely attached thereto. And if the nations
be represented by the rest of the apparel, as the girdle secures and keeps that in its
place, we may see an implication that Israel was intended to be the chain that bound
mankind to God. The girdle was of linen, the material of the priestly dress, not only
because Jeremiah was a priest, but because Israel was called to be "a kingdom of
priests," or the Priest among nations. [Exodus 19:6] The significance of the
command to wear the girdle, but not to put it into water, seems to be clear enough.
The unwashed garment which the prophet continues to wear for a time represents
the foulness of Israel; just as the order to bury it at Perath indicates what Iahvah is
about to do with His polluted people.
1. The exposition begins with the words, "Thus will I mar the great pride of Judah
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15. and of Jerusalem!" The spiritual uncleanness of the nation consisted in the proud
selfwill which turned a deaf ear to the warnings of Iahvah’s prophets, and
obstinately persisted in idolatry (Jeremiah 13:10). It continues: "For as the girdle
cleaveth to the loins of a man, so made I the whole house of Israel and the whole
house of Judah to cleave unto Me, saith Iahvah; that they might become to Me for a
people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for an ornament". [Exodus 28:2] Then
their becoming morally unclean, through the defilements of sin, is briefly implied in
the words, "And they obeyed not" (Jeremiah 13:11).
It is not the pride of the tyrant king Jehoiakim that is here threatened with
destruction. It is the national pride which had all along evinced itself in rebellion
against its heavenly King "the great pride of Judah and Jerusalem"; and this pride,
inasmuch as it "trusted in man and made flesh its arm," [Jeremiah 17:5] and
boasted in a carnal wisdom, and material strength and riches, [Jeremiah 9:23;
Jeremiah 21:13] was to be brought low by the complete extinction of the national
autonomy, and the reduction of a high-spirited and haughty race to the status of
humble dependents upon a heathen power.
2. A parabolic saying follows, with its interpretation. "And say thou unto them this
word: Thus saith Iahvah, the God of Israel: Every jar is wont to be filled (or shall be
filled) with wine. And if they say unto thee, Are we really not aware that every jar is
wont to be filled with wine? say thou unto them, Thus saith Iahvah, Lo, I am about
to fill all the inhabitants of this land, and the kings that sit for David upon his
throne, and the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with
drunkenness; and I will dash them in pieces against one another, and the fathers
and the sons together, saith Iahvah: I will not forbear nor spare nor pity, so as not
to mar them" (cf. Jeremiah 13:7, Jeremiah 13:9).
The individual members of the nation, of all ranks and classes, are compared to
earthenware jars, not "skins," as the LXX gives it, for they are to be "dashed in
pieces," "like a potter’s vessel" (Psalms 2:9; cf. Jeremiah 13:14). Regarding them all
as ripe for destruction, Jeremiah exclaims, "Every jar is filled with wine," in the
ordinary course of things; that is its destiny. His hearers answer with the mocking
question, "Do you suppose that we don’t know that?" They would, of course, be
aware that a prophet’s figure, however homely, covered an inner meaning of serious
import; but derision was their favourite retort against unpopular truths. [Jeremiah
17:15; Jeremiah 20:7-8] They would take it for granted that the thing suggested was
unfavourable, from their past experience of Jeremiah. Their ill-timed banter is met
by the instant application of the figure. They, and the kings then sitting on David’s
throne, i.e., the young Jehoiachin and the queen mother Nehushta (who probably
had all the authority if not the title of a regent), and the priests and prophets who
fatally misled them by false teachings and false counsels, are the wine jars intended,
and the wine that is to fill them is the wine of the wrath of God. [Psalms 75:8;
Jeremiah 25:15; cf. Jeremiah 51:7;, Revelation 16:19;, Isaiah 19:14-15] The effect is
intoxication-a fatal bewilderment, a helpless lack of decision, an utter confusion and
stupefaction of the faculties of wisdom and foresight, in the very moment of supreme
15

16. peril. {cf. Isaiah 28:7;, Psalms 60:5} Like drunkards, they will reel against and
overthrow each other. The strong term, "I will dash them in pieces," is used to
indicate the deadly nature of their fall, and because the prophet has still in his mind
the figure of the wine jars, which were probably amphorae, pointed at the end, like
those depicted in Egyptian mural paintings so that they could not stand upright
without support. By their fall they are to be utterly "marred" (the term used of the
girdle, Jeremiah 13:9).
But even yet one way of escape lies open. It is to sacrifice their pride, and yield to the
will of Iahvah. "Hear ye and give ear, be not haughty! for Iahvah hath spoken: give
ye to Iahvah your God the glory, before it grow dark (or He cause darkness), and
before your feet stumble upon mountains of twilight; and ye wait for the dawn, and
He make it gloom, turning it to cloudiness!". [Isaiah 5:30; Isaiah 8:20; Isaiah 8:22;,
Amos 8:9] It is very remarkable that even now, when the Chaldeans are actually in
the country, and blockading the strong places of southern Judah (Jeremiah 13:19),
which was the usual preliminary to an advance upon Jerusalem itself, [2 Chronicles
12:4; 2 Chronicles 32:9;, Isaiah 36:1-2] Jeremiah should still speak thus; assuring
his fellow citizens that confession and self-humiliation before their offended God
might yet deliver them from the bitterest consequences of past misdoing. Iahvah had
indeed spoken audibly enough, as it seemed to the prophet, in the calamities that
had already befallen the country; these were an indication of more and worse to
follow, unless they should prove efficacious in leading the people to repentance. If
they failed, nothing would be left for the prophet but to mourn in solitude over his
country’s ruin (Jeremiah 13:17). But Jeremiah was fully persuaded that the Hand
that had stricken could heal; the Power that had brought the invaders into Judah,
could cause them to "return by the way that they had come". [Isaiah 37:34] Of
course such a view was unintelligible from the standpoint of unbelief; but then the
standpoint of the prophets is faith.
3. After this general appeal for penitence, the discourse turns to the two exalted
persons whose position and interest in the country were the highest of all: the
youthful king, and the empress or queen mother. They are addressed in a tone
which, though not disrespectful, is certainly despairing. They are called upon, not so
much to set the example of penitence, {cf. Jonah 3:6} as to take up the attitude of
mourners [Job 2:13;, Isaiah 3:26;, Lamentations 2:10; Ezekiel 26:16] in presence of
the public disasters. "Say thou to the king and to the empress, Sit ye low on the
ground! (lit. make low your seat; cf. Isaiah 7:1-25 for the construction) for it is
fallen from your heads-your beautiful crown! [Lamentations 5:16] The cities of the
south are shut fast, and there is none that openeth: [Joshua 6:1] Judah is carried
away captive all of her, she is wholly carried away." There is no hope; it is in vain to
expect help; nothing is left but to bemoan the irreparable. The siege of the great
fortresses of the south country and the sweeping away of the rural population were
sure signs of what was coming upon Jerusalem. The embattled cities themselves may
be suggested by the fallen crown of beauty; Isaiah calls Samaria "the proud crown
of the drunkards of Ephraim," [Isaiah 28:1] and cities are commonly represented in
ancient art by female figures wearing mural crowns. In that case, both verses are
16

17. addressed to the sovereigns, and the second is exegetical of the first.
As already observed, there is here no censure, but only sorrowful despair over the
dark outlook. In the same way, Jeremiah’s utterance [Jeremiah 22:20 sqq.} about
the fate of Jehoiachin is less a malediction than a lament. And when we further
consider his favourable judgment of the first body of exiles, who were carried away
with this monarch soon after the time of the present oracle (chapter 24), we may
perhaps see reason to conclude that the surrender of Jerusalem to the Chaldeans on
this occasion was partly due to his advice. The narrative of Kings, however, is too
brief to enable us to come to any certain decision about the circumstances of
Jehoiachin’s submission. {2 Kings 24:10-12]
4. From the sovereigns the prophet turns to Jerusalem. "Lift up thine eyes (O
Jerusalem), and behold them that came from the north! Where is the flock that was
given to thee, thy beautiful sheep? What wilt thou say when He shall appoint over
thee-nay, thou thyself hast spurred them against thyself!-lovers [Jeremiah 3:4;
Jeremiah 11:19] for head? Will not pangs take thee, as a woman in travail?"
Jerusalem sits upon her hills, as a beautiful shepherdess. The country towns and
unwalled villages lay about her, like a fair flock of sheep and goats entrusted to her
care and keeping. But now these have been destroyed and their pastures are made a
silent solitude, and the destroyer is advancing against herself. What pangs of shame
and terror will be hers, when she recognises in the enemy triumphing over her
grievous downfall the heathen "friends" whose love she had courted so long! Her
sin is to be her scourge. She shall be made the thrall of her foreign lovers. Iahvah
will "appoint them over her"; [Jeremiah 15:3; Jeremiah 51:27] they will become the
"head," and she the "tail." [Deuteronomy 28:44] Yet this will, in truth, be her own
doing, not Iahvah’s; she has herself "accustomed them to herself," [Jeremiah 10:2]
or "instructed" or "spurred them on" against herself. [Jeremiah 2:33; Jeremiah
4:18] The revolt of Jehoiakim, his wicked breach of faith with Nebuchadrezzar, had
turned friends to enemies. [Jeremiah 4:30] But the chief reference seems to be more
general-the continual craving of Judah for foreign alliances and foreign worships.
"And if thou say in thine heart, ‘Wherefore did these things befall me?’ through the
greatness of thy guilt were thy skirts uncovered, thine heels violated [Nahum 3:5] or
exposed. Will a Cushite change his skin, or a leopard his spots? ye, too, are ye able
to do good, O ye that are wont to do evil? If, amid the sharp throes of suffering,
Jerusalem should still fail to recognise the moral cause of them, [Jeremiah 5:19] she
may be assured beforehand that her unspeakable dishonour is the reward of her
sins; that is why "the virgin daughter of Sion" is surprised and ravished by the foe
(a common figure: Isaiah 47:1-3). Sin has become so ingrained in her that it can no
more be eradicated than the blackness of an African skin, or the spots of a leopard’s
hide. The habit of sinning has become a second nature," and, like nature, is not to
be expelled. {cf. Jeremiah 8:4-7}
The effect of use and wont in the moral sphere could hardly be expressed more
forcibly, and Jeremiah’s comparison has become a proverb. Custom binds us all in
every department of life; it is only by enlisting this strange influence upon the side of
17

18. virtue, that we become virtuous. Neither virtue nor vice can be pronounced perfect,
until the habit of either has become fixed and invariable. It is the tendency of
habitual action of any kind to become automatic, and it is certain that sin may attain
such a mastery over the active powers of a man that its indulgence may become
almost an unconserous exercise of his will, and quite a matter of course. But this
fearful result of evil habits does not excuse them at the bar of common sense, much
less at the tribunal of God. The inveterate sinner, the man totally devoid of scruple,
whose conscience is, as it were, "seared with a hot iron," is not on that account
excused by the common judgment of his kind; the feeling he excites is not
forbearance, but abhorrence; he is regarded not as a poor victim of circumstances
over which he has no control, but as a monster of iniquity. And justly so; for if he
has lost control of his passions, if he is no longer master of himself, but the slave of
vice, he is responsible for the long course of self-indulgence which has made him
what he is. The prophet’s comparison cannot be applied in support of a doctrine of
immoral fatalism. The very fact that he makes use of it, implies that he did not
intend to be understood in such a sense. "Will a Cushite change his skin, or a
leopard his spots? Ye also (supposing such a change as that) will be able to do good,
O ye that are taught (trained, accustomed) to do evil!" (perhaps the preferable
rendering).
Not only must we abstain from treating a rhetorical figure as a colourless and
rigorous proposition of mathematical science; not only must we allow for the irony
and the exaggeration of the preacher: we must also remember his object, which is, if
possible, to shock his hearers into a sense of their condition, and to awaken remorse
and repentance even at the eleventh hour. His last words (Jeremiah 13:27) prove
that he did not believe this result, improbable as it was, to be altogether impossible.
Unless some sense of sin had survived in their hearts, unless the terms "good" and
"evil," had still retained a meaning for his countrymen, Jeremiah would hardly
have laboured still so strenuously to convince them of their sins.
For the present, when retribution is already at the doors, when already the Divine
wrath has visibly broken forth, his prevailing purpose is not so much to suggest a
way of escape as to bring home to the heart and conscience of the nation the true
meaning of the public calamities. They are the consequence of habitual rebellion
against God. "And I will scatter them like stubble passing away to before: {cf.
Jeremiah 19:10} the wind of the wilderness. This is thy lot (fem. thine, O Jerusalem),
the portion of thy measures (others: lap) from Me, saith Iahvah; because thou
forgattest Me, and didst trust in the Lie. And I also-I will surely strip thy skirts to
thy face, and thy shame shall be seen! [Nahum 3:5] Thine adulteries and thy
neighings, the foulness of thy fornications upon the hills in the field [Jeremiah
3:2-6]-I have seen thine abominations. For the construction, compare Isaiah 1:13.
Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! After how long yet wilt thou not become clean?". [2
Kings 5:12-13] That which lies before the citizens in the near future is not
deliverance, but dispersion in foreign lands. The onset of the foe will sweep them
away, as the blast from the desert drives before it the dry stubble of the cornfields.
[Jeremiah 4:11-12] This is no chance calamity, but a recompense allotted and meted
18

19. out by Iahvah to the city that forgot Him and "trusted in the Lie" of Baal worship
and the associated superstitions. The city that dealt shamefully in departing from
her God, and dallying with foul idols, shall be put to shame by Him before all the
world (Jeremiah 13:26 recurring to the thought of Jeremiah 13:22, but ascribing the
exposure directly to Iahvah). Woe-certain woe-awaits Jerusalem; and it is but a
faint and far off glimmer of hope that is reflected in the final question, which is like
a weary sigh: "After how long yet wilt thou not become clean?" How long must the
fiery process of cleansing go on, ere thou be purged of thine inveterate sins? It is a
recognition that the punishment will not be exterminative; that God’s chastisements
of His people can no more fail at last than His promises; that the triumph of a
heathen power and the disappearance of Iahvah’s Israel from under His heaven
cannot be the final phase of that long eventful history which begins with the call of
Abraham.
PETT, "Verses 1-11
The Acted Out Prophecy Of The Linen Girdle (Jeremiah 13:1-11).
YHWH calls on Jeremiah to illustrate the present state of His people by an
experiment with a linen girdle (waist cloth). He is initially to purchase the linen
girdle, and then, wear it, after which, without washing it, he is to hide it, burying it
in the cleft of a rock near the River Euphrates. When he later recovers the girdle it
will be to discover that it has become mouldy.
The girdle represents Israel/Judah, and especially its consecration to YHWH, and
its clinging to the loins the closeness between YHWH and His people through the
covenant. The fact that it becomes mouldy when buried near the Euphrates is an
indication of what has happened to His people through their association with
Assyria and Babylon, and what will therefore also happen to them in the future.
They too have become mouldy. They have failed to walk as His consecrated people,
and have rejected the covenant. This is further emphasised by the fact that the
girdle was not to be washed. The washing of the clothes was a symbol of
sanctification (see e.g. Exodus 19:10). As a result they have become profitable for
nothing.
There is a reminder here to us all that once we cease to walk with God and be
obedient to His will our lives become marred and we become of no account.
Jeremiah 13:1
‘Thus says YHWH to me, “Go, and buy yourself a linen girdle, and put it on your
loins, and do not put it in water.”
Just as YHWH had bought His people out of Egypt, and had consecrated them to
Himself, so Jeremiah was to buy a linen girdle and put it around him. And just as
YHWH had united His people with Himself within the covenant, so Jeremiah was to
19

20. unite himself with the girdle. The command not to put it in water simply indicated
that nothing was to be done to remove the effects of this union. There was to be no
element of ‘sanctification’. It was to be allowed to become grubby and was not to be
laundered, just as His people had been rendered ‘unclean’ and separated from
YHWH by their rebellious behaviour.
PULPIT, "The chapter falls into two parts—the one describing a divinely
commanded action of the prophet, symbolical of the approaching rejection of the
Jewish people, the other announcing in literal language the ruin especially of the
king and the queen-mother, and emphasizing the inveterate corruption which
rendered such a blow necessary. The mention of the queen-mother (see Jeremiah
13:18) renders it probable that Jehoiachin is the king under whom the prophecy was
composed. It is true that other kings besides Jehoiachin ascended the throne in the
lifetime of their mother; but the express and repeated mention of the queen-mother
in the account of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:12, 2 Kings 24:15; comp. Jeremiah 29:2;
Jeremiah 22:26) warrants the inference that Nehushta, Jehoiachin's mother, was a
more powerful personage than other queen-mothers. This will be confirmed if, with
Hitzig and Bertheau, we accept the statement of the text of the Chronicles (2
Chronicles 36:9), that Jehoiachin was eight (not eighteen) years old on his accession
(see on Jeremiah 21:1-14 :28).
Jeremiah 13:1-11
The entire people of the Jews is like a good-for-nothing apron.
Jeremiah 13:1
A linen girdle; rather, a linen apron. "Girdle" is one of the meanings of the Hebrew
('ezor), but is here unsuitable. As Jeremiah 13:11 shows, it is an inner garment that
is meant, one that "cleaveth to the loins of a man". The corresponding Arabic word,
'izar, has, according to Lane, the meaning of "waist-wrapper.' Israel was to Jehovah
in as close a relation spiritually as that in which the inner garment referred to is to
him who wears it materially. There is an Arabic proverb which well illustrates this:
"He is to me in place of an 'izar". "A linen apron" may perhaps be specified,
because linen was the material of the priestly dress (Le Jeremiah 16:4), and Israel
was to be spiritually" a kingdom of priests." But this is not absolutely necessary.
The common man used linen in his dress as well as the priest; the only difference
between them was that the priest was confined to linen garments. But an ,' apron"
would in any case naturally be made of linen. Linen; literally, flax (a product of
Judah, Hosea 2:5). Put it not in water. The object of the prohibition is well stated by
St. Jerome. It was at once to symbolize the character of the people of Israel, stiff and
impure, like unwashed linen, and to suggest the fate in store for it (Jeremiah 13:9).
BI 1-11, "Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place
where I had hid it: and, beheld, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.
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21. The cast-off girdle
In many instances the prophets were bidden to do singular things, and among the rest
was this: Jeremiah must take a linen girdle and put it about his loins, and wear it there
till the people had noticed what he wore, and how long he wore it. This girdle was not to
be washed; this was to be a matter observed of all observers, for it was a part of the
similitude. Then he must make a journey to the distant river Euphrates, and take off his
girdle and bury it there. When the people saw him without a girdle they would make
remarks and ask what he had done with it; and he would reply that he had buried it by
the river of Babylon. Many would count him mad for having walked so far to get rid of a
girdle: two hundred and fifty miles was certainly a great journey for such a purpose.
Surely he might have buried it nearer home, if he must needs bury it at all. Anon, the
prophet goes a second time to the Euphrates, and they say one to another, The prophet
is a fool: the spiritual man is mad. See what a trick he is playing. Nearly a thousand miles
the man will have walked in order to hide a girdle, and to dig it up again. What next will
he do? Whereas plain words might not have been noticed, this little piece of acting
commanded the attention and excited the curiosity of the people. The record of this
singular transaction has come to us, and we know that, as a part of Holy Scripture, it is
full of instruction. Thousands of years will not make it so antique as to be valueless. The
Word of the Lord never becomes old so as to lose its vigour; it as still as strong for all
Divine purposes as when first of all Jehovah spoke it.
I. In our text we have an honourable emblem of Israel and Judah: we may say, in these
days, an emblem of the Church of God.
1. God had taken this people to be bound to Himself: He had taken them to be as
near to Him as the girdle is to the Oriental when he binds it about his loins. The
traveller in the East takes care that his girdle shall not go unfastened: he girds
himself securely ere he commences his work or starts upon his walk; and God has
bound His people round about Him so that they shall never be removed from Him “I
in them” saith Christ, even as a man is in his girdle. “Who shall separate us?” saith
Paul. Who shall ungird us from the heart and soul of our loving God? “They shall be
Mine, saith the Lord.”
2. But Jeremiah’s girdle was a linen one: it was the girdle peculiar to the priests, for
such was the prophet; he was “the son of Hilkiah, of the priests that were in
Anathoth.” Thus the type represents chosen men as bound to God in connection with
sacrifice. We are bound to the Most High for solemn priesthood to minister among
the sons of men in holy things. The Lord Jesus is now blessing the sons of men as
Aaron blessed the people, and we are the girdle with which He girds Himself in the
act of benediction by the Gospel.
3. The girdle also is used by God always in connection with work. When Eastern men
are about to work in real earnest they gird up their loins. When the Lord worketh
righteousness in the earth it is by means of His chosen ones. When He publishes
salvation, and makes known His grace, His saints are around Him. When sinners are
to be saved it is by His people when error is to be denounced, it is by our lips that He
chooses to speak. When His saints are to be comforted, it is by those who have been
comforted by His Holy Spirit, and who therefore tell out the consolations which they
have themselves enjoyed.
4. Moreover, the girdle was intended for ornament. It does not appear that it was
bound about the priest’s loins under his garments, for if so it would not have been
21

22. seen, and would not have been an instructive symbol: this girdle must be seen, since
it was meant to be a type of a people who were to be unto God “for a people, and for a
name, and for a praise and for a glory.” Is not this wonderful beyond all wonder, that
God should make His people His glory? But now, alas! we have to turn our eyes
sorrowfully away from this surpassing glory.
II. These people who might have been the glorious girdle of God displayed in their own
persons a fatal omission. Did you notice it? Thus saith the Lord unto Jeremiah, “Go and
get thee a linen girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water.”
1. Ah, me! there is the mischief: the unwashed girdle is the type of an unholy people
who have never received the great cleansing. No nearness to God can save you if you
have never been washed by the Lord Jesus. No official connection can bless you if
you have never been washed in His most precious blood. Here is the alternative for
all professors,—you must be washed in the blood of Christ, or be laid aside; which
shall it be?
2. The prophet was bidden not to put it in water, which shows that there was not
only an absence of the first washing, but there was no daily cleansing. We are
constantly defiling our feet by marching through this dusty world, and every night
we need to be washed. If you suffer a sin to lie on your conscience, you cannot serve
God aright while it is there. If you have transgressed as a child, and you do not run
and put your head into your Father’s bosom and cry, “Father, I have sinned!” you
cannot do God’s work.
3. The more this girdle was used the more it gathered great and growing defilement.
Without the atonement, the more we do the more we shall sin. Our very prayers will
turn into sin, our godly things will gender evil. O Lord, deliver us from this! Save us
from being made worse by that which should make us better. Let us be Thy true
people, and therefore let us be washed that we may be clean, that Thou mayest gird
Thyself with us.
III. Very soon that fatal flaw in the case here mentioned led to a solemn judgment. It
was a solemn judgment upon the girdle, looking at it as a type of the people of Israel.
1. First, the girdle, after Jeremiah had made his long walk in it, was taken off from
him and put away. This is a terrible thing to happen to any man. I would rather
suffer every sickness in the list of human diseases than that God should put me aside
as a vessel in which He has no pleasure, and say to me, “I cannot wear you as My
girdle, nor own you as Mine before men.”
2. After that girdle was laid aside, the next thing for it was hiding and burying. It was
placed in a hole of the rock by the river of the captivity, and left there. Many a
hypocrite has been served in that way.
3. And now the girdle spoils. It was put, I dare say, where the damp and the wet
acted upon it; and so, when in about seventy days Jeremiah came back to the spot,
there was nothing but an old rag instead of what had once been a pure white linen
girdle. He says, “Behold the girdle was marred; it was profitable for nothing.” So, if
God were to leave any of us, the best men and the best women among us would soon
become nothing but marred girdles, instead of being as fair white linen.
4. But the worst part of it is that this relates undoubtedly to many mere professors
whom God takes off from Himself, laying them aside, and leaving them to perish.
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23. And what is His reason for so doing? He tells us this in the text: He says that this evil
people refused to receive God’s words. Dear friends, never grow tired of God’s Word;
never let any book supplant the Bible. Love every part of Scripture, and take heed to
every word that God has spoken. Next to that, we are told that they walked in the
imagination of their heart. That is a sure sign of the hypocrite or the false professor.
He makes his religion out of himself, as a spider spins a web out of his own bowels:
what sort of theology it is you can imagine now that you know its origin. Upon all
this there followed actual transgression,—“They walked after other gods to serve
them and to worship them.” This happens also to the base professor. He keeps up
the name of a Christian for a little while, and seems to be as God’s girdle; but by and
by he falls to worshipping gold, or drink, or lust. He turns aside from the infinitely
glorious God, and so he falls from one degradation to another till he hardly knows
himself. He becomes as a rotten girdle “which profiteth nothing.” (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Nearness to God destroyed by sin
I. Nearness to God.
1. These Jews were like a girdle bound upon the loins. Should have entwined
themselves around God. So nations may be near—
(1) In the great things that God had done for them.
(2) In the covenant relation which He had entered into with them.
(3) In the privileges which He had conferred upon them.
2. Man is near God.
(1) By nature. Created in God’s image.
(2) Near to God’s heart.
(3) Near in God’s care over him.
(4) Near in the privileges of liberty, religion, knowledge, discipline, warning.
(5) In a position to become eternally nearer by growing up into Christ.
(6) Brought near for God’s glory.
II. His nearness destroyed by sin.
1. Sin is the destroyer of nations as well as individuals. The Jews destroyed by
idolatry, lust, selfishness, pride.
2. As of nations, so of individuals: sin will destroy them, unless resisted and cast out.
3. This destruction is voluntary. The sinner is a suicide.
4. God is represented as active in this destruction.
(1) Not that God deserts the sinner first.
(2) But, when measure of sin is full, God removes restraints, and sets in motion
the agency of judgment.
5. This destruction will consist in—
23

24. (1) Separation from God.
(2) Utter corruption and rottenness.
Learn—
1. The terrible power of sin.
2. To guard against it as our chief enemy. (E. Jerman.)
Good reasons for singular conduct
Good Words contains an excellent story about Professor Blackie by the editor, Dr.
Donald Macleod:—“Professor Blackie frequently stayed at my house when lecturing in
Glasgow. He was always at his best when one had him alone. One night we were sitting
up together, he said in his brusque way: ‘Whatever other faults I have, I am free from
vanity.’ An incredulous smile on my face roused him. ‘You don’t believe that: give me an
instance.’ Being thus challenged, I said: ‘Why do you walk about flourishing a plaid
continually? ‘I’ll give you the history of that, sir. When I was a poor man, and when my
wife and I had our difficulties, she one day drew my attention to the thread-bare
character of my surtout, and asked me to order a new one. I told her I could not afford it
just then; when she went, like a noble woman, and put her own plaid shawl on my
shoulders, and I have worn a plaid ever since in memory of her loving deed!’” The
prophet Jeremiah must often have been looked upon as a man of eccentric conduct. But
like Professor Blackie with his plaid shawl, he was not actuated by whims, fancy, or
vanity. Jeremiah’s warrant for the singular use to which he put his girdle was the
authority and mandate of the Lord.
2 So I bought a belt, as the Lord directed, and put
it around my waist.
GILL, "So I got a girdle,.... Or, bought (n) a linen one, as directed:
according to the word of the Lord; his express order and command; the prophet
was not disobedient to the heavenly vision:
and I put it on my loins; without washing it before or after, and wore it publicly for
some time.
24

25. PETT, "Jeremiah 13:2
‘So I bought a girdle according to the word of YHWH, and put it on my loins.’
So Jeremiah did what YHWH had said. He bought a girdle and wore it round his
waist, clearly for some time. This would have been done in a way which gave the
matter full publicity. He was doing it as the prophet of YHWH.
3 Then the word of the Lord came to me a second
time:
GILL, "And the word of the Lord,.... The Targum is,
"the word of prophecy from before the Lord:''
came unto me the second time, saying; what distance of time there was between
this order and the former is not known.
COFFMAN, ""And the word of Jehovah came unto me the second time, saying,
Take the girdle which thou hast bought, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to the
Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock. So I went and hid it by the
Euphrates, as Jehovah commanded me."
"The word of Jehovah came to me the second time ..." (Jeremiah 13:3). The
implication, though not clearly stated, is that some considerable time-lapse had
occurred, at least ample time for the loincloth to have required washing had not
God forbidden it.
"Go to the Euphrates, and hide it ..." (Jeremiah 13:4). This statement has
precipitated a whole barrage of quibbles and denials by commentators. The
problem is that the Euphrates river was almost four hundred miles from Anathoth;
and the two journeys to that river by Jeremiah would have required his traveling a
distance of some sixteen hundred miles.
We have no problem at all with this, because Jeremiah 13:5 flatly declares that,
Jeremiah went and hid it as Jehovah had commanded him. Where is there any
problem? Rationalistic critics, however, believe that such an extended amount of
25

26. traveling, while not impossible, was certainly not very practical in those times.
Therefore, other solutions are proposed. They are interesting, and we include these
alternative understandings on the premise that they might even be correct, although
we cannot be sure.
(1) One alternative interpretation is that the Hebrew word rendered here as
"Euphrates" may not be a reference to the "Euphrates River" at all but to a village
three and one half miles north of Anathoth (where Jeremiah probably lived), which
was also known locally as "Euphrates." This appears to be possible. It is principally
upon the authority of the Septuagint (LXX) and the Vulgate that translators insist
on making it refer to the Euphrates River. The Hebrew word is actually [~Phrath];
and there is no doubt that in many other Old Testament passages the word does
refer to the Euphrates River. The word occurs fifteen times elsewhere in the Old
Testament and four times in this chapter. Nevertheless, as Henderson noted: "In
twelve of the other fifteen references another word is included with [~Phrath], a
word that means river. It seems a little strange, therefore that the word [~Phrath]
should occur no less than four times in this chapter without that qualifying term
which means river.[2] This is certainly enough to suggest the possibility of the
word's being in this instance a reference to a local village. If this was indeed the
case, the close identity of the name with the Great River would have had the same
symbolical meaning that accrued to the Euphrates itself. Thus the meaning of the
parable is not affected, no matter which view of the meaning of [~Phrath] is
accepted.
And what is that meaning? The meaning is that the apostate nation, symbolized by
the dirty, unwashed loincloth will be "hidden," that is, in captivity in Babylon on
the Euphrates River.
(2) Another interpretation suggested by Dummelow is also plausible, perhaps even
more so, than No. 1, cited above. "Jeremiah appears to have been absent from
Jerusalem during a major part of Jehoiachin's brief three-year reign; and he may
very well be supposed to have been during that time in or near the city of Babylon.
This would account for the kindly feeling toward him by Nebuchadnezzar after his
capture of Jerusalem (Jeremiah 39:11).[3] There is nothing at all unreasonable
about this understanding of the passage, in which [~Phrath] would be understood as
actually a reference to the Euphrates River itself.
(3) Another school of commentators have suggested that, "We are here dealing with
a visionary experience,"[4] an interpretation which does not appear to be in any
manner reasonable to this writer. We believe that Jeremiah actually bought a clean,
white, linen girdle, wore it until it became thoroughly dirty, then hid it in the earth
until it was completely rotted, mined, and spoiled, that he also recovered it as God
commanded him, and that he showed it to his fellow-Israelites, expounding the
whole history of that girdle to them as a parable of what was going to happen to the
apostate nation.
26

27. PETT, "Jeremiah 13:3-5
‘And the word of YHWH came to me the second time, saying, “Take the girdle
which you have bought, which is on your loins, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and
hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as
YHWH commanded me.’
Then in accordance with YHWH’s word Jeremiah was to take the girdle and hide it
by burying it (it later had to be dug up) in a cleft of the rock near the River
Euphrates. This was a deliberate attempt to link the girdle with the kingdoms to the
north, Assyria and Babylon, and to indicate that it was such contact that was, and
would be, responsible for the deterioration of the girdle.
This would have involved a considerable journey, and some have doubted whether
such an act would have been required of Jeremiah simply for the purpose of giving
an illustration. However, we do have to recognise that in Judah’s eyes this physical
representation of the situation would have been seen as much more than just an
illustration but as an action guaranteeing the fulfilment of what was being
described. It was an acted out prophecy, and the acting out would be seen as
guaranteeing its fulfilment, whilst the very knowledge of what Jeremiah had done,
and the distance that he had to travel, would have brought home to all who knew of
it the seriousness of what was being revealed.
Some, however, have argued that prth indicated a local river, such as a river at Prh
(see Joshua 18:23), possibly known locally in jest as ‘the Euphrates’ (prth). On the
other hand, considering the seriousness of the message it may well have been felt
necessary for the long journeys to be made, in order to underline that seriousness
(compare how Isaiah went barefoot for three years (Isaiah 20:3) and Ezekiel had to
lay on his side for over a year (Ezekiel 4:4-8) with a similar message in mind). The
disappearance of the prophet for so long a time would in itself underline the
seriousness of his message and cause questions to be asked, and the very
arduousness of the journey would symbolise the horrors of the journey into exile..
4 “Take the belt you bought and are wearing
around your waist, and go now to Perath[a] and
hide it there in a crevice in the rocks.”
27

28. BARNES, "In a hole of the rock - “In a cleft of the rock.” As there are no fissured
rocks in Babylonia, the place where Jeremiah hid the girdle must have been somewhere
in the upper part of the river.
CLARKE, "Go to Euphrates, and hide it there - Intending to point out, by this
distant place, the country into which they were to be carried away captive.
GILL, "Take the girdle which thou hast got, which is upon thy loins,.... Either
he is bid to take it off his loins, on which it was; or to go with it on them; seeing the
taking it off does not seem absolutely necessary; and go with it to the place directed to in
the following words:
and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock; by the river
side, where the waters, coming and going, would reach and wet it, and it drying again,
would rot the sooner. This signifies the carrying of the Jews captive to Babylon, by which
city the river Euphrates ran, and the obscure state and condition they would be in there;
and where all their pride and glory would be marred, as afterwards declared.
JAMISON, "Euphrates — In order to support the view that Jeremiah’s act was
outward, Henderson considers that the Hebrew Phrath here is Ephratha, the original
name of Beth-lehem, six miles south of Jerusalem, a journey easy to be made by
Jeremiah. The non-addition of the word “river,” which usually precedes Phrath, when
meaning Euphrates, favors this view. But I prefer English Version. The Euphrates is
specified as being near Babylon, the Jews future place of exile.
hole — typical of the prisons in which the Jews were to be confined.
the rock — some well-known rock. A sterile region, such as was that to which the
Jews were led away (compare Isa_7:19) [Grotius].
COKE, "Jeremiah 13:4. Go to Euphrates— Many commentators have doubted
respecting this particular, and have not thought it possible that the prophet should
thus have gone backwards and forwards to the banks of the Euphrates; accordingly
they have given different interpretations of the word. Bochart supposes that
Euphrata is meant; and all the difficulty, says Houbigant, will be removed, if you
read it, ‫פרת‬ pherath, according to the Hebrew, thereby understanding some
neighbouring place, where Jeremiah might commodiously hide his girdle, and bring
it back again at the command of the Lord. See Boch. in Phaleg. Dissert. de
Transportatione Jesu Christi in Montem, p. 954. But I apprehend there is no reason
to take these symbolical actions in the letter. Many of them unquestionably passed
in vision; and it is most probable, that the present was of this sort. In this view the
parable loses none of its force; and we may then with propriety understand the
Euphrates to be literally meant, which certainly best agrees with the parable, and is
significative of the nation to which this apostate people was to be carried captive.
28

29. See Dr. Waterland's Script. Vind. part. 3: p. 72.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:4 Take the girdle that thou hast got, which [is] upon thy
loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, and hide it there in a hole of the rock.
Ver. 4. Arise, go to Euphrates.] A river which ran by Babylon, six hundred and
fourscore miles from Jerusalem. The prophet’s journey therefore thither seemeth to
have been but visional, as was Isaiah’s going barefoot, Hosea’s marriage with a
whore, Ezekiel’s lying on one side three hundred and ninety days together; his
journey from Chaldea to Jerusalem. [Ezekiel 8:3-4]
ELLICOTT, " (4) Go to Euphrates.—The Hebrew word Phrath is the same as that
which, everywhere else in the O.T., is rendered by the Greek name for the river,
Euphrates. It has been suggested (1) that the word means “river” generally, or
“rushing water,” applied by way of pre-eminence to the “great river” and therefore
that it may have been used here in its general sense; and (2) that it may stand here
for Ephratah, or Bethlehem, as the scene of Jeremiah’s symbolic actions, the place
being chosen on account of its suggestive likeness to Euphrates. These conjectures,
however, have no other basis than the assumed improbability of a double journey of
two hundred and fifty miles, and this, as has been shown, can hardly be weighed as
a serious element in the question. In Jeremiah 51 there can be no doubt that the
writer means Euphrates. It may be noted, too, as a coincidence confirming this view,
that Jeremiah appears as personally known to Nebuchadnezzar in Jeremiah 39:11.
Those who make Ephratah the scene of what is here recorded, point to the caves and
clefts in the rocky region between Bethlehem and the Dead Sea as agreeing with the
description. On the other hand, the form Prath is nowhere found as substituted for
the familiar Ephratah.
A hole of the rock.—Better, cleft. In the lower part of its course the Euphrates flows
through an alluvial plain, and the words point therefore to some part of its upper
course above Pylæ, where its course is through a valley more or less rocky.
BENSON, "Jeremiah 13:4. Arise, go to Euphrates — God commanded the prophet
to go and hide the girdle on the bank of the Euphrates, to signify that the Jews
should be carried captive over that river, called the waters of Babylon, Psalms
137:1. In the margin of our ancient English Bibles, it is observed, that, “because this
river Perath, or Euphrates, was far from Jerusalem, it is evident that this was done
in a vision.” And the generality of the best commentators have been of this opinion;
it not being probable that the prophet should have been sent twice upon a journey
of such considerable length and difficulty, to the very great loss of his time, merely
upon the errands here mentioned, namely, to carry the girdle to the Euphrates, and
to fetch it back, when, it seems, every purpose would have been answered altogether
as well if the transaction had been represented in vision. Several things, it must be
observed, are related in Scripture as actually done, which yet were certainly only
performed in visions. One instance we have Jeremiah 25:15-29, where Jeremiah is
commanded to take a cup of wine in his hand, and to cause several kings and
29

30. nations, there enumerated, to drink of it: for it would be a perfect absurdity to
believe that he actually went round to all those kings and nations, and made them
drink of the contents of his cup. And yet he makes no more distinction in this latter
case, than in that now before us, between mental and bodily action. Another
remarkable instance we have Genesis 15:5, where the text says, that God brought
Abraham forth abroad, and bid him tell the stars; and yet it appears, by a
subsequent verse, that the sun was not then gone down. Indeed, in all these cases,
and in many more that might be mentioned of a similar kind, it made no difference
as to the end God had in view, whether the transactions related were visionary or
real; for either way they served equally to represent the events which it was God’s
pleasure to make known. See Lowth and Blaney.
PULPIT, "Jeremiah 13:4-6
After Jeremiah has worn the apron for some time, he is directed to take it to P'rath,
and hide it there in a cleft (not "hole") of the rock. A long interval elapses, and he is
commanded to make a second journey to the same place, and fetch away the apron.
What does this P'rath mean? It is by no means easy to decide. Hardly "the
Euphrates,"
Ewald suggested that "some wet place near Jerusalem" probably had the name of
P'rath, and indicates a valley and spring called Forah, about six English miles
north-east of Jerusalem. Mr. Birch appears to have hit independently on the same
spot, which he identifies with the Parah of Joshua 18:23, about three miles north-
east of Anatbeth, and describes as a picturesque gorge between savage rocks, with a
copious stream. This combination, however, involves an emendation of the text
(P'rath into Parah)—logically it involves this, as Mr. Birch has seen; Ewald's
comparison of the Arabic furat, sweet water, seems inconsistent with his reference
to Parah—for which there does not seem to be sufficient necessity; and it is better to
adopt the view of the great old French Protestant scholar, Bochart, that P'rath is a
shortened form of Ephrath, i.e. at once Bethlehem and the district in which
Bethlehem lay (see 1 Chronicles 2:50; 1 Chronicles 4:4; and perhaps Psalms 132:6).
It need hardly be said that the limestone hills of this region afforded abundance of
secluded rocks. There may, of course, be at the same time an allusion to the
ordinary meaning of P'rath, viz. Euphrates, on the analogy of the allusion in Isaiah
27:12. Those who hold the view here rejected, that P'rath is equivalent to the
Euphrates, sometimes suppose that the narrative is a parable or symbolical fiction,
such as Luther, Calvin, and others find in Hosea 1:1-11; Hosea 3:1-5, the thing
signified being in this case the carrying captive of the people to Babylon; and this
seems the best way of making this interpretation plausible.
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31. 5 So I went and hid it at Perath, as the Lord told
me.
BARNES, "So I went and hid it by Euphrates,.... Or, "in" (o) it; in a hole of the
rock, upon the banks of it:
as the Lord commanded me: all this seems to be done not really, but visionally; it
can hardly be thought that Jeremy should be sent on two such long journeys, on such an
account, which would take up a considerable time to perform it in; but rather that he
went and came in like manner as Ezekiel did, in the visions of God, from Chaldea to
Jerusalem, and from thence to Chaldea again, Eze_8:3, and so Maimonaides (p) was of
opinion, as Kimchi on the place observes, that all this was done in a vision of prophecy.
GILL, "So I went and hid it by Euphrates,.... Or, "in" (o) it; in a hole of the rock,
upon the banks of it:
as the Lord commanded me: all this seems to be done not really, but visionally; it
can hardly be thought that Jeremy should be sent on two such long journeys, on such an
account, which would take up a considerable time to perform it in; but rather that he
went and came in like manner as Ezekiel did, in the visions of God, from Chaldea to
Jerusalem, and from thence to Chaldea again, Eze_8:3, and so Maimonaides (p) was of
opinion, as Kimchi on the place observes, that all this was done in a vision of prophecy.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:5 So I went, and hid it by Euphrates, as the LORD
commanded me.
Ver. 5. So I went and hid it by Euphrates.] In the cliff of a rock, where it might lie
dry, never once asking the reason. This was simple and acceptable obedience, far
beyond that of the Popish novices, who yet if their padres or superiors send them to
China or Peru, without dispute or delay they do presently set forward.
6 Many days later the Lord said to me, “Go now
to Perath and get the belt I told you to hide
there.”
31

32. BARNES, "Many days - The seventy years’ captivity.
GILL, "And it came to pass after many days,.... When the girdle had lain long in
the hole, by the side of Euphrates; this denotes the length of the Babylonish captivity,
which was seventy years:
that the Lord said unto me, arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from
thence, which I commanded thee to hide there; which may denote the return of
these people from captivity, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah; see Jer_25:11,
though this seems to be visionally done, in order to express the wretched state and
condition these people were in; either before the captivity, which was the cause of it; or
at their return from it, when they were no better for it.
JAMISON, "after many days — Time enough was given for the girdle to become
unfit for use. So, in course of time, the Jews became corrupted by the heathen idolatries
around, so as to cease to be witnesses of Jehovah; they must, therefore, be cast away as a
“marred” or spoiled girdle.
COFFMAN, ""And it came to pass after many days, that Jehovah said unto me,
Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded
thee to hide there. Then I went to the Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle
from the place where I had hid it; and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was
profitable for nothing."
"It came to pass after many days ..." (Jeremiah 13:6). The passing of many days was
necessary in order to allow plenty of time for the linen girdle to be thoroughly rotted
and spoiled. However, there was another reason: "By the `many days' are meant the
seventy years of the captivity."[5]
It is a mistake to assume that it was the Babylonian captivity that mined Israel. That
captivity was not the cause of Israel's apostasy; it was the result and consequence of
it. Let it be remembered that the loincloth was `already dirty' when Jeremiah
buried it by the Euphrates River. The complete ruination of the girdle, therefore,
was not a symbol of Israel's apostasy, which was already complete, but a symbol of
the complete spoiling of their pride, national institutions, and their general attitude
of rebellion against God. After their return from Babylon, the "righteous remnant"
never again resorted to the Baalim. It may be also that the symbolism of the rotten,
mined girdle applied to the "vast majority" of the Once Chosen People who never
returned to Judah, even after God commanded them to do so. They were lost
forever as an identifiable race or nation.
32

33. PETT, "Jeremiah 13:6
‘And it came about after many days, that YHWH said to me, “Arise, go to the
Euphrates, and take the girdle from there, which I commanded you to hide there.”
After the girdle had been allowed to remain buried for many days, Jeremiah was
commanded to go Prth and dig it up.
7 So I went to Perath and dug up the belt and
took it from the place where I had hidden it, but
now it was ruined and completely useless.
CLARKE, "And behold, the girdle was marred; it was profitable for
nothing - This symbolically represented the state of the Jews: they were corrupt and
abominable; and God, by sending them into captivity, “marred the pride of Judah, and
the great pride of Jerusalem,” Jer_13:9.
GILL, "Then I went to Euphrates,.... In a vision; this is the second journey, of which
See Gill on Jer_13:5,
and digged; the hole, in process of time, being stopped up with soil or sand, that were
thrown up over it; this digging was in a visionary way; see Eze_8:8,
and took the girdle from the place where I had hid it; which he knew again by
some token or another:
and, behold, the girdle was marred; or "corrupted" (q); it was become rotten by the
washing of the water over it, and its long continuance in such a place:
it was profitable for nothing; it could not be put upon a man's loins, or be wore any
more; nor was it fit for any other use, it was so sadly spoiled and so thoroughly rotten. It
is in the Hebrew text, "it shall not prosper to all" (r) things; that is, not "to anything" (s),
as many render it.
33

34. CALVIN, "The Prophet, by saying that he went to the Euphrates, confirms what he
had narrated: he did not indeed mean that he actually went there, but his object was
to give the Jews a vivid representation. It is then what Rhetorians call a scene
presented to the view; though the place is not changed, yet the thing is set before the
eyes by a lively description. (71) Thus the Prophet, as the Jews were deaf, exhibited
to their view what they would not hear. This is the reason why he says that he went.
For the same purpose is what follows, that at the end of many days God had bidden
him to take out the girdle Here also is signified the length of the exile. As to the hole
in a rock, what is meant is disgrace; for without honor and esteem the Jews lived in
banishment, in the same manner as though they were cast into a cavern. Hence by
the hole is signified their ignoble and base condition, that they were like persons
removed from the sight of all men and from the common light of day. By the end of
many days, is meant, as I have said, the length of their exile, for in a short time they
would not have become putrified, and except indeed this had been distinctly
expressed, they would have never been convinced of the grievousness of the calamity
which was nigh them. Hence he says that the days would be many, so that they
might contract putridity while hidden in the hole.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:7 Then I went to Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle
from the place where I had hid it: and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was
profitable for nothing.
Ver. 7. Then I went to Euphrates.] See on Jeremiah 13:4. Those that are for an
actual journey allege that Jeremiah might do this without danger in the days of
Jehoiakim, who was the King of Babylon’s vassal, and paid him tribute.
And, behold, the girdle was rotted, it was profitable for nothing.] This showed that
the Jews should in that country lie rotting, as it were, in baseness, and servility, and
sin together many years, so that God might justly have left them there still in
misery, as a man leaves his rotten girdle to become dung.
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:7
‘Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the girdle from the place where I
had hidden it, and, behold, the girdle was marred, it was profitable for nothing.’
And when he did so he discovered that, as we might have expected, the girdle had
become mouldy. This was to be seen as the inevitable result of its connection with
the country around the Euphrates. Some see this as indicating that the contact with
the northern countries has marred Judah making it sinful and idolatrous and
disobedient to the covenant. Others consider that its message is that having been
carried away to the Euphrates in exile they will in the main moulder away there.
For whilst eventually some few did make their way back, the majority did not do so
but remained in exile. However the interpretation given below concentrates more on
what YHWH will do to His people through the people who were linked with the
Euphrates. It would result in the fact that their ‘pride’, their wealth, prosperity and
34

35. national identity would be marred.
8 Then the word of the Lord came to me:
GILL, "Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Or the word of
prophecy from before the Lord, as the Targum; and now follows the application of this
sign to the thing signified, and the whole intention of it is opened.
COFFMAN, ""Then the word of Jehovah came to me, saying, Thus saith Jehovah,
after this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
This evil people, that refuse to hear my words, that walk in the stubbornness of their
own heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, shall
even be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing. For as the girdle cleaveth to
the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Judah,
saith Jehovah; that they may be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a
praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear."
From this paragraph it is evident that Jeremiah, after his recovery of the rotten
girdle, showed it to the citizens of Judah and Jerusalem and explained the
symbolism of it. This seems to imply also that the citizens were aware of the place
(The Euphrates River) where the ruination of the nation would be executed by
God's judgment upon them.
9 “This is what the Lord says: ‘In the same way I
will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of
Jerusalem.
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36. GILL, "Thus saith the Lord, after this manner,.... As this girdle has been hid in
Euphrates, and has been marred and rendered useless; so in like manner, and by such
like means,
will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem; or their glory,
or excellency (t); that which they gloried in, and were proud of; their city which was
burnt, and their temple which was destroyed by the Chaldeans; their king, princes, and
nobles, who were carried captive into Babylon, by the river Euphrates, and stripped of all
their grandeur, honour, and glory; and so the Targum,
"so will I corrupt the strength of the men of Judah, and the strength of the inhabitants of
Jerusalem, which is much;''
and to which agrees the Syriac version, which renders it,
"the proud or haughty men of Judah, and the many haughty men of Jerusalem.''
HENRY 9-11, "The thing signified by this sign. The prophet was willing to be at any
cost and pains to affect this people with the word of the Lord. Ministers must spend, and
be spent, for the good of souls. We have the explanation of this sign, Jer_13:9-11.
1. The people of Israel had been to God as this girdle in two respects: - (1.) He had
taken them into covenant and communion with himself: As the girdle cleaves very
closely to the loins of a man and surrounds him, so have I caused to cleave to me the
houses of Israel and Judah. They were a people near to God (Psa_148:14); they were his
own, a peculiar people to him, a kingdom of priests that had access to him above other
nations. He caused them to cleave to him by the law he gave them, the prophets he sent
among them, and the favours which in his providence he showed them. He required
their stated attendance in the courts of his house, and the frequent ratification of their
covenant with him by sacrifices. Thus they were made so as to cleave to him that one
would think they could never have been parted. (2.) He had herein designed his own
honour. When he took them to be to him for a people, it was that they might be to him
for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, as a girdle is an ornament to a man, and
particularly the curious girdle of the ephod was to the high-priest for glory and for
beauty. Note, Those whom God takes to be to him for a people he intends to be to him
for a praise. [1.] It is their duty to honour him, by observing his institutions and aiming
therein at his glory, and thus adorning their profession. [2.] It is their happiness that he
reckons himself honoured in them and by them. He is pleased with them, and glories in
his relation to them, while they behave themselves as become his people. He was pleased
to take it among the titles of his honour to be the God of Israel, even a God to Israel,
1Ch_17:24. In vain do we pretend to be to God for a people if we be not to him for a
praise.
2. They had by their idolatries and other iniquities loosed themselves from him,
thrown themselves at a distance, robbed him of the honour they owed him, buried
themselves in the earth, and foreign earth too, mingled among the nations, and were so
spoiled and corrupted that they were good for nothing: they could no more be to God, as
they were designed, for a name and a praise, for they would not hear either their duty to
do it or their privilege to value it: They refused to hear the words of God, by which they
might have been kept still cleaving closely to him. They walked in the imagination of
their heart, wherever their fancy led them; and denied themselves no gratification they
36

37. had a mind to, particularly in their worship. They would not cleave to God, but walked
after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them; they doted upon the gods of the
heathen nations that lay towards Euphrates, so that they were quite spoiled for the
service of their own God, and were as this girdle, this rotten girdle, a disgrace to their
profession and not an ornament. A thousand pities it was that such a girdle should be so
spoiled, that such a people should so wretchedly degenerate.
3. God would by his judgments separate them from him, send them into captivity,
deface all their beauty and ruin their excellency, so that they should be like a fine girdle
gone to rags, a worthless, useless, despicable people. God will after this manner mar the
pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem. He would strip them of all that which
was the matter of their pride, of which they boasted and in which they trusted; it should
not only be sullied and stained, but quite destroyed, like this linen girdle. Observe, He
speaks of the pride of Judah (the country people were proud of their holy land, their
good land), but of the great pride of Jerusalem; there the temple was, and the royal
palace, and therefore those citizens were more proud than the inhabitants of other cities.
God takes notice of the degrees of men's pride, the pride of some and the great pride of
others; and he will mar it, he will stain it. Pride will have a fall, for God resists the proud.
He will either mar the pride that is in us (that is, mortify it by his grace, make us
ashamed of it, and, like Hezekiah, humble us for the pride of our hearts, the great pride,
and cure us of it, great as it is; and this marring of the pride will be making of the soul;
happy for us if the humbling providences our hearts be humbled) or else he will mar the
thing we are proud of. Parts, gifts, learning, power, external privileges, if we are proud of
these, it is just with God to blast them; even the temple, when it became Jerusalem's
pride, was marred and laid in ashes. It is the honour of God to took upon every one that
is proud and abase him.
CALVIN, "As to the application of the Prophecy, the Prophet then distinctly
describes it; but he sets forth with sufficient clearness the main point, when he says,
Thus will I mar the stateliness ( altitudinem , the altitude or height) of Judah and
the great stateliness of Jerusalem Other interpreters unanimously render the word,
pride; but as ‫גאון‬ gaun, may be taken in two senses, it means here, I have no doubt,
excellency, and this will appear more fully from what follows. (72) The word then
signifies here that dignity with which God had favored the seed of Abraham, when
he intended them to be an ornament to himself. So it is said in Exodus 15:7,
“In thy greatness thou wilt destroy the nations.”
And in Isaiah he says,
“I will make thee the excellency of ages.” (Isaiah 60:15)
There no doubt it is to be taken in a good sense. And these things harmonize
together, — that God had prepared the Jews for himself as a belt, and then that he
cast them from him into a cavern, where they would be for a time without any light
and without any glory.
The import of this clause then is, “Though the dignity of Judah and Jerusalem has
37

38. been great, (for the people whom God had adopted were renowned according to
what is said in Psalms 73:0) though then the stateliness of Judah and Jerusalem has
been great, yet I will mar it.” We see how the Prophet takes from the Jews that false
confidence by which they deceived themselves. They might indeed have gloried in
God, had they acted truly and from the heart: but when they arrogated all things to
themselves, and deprived God of his authority, whose subjects they were, how great
was their vanity and folly, and how ridiculous always to profess his sacred name,
and to say, We are God’s people? for he was no God to them, as they esteemed him
as nothing; nay, they disdainfully and reproachfully rejected his yoke. We hence see
that the word ‫גאון‬ gaun, is to be taken here in a good sense. The Prophet at the same
time reproachfully taunts them, that they abused the name of God and falsely
pretended to be his people and heritage. The rest we cannot finish; we shall go on
with the subject to-morrow.
COKE, "Jeremiah 13:9. After this manner will I mar the pride, &c.— Will I mar
the glory of Judah, and the great honour of Jerusalem. See Jeremiah 13:11. "I will
transport them beyond Euphrates; I will hide them in Babylon, as in the hole of a
rock, whence they cannot come out. They shall be marred in the midst of the
nations, without temple, without sacrifice, without priests, without external worship.
I will humble their presumption, and teach them to acknowledge and adore my
mercy."
BENSON, "Jeremiah 13:9. After this manner will I mar the pride of Judah, &c. —
Or, as some translate the verse, “Will I mar the glory of Judah, and the great
honour of Jerusalem.” I will bring down their pride and stubbornness, by making
them slaves and vassals to strangers, Lamentations 5:8; Lamentations 5:13. Or,
alluding to the transaction about the girdle, “I will transport them beyond the
Euphrates; I will bide them in Babylon, as in the hole of a rock, whence they cannot
come out. They shall be marred in the midst of the nations, without temple, without
sacrifice, without priests, without external worship. I will humble their
presumption, and teach them to acknowledge and adore my mercy.”
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:9
“Thus says YHWH, In this same way will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great
pride of Jerusalem.”
For YHWH declared that just as the linen cloth had become mouldy, so would the
pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. They would lose their wealth and
prosperity, and their cherished independence, and would be humbled to the dust.
They would no longer be able to see themselves as a proud and independent nation,
and would no longer glory in what was theirs.
The word for ‘pride’ when used in this way is regularly linked to the fruitfulness of
the land (Leviticus 26:19; Isaiah 4:2; Micah 2:2) and in Amos 6:8 is paralleled with
their palaces. In Isaiah 23:9 it has more to do with honour. Thus it has reference to
38

39. the glory of their fruitful fields, the glory of their palaces and of the court, and to
glory of their honour.
10 These wicked people, who refuse to listen to my
words, who follow the stubbornness of their
hearts and go after other gods to serve and
worship them, will be like this belt—completely
useless!
BARNES, "
This verse limits the application of the symbol. Only the ungodly and the idolatrous of
the people decayed at Babylon. The religious portion was strengthened and invigorated
by the exile Jer_24:5-7.
GILL, "This evil people, which refuse to hear my words,.... Sent by the
prophets, to whom they turned a deaf ear; and though they pressed them, and
importunately desired them to give them a hearing, they refused it; and this showed
them to be a bad people, very degenerate and wicked; and which further appears by what
follows:
which walk in the imagination of their heart; which was evil, stubborn, and
rebellious, see Jer_7:24,
and walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them; went to Egypt
and Assyria to pay their adoration to those who were not by nature gods; and this was
the cause of their ruin and destruction:
shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing: as they were corrupt in
their practices, and were become useless and unserviceable to God; so they would be
carried captive into a foreign country, where they would be inglorious, and unprofitable,
uncomfortable in themselves, and of no use to one another.
JAMISON, "imagination — rather, “obstinacy.”
39

40. CALVIN, "The Prophet said, according to what we observed yesterday, that the
people would be like the belt which he had hidden in a hole and found putrified: but
now the cause is expressed why God had resolved to treat them with so much
severity. He then says that he would be an avenger, because the Jews had refused to
obey his voice, and preferred their own inventions in walking after the hardness, or
the wickedness of their own heart We hence see that the cause of this calamity was,
that the people had rejected the teaching of the prophets. This indeed was far more
grievous than if they had fallen away through mistake or ignorance, as we often see
that men go miserably astray when the teaching of the truth is taken away. But
when God shews the way, and prescribes what is right, when by his servants he
exhorts his people, it is an inexcusable hardness if men repudiate such a kindness.
But as this subject has been elsewhere largely treated, I shall only touch on it now
briefly.
We see then that God threatens his people with extreme calamity, because they
would not. bear to be taught by his prophets. Then he adds, that they had walked
after the wickedness of their own heart, and had walked after foreign gods He in the
first place complains that they had been so refractory as to prefer to obey their own
impious inclinations than to be ruled by good and salutary counsels. But it was
necessary to specify their crime; for had the Prophet only spoken of their hardness,
they might have had their objections ready at hand; but when he said that they had
walked after foreign gods, there was no longer any room for evasion. The word to
walk has a reference to a way. This metaphor has indeed a relation to something
else; for men are not wont to take a course without going somewhere, we must
therefore have some end in view when we walk along any way. Now, there is to be
understood here a contrast, that the people despised the way pointed out to them by
God, and that they had preferred to follow their own errors. God was ready to guide
the Jews; by his own law; but they chose rather, as I have said, to abandon
themselves to their own errors, as it were designedly.
He says, that they had walked after alien gods, that they might serve them, and
prostrate themselves before them; for such is the meaning of the last verb. The
Prophet no doubt repeats the same thing, for to serve is not only to obey, but also to
worship. And hence is refuted that folly of the Papists, who imagine that worship
(duliam) is not inconsistent with true religion; for they say that service (latriam) is
due only to God, but that worship may be given to angels, to statues, or to dead men,
as though God, forsooth! in condemning superstitions, did not use the word ‫עבד‬
obed, to serve. It hence follows that it is extremely ridiculous to devise two sorts of
worship, one peculiar to God, and another common to angels as well as to men and
dead idols. We now understand the import of this verse: the Prophet draws this
conclusion, that the Jews would become like a useless or a putrefied belt. It
afterwards follows —
ELLICOTT, " (10) Imagination.—Better, as before, stubbornness.
40

41. Shall even be as this girdle.—The same thought is reproduced in the imagery of the
potter’s vessel in Jeremiah 18:4. On the other hand there is a partial reversal of the
sentence in Jeremiah 24:5, where the “good figs” represent the exiles who learnt
repentance from their sufferings, and the “bad” those who still remained at
Jerusalem under Zedekiah.
Which is good for nothing.—Better, profitable for nothing, the Hebrew verse being
the same as in Jeremiah 13:7.
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:10
“This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who walk in the stubbornness of
their heart, and are gone after other gods to serve them, and to worship them, will
even be as this girdle, which is profitable for nothing.”
Indeed they would be profitable for nothing. And this would be because of their evil
doings in that they had refused to hear His words, but had rather walked in the
stubbornness of their hearts, going after other gods to worship them. Like the
mouldy girdle they had revealed themselves as useless and profitable for nothing
and would therefore become that.
11 For as a belt is bound around the waist, so I
bound all the people of Israel and all the people of
Judah to me,’ declares the Lord, ‘to be my people
for my renown and praise and honor. But they
have not listened.’
BARNES, "The reason why the girdle was chosen as the symbol. Similarly, Israel was
the people chosen and set apart that in and by them the Holy Spirit might work for the
salvation of mankind.
GILL, "For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man,.... Being girt tight unto
41

42. him:
so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel, and the whole
house of Judah; whom he chose above all people, and caused to approach unto him,
and dwell in his courts; whom he favoured with his presence, and encouraged them to
follow after him, and cleave to him in faith and affection, and with full purpose of heart;
so that they were a people near unto him as a man's girdle is to his loins: and the end of
this was, and would have been, had they continued so,
that they might be unto me for a people; his own people, a special and peculiar
people above all others, peculiarly favoured and blessed by him, and continue so, and in
the enjoyment of all good things:
and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory; for a famous and renowned
people, that should be to the praise and glory of God, and an honour to him, and an
ornament to the profession of him; whereas they were the reverse:
but they would not hear; the words of the Lord, nor obey his voice; but served other
gods, departed from the Lord, to whom they should have cleaved, and so became like
this rotten girdle.
JAMISON, "
(Jer_33:9; Exo_19:5).
glory — an ornament to glory in.
CALVIN, "He confirms what we noticed yesterday, — that the Jews entertained a
foolish confidence, and promised themselves perpetual happiness, because God had
chosen them as his people. This indeed would have been a perpetual glory to them,
had they not violated their pledged faith; but their defection rendered void God’s
covenant as far as they were concerned: for though God never suffered his
faithfulness to fail, however false and perfidious they were, yet the adoption from
which they had departed availed them nothing. But as they thought it an
unalienable defense, the Prophet again repeats that they had been indeed adorned
with singular gifts, but that, as they had not remained faithful, they would be
deprived of them.
He indeed says, by way of concession, As a belt cleaves to the loins of man, so also
have I joined to myself the house of Israel; for given to them is what they claimed.
But at the same time, he reminds them that they only swelled with wind; for the less
tolerable was their impiety, because they were so ungrateful to God. What, indeed,
could have been more base or less excusable, than when those whom God had
favored with so much honor rejected his bounty? Jeremiah then concedes to them
what they proudly boasted of; but he retorts it on their own heads, and shews how
they deserved a heavier judgment, as they had despised so many of God’s blessings.
We said yesterday that. the people is elsewhere compared to a crown and a diadem,
as though God had declared that nothing was more precious to him than the
42

43. children of Abraham. But the same thing is now expressed in other words, — that
he had prepared them for himself as a girdle, that they might be his people This was
indeed a great dignity; but what follows exceeds it, — that they might be to me a
name, that is, that I might be celebrated by them; for it was his will to be called the
God of Israel. What likeness there is between God and men! And yet, as though
descending from his celestial glory, he united to himself the seed of Abraham, that
he might also bind them to himself. The election of God was therefore like a bond of
mutual union, so that he might not be separated from his people. Hence he says that
they had been thus joined to him, that they might be for a name, and also for a
praise and glory (74) Though these words are nearly of the same meaning, yet no
doubt they are put together for the sake of amplification. God, therefore, intended
to exaggerate more fully the sin of the people, by saying that he had done so much
for them, in order that he might be celebrated by them, and that his praise and his
glory might dwell among them.
He at last adds, They have not heard Had God only commanded what he might have
justly required, not to obey his authority would have been an inexcusable
wickedness in the people; but as he had so freely offered himself and all other things
to them, what a base and detestable ingratitude it was in them to reject blessings so
many and so valuable? We hence see that the mouths of the Jews are here
completely closed, so that they could not expostulate with God, and complain that he
was too rigid, for they had in an extreme degree provoked his wrath, having not
only rejected his yoke, but also refused his offered favors. It follows —
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:11 For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I
caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah,
saith the LORD that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a
praise, and for a glory: but they would not hear.
Ver. 11. So have I caused to cleave unto me.] For nearness and dearness; the loins
are the seat of strongest desires and affections.
And for a name and for a praise.] That I might be magnified and glorified in them,
and for them also, among other nations.
ELLICOTT, "(11) The whole house of Israel.—The acted parable takes in not only,
as in Jeremiah 13:9, Judah, to whom the warning was specially addressed, but the
other great division of the people. The sense of national unity is still strong in the
prophet’s mind. Not Judah only, but the whole collective Israel had been as the
girdle of Jehovah, consecrated to His service, designed to be, as the girdle was to
man, a praise and glory (Deuteronomy 26:19).
BENSON, "Jeremiah 13:11. For as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man — Here
God shows the prophet why he commanded him to put the girdle about his loins. So
have I caused — Rather, had I caused; to cleave unto me the house of Israel — I had
betrothed them to myself in righteousness, and entered into a marriage covenant
43

44. with them, that they might cleave to me as a wife cleaveth to her husband. By the
laws I gave them, the prophets I sent among them, and the favours which, in my
providence, I showed them, I brought them near to myself, and allowed them access
to me, and intercourse with me, above every other nation. That they might be unto
me for a people — A peculiar people; that they might have the honour of being
called by my name; and for a praise and a glory — That I might be glorified by
their showing forth my power, goodness, and faithfulness, and all my other glorious
perfections to the world, so that I might be honoured and praised through them.
SIMEON, "THE CONTEMPT WITH WHICH GOD’S RICHEST MERCIES ARE
TREATED
Jeremiah 13:11. As the girdle cleareth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to
cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, saith the
Lord; that they might be unto me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and
for a glory: but they would not hear.
IT pleased God in former times frequently to instruct his people by signs, as being
more calculated to awaken the attention of those who were but, as children, slow to
understand the plainest declarations of his word. Sometimes those signs were
represented to the prophets in visions: as when Ezekiel was taken up by the hair of
his head, and earned to the north gate of the temple to see all the wickedness that
was transacted in the sanctuary; the thing was done only in a vision [Note: Ezekiel
8:3.]. At other times the prophets actually did the things which were to be signs to
the people; as when Ezekiel, for the space of three hundred and ninety days,
reclined on his right side, with a representation of Jerusalem before him, to figure to
the Jews the siege that should assuredly be formed against it by the Chaldeans
[Note: Ezekiel 4:1-17. A most surprising account altogether! See also Ezekiel
12:2-12; Ezekiel 24:15-24.]. Whether the sign which Jeremiah was here directed to
use was in a vision only, or in reality, commentators are not agreed. Certainly the
going repeatedly several hundred miles only to carry a girdle to the Euphrates and
bring it back again, seems a labour unlikely to be imposed upon him: but on the
other hand, that very labour might tend the more powerfully to awaken the
attention of the Jews to the subject which was thus emblematically represented to
them: and it is safer, on the whole, to take literally the Scripture account in all cases
where reason and common sense do not necessitate us to understand it figuratively
[Note: Such an instance occurs, Jeremiah 25:27].
The sign here used by the prophet was this. He took a girdle, and, after wearing it
some time, carried it to the river Euphrates, and hid it there in the hole of a rock;
and then, after a considerable lapse of time, he went and fetched it back again, and
exhibited it to the people in its decayed state; declaring that they, notwithstanding
their present strength and power, should ere long be reduced to the lowest ebb of
misery by the Chaldeans; because when God had formed them for himself, they had
refused to adhere to him, or to regard his overtures of love and mercy.
44

45. Such is the explanation given us by God himself in in the words of our text; which,
whilst they elucidate the emblem used by the prophet, will naturally lead me to shew
you,
I. The honour which God has designed for his people—
The primary use of a girdle is to bind up the garments around the loins—
[In conformity with this idea, God had caused his people to cleave to him, that they
might be, as it were, in continual contact with him. This he had caused them to do,
when he brought them out of Egypt, and made them altogether dependent on
himself for direction, preservation, and support. In like manner he may be said to
have caused us also to cleave to him, having in our very birth imposed on us a
necessity to depend upon him for life, and breath, and all things; for “in him we live,
and move, and have our being.” Our proper state is that of a little infant clinging to
its mother, or, as our text expresses it, “a girdle cleaving to the loins of a man.” We
should at all times be “taking hold of God by prayer [Note: Isaiah 64:7.],” and by
faith uniting ourselves to him, so as to be one with him, and he with us. If this was
the duty and privilege of the Jews, much more is it ours; because our God and
Saviour has actually assumed our nature, and become bone of our bone, and flesh of
our flesh: nay more, by the fuller communication of his Spirit he “dwells in us,” and
lives in us, and is “our very life [Note: Colossians 3:4.]” so that they who are joined
unto him by faith are “one Spirit with him [Note: 1 Corinthians 6:17.].” This then, I
say, is the honour which God designs for us: he would have us all renouncing every
kind and degree of creature dependence, and to live as nigh to him and cleave as
close to him, as a girdle to the loins of a man; yea, in spite of every opposition and
discouragement, he would have us “cleave unto him with full purpose of hearts
[Note: Acts 11:23.].”]
But a girdle is also of use for ornament—
[And to this our text has especial respect. The girdle of the high-priest was, as it is
repeatedly called,“a curious girdle,” given him “or glory and for beauty [Note:
Exodus 28:4; Exodus 28:8; Exodus 28:40.]” and our great High-Priest desires that
we should be to him what that curious girdle was to Aaron. Vile and worthless as we
are in ourselves, ho would form and fashion us anew, interweaving in our nature all
the graces of his Spirit, and transforming us into the very image of our God in
righteousness and true holiness. Surrounded by us, he would esteem himself more
richly adorned than with the brightest jewels [Note: Malachi 3:17.], and more
enriched than with all the treasures of the universe [Note: Exodus 19:5-6. with 1
Peter 2:9.]. It appears almost impious to say, that such ornaments would be a glory
to our God and Saviour; yet we will venture to affirm that they would be regarded
so by our Lord himself, who says, “All mine are thine, and thine are mine; and I am
glorified in them [Note: John 17:10. See also John 15:8, and Isaiah 61:3.].” What a
royal diadem is to an earthly monarch, that are we designed to be to the King of
45

46. kings and Lord of lords [Note: Isaiah 62:3.] As Christ was “the image of the
invisible God,” because God who is invisible in his own nature was visible in him
[Note: Colossians 1:15.] so are we according to the measure of grace given unto us:
we are to “shine as lights in the world, holding forth” in our whole deportment “the
word of life [Note: Philippians 2:15-16.]” we are made his on purpose that we may
“shew forth his virtues [Note: 1 Peter 2:9. See the marginal reading.];” we are to be
“epistles of Christ, known and read of all men [Note: 2 Corinthians 3:3.];” and
shewing in the whole of our spirit and temper what the will of the Lord is: we are to
“have the same mind as was in him [Note: Philippians 2:5.],” and to “be changed
into the same image from glory to glory, as by the Spirit of the Lord [Note: 2
Corinthians 3:18.].” This will surely become our state, if once we cleave, like a
girdle, unto him; and all who see us shall be constrained to “glorify our Father who
is in heaven [Note: Matthew 5:16.].”]
Who would conceive, that when such honour is offered unto man, there should be
found a creature in the universe unwilling to accept it? Yet the sequel of our text
leads us to shew,
II. The way in which this honour is contemned—
The melancholy testimony that was almost invariably borne against the Jews was,
that “they would not hear [Note: Compare with the text, Jeremiah 6:16-17.]—
[See how they conducted themselves in relation to the very offer before us! “they
refused to hear God’s words, and walked in the imagination of their own hearts,
and worshipped and served other gods [Note: ver. 10.].”]
And what can be a more just description of ourselves?
[Unspeakable as the honour is which God desires to confer upon us, we will not seek
it at his hands: we are, like those who were invited to the wedding-feast, all with one
consent making excuses, and pleading the urgency of our worldly affairs as a reason
for neglecting our spiritual concerns [Note: Luke 14:16-20.]. If we bow not down to
stocks and stones, we “worship and serve the creature more than the Creator [Note:
Romans 1:25.].” We have idols in our hearts; and to those we dedicate all our
powers and faculties, whether of soul or body. We are justly characterized as
“walking after the imagination of our own hearts [Note: See Isaiah 53:6.]:” each
serves the god that suits him best. One follows all his vicious propensities, and seeks
his happiness in sensual indulgence: another grasps after riches; another aspires
after honour; another affects rather the more refined pleasures of science and
philosophy: but all by nature, however differing in their particular pursuits, agree
in this, that they “are of the world, and not of God;” and that they “seek honour
from man, and not the honour that cometh of God only.” They need no exhortation
to cleave unto worldly vanities; that they do naturally of themselves: and if we could
point out to them how to come in closer contact with the objects of their ambition,
and how to secure to themselves a larger measure of them, we should find them very
46

47. attentive to our counsels. But when we exhort them to cleave only to the Lord, they
have no ears to hear us, no disposition to regard us. In vain do we expatiate upon
the honour which God designs for them; that appears to them no better than “a
cunningly-devised fable,” or at best as a subject that may well be deferred to a more
convenient season. “Though we call them to the Most High, none at all will exalt him
[Note: Hosea 11:7.]” so that God may complain of us as he did of his people of old,
“All the day long have I stretched out my hands to a rebellious and gainsaying
people [Note: Romans 10:21.].”]
Address—
1. In a way of appeal—
[We may justly say to you, “What more could have been done for you than God has
done [Note: Isaiah 5:3-4.]?” and wherefore do you so requite him? Judge, all of you,
between God and your own souls, and say what such conduct merits at his hands. I
will tell you in God’s name what you may assuredly expect. Behold the girdle when
it was brought back from the river Euphrates, how “marred and worthless” it was
[Note: ver. 7.]: see too how that emblematic judgment has been executed on the
Jewish nation, not only in their Babylonish captivity, but in their present dispersion,
where they are “a hissing and an astonishment” to all the rest of the world. So will
God’s indignation against you be manifested on account of the contempt you pour
upon him; according to that express declaration of his, “Them that honour me, I
will honour; and they that despise me shall be lightly esteemed.” As they who made
light of his invitation were “not suffered even to taste of his supper [Note: Luke
14:24.],” so you shall never taste of that honour and happiness which he offers to
you: and as they were shut out into outer darkness, so will you at the last day awake
“to shame and everlasting contempt [Note: Daniel 12:2.].”]
2. In a way of encouragement—
[Nothing does God desire more, than to take even the vilest of mankind, and bind
them to him as a girdle. Yes, there is not one so worthless, but he should be made a
partaker of this honour, if only he would comply with the invitations of his God. O
that every one of us might now obey his voice; and that he would “make us willing
in the day of his power!” Would you see more clearly what God would do for you?
This same prophet tells you without a figure, that “he will pardon all your
iniquities” that ever you have committed, and so load you with his benefits, that all
who behold you shall be filled with utter astonishment at his goodness to you [Note:
Jeremiah 33:8-9.]. Only resist not his strivings with you, but “run after him when he
draws you,” and beg him to “fulfil in you all the good pleasure of his goodness, even
the work of faith with power: then shall the name of our Lord Jesus Christ be
glorified in you, and ye shall be glorified in, and with him, according to the grace of
our God, and the Lord Jesus Christ [Note: 2 Thessalonians 1:11-12.].”]
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:11
47

48. “For as the girdle cleaves to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave to me the
whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah, says YHWH, that they may be
to me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, but they would
not hear.”
But this was the very opposite of what He had intended for them, for what He had
intended was that the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah (note the
emphasis on their disunity) would be united with Him in the covenant, being His
united people who brought honour and worship to His Name, and were to His
praise and glory. They were to be His witness to the nations. However, it had not
happened because they simply would not listen.
Wineskins
12 “Say to them: ‘This is what the Lord, the God
of Israel, says: Every wineskin should be filled
with wine.’ And if they say to you, ‘Don’t we know
that every wineskin should be filled with wine?’
BARNES, "Bottle - jar, the “potter’s vessel” of Isa_30:14 : a new symbol, but with
the same meaning, the approaching destruction of Jerusalem Jer_13:14.
CLARKE, "Every bottle shall be filled with wine? - The bottles were made for
the purpose of being filled with wine; and it is likely, from the promising appearance of
the season and the grapes, that there was a great likelihood of a copious vintage; and this
made them say, “Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
Have we not every prospect that it will be so? Do we need a revelation to inform us of
this?”
48

49. GILL, "Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word,.... The following
parable:
thus saith the Lord God of Israel; what was to be said is prefaced with these words,
to show that it was not a trifling matter, but of moment and importance, and not to be
slighted and despised as it was:
every bottle shall be filled with wine; meaning every inhabitant of Judea and
Jerusalem, comparable to bottles or earthen vessels, as the Jewish writers interpret it,
for their being empty of all that is good, and for their frailty and brittleness being liable
to be broke to pieces, and to utter ruin and destruction; these are threatened to be "filled
with wine"; not literally taken, such as they loved; though there may be an allusion to
their intemperance, and so this is a just retaliation for their sins; but figuratively, with
the wine of divine wrath; and their being filled with it denotes the greatness of the
calamities which should come upon them, and be around them on all sides:
and they shall say unto thee; upon hearing the above, and by way of reply to it:
do we not certainly know; or, "knowing do we not know" (u); can we be thought to
be ignorant of this,
that every bottle shall be filled with wine? every child knows this; what else are
bottles made for? is this the errand thou art sent on by the Lord? and is this all the
knowledge and information that we are to have by thy prophesying? or what dost thou
mean by telling us that which we and everybody know? what is designed by this? surely
thou must have another meaning in it than what the words express.
HENRY, "Here is, I. A judgment threatened against this people that would quite
intoxicate them. This doom is pronounced against them in a figure, to make it the more
taken notice of and the more affecting (Jer_13:12): Thus saith the Lord God of Israel,
every bottle shall be filled with wine; that is, those that by their sins have made
themselves vessels of wrath fitted to destruction shall be filled with the wrath of God as
a bottle is with wine; and, as every vessel of mercy prepared for glory shall be filled with
mercy and glory, so they shall be full of the fury of the Lord (Isa_51:20); and they shall
be brittle as bottles; and, like old bottles into which new wine is put, they shall burst and
be broken to pieces, Mat_9:17. Or, They shall have their heads as full of wine as bottle
are; for so it is explained, Jer_13:13, They shall be filled with drunkenness; compare
Isa_51:17. It is probable that this was a common proverb among them, applied in
various ways; but they, not being aware of the prophet's meaning in it, ridiculed him for
it: “Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? What strange
thing is there in that? Tell us something that we did not know before.” Perhaps they were
thus touchy with the prophet because they apprehended this to be a reflection upon
them for their drunkenness, and probably it was in part so intended. They loved flagons
of wine, Hos_3:1. Their watchmen were all for wine, Isa_56:12. They loved their false
prophets that prophesied to them of wine (Mic_2:11), that bade them be merry, for that
they should never want their bottle to make them so. “Well,” says the prophet, “you shall
have your bottles full of wine, but not such wine as you desire.” They suspected that he
had some mystical meaning in it which prophesied no good concerning them, but evil;
49

50. and he owns that so he had. What he meant was this,
JAMISON, "A new image.
Do we not ... know ... wine — The “bottles” are those used in the East, made of
skins; our word “hogshead,” originally “oxhide,” alludes to the same custom. As they
were used to hold water, milk, and other liquids, what the prophet said (namely, that
they should be all filled with wine) was not, as the Jews’ taunting reply implied, a truism
even literally. The figurative sense which is what Jeremiah chiefly meant, they affected
not to understand. As wine intoxicates, so God’s wrath and judgments shall reduce them
to that state of helpless distraction that they shall rush on to their own ruin (Jer_25:15;
Jer_49:12; Isa_51:17, Isa_51:21, Isa_51:22; Isa_63:6).
K&D 12-14, "How the Lord will destroy His degenerate people, and how they may
yet escape the impending ruin. - Jer_13:12. "And speak unto them this word: Thus hath
Jahveh the God of Israel said, Every jar is filled with wine. And when they say to thee,
Know we not that every jar is filled with wine? Jer_13:13. Then say to them: Thus hath
Jahve said: Behold, I fill all inhabitants of this land - the kings that sit for David upon
his throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all inhabitants of Jerusalem - with
drunkenness, Jer_13:14. And dash them one against another, the fathers and the sons
together, saith Jahve; I will not spare, nor pity, nor have mercy, not to destroy them. -
Jer_13:15. Hear ye and give ear! Be not proud, for Jahveh speaketh. Jer_13:16. Give to
Jahveh, your God, honour, ere He bring darkness, and before your feet stumble upon
the mountains of dusk, and ye look for light, but He turn it into the shadow of death
and make it darkness. Jer_13:17. But if ye hear it not, then in concealment shall my soul
weep for the pride, and weep and run down shall mine eye with tears, because the flock
of Jahve is carried away captive."
To give emphasis to the threatening conveyed in the symbolical action, the kind and
manner of the destruction awaiting them is forcibly set before the various ranks in
Judah and Jerusalem by the interpretation, in Jer_13:12-14, of a proverbial saying and
the application of it to them. The circumstantial way in which the figurative saying is
brought in in Jer_13:12, is designed to call attention to its import. ‫ל‬ ֶ‫ֵב‬‫נ‬, an earthenware
vessel, especially the wine jar (cf. Isa_30:24; Lam_4:2), is here the emblem of man; cf.
Jer_18:6; Isa_29:16. We must not, as Näg. does, suppose the similar to be used because
such jars are an excellent emblem of that carnal aristocratic pride which lacked all
substantial merit, by reason of their being of bulging shape, hollow within and without
solidity, and of fragile material besides. No stress is laid on the bulging form and
hollowness of the jars, but only on their fulness with wine and their brittleness. Nor can
aristocratic haughtiness be predicated of all the inhabitants of the land. The saying:
Every jar is filled with wine, seemed so plain and natural, that those addressed answer:
Of that we are well aware. "The answer is that of the psychical man, who dreams of no
deeper sense" (Hitz.). Just this very answer gives the prophet occasion to expound the
deeper meaning of this word of God's. As one fills all wine jars, so must all inhabitants of
the land be filled by God with wine of intoxication. Drunkenness is the effect of the
intoxicating wine of God's wrath, Psa_60:5. This wine Jahveh will give them (cf. Jer_
25:15; Isa_51:17, etc.), so that, filled with drunken frenzy, they shall helplessly destroy
one another. This spirit will seize upon all ranks: upon the kings who sit upon the throne
of David, not merely him who was reigning at the time; upon the priests and prophets as
50

51. leaders of the people; and upon all inhabitants of Jerusalem, the metropolis, the spirit
and temper of which exercises an unlimited influence upon the temper and destiny of
the kingdom at large. I dash them one against the other, as jars are shivered when
knocked together. Here Hitz. finds a foreshadowing of civil war, by which they should
exterminate one another. Jeremiah was indeed thinking of the staggering against one
another of drunken men, but in "dash them," etc., adhered simply to the figure of jars or
pots. But what can be meant by the shivering of pots knocked together, other than
mutual destruction? The kingdom of Judah did not indeed fall by civil war; but who can
deny that the fury of the various factions in Judah and Jerusalem did really contribute to
the fall of the realm? The shattering of the pots does not mean directly civil war; it is
given as the result of the drunkenness of the inhabitants, under which they, no longer
capable of self-control, dash against and so destroy one another. But besides, the
breaking of jars reminds us of the stratagem of Gideon and his 300 warriors, who, by the
sound of trumpets and the smashing of jars, threw the whole Midianite camp into such
panic, that these foes turned their swords against one another and fled in wild
confusion: Jdg_7:19., cf. too 1Sa_14:20. Thus shall Judah be broken without mercy or
pity. To increase the emphasis, there is a cumulation of expressions, as in Jer_21:7; Jer_
15:5, cf. Eze_5:11; Eze_7:4, Eze_7:9, etc.
CALVIN, "The Prophet denounces here by another similitude the vengeance of
God, for he says that all would be filled with drunkenness: but he is bidden at first
simply to set before them the metaphor, Every bottle, or flagon, he says, shall be
filled with wine The word ‫,רבל‬ ubel, means a bladder; but the word bottle is more
suitable here. (75) Bladders were wont in those countries to be filled with water and
with wine, as the custom is still in the east; as we see at this day that oil is put in
bladders and thus carried, so bladders are commonly used there to carry water and
wine; but as it is added, I will dash them against one another, it is better to use the
word bottles, or flagons.
This general statement might have appeared to be of no weight; for what instruction
does this contain, “Every bottle shall be filled with wine?” It is like what one might
say, — that a tankard is made to carry wine, and that bowls are made for drinking:
this is well known, even to children. And then it might have been said that this was
unworthy of a prophet. “Eh! what dost thou say? Thou sayest that bottles are the
receptacles of wine, even as a hat is made to cover the head, or clothes to keep off
the cold; but thou seemest to mock us with childish trifles.” We also find that the
Prophet’s address was thus objected to, for they contemptuously and proudly
answered, “What! do we not know that bottles are prepared for the purpose of
preserving wine? But what dost thou mean? Thou boastest of the inspiration of the
Holy Spirit: how strange is this? Thou art, like an angel come down from heaven;
thou pretendest the name of God, and professest to have the authority of a prophet;
now, what does this mean, that bottles are filled with wine?” But it was God’s
particular object thus to rouse the people, who were asleep in their delusions, and
who were also by no means attentive to spiritual instruction. It was then his purpose
to shew, by the most trifling, and as it were by frivolous things, that they were not
possessed of so much clear-sightedness as to perceive even that which was most
51

52. evident. They indeed, all knew that bottles were made for wine; but they did not
understand that they were the bottles, or were like bottles. We have indeed said that
they were inflated with so much arrogance that they seemed like hard rocks; and
hence was their contempt of all threatenings, because they did not consider what
they were. The Prophet then says that they were like bottles; though God had
indeed chosen them for an excellent use, yet, forgetful of their frailty, they had
marred their own excellency, so that they were no longer of any use, except that God
would inebriate them with giddiness and also with calamities.
We hence see why God had commanded a general truth to be here announced which
was received with indifference and contempt; it was, that an opportunity might be
given to the Prophet to touch to the quick those stupid men to whom their own state
was wholly unknown. It had been said that they were like mountains, because they
had as their foundation the free election of God; but as they had in them no
firmness and no constancy of faith, but had decayed, their glory had as it were
melted away; and though they still retained an outward appearance, yet they were
like brittle vessels; and so their fragility is here better expressed by the Prophet than
if, in a plain sentence, he had said, “As a bottle is filled with wine, so will the Lord
fill you with drunkenness.” Had he thus spoken, there would not have been so much
force in the prediction; but when they answered with disdain, “This is known even
to children,” they were then told what more sensibly touched them, — that they
were like bottles. (76)
COKE, "Jeremiah 13:12. Every bottle shall be filled with wine— The 13th and 14th
verses fully explain this. We have before had occasion to observe, that it is frequent
in the language of Scripture to express God's judgments under the figures of wine, a
cup, drunkenness, &c. Accordingly God here declares, that as they have all sinned,
so every one shall have his share in the punishment. See Isaiah 29:9; Isaiah 51:21.
Jeremiah 25:27; Jeremiah 51:7. Lamentations 4:21.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus
saith the LORD God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled with wine: and they shall
say unto thee, Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
Ver. 12. Therefore.] Or, Moreover.
Thou shalt speak unto them this word.] This other paradigm or parable; an
excellent way of teaching, and much used in both Testaments.
Every bottle shall be filled with wine.] Wine they loved well, and a great vintage
they now expected. They shall have it, saith God; but of another nature than they
look for. Their heads (not altogether unlike bottles for roundness and emptiness of
all good) shall be filled with a dry drunkenness, even with errors and terrors, a
spirit of giddiness, &c.
Do we not certainly know? &c.] This they seem to speak insolently and jeeringly -
52

53. q.d., you should tell us some news.
ELLICOTT, "(12) Every bottle shall be filled with wine.—Another parable follows
on that of the girdle. The germ is found in the phrase “drunken, but not with wine”
(Isaiah 29:9), and the thought rising out of that germ that the effect of the wrath of
Jehovah is to cause an impotence and confusion like that of drunkenness (Psalms
60:3; Isaiah 51:17). The “bottle” in this case is not the “skin” commonly used for
that purpose, but the earthen jar or flagon, the “potter’s vessel” of Isaiah 30:14, the
“pitcher” of Lamentations 4:2. So taken we find an anticipation of the imagery of
Jeremiah 19:1; Jeremiah 19:10; Jeremiah 25:15. The prophet is bidden to go and
proclaim to the people a dark saying, which in its literal sense would seem to them
the idlest of all truisms. They would not understand that the “wine” of which he
spoke was the wrath of Jehovah, and therefore they would simply repeat his words
half in astonishment, half in mockery, “Do we not know this? What need to hear it
from a prophet’s lips?”
COFFMAN, "THE PARABLE OF THE WINE JARS
"Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word: Thus saith Jehovah, the God of
Israel, Every bottle shall be rifled with wine? and they shall say, Do we not certainly
know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? Then shalt thou say unto them,
Thus saith Jehovah, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings
that sit on David's throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants
of Jerusalem, with drunkenness. And I will dash them one against another, even the
fathers and the sons together, saith Jehovah: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have
compassion, that I should not destroy them."
The parable was brief enough: "Every bottle shall be filled with wine;" but when
the prophet's critics heard him, they answered with a mocking, "Of course,
everybody already knows that." What they then learned was that God was not
talking of literal wine jars at all, but about the citizens of the land, all of them; and
here God promised to bring drunkenness upon the total population, even including
all of the upper echelons of their society, kings, priests, prophets, everyone; and
Jeremiah 13:14 prophesied that the result of this alcoholic oblivion would be the
total destruction of the nation.
In this parable, "The bottles represent all the people, and the wine represents the
wrath of God."[6] The intoxication of all the people, rendering them helpless against
all their enemies, indicated the certainty of God's impending punishment for the
people's headstrong continuation in their licentious idolatry.
BENSON, "Jeremiah 13:12. Therefore — Because the end intended by my goodness
has not been answered upon them; thou shall speak unto them this word — Thou
shall show them the destruction coming upon them by another emblem. Thus saith
the Lord, Every bottle shall be filled with wine — God’s judgments are often
represented under the figure of a cup full of intoxicating liquor: see this metaphor
53

54. pursued at large, Jeremiah 25:15, &c. To the same purpose God tells them here that
as they have all sinned, so should every one have his share in the punishment. And
they shall say unto thee, &c. — “God, who knew the profaneness of their hearts,
foretels the reply they would make to this threatening, that, taking it in a literal
sense, they would make a jest of it, as if the words were intended to encourage
intemperance, for either they did not or would not understand the drift of them.”
Thus Lowth. But Blaney thinks their answer, Do we not know, &c., implies that, by
a wilful mistake, they construed his words as “meant to tell them of a plentiful
vintage that was coming on, which would fill all their wine-vessels; and of this they
claimed to be as good judges as he, from the promising appearance of the vineyards.
As if they said, Do you tell us this as a piece of news, or a supernatural discovery? Is
it not evident to us as well as to you? The prophet is therefore directed to deal more
plainly with them, and to tell them that the wine he meant was not such as would
exhilarate, but such as would intoxicate; being no other than what would be poured
out of the wine-cup of God’s fury, to the subversion of all ranks and orders of men
among them.”
PETT, "Verses 12-14
Judah Are Likened To A Nation Of Prospective Inebriates As They Live Life To
Excess And Are Warned Of What The Consequences Of Such Living Will Be
(Jeremiah 13:12-14).
In a vivid metaphor YHWH now likens the people of Judah to wine jars which will
be filled with wine, indicating excess and drunkenness, who will consequently smash
against each other, leading up to their destruction. In the choice between flesh and
spirit, worldliness and YHWH, they have chosen the flesh, and will reap what they
have sown. Compare Paul’s comparison of drinking wine to excess with being filled
with the Spirit in Ephesians 5:18. The world ever has to face the choice between self-
indulgence or true response towards God.
Jeremiah 13:12
“Therefore you shall speak to them this word, ‘Thus says YHWH, the God of Israel,
Every earthenware wine-jar will be filled with wine,’ and they will say to you,
‘Don’t we certainly know that every earthenware wine-jar will be filled with
wine?’ ”
In a typical Jeremaic to and fro YHWH likens ‘all the inhabitants of the land’ to
wine jars which will be filled with wine, indicating their participation in excess and
drunkenness, a picture which those inhabitants then naively misinterpret, taking
YHWH’s words prosaically as signifying reference to a storage situation. (They
have eyes but see not, ears but hear not - Jeremiah 5:21).
The words may have been a well known proverb indicating that everything finds its
proper use, but with YHWH here deliberately giving it a deeper meaning. Others
54

55. see it as a proverb guaranteeing prosperity, the harvests will be such that all jars
made to contain it will be filled. But YHWH intends it to be used in a different way
from normal as a symbol of their drunkenness and levity, and of the judgment
coming on them.
PULPIT, "Jeremiah 13:12-14
Here another symbol is introduced—a symbolic phrase rather than a symbolic
action. The first symbol referred to the people as a whole; the second represents the
fate of the individual members of the people. The words, Thus saith the lord God of
Israel, are omitted in the Septuagint, and certainly the form of the following phrase
seems hardly worthy of so solemn an introduction. Every bottle. It is an
earthenware bottle, or pitcher, which seems from Jeremiah 13:13 to be meant
(comp. Isaiah 30:14), though the Septuagint renders here ἀσκός. The kings that sit
upon David's throne; rather, that sit for David upon his throne; i.e. as David's heirs
and successors. The plural "kings" is to include all the kings who reigned during the
final period of impending ruin. With drunkenness. The effect of the "wine-cup of
[the Divine] fury" (Jeremiah 25:15). Dash them one against another. This is merely
the development of the figure of the pitchers; not a prediction of civil war. The
pitchers, when cast down, must of course fall together into pieces.
BI 12-14, "Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine?
Drunk with evil
They are supposed to think that the prophet is merely stating what was the plain
meaning of the words, and, under that impression, to reply, What great matter is this, to
tell us that bottles which are made to be filled with wine should be filled with wine?—not
seeking for any deeper meaning in the Lord’s Word. But, “thus saith the Lord, Behold I
will fill all the inhabitants of this land.” These were the bottles truly spoken of, “even the
kings that sit upon David’s throne,” etc. Now the drunkenness wherewith they were to be
filled was not drunkenness with wine, but drunkenness with an evil spirit, with a mad
spirit, with a spirit of discontent, a breaking up of all the bonds of society, a spirit of
contempt of God, and of all God’s ordinances. This was the drunkenness wherewith they
were to be filled—in consequence of which they were to be falling against, and crushing
each other, as happens to a nation in which all subordination disappears, and all is
anarchy and confusion, and the people are, as it were, dashed against each other. And
this is said to be the Lord’s judgment upon them. It is after the manner of God that,
when men refuse the Spirit of God, they should be given up to the spirit of Satan; that,
when men refuse to be dwelt in of the Holy Spirit, they should be dwelt in by the spirit of
madness and of fury; and this was the judgment threatened upon the Jews, that they
should be dashed one against another, even the fathers and the sons together; and then,
as if he would say, Do not think that I am not in earnest; do not think that, because
judgment is my strange work, it is a work in which I will not engage: be assured that it
shall be as I say, “I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy.” Three times
God declares that He will not show mercy, but, on the contrary, destroy; because there is
a voice which God has put within us to testify that God is merciful; and because there is
a bad use which men are apt to make of the suggestions of that voice; and they are apt to
55

56. feel as if a good and merciful God could not find it in His heart to put forth His hand to
judgment. Oh, if men but knew God’s tender mercy, they would indeed feel that that
must be a strong reason which could move Him to pluck His hand from His bosom and
rise up to wrath. It is as if God were saying—I have so proved My love to you, My
unwillingness that you should perish, that ye may be slow to believe that I, even I, will
punish. But be not deceived; there are reasons strong enough to prevail—to shut up even
My compassions. I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, but destroy. (J. M.
Campbell.)
The wine of the wrath of God
1. Every man is being fitted a vessel to honour or dishonour, to good or evil.
2. Every man will ultimately be filled to his utmost capacity by good or evil,
according to his spiritual state.
3. The process of adaptation is being carried on by loyalty or disobedience to truth
and God.
4. Where all are evil, everyone will be injurious to the others. This will make a hell.
The reverse of this is true also.
5. God, who is love, has a time for severity as well as a time for mercy.
6. If God help not, none can aid effectually. (W. Whale.)
I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons
together, saith the Lord.—
Divine punishments
These words should be spoken with tears. It is a great mistake in doctrine as well as in
practice to imagine that the imprecations of Holy Scripture should be spoken ruthlessly.
When Jesus came near the city He wept over it.
I. Divine punishments are possible. If we are not destroyed, it is not for want of power
on the part of the offended Creator. The universe is very sensitively put together in this
matter; everywhere there are lying resources which under one touch or breath would
spring up and avenge an outraged law. Now and then God does bring us to see how near
death is to every life. We do not escape the rod because there is no rod. It is of the Lord’s
mercies that we are not consumed. Think of that. Do let it enter into our minds and
make us sober, sedate—if not religious and contrite.
II. Divine punishments are humiliating (Jer_13:13). Some punishments have a kind of
dignity about them: sometimes a man dies almost heroically, and turns death itself into
a kind of victory; and we cannot but consent that the time is well chosen, and the
method the best for giving to the man’s reputation completeness, and to his influence
stability and progress. God can bring us to our latter end, as it were, nobly: we may die
like princes; death may be turned into a kind of coronation; our deathbed may be the
picture of our life—the most consummately beautiful and exquisite revelation of
character—or the Lord can drive us down like mad beasts to an unconsecrated grave.
How contemptuous He can be! How bitter, how intolerable the sarcasm of God! “I also
56

57. will laugh at your calamity; I will mock when your fear cometh.” The Lord seems now
and again to take a kind of delight in showing how utterly our pride can be broken up
and trampled underfoot. He will send a worm to eat up the harvest: would He but send
an angel with a gleaming sickle to cut it down we might see somewhat of glory in the
disaster. Thus God comes into our life along a line that may be designated as a line of
contempt and humiliation. Oh, that men were wise, that they would hold themselves as
God’s and not their own, as Divine property rather than personal possession! Then
would they walk soberly and recruit themselves in many a prayer, and bring back their
youth because they trust in God.
III. Divine punishments when they come are complete. “I will destroy them.” We cannot
tell the meaning of this word; we do not know what is meant by “destruction”; we use the
term as if we knew its meaning,—and possibly we do know its meaning according to the
breadth of our own intention and purpose; but the word as used by God has Divine
meanings upon which we can lay no measuring line. We cannot destroy anything: we can
destroy its form, its immediate relation, its temporary value; but the thing itself in its
substance or in its essence we can never destroy. When the Lord says He will take up this
matter of destruction we cannot tell what He means; we dare not think of it. We use the
word “nothing,” but cannot tell what He means by the nothingness of nothing, by the
negativeness of negation, by the sevenfold darkness, by the heaped-up midnight of
gloom. My soul, come not thou into that secret:
IV. Divine punishments are avoidable (Jer_13:16). The door of hope is set open, even in
this midnight of threatening; still we are on praying ground and on pleading terms with
God; even now we can escape the bolt that gleams in the thundercloud. What say you,
men, brethren, and fathers? Why be hard? why attempt the impossible? why think we
can run away from God? and why, remembering that our days are but a handful, will we
not be wise and act as souls that have been instructed? (J. Parker, D. D.)
13 then tell them, ‘This is what the Lord says: I
am going to fill with drunkenness all who live in
this land, including the kings who sit on David’s
throne, the priests, the prophets and all those
living in Jerusalem.
57

58. BARNES, "
The kings ... - i. e., his successors in general. In the fall of Jerusalem four kings in
succession were crushed.
CLARKE, "Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land - with
drunkenness - You pretend to take this literally, but it is a symbol. You, and your
kings, and priests, and prophets, are represented by these bottles. The wine is God’s
wrath against you, which shall first be shown by confounding your deliberations, filling
you with foolish plans of defense, causing you from your divided counsels to fall out
among yourselves, so that like so many drunken men you shall reel about and jostle each
other; defend yourselves without plan, and fight without order, till ye all fall an easy prey
into the hands of your enemies. The ancient adage is here fulfilled: -
Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat.
“Those whom God determines to destroy, he first renders foolish.”
GILL, "Then shall thou say unto them,.... Explaining the above words:
thus saith the Lord, behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land; this is
the application of the parable, and shows that by every bottle is meant every inhabitant
of Judea:
even the kings that sit upon David's throne; or, "that sit for David on his throne"
(w); that succeed him one after another; more kings may be meant than one, as
Jehoiakim and Zedekiah; or the present reigning king, and the princes of the brood, are
designed; who, though of David's family, and on his throne, yet this could not secure
them from the calamity threatened:
and the priests; who ministered in holy things; their sacred office and function would
not preserve them from ruin:
and the prophets; the false prophets, as the Targum, that prophesied smooth things,
and prophesied them peace and safety, these should be involved in the common
destruction:
and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem with drunkenness; with tribulation, as the
Targum interprets it; and adds,
"and shall be like a drunken man;''
giddy, stupid, unable to help themselves, or to advise one another.
HENRY, " That they should be a giddy as men in drink. A drunken man is fitly
compared to a bottle or cask full of wine; for, when the wine is in, the wit, and wisdom,
58

59. and virtue, and all that is good for any thing, are out. Now God threatens (Jer_13:13)
that shall they shall all be filled with drunkenness; they shall be full of confusion in their
counsels, shall falter in all their talk and stagger in all their motions; they shall not know
what they say or do, much less what they should say or do. They shall be sick of all their
enjoyments and throw them up as drunken men do, Job_20:15. They shall fall into a
slumber, and be utterly unable to help themselves, and, like men that have drunk away
their reason, shall lie at the mercy and expose themselves to the contempt of all about
them. And this shall be the condition not of some among them (if any had been sober,
they might have helped the rest), but even the kings that sit upon the throne of David,
that should have been like their father David, who was wise as an angel of God, shall be
thus intoxicated. Their priests and prophets too, their false prophets, that pretended to
guide them, were as indulgent of their lusts, and therefore were justly as much deprived
of their senses, as any other. Nay, all the inhabitants, both of the land and of Jerusalem
were as far gone as they. Whom God will destroy he infatuates.
JAMISON, "upon David’s throne — literally, who sit for David on his throne;
implying the succession of the Davidic family (Jer_22:4).
all — indiscriminately of every rank.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:13 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the LORD,
Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the kings that sit upon David’s
throne, and the priests, and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with
drunkenness.
Ver. 13. Behold, I will fill.] Heb., Lo, I am filling; but the liquor is such as whereof
you shall have small joy. See Jeremiah 13:12.
ELLICOTT, " (13) The kings that sit upon David’s throne.—Literally, that sit for
David (i.e., as his successors and representatives) on his throne. The plural is
probably used in pointing to the four—Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and
Zedekiah—who were all of them involved in the sufferings that fell on Judah.
With drunkenness.—The intoxication of the “strong drink”—here, probably, palm-
wine—rather than that of the juice of the grape, involving more confusion and loss
of power.
BENSON, "Verse 13-14
Jeremiah 13:13-14. Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants with drunkenness — There
is a wine of astonishment and confusion, Psalms 60:3. With that wine, saith God, I
will fill all orders of persons, kings, priests, prophets, and all the inhabitants of
Jerusalem. And I will dash them one against another — I will permit an evil spirit of
strife and division to arise among them, as 9:23, so that they shall be set one against
another, fathers against their sons, and sons against their fathers, and family against
family; so that, having no union among themselves, or friendly co- operation, they
shall become an easy prey to their enemies. Thus I will confound and destroy them,
59

60. as earthen vessels are broken to pieces when they are dashed one against another.
The words allude to the earthen bottles which were to be filled with wine, Jeremiah
13:12. I will not pity nor spare, but destroy, &c. — For they will not pity, nor spare,
nor have mercy, but destroy one another: see Habakkuk 2:15-16. Therefore let them
not presume upon my mercy, for I am resolved to show them no mercy, but to bring
them to utter ruin, unless a thorough reformation take place.
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:13
“Then you will say to them, Thus says YHWH, Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants
of this land, even the kings who sit on David’s throne, and the priests, and the
prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, with drunkenness.”
Their misinterpretation is then brought out as YHWH makes His position clear.
What He has been indicating was that the whole nation, including the Davidic king,
the priests and the prophets, and all the inhabitants of the land would be filled with
drunkenness, both physical and spiritual (compare Isaiah 29:9). It is describing a
nation, together with both its political and religious advisers, living on the edge and
to excess, and also drunk in idolatry. Drunkenness was a major problem of the age,
and cheap wine often freely available (compare Isaiah 5:11; Isaiah 5:22; Isaiah 28:7;
Amos 2:12). The result will be that the pressures of the times, probably combined
with the over-confidence of the people in the face of falsely optimistic prophecy, or
possibly their fears in the face of Babylonian oppression, are seen as leading to
excessive and uncontrolled behaviour. They have sowed to themselves in wine, they
will reap in drunkenness. We might see here a repeating of the idea found in Isaiah
22:13 of, ‘Let us eat, drink and be merry, for tomorrow we die’.
But two further ideas may be in mind. The first is that of the receiving of YHWH’s
judgments, something which is often depicted in terms of drinking wine in that it
symbolises the anger of YHWH (Jeremiah 25:15-17; Isaiah 52:17). That also may be
the idea here. It may be expressing the truth that ‘in the hand of YHWH there is a
cup and the wine foams, it is full of mixture, and YHWH pours out of the same’
(Psalms 75:8; compare Revelation 14:10). The second is that of drinking of the wine
of Babylon, the heavy wine of sophistication and false glory, something which
explains why they will behave with such madness (Jeremiah 51:7).
14 I will smash them one against the other,
parents and children alike, declares the Lord. I
will allow no pity or mercy or compassion to keep
60

61. me from destroying them.’”
BARNES, "All orders and degrees of men in the state would be broken in
indiscriminate destruction.
GILL, "And I will dash them one against another,.... As drunken men fall foul on
one another, and quarrel and fight; or in allusion to bottles and earthen vessels they are
before compared to; and may denote the internal broils and contentions among
themselves, that instead of assisting each other in their distress, they would be
destroying one another; which was notorious in the last siege of Jerusalem:
even the fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord; no relation, nor even age
nor sex, being regarded:
I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them: the Lord's hand
was in all this; everything was by his permission, and according to his will; he would not
prevent the enemy's invading, besieging, and taking them, nor hinder themselves from
destroying one another; but suffer a general calamity to come upon them, without
showing the least mercy to them, so great were their sins, and such the provocation.
HENRY, "That, being giddy, they should run upon one another. The cup of the wine
of the Lord's fury shall throw them not only into a lethargy, so that they shall not be able
to help themselves or one another, but into a perfect frenzy, so that they shall do
mischief to themselves and one another (Jer_13:14): I will dash a man against his
brother. Not only their drunken follies, but their drunken frays, shall help to ruin them.
Drunken men are often quarrelsome, and upon that account they have woe and sorrow
(Pro_23:29, Pro_23:30); so their sin is their punishment; it was so here. God sent an
evil spirit into families and neighbourhoods (as Jdg_9:23), which made them jealous of,
and spiteful towards, one another; so that the fathers and sons went together by the
ears, and were ready to pull one another to pieces, which made them all an easy prey to
the common enemy. This decree against them having gone forth, God says, I will not
pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them; for they will not pity, nor spare, nor
have mercy, but destroy one another; see Hab_2:15, Hab_2:16.
JAMISON, "dash — (Psa_2:9). As a potter’s vessel (Rev_2:27).
CALVIN, "It may now be asked, What was this drunkenness which the Prophet
announces? It may be understood in two ways, — either that God would give them
up to a reprobate mind, — or that he would make them drunk with evils and
calamities; for when God deprives men of a right mind, it is to prepare them for
extreme vengeance. But the Prophet seems to have something further in view — that
61

62. this people would be given up to the most grievous evils, which would wholly fill
them with amazement. Yet it appears from the context that the former evil is
intended here; for he says, I will dash them one against another, every one against
his brother, even the fathers and sons together; and thus they were all to be broken
as it were in pieces. God then not only points out the calamity which was nigh the
Jews, but also the manner of it; that is, that every one would draw his own brethren
to ruin, as though they inflicted wounds on one another. But God says first
generally, I will fill all the inhabitants of the land with drunkenness, and then he
explains the effect, such as I have stated.
But he afterwards speaks of the whole people, including the kings, priests, and
prophets, so that he excepts no order of men, however honorable; and this express
mention of different orders was altogether necessary, for kings thought that they
ought not to have been blended with the common people. The priests also regarded
themselves as sacred, and a similar pride possessed the false prophets. But Jeremiah
includes them all, without exception, in the same bundle, as though he had said, —
“The majesty of kings shall not deliver them from God’s judgment, nor shall the
priests be safe on account of their dignity, nor shall it avail the false prophets to
boast of that noble and illustrious office which they discharge.” This prediction was
no doubt regarded as very unjust; for we know with what high commendations God
had spoken of the kingdom of David. As to the priesthood, we also know that it was
a type of the priesthood of Christ, and also that the whole tribe of Levi was counted
sacred to God. It could not therefore be but that Jeremiah must have greatly
exasperated the minds of all by thus threatening kings as well as priests.
But we hence gather, — that there is nothing so high and so illustrious on earth,
which ought not to be made to submit, when the power and glory of God, and the
authority of celestial truth, are to be vindicated. Whatever then is precious and
excellent in the world must come to nothing, if it derogates even in the least degree
from the glory of God or from the authority of his truth: and yet kings and priests
dared to oppose the word of God. No wonder then, that the Prophet should thrust
them down from their elevations and compare them to bottles: he thus treads under
foot that frail glory by which they sought to obscure God himself. And as the name
of David was, as it were, sacred among that people, in order to shake off this vain
confidence, the Prophet says, — “Though kings sit on the throne of David and be his
successors and posterity, yet God will not spare them.” (77) And hence also it
appears how foolishly the Papal clergy at this day bring forward against us their
privileges and their dignity. Doubtless, whatever these unprincipled men may claim
for themselves, they cannot yet make themselves equal to the Levitical priests: and
yet we see that it availed them nothing, that God had set them apart for himself,
because they had abused their power. There is, therefore, no reason for the Pope
and his clergy, the very filth of the world, to be at this day so proud. We now
perceive the design of the words, when mention is made of kings, priests, and
prophets.
It must, however, be observed, that, he does not speak here of faithful prophets, but
62

63. of those who wore the mask, while yet they brought nothing but chaff instead of
wheat, as we shall hereafter see. He then uses the word prophets in an improper
sense, for he applies it to false teachers, as we do at this day, when we speak of those
savages who boast that they are bishops and prelates and governors: we indeed
concede to them these titles, but it does not follow that they justly deserve to be
counted bishops, though they are so called. In the same way then does Jeremiah
speak here of those who were called prophets, who yet were wholly unworthy of the
office.
He then speaks of the collision to which we have referred, — I will cause them to
tear or break one another in pieces. Some render the word “scatter;” but scattering
does by no means comport with the words, every one, against his brother, etc. (78)
We hence see that the meaning is much more suitable when we render the words, I
will dash them, every one against his brother, and then, even the fathers and the
sons together; so that they might tear one another by a mutual conflict. And hence,
as I have said, Jeremiah not only foretells the destruction of the people, but also
points out the manner of it; for they would become so void of common prudence,
that they would willfully destroy one another, as though they were given up to
mutual slaughter. They gloried, we know, in their number, but the Prophet shews
that this would be no protection to them, but, on the contrary, the cause of their
ruin; for the Lord would so blind them, that they would fight with one another, and
thus perish without any foreign enemy.
He then adds, I will not spare, I will not spare, (79) I will not have mercy He repeats
three times that he would not be propitious to them. It would have been sufficient to
declare this once, were they so teachable and attentive as really to consider the
threatenings announced to them; but being so torpid as they were, it was necessary
to repeat the same thing often; not as though there was anything ambiguous or
obscure in the message itself, but because hardly any vehemence was sufficient to
rouse hearts so obstinate. We hence see why the Prophet repeated the same thing so
often. He, however, does not employ words uselessly: whenever God repeats the
promises of his favor, he does not utter words heedlessly and without reason; but
since he sees that there is in us so much dulness, that one promise is not sufficient,
he confirms it by repetitions; so also when he sees that men, owing to their stupidity,
cannot be moved nor terrified by his threatenings, he repeats them, that they may
have more weight. He in short declares, that it was all over with that people, so that
he does not now call the wicked and the rebellious to repentance, but speaks to them
as to men past remedy. This is the meaning.
And he adds, Until I shall consume them (80) This refers to the whole body of the
people. God, in the meantime, still preserved, in a wonderful manner and by hidden
means, a remnant, as it has appeared elsewhere: but yet God took that vengeance,
which is here denounced on the people as a body; for it was as it were a general
death, when they were all driven into exile and everywhere scattered. Now as the
Lord in so great a ruin never forgot his covenant, but some seed still remained safe
and secure; so what is said here, I will not have mercy until I shall consume them, is
63

64. not inconsistent with the promise of mercy elsewhere given, when he declares that
he is long-suffering and plenteous in mercy. (Numbers 14:18; Psalms 103:8) Though
God then destroyed his people in so dreadful a manner, yet he did not divest himself
of his own nature, nor cast away his mercy; but he executed his judgments on the
reprobate in a way so wonderful, that he yet lost nothing of his eternal mercy and
remained still faithful as to his election. It follows —
And the kings who sit for David on his throne.
“For David,” that is, as his representatives. “In David’s stead,” is the rendering of
Gataker and Blayney. The word “even” before “the kings” in our version, is
improper; for what follows is not a specification of what is gone before, as “the
inhabitants of Jerusalem,” at the end of the verse, is in contrast with “all the
inhabitants of this land,” that is, the people of the country — Ed.
And I will dash them to pieces, each against his brother,
Both the fathers and the sons together, saith Jehovah.
The allusion is to the bottles: they would be broken like brittle vessels, when thrown
one against another. — Ed.
I will not relent, nor will I spare;
Nor will I pity, so as not to destroy them.
The two lines announce the same thing, only the last is stronger and more specific.
Pitying or commiserating is stronger than relenting, and not destroying describes
the act, while sparing is a general term. — Ed.
(lang. cy) Ae ni resynav rhag eu difetha.
The preposition “ (lang. cy) rhag ,” which ordinarily means from, signifies here
from not, which is exactly the Hebrew. — Ed.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:14 And I will dash them one against another, even the
fathers and the sons together, saith the LORD: I will not pity, nor spare, nor have
mercy, but destroy them.
Ver. 14. And I will dash them one against another.] As so many earthen bottles,
brittle and soon broken. Si collidimur frangimur, If smashed and broken said those
in the fable.
ELLICOTT, " (14) One against another.—The rendering answers to the Hebrew
idiom, but that idiom, as in the margin, a man against his brother, has a force which
is lacking in the English, and forms a transition from the symbol to the reality. The
words point to what we should call the “crash” of a falling kingdom, when all bonds
that keep society together are broken.
64

65. PETT, "Jeremiah 13:14
“And I will dash them one against another, even the fathers and the sons together,
the word of YHWH, I will not pity, nor spare, nor have compassion, that I should
not destroy them.”
The idea here would appear to be that of wine jars clashing together and breaking
(compare Isaiah 30:14), and is presumably a picture of their over indulgence being
such that it leads to extreme and careless behaviour and attitudes, to in-fighting
amongst themselves and to in-family quarrelling affecting the relationship between
a father and his adult sons. Their living is seen as being like a riotous party in which
all restraint has been removed. It may also signify political differences as the fathers
recommend prudence and the sons are all out for taking up a position of proud
independence in the face of Babylonian pressure. The consequence will, however, be
destruction. Note the threefold assurance that YHWH will not step in and help. ‘I
will not pity, I will not spare, I will not have compassion’. They have made their
choice and their rebellion has gone too far.
Threat of Captivity
15 Hear and pay attention,
do not be arrogant,
for the Lord has spoken.
BARNES, "Be not proud - Both the symbols were of a nature very humiliating to
the national self-respect.
GILL, "Hear ye, and give ear,.... Both to what goes before, and what follows after.
The words doubled denote the closest and strictest attention:
65

66. be not proud; haughty, scornful, as above all instruction, and needing no advice and
counsel, self-conceited, despising the word of God, and his messages by his prophets; or,
"do not lift up yourselves" (x); above others, and against God:
for the Lord hath spoken; it is not I, but the Lord; and what he has said shall
certainly come to pass; so the Targum,
"for in the word of the Lord it is so decreed;''
it is in vain to oppose him; his counsel shall stand, and he will do all his pleasure; none
ever hardened themselves against him, and prospered.
HENRY, ". Here is good counsel given, which, if taken, would prevent this
desolation. It is, in short, to humble themselves under the mighty hand of God. If they
will hearken and give ear, this is that which God has to say to them, Be not proud, Jer_
13:15. This was one of the sins for which God had a controversy with them (Jer_13:9);
let them mortify and forsake this sin, and God will let fall his controversy. “Be not
proud.; when God speaks to you by his prophets do not think yourselves too good to be
taught; be not scornful, be not wilful, let not your hearts rise against the word, nor slight
the messengers that bring it to you. When God is coming forth against you in his
providence (and by them he speaks) be not secure when he threatens, be not impatient
when he strikes, for pride is at the bottom of both.” It is the great God that has spoken,
whose authority is incontestable, whose power is irresistible; therefore bow to what he
says, and be not proud, as you have been. They must not be proud, for,
JAMISON, "be not proud — Pride was the cause of their contumacy, as humility is
the first step to obedience (Jer_13:17; Psa_10:4).
K&D, "With this threatening the prophet couples a solemn exhortation not to leave
the word of the Lord unheeded in their pride, but to give God the glory, ere judgment fall
on them. To give God the glory is, in this connection, to acknowledge His glory by
confession of apostasy from Him and by returning to Him in sincere repentance; cf. Jos_
7:19; Mal_2:2. "Your God," who has attested Himself to you as God. The Hiph. ִ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ַח‬‫י‬ is
not used intransitively, either here or in Psa_139:12, but transitively: before He brings or
makes darkness; cf. Amo_8:9. Mountains of dusk, i.e., mountains shrouded in dusk, are
the emblem of unseen stumbling-blocks, on which one stumbles and falls. Light and
darkness are well-known emblems of prosperity and adversity, welfare and misery. The
suffix in ‫הּ‬ ָ‫מ‬ ָ‫שׂ‬ goes with ‫ר‬ ‫,א‬ which is construed feminine here as in Job_36:32. Shadow
of death = deep darkness; ‫ל‬ֶ‫פ‬ ָ‫ֲר‬‫ע‬, cloudy night, i.e., dark night. The Chet. ‫ישׁית‬ is imperf.,
and to be read ‫ית‬ ִ‫ָשׁ‬‫י‬; the Keri ‫ית‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ ְ‫ו‬ is uncalled for and incorrect.
CALVIN, "The Prophet shews here more fully what we have stated, — that so
refractory was the temper of those with whom he had to do, that it was necessary to
66

67. use various means to subdue them. And it was not in vain that he added this
exhortation, which manifests indignation; nor was it without displeasure that he
required a hearing, Hear ye, and give ear; be not lifted up, for the Lord is he who
speaks Then we may hence gather, either that Jeremiah was derided, or that his
words were disregarded by the Jews; for this is intimated by the words, For
Jehovah has spoken; (81) for were they of themselves persuaded, that he announced
what God had commanded him, these words would have been used to no purpose.
But we shall elsewhere see, that he was deemed an impostor, and that he was
assailed by many reproofs and curses.
He therefore defends here his calling from their calumnies and reproaches, when he
says, that God had spoken; for by these words he affirms that he brought nothing of
his own, but spoke as it were from the mouth of God, or, which is the same thing,
that he was the instrument of the Holy Spirit; and he said this, in order that they
might know that they in vain contended with him, as the contest was between them
and God. And on this account he says, Hear ye, and give ear; for he saw that they
were deaf and torpid, and had need of many stimulants. He at the same time points
out the cause and the source of evil by saying, Be ye not lifted up (82) The cause then
of their contumacy was pride, for they dared to quarrel with God. So also the main
principle of obedience is humility, that is, when men acknowledge that they are
nothing and ascribe to God what is due to him.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:15 Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the LORD hath
spoken.
Ver. 15. Hear, and give ear.] Or, Hear and hearken, be not naughty. Here the
prophet calleth upon them again to repent, and to that end to listen diligently, and
to lay aside the highness of their hearts and the stoutness of their stomachs, since it
is the Lord that speaketh. "The lion roareth; who can but fear?" [Amos 3:8]
Repentance is the Removens prohibens, as being founded in humility, and wrought
by the word preached. [Jonah 3:4-10 Acts 2:37-41]
COFFMAN, "WARNING AGAINST THE PRIDE OF ISRAEL
"Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud; for Jehovah hath spoken. Give glory to
Jehovah your God, before he causes darkness, and before your feet stumble upon
the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turns it into the shadow of
death, and makes it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in
secret for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears,
because Jehovah's flock is taken captive."
"Be not proud ... my soul shall weep for your pride ..." (Jeremiah 13:15,17). These
are the key words in the passage and show that the warning is directed primarily
against the pride of Israel. Jeremiah is the one who promises to weep over Israel's
condition, as indicated by his reference to Jehovah's flock in Jeremiah 13:17.
67

68. What is symbolized here is the gathering darkness of the wrath of God. "Only a
sincere response to Jehovah's word could hold back the calamity and allow the light
to shine over the land."[7]
The approaching gloom of darkness was a dual symbol of the invasion and of the
captivity.
BENSON, "Verses 15-17
Jeremiah 13:15-17. Hear ye, &c. — The prophet proceeds to give them good
counsel, which, if it had been taken, the desolation and destruction threatened
would have been prevented. Be not proud — Pride was one of the sins for which
God had a controversy with them, Jeremiah 13:9. Let them mortify and forsake this
and their other sins, and God will let fall his controversy with them. Give glory to
the Lord your God — Glorify God by an humble confession of your sins, by
submitting yourselves to him, humbling yourselves under his word, and under his
mighty hand; before he cause darkness — Before he bring upon you the night of
affliction, even his great and heavy judgments. Light is the emblem of joy, and
happy times are expressed by bright and pleasant days. On the contrary, calamities
and troubles are represented by night and darkness, when every thing looks
melancholy and dismal. And before your feet stumble, &c. — Before the time come
when ye shall be forced to flee by night unto the mountains for fear of your enemies.
Or, more generally, before you find yourselves overtaken by the pursuing
judgments of God, notwithstanding all your endeavours to outrun and escape from
them. And while ye look for light — That is, for relief and comfort; he turn it into
the shadow of death — Involve you in most dismal and terrible calamities, out of
which you shall be utterly unable to extricate yourselves. But if ye will not hear —
Will not submit to and obey the word, but continue to be refractory; my soul shall
weep in secret places for your pride — Your haughtiness, stubbornness, and vain
confidence; and mine eye shall weep sore, &c. — Not chiefly, nor so much, because
my relations, friends, and neighbours are involved in trouble and distress, but
because the Lord’s flock — His people, and the sheep of his pasture; are carried
away captive — Observe, reader, that should always grieve us most by which God’s
honour suffers, and the interest of his kingdom is weakened.
SIMEON, "Verses 15-17
DISCOURSE: 1048
A CALL TO REPENTANCE [Note: Preached February, 1801.]
Jeremiah 13:15-17. Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.
Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet
stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the
shadow of death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall
weep in secret places for your pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down
68

69. with tears, because the Lord’s flock is carried away captive.
REPENTANCE is at all times a proper subject to be enforced; but more especially
on a day professedly set apart for national humiliation. The words before us were
addressed to the Jews when God was about to send them into captivity in Babylon:
and they may well be considered as addressed to us, now that his hand is lifted up
for the punishment, and, for aught we know, for the destruction of our land.
They manifestly contain the prophet’s exhortation; his arguments to enforce it; and
his determination in case he should not be able to prevail on the people to repent.
But the occasion, and the text itself, call rather for exhortation than discussion. We
shall therefore, though not without a due attention to the order of the words,
proceed to urge upon you the great, the seasonable, the indispensable duty of
repentance—
[Know then, that it is “God who speaketh.” The words delivered to you in his name,
as far as they accord with his mind and will, are his words, and are to be received as
though you heard them uttered by a voice from heaven [Note: 2 Corinthians 5:20. 1
Thessalonians 2:13.].
“Hear ye, and give ear,” and let not the pride of your hearts obstruct your attention.
Often has God spoken to you by the dispensations of his providence, and the
declarations of his grace; yea, moreover, by the still small voice of conscience: but
ye, the generality of you at least, have turned a deaf ear, and refused to hear the
voice of the charmer, charm he never so wisely [Note: Job 33:14.]. But “be not
proud,” Ye must hear at last, whether ye will or not. Let then your stout hearts be
humbled; and receive with meekness the engrafted word [Note: James 1:21.].
In the name of God we say to you, Repent. “Give glory to the Lord your God.” It is
by repentance only that you can do this [Note: Joshua 7:19. Revelation 16:9.].
Repentance glorifies all his perfections; his omniscience that sees your
transgressions, his justice that punishes them, his mercy that pardons them, and his
wisdom and goodness that have provided such a marvellous salvation for ruined
man.
O glorify his omniscience: say, ‘Lord, thou art privy to all the secrets of my heart;
thou knowest that I am inexpressibly vile [Note: Jeremiah 17:9. Job 40:4; Job 42:2;
Job 42:6.].’
Glorify his justice; and acknowledge, that if he cut you off, and consign you to the
lowest hell, you have no more than your just desert [Note: Matthew 22:12-13.
Romans 3:4. Psalms 143:2.].
Glorify his mercy; and plead it with him as the only, the all-sufficient ground of
your hope and confidence [Note: Psalms 51:1.].
69

70. Glorify his wisdom and goodness, that have opened a way for your return to him
through the incarnation and death of his only dear Son. Declare that you have no
trust whatever but in the blood and righteousness of that almighty Saviour [Note:
Philippians 3:8-9.].
To persist in impenitence is the certain way to bring down the heaviest judgments
upon your souls. The darkness that hangs over the nation [Note: Joel 2:2-3. perhaps
a true picture of our present state.], cannot be dispelled in any other way; much less
can that with which God menaces your souls. O consider “the darkness, the gross
darkness,” in which they are involved, who are shut up under judicial blindness and
final obduracy [Note: Isaiah 6:9-10.]; or who, under the terrors of a guilty
conscience, “stumble on the dark mountains” of unbelief, and, like the Jews (who
thought they had clean escaped from their pursuers) are overtaken by the sword of
vengeance [Note: This is the literal meaning of the text.], so that “while they look for
light, it is turned into the shadow of death,” and they are plunged into “the
blackness of darkness for evermore [Note: 2 Thessalonians 2:11-12. Jude, ver. 13.].”
But repentance may yet avert the storm, both from the nation, and from our own
souls. Numberless are the declarations of God to this effect [Note: To nations, 2
Chronicles 7:14; and to individuals, Isaiah 55:7.] and numberless the instances
wherein it has been verified [Note: Nineveh, the dying thief, &c.]. But let us
remember what kind of repentance it is which will thus prevail: it is not a mere
formal confession of sin with a partial reformation of the life, but such a repentance
as glorifies all the perfections of the Deity; such a repentance as has an especial
respect to Christ, who alone can procure our pardon, and in whom alone we can
ever find acceptance with God.
Would to God that we might prevail with you, and that you were all, in good
earnest, turning unto God! Could we once behold this, O how should we rejoice:
and how would “the very angels in heaven rejoice” on your account! But, “if ye will
not repent,” (as it is to be feared too many of you will not,) “my soul,” and the souls
of all who are aware of your condition, “shall weep in secret places for your pride;
yea, our eyes shall weep sore and run down with tears,” on account of your present
and approaching bondage. The godly in all ages have wept over those who felt no
concern for their own souls [Note: Psalms 119:136. Ezra 9:3; Ezra 10:6. 2 Peter 2:8.
Romans 9:1-2; above all, Luke 19:41.]: and we trust that there are many, who will
lay to heart the evils which ye are too proud to acknowledge, too obdurate to
deplore. But we entreat you to consider, Is there one amongst us all, that is not a
sinner before God [Note: 1 Kings 8:46. James 3:2.]? and does not the broken law
denounce a curse against us [Note: Galatians 3:10.]? and if God be true, will not
that curse be inflicted on the impenitent? Why then will ye not humble yourselves
before an offended God, a merciful Redeemer? Alas! for your “pride,” and
stoutness of heart! How lamentable is it, that you, who have been baptized into the
name of Christ, and are therefore properly “the Lord’s flock,” should be so “carried
captive” by your lusts, and by your great adversary, the devil [Note: 2 Timothy
70

71. 2:26.]! O think, it is but a little time and your captivity will be complete; and, lost
beyond a possibility of redemption, you will be bound in chains of everlasting
darkness [Note: Jude, ver. 6.]. And is not here a cause for sorrow on your account?
“O that mine head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep
day and night” for your unhappy state [Note: Jeremiah 9:1.]!
We will not, however, conclude, without once more entreating you to “give glory to
the Lord your God;” that so “your light may rise in obscurity, and your darkness
may be as the noon-day [Note: Isaiah 67:8; Isaiah 67:10.].”]
PETT, "Verses 15-27
A Final Appeal For Repentance Before It Is Too Late, For if They Do Fail To
Respond Their Final Judgment Will Come Upon Them (Jeremiah 13:15-27).
The people are called on to look to YHWH while there is still a glimmer of light,
because if they do not gross darkness will descend upon them, something which
causes Jeremiah to weep at what is coming. The assumption then being made that
they will refuse to respond, it results in advice being given to the monarchy to divest
themselves of their signs of authority, an indication of subjugation, and the warning
being given that the whole land even down to the Negeb will shortly be deserted.
This is because those to whom they have cosied up (both their neighbours and
especially Babylon) will take possession of them, with the result that they will be
embarrassed and shamed, something pictured in graphic terms on the basis of their
lascivious behaviour in the hills.
Jeremiah 13:15
“Hear you, and give ear. Do not be proud. For YHWH has spoken.”
BI 15-17, "Hear ye, and give ear; be not proud: for the Lord hath spoken.
Jehovah hath spoken: will ye not hear?
I. There is a revelation. “For the Lord hath spoken.”
1. The voice which we are bidden to hear is a Divine voice, it is the voice of Him that
made the heavens and the earth, whose creatures we are.
2. It is a word most clear and plain, for Jehovah hath spoken. He might have taught
us only by the works of His hands, in which the invisible things of God, even His
eternal power and Godhead are clearly seen. What is all creation but a hieroglyphic
scroll, in which the Lord has written out His character as Creator and Provider? But
since He knew that we were dim of sight and dull of comprehension, the Lord has
gone beyond the symbols and hieroglyphs, and used articulate speech such as a man
useth with his fellow: Jehovah hath spoken!
3. Moreover, I gather from the expression in the text that the revelation made to us
by the Lord is an unchangeable and abiding word. It is not today that Jehovah is
71

72. speaking, but Jehovah hath spoken: His voice by the prophets and apostles is silent
now, for He hath revealed all truth which is needful for salvation.
4. This revelation is preeminently a condescending and cheering word. The very fact
that the great God speaks to us by His Son indicates that mercy, tenderness, love,
hope, grace, are the burden of His utterance.
II. Since there is a revelation, it should be suitably received.
1. If Jehovah hath spoken, then all attention should be given; yea, double attention,
even as the text hath it, “Hear ye, and give ear.” Hear, and hear again: incline your
ear, hearken diligently, surrender your soul to the teaching of the Lord God; and be
not satisfied till yea have heard His teaching, have heard it with your whole being,
and have felt the force of its every truth. “Hear ye,” because the word comes with
power, and “give ear,” because you willingly receive it.
2. Then it is added, as if by way of directing us how suitably to hear this revelation—
“Give glory to Jehovah your God.”
(1) Glorify the Lord by accepting whatsoever He saith unto thee as being
infallibly true. In all its length and breadth, whatsoever the Lord saith we believe;
and we desire to know neither less nor more than He has spoken.
(2) We must receive the word, however, in a hearty and honest manner so as to
act upon it. We must therefore repent of the sin which the Lord condemns, and
turn from the way which He abhors; we must loathe the vice which He forbids us,
and seek after the virtue which He commands.
(3) But we must go further than repentance and the acceptance of the truth as
truth, we must further reverence the gracious voice of God when He bids us
believe on Christ and live. He has couched that message of love in so blessed a
form that he who does not accept it must be wantonly malicious against God and
against his own soul.
III. Pride in the human heart prevents such a reception.
1. In some it is the pride of intellect. They do not wish to be treated like children.
Things that are despised, hath God chosen, and things that are not, to bring to
naught the things that are: that no flesh may glory in His presence. Oh, let none of us
be so proud as to lift up ourselves in opposition to that which Jehovah hath spoken!
2. In some others it is the pride of self-esteem. It is a dreadful thing that men should
think it better to go to hell in a dignified way than to go to heaven by the narrow road
of a childlike faith in the Redeemer. Those who will not stoop even to receive Christ
Himself and the blessings of eternal life deserve to perish. God save us from such
folly!
3. Some have a pride of self-righteousness. They say “we see,” and therefore their
eyes are not opened: they cry “we are clean,” and therefore they are not washed from
their iniquity.
4. In some, too, it is the pride of self-love. They cannot deny their lusts.
5. The pride of self-will also works its share of ruin among men. The unrenewed
heart virtually says—“I shall not mind these commands. Why should I be tied hand
and foot, and ruled, and governed? I intend to be a free thinker and a free liver, and I
72

73. will not submit myself.”
IV. Hence there comes an earnest warning. “Give glory to the Lord your God, before He
cause darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains.” Listen, thou
who hast rejected God and His Christ till now. Thou art already out of the way, among
the dark mountains. There is a King’s highway of faith, and thou hast refused it; thou
hast turned aside to the right hand or to the left, according to thine own imagination.
Being out of the way of safety, thou art in the path of danger even now. Though the
sunlight shines about thee, and the flowers spring up profusely under thy feet, yet thou
art in danger, for there is no safety out of the King’s road. If thou wilt still pursue thy
headlong career, and choose a path for thyself, I pray thee remember that darkness is
lowering around thee. The day is far spent! Around thy soul there are hanging mists and
glooms already, and these will thicken into the night-damps of bewilderment. Thinking
but not believing, thou wilt soon think thyself into a horror of great darkness. Refusing
to hear what Jehovah has spoken, thou wilt follow other voices, which shall allure thee
into an Egyptian night of confusion. Upon whom wilt thou call in the day of thy calamity,
and who will succour thee? Then thy thoughts will dissolve into vanity, and thy spirit
shall melt into dismay. “Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will make thee a terror to thyself,
and to all thy friends.” Thou shalt grope after comfort as blind men grope for the wall,
and because thou hast rejected the Lord and His truth, He also will reject thee and leave
thee to thine own devices. Meanwhile, there shall overcloud thee a darkness bred of
thine own sin and wilfulness. Thou shalt lose the brightness of thine intellect, the sharp
clearness of thy thought shall depart from thee, professing thyself to be wise thou shalt
become a fool. Thou shalt be in an all-surrounding, penetrating blackness. Hence comes
the solemnity of this warning, “Give glory to the Lord your God, before He cause
darkness.” For after that darkness there comes a stumbling, as saith the text, “before
your feet stumble upon the dark mountains.” There must be difficulties in every man’s
way, even if it be a way of his own devising; but to the man that will not accept the light
of God, these difficulties must necessarily be dark mountains with sheer abysses,
pathless crags, and impenetrable ravines. He has refused the path which wisdom has
cast up, and he is justly doomed to stumble where there is no way. Beware of
encountering mysteries without guidance and faith, for you will stumble either into folly
or superstition, and only rise to stumble again. Those who stumble at Christ’s Cross are
like to stumble into hell. There are also dark mountains of another kind which will block
the way of the wanderer mountains of dismay, of remorse, of despair.
V. there remains for the friends of the impenitent but one resort. Like our Lord in later
times, the prophet beheld the city and wept over it: he could do no less, he could do no
more. Alas, his sorrow would be unavailing, his grief was hopeless. Observe that the
prophet did not expect to obtain sympathy in this sorrow of his. He says, “My soul shall
weep in secret places for your pride.” He would get quite alone, hide himself away, and
become a recluse. Alas, that so few even now care for the souls of men! This also puts a
pungent salt into the tears of the godly, that the weeping can do no good, since the
people refuse the one and only remedy. Jehovah has spoken, and if they will not hear
Him they must die in their sins. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Attention to God’s Word
I. How should we attend to it?
73

74. 1. With reverence.
2. In faith.
3. Diligently, earnestly.
4. Intelligently.
5. Intending to be governed by it.
6. Prayerfully.
II. There is here an implied neglect.
1. Men are filled with other things.
2. They do not know its worth.
3. They do not apprehend the bearing it may have on their well-being.
4. They are not willing to submit to its teachings.
III. Why should we attend?
1. The dignity and glory of the Lord.
2. His wisdom and knowledge.
3. His beneficence, interest, and love.
4. He speaks to us of matters in which we have the deepest interest.
Learn—
1. To read the Bible regularly.
2. To treasure it in the heart.
3. To honour it in your life. (E. Jerman.)
Be not proud.—
Pride
I. Different kinds of pride.
1. Race pride—pride in ancestors.
2. Face pride—pride in outward appearance.
3. Place pride—pride in social position.
4. Grace pride—pride in godliness.
II. The warning. Be not proud—
1. Because we have nothing to be proud of.
2. Because it is abhorrent to God.
3. Because it is unlike Christ.
4. Because it is ruinous.
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75. Apply—
(1) Some are very proud.
(2) Some occasionally.
(3) Some are bravely struggling against pride. (J. Bolton.)
The warning against pride
Many of the inhabitants of the valleys that lie between the Alps in Switzerland have large
swellings, called goitres, which hang down from the sides of their necks, like great bags.
They are horrible things to look at. And yet, strange as it may seem, the Swiss get to be
proud even of these dreadful deformities. They look down with contempt on their
neighbours who do not have these terrible swellings, and call them the “goose-necked”
people. And so we see that pride is a sin into which we are all in danger of falling. And
here we have God’s warning against pride.
I. Pride brings with it unhappiness. The fable says, that there was a tortoise once, that
was very unhappy because he could not fly. He used to look up and see the eagles and
other birds spreading out their wings and floating through the air. He said to himself,
“Oh, if I only had wings, as those birds have, so that I could rise up into the air, and sail
about there as they do, how happy I should be!” One day, he called to an eagle, and
offered him a great reward if he would only teach him how to fly. The eagle said—“Well,
I’ll try what I can do. You get on my back, and I’ll carry you up into the air, and we’ll see
what can be done.” So the tortoise got on the back of the eagle. Then the eagle spread out
his wings and began to soar aloft. He went up, and up, and up, till he had reached a great
height. Then he said to the tortoise: “Now, get ready. I’m going to throw you off, and you
must try your hand at flying.” So the eagle threw him off; and he went down, down,
down, till at last he fell upon a hard rock and was dashed to pieces. Now here you see, it
was the pride of the tortoise which made him so unhappy, because he couldn’t fly. And it
was trying to gratify his pride which cost him his life.
II. Pride brings with it trouble. We never can set ourselves against any of God’s laws
without getting into trouble. Two masons were engaged in building a brick wall in front
of a high house. One of them was older and more experienced than his companion. The
younger one, whose name was Ben, placed a brick in the wall which was thicker at one
end than at the other. His companion noticed it, and said—“Ben, if I were you I wouldn’t
leave that brick there. It’s not straight, and will be likely to injure the wall by making it
untrue.” “Pooh!” said Ben, “what difference will such a trifle as that make? You are too
particular.” “My mother used to teach me,” said his friend, “that truth is truth; and that
ever so little an untruth is a lie, and that a lie is no trifle.” Now Ben’s pride was offended
by what his friend had said to him. So he straightened himself up, and said in an angry
tone—“Well, I guess I understand my business as well as you do. I am sure that brick
won’t do any harm.” His friend said nothing more to him. They both went quietly on
with their work, laying one brick after another, and carrying the wall up higher, till the
close of the day. Next morning they went back to go on with their work again. But when
they got there they found the wall all in ruins. The explanation of it was this: that uneven
brick had given it a little slant. As the wall got up higher, the slant increased, till at last,
in the middle of the night, it tumbled over and fell down to the ground. And here we see
the trouble which this young man brought on himself by his pride. If he had only learned
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76. to mind this Bible warning against it, that wall would not have fallen down, and he
would have been saved the trouble of building it up again.
III. Pride brings with it loss. The apostle tells us that “God resisteth the proud, but
giveth grace to the humble.” So if we give way to pride, we are in a position in which God
is resisting us, and then it is certain, that we can expect nothing but loss in everything
that we do. When we begin to love and serve God, He says to each of us, “from this day
will I bless thee.” And are told that “the blessing of the Lord maketh rich, and He addeth
no sorrow.” The way in which God’s blessing makes His people rich is in the peace, joy,
happiness He gives them; the sense of His favour and protection which they have in this
world, and the hope of sharing His presence and glory forever in heaven. But if we give
way to pride we cannot love and serve God; and then we must lose His blessing—the
greatest loss we can ever meet with in this world. (R. Newton, D. D.)
God glorified in the fall of pride
I. What is it which stops people from hearing the voice of God?
1. One form of pride is shame. Many kept from Christ because ashamed to come and
give themselves up to Him. For fear of the paltry scorn, the momentary ridicule, the
soul will risk eternity!
2. There is the pride of respectability and social position. Hold apart from religion,
because in the one way all must go without distinction. Yet what can justify in a lost
sinner any high and vain thoughts of self?
3. There is the pride that conceals a wound. God’s Word has stricken the heart;
healing and joy could be had if we humbly go to God, yet hide the grief and unrest
within, from man and Heaven.
4. There is the pride of self-righteousness. What say when before the Throne—that
you were too good to accept the Gospel?
II. Human pride must effectually be broken down.
1. When pride humbled and man crushed, God speaks. What say? “Give glory to the
Lord your God.” “Your” God still, though turned back on Him and grieved Him.
2. The contrite soul cannot realise its inability to glorify God. Broken down,
powerless, self-despairing, cast yourself on His salvation.
3. There is a desperate alternative: that you “will not hear.” By and by your feet will
“stumble on the dark mountains.” The day of disease will come; life will grow dim;
the thin grandeur of a fading world will begin to pass away; all around the gloom will
thicken, and on a dying world “gross darkness” of unrelieved despair will cover you.
Then the last moment arrives; one terrified “look for light,” but in vain; the soul is
“carried away into captivity.” (W. H. M. H. Aitken, M. A.)
76

77. 16 Give glory to the Lord your God
before he brings the darkness,
before your feet stumble
on the darkening hills.
You hope for light,
but he will turn it to utter darkness
and change it to deep gloom.
BARNES, "The dark mountains - Rather, “the mountains of twilight.” Judah is
not walking upon the safe highway, but upon dangerous mountains: and the dusk is
closing round her. While then the light still serves let her return unto her God.
And, while ye look ... - Translate, “and ye wait for light, and He turn it (the light)
into the shadow of death, yea change it into clouded darkness.”
CLARKE, "Give glory to - God - Confess your sins and turn to him, that these sore
evils may be averted.
While ye look for light - While ye expect prosperity, he turned it into the shadow of
death - sent you adversity of the most distressing and ruinous kind.
Stumble upon the dark mountains - Before you meet with those great obstacles,
which, having no light - no proper understanding in the matter, ye shall be utterly
unable to surmount.
GILL, "Give glory to the Lord your God,.... By confessing sin unto him; by
humiliation for it before him; by believing what he says, hearkening to his word, and
obeying his commands, and living to his honour and glory; see Jos_7:19, especially by
believing in Christ, the true God, and true Messiah, embracing his Gospel, and his
ordinances:
before he cause darkness; before the Lord brings on the dark dispensation
threatened, the calamity before spoken of; repent while space is given, before it is too
late; so the Targum,
77

78. "before tribulation comes upon you, and ye be like to those that walk in darkness.''
The Babylonish captivity may be meant, which was a dark day with the Jews, as is their
present case, and which may be included; and it is applicable to any dark state of the
church of God, such as may be now apprehended as near, through the spread of Popery,
the growth of errors and heresies, the persecution of the saints, the slaying of the
witnesses, the cessation of the Gospel ministry and ordinances for a while; which is that
day of darkness and gloominess, that hour of temptation that shall come upon all the
earth, to try its inhabitants; happy those that give glory to God by their faith in him, and
by keeping the word of his patience:
and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains; or, "of twilight"; or, "of
the evening"; or rather, "upon the mountains in the evening" (y); at eventide; at which
time it is troublesome and dangerous travelling on mountains. These may design either
the mountains to which they would flee for shelter, Mat_24:16, or those which lay in the
way to Babylon, over which they should travel when carried captive; or rather the
kingdoms of Babylon and Media, whither they should be carried, and where they should
endure much affliction and hardship; it being usual to signify kingdoms by mountains;
so Babylon itself is, Jer_51:25, perhaps there may be some allusion, as Sanctus thinks, to
Babylon itself, which being situated in a marshy place, might be generally covered with a
cloud or mist, and, together with the smoke of the city, might look like a dark mountain;
and especially the hanging gardens in it looked at a distance like (z) mountains with
forests on them. It may be applied to the eventide of the latter day, when many shall
stumble and fall through mountains of difficulties and discouragements in the way of
religion; of professing the pure Gospel and ordinances of it, through the prevailing
darkness of the age, and the persecution of men; and to the evening of life, and the dark
mountains of death and eternity, on which men may be said to stumble and fall when
they die; and when their everlasting state will appear to be fixed as immovable as
mountains; and there will be no more means of grace, of faith, repentance, and
conversion, but blackness of darkness for evermore, outer darkness, weeping and
gnashing of teeth; wherefore, before this time comes, it behooves persons to be
concerned for the glory of God, and the everlasting welfare of their souls:
and while ye look for light; prosperity and happiness, as the false prophets gave out
they should have; or for help and assistance from the Egyptians, to whom they sent:
he turn it into the shadow of death, and make it gross darkness; that is, the
Lord, who would disappoint them, and, instead of having that relief and comfort they
were promised, would bring upon them such shocking calamities, which would be as
terrible as death itself, or at least as the shadow of death, and be like gross darkness,
even such as was in Egypt, which might be felt; see Isa_49:9.
HENRY, "They must advance God, and study how to do him honour: “Give glory to
the Lord your God, and not to your idols, not to other gods. Give him glory by confessing
your sins, owning yourselves guilty before him, and accepting the punishment of your
iniquity, Jer_13:16. Give him glory by confessing your sins, owning yourselves guilty
before him, and accepting the punishment of your iniquity, Jer_13:16. Give him glory by
a sincere repentance and reformation.” The and not till then, we begin to live as we
should, and to some good purpose, when we begin to give glory to the Lord our God, to
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79. make his honour our chief end and to seek it accordingly. “Do this quickly, while your
space to repent is continued to you; before he cause darkness, before you will see no way
of escaping.” Note, Darkness will be the portion of those that will not repent to give
glory to God. When those that by the fourth vial were scorched with heat repented not,
to give glory to God. When those that by the fourth vial were scorched with heat
repented not, to give glory to God, the next vial filled them with darkness, Rev_16:9,
Rev_16:10. The aggravation of the darkness here threatened is, (1.) That their attempts
to escape shall hasten their ruin: Their feet shall stumble when they are making all the
haste they can over the dark mountains, and they shall fall, and be unable to get up
again. Note, Those that think to out-run the judgments of God will find their road
impassable; let them make the best of their way, they can make nothing of it, the
judgments that pursue them will overtake them; their way is dark and slippery, Psa_
35:6. And therefore, before it comes to that extremity, it is our wisdom to give glory to
him, and so make our peace with him, to fly to his mercy, and then there will be no
occasion to fly from his justice. (2.) That their hopes of a better state of things will be
disappointed: While you look for light, for comfort and relief, he will turn it into the
shadow of death, which is very dismal and terrible, and make it gross darkness, like that
of Egypt, when Pharaoh continued to harden his heart, which was darkness that might
be felt. The expectation of impenitent sinners perishes when they die and think to have it
satisfied.
2. They must abase themselves, and take shame to themselves; the prerogative of the
king and queen will not exempt them from this (Jer_13:18): “Say to the king and queen,
that, great as they are, they must humble themselves by true repentance, and so give
both glory to God and a good example to their subjects.” Note, Those that are exalted
above others in the world must humble themselves before God, who is higher than the
highest, and to whom kings and queens are accountable. They must humble themselves,
and sit down - sit down, and consider what is coming - sit down in the dust, and lament
themselves. Let them humble themselves, for God will otherwise take an effectual course
to humble them: “Your principalities shall come down, the honour and power on which
you value yourselves and in which you confide, even the crown of your glory, your
goodly or glorious crown: when you are led away captives, where will your principality
and all the badges of it be then?” Blessed be God there is a crown of glory, which those
shall inherit who do humble themselves, that shall never come down.
JAMISON, "Give glory, etc. — Show by repentance and obedience to God, that you
revere His majesty. So Joshua exhorted Achan to “give glory to God” by confessing his
crime, thereby showing he revered the All-knowing God.
stumble — image from travelers stumbling into a fatal abyss when overtaken by
nightfall (Isa_5:30; Isa_59:9, Isa_59:10; Amo_8:9).
dark mountains — literally, “mountains of twilight” or “gloom,” which cast such a
gloomy shadow that the traveler stumbles against an opposing rock before he sees it
(Joh_11:10; Joh_12:35).
shadow of death — the densest gloom; death shade (Psa_44:19). Light and
darkness are images of prosperity and adversity.
CALVIN, "Jeremiah pursues the subject, which we began to explain yesterday, for
he saw that the Jews were but little moved by what he taught them. He bid them. to
regard what he said as coming from God, and told them that they could by no
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80. means succeed by their pride. For the same purpose he now adds, Give glory to
Jehovah your God To give glory to God is elsewhere taken for confessing the truth
in his name; for when Joshua abjured Achan, he used these words, “Give glory to
God, my son;” that is, As I have set God before you as a judge, beware lest you
should think that if you lie you can escape his judgment. (Joshua 7:19) But here, to
give glory to God, is the same as to ascribe to him what properly belongs to him, or
to acknowledge his power so as to be submissive to his word: for if we deny faith to
the prophets; we rob God of his glory, as we thus disown his power, and, as far as
we can, diminish his glory. How indeed can we ascribe glory to God except by
acknowledging him to be the fountain of all wisdom, justice, and power, and
especially by trembling at his sacred word? Whosoever then does not fear and
reverence God, whosoever does not believe his word, he robs him of his glory. We
hence see that all the unbelieving, though they may testify the contrary by their
mouths, are yet in reality enemies to God’s glory and deprive him of it.
This subject ought to be carefully noticed; for all ought to dread such a sacrilege as
this, and yet there is no one who takes sufficient heed in this respect. We then see
what instruction this expression conveys; it is as though he had said, that the Jews
had hitherto acted contemptuously towards God, for they trembled not before him,
as they had no faith in his word: and that it was now time for him to set God before
them as their Judge, and also for them to know that they ought to have believed
whatever God declared to them by his servants.
He says, Before he introduces darkness Others render it by a single word, “Before it
grows dark,” but as the verb is in Hiphil, it ought to be taken in a causative sense.
Some consider the word sun to be understood, but without reason; for the sun is not
said to send darkness by its setting. But the Prophet removes all ambiguity by the
words which immediately follow in the second clause, And turn light to the shadow
of death, and turn it to thick darkness In these words the Prophet no doubt refers to
God, so that the word God, used at the beginning of the verse, is to be understood
here. (83)
Before God, he then says, sends darkness, and before your feet stumble on the
mountains of obscurity The word ‫,נשף‬ neshiph, means the evening and the twilight;
it means also the obscure light before the rising of the sun; but it is often taken for
the whole night. We can render the words, “the mountains of density.” But the
word, no doubt, means here obscurity. Some think that mountains are to be here
taken metaphorically for Egypt; for the Jews were wont to flee there in their
troubles. But there are safer recesses on mountains than on the plains; yet I know
not whether this sense will be very suitable here. On the contrary, I prefer to regard
the words as preceded by ‫,כ‬caph, a particle of likeness, which is often understood,
and the meaning would be thus suitable, “Before your feet stumble as on obscure
mountains:” for there is more light on level grounds than on mountains, for
darkness often fills narrow passes: the sun cannot penetrate there; and also the
evening does not come on so soon on plains as in the recesses of mountains; for the
Prophet refers not to the summits but to the narrow valleys, which receive not the
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81. oblique rays of the sun but for a few hours. But what if we give this rendering?
“Before your feet stumble at the mountains of darkness;” for ‫,אל‬al, has the meaning
of at, (84) as though the Prophet had said, that the darkness would be so thick that
they could not discern mountains opposite them. As in the twilight or in darkness a
traveler stumbles at the smallest stones, so also, when the darkness is very thick,
even mountains are not perceived. It thus often happens that a person stumbles at
mountains, and finds by his feet and his hands a stumblingblock before he perceives
it by his eyes. As to myself, I wholly think that this is the right explanation, Before
then your feet stumble at the dark mountains
He afterwards adds, When ye hope for light, he turns it to the shadow of death The
word ‫,צלמות‬tsalmut, as I have said elsewhere, is thought by grammarians to be
composed of ‫צל‬ tsal, “shadow,” and of ‫מות‬ mut, which means “death,” and they
render it “fatal darkness.” Then what he says is, “Before God turns light to
darkness, turns it to thick darkness, give to him his glory.” And. hence we perceive
more clearly what I have already referred to, that the verb ‫,יחשיך‬icheshik, “will
cause darkness,” ought to be applied to God.
But the sum of the whole is this, that they could anticipate God’s judgment by
admitting him in time as their Judge, and also by receiving his word with more
reverence than they had previously done. At the same time he declares that their
hope was vain if they promised themselves light. But we must know that light is here
to be taken metaphorically, as in many other places, and darkness also, its opposite,
is to be so taken. Darkness means adversities, and light, peace and prosperity. The
Prophet then says that the Jews deceived themselves, if they thought that their
happiness would be perpetual, if they despised God and his prophets; and why?
because it would have been the same as to disarm or to deprive him of his power, as
though he was not the Judge of the world. He in short shews, that there was nigh at
hand a most dreadful vengeance, except the Jews in time anticipated it and
submitted themselves to God. It now follows —
Our version of this sentence is in accordance with the early versions: it is indeed
literally the Septuagint and the Vulgate. Yet it is not the original. The verb is in
Hithpael, and means to strike or smite together, or against one another. The literal
rendering is the following, —
Before your feet smite one against the other,
On the mountains of gloominess (i.e. gloomy mountains.)
It is true the word for “gloominess” means sometimes the twilight; but here it seems
to signify a state somewhat dark or obscure. To wander and to stumble on gloomy
mountains betokens the miserable condition of fugitives: and this is what is meant
here. See Jeremiah 16:16; Ezekiel 7:16. Then what follows might be thus
rendered, —
When ye shall look anxiously for light,
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82. Then will he make it the shadow of death,
He will turn it to thick darkness.
When two vaus occur in a sentence, they may often be rendered when and then. The
change proposed as to the last verb is not at all necessary. Literally it is, “He will set
it (to be) for thick darkness.” — Ed.
COKE, "Jeremiah 13:16. Give glory to the Lord— That is to say, "Confess your
faults, and humble yourselves under his mighty hand, before he bring upon you the
night of affliction; before the time come, when ye shall be forced to fly by night unto
the mountains for fear of the enemy." See Calmet.
The dark mountains— The mountains of gloominess. By ‫ףּ‬‫הרי‬ ‫נשׁ‬ harei nasheph, I
imagine those caverns and holes in the mountains are meant, which the Jews were
wont to make use of for burying-places; the gloomy shade of which probably gave
rise to that expression which we meet with both here and elsewhere, "the shadow of
death." The prophet Isaiah makes use of much the same images, Isaiah 10-59:9 .
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:16 Give glory to the LORD your God, before he cause
darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains, and, while ye look
for light, he turn it into the shadow of death, [and] make [it] gross darkness.
Ver. 16. Give glory to the Lord your God.] Confess your sins; [Joshua 7:19] one part
of repentance put for the whole. Jeremiah was as constant a preacher of repentance,
as Paul, and after him Augustine, were of the free grace of God. The impenitent
person robbeth God of his right; the penitent man sarcit iniuriam Deo irrogatam,
seemeth to make some kind of amends to God, whom he had wronged, by restoring
him his glory, which he had run away with, while he putteth himself into the hands
of justice, in hope of mercy.
Before he cause darkness,] scil., Of calamity and captivity. Currat poenitentia, ne
praecurrat sententia.
Before your feet stumble.] (a) So, before ye fall upon the dark and dangerous crags
and precipices of eternal perdition. Which, to prevent, work while the light lasteth;
walk while it is yet day.
ELLICOTT, " (16) Give glory to the Lord your God.—Probably in the same sense
as in Joshua 7:19 and John 9:24, perhaps also in Malachi 2:2, “give glory by
confessing the truth, even though that truth be a sin that involves punishment.”
“Confess your guilt ere it be too late for pardon.” This fits in better with the context
than the more general sense of “ascribing praise to God.”
Before your feet stumble upon the dark mountains.—Literally, the mountains of
twilight, the word used being employed exclusively first of the coolness and then of
the gathering gloom of evening twilight, and never of the dawn. (Compare its use in
82

83. Job 3:9; Job 24:15; Proverbs 7:9.) The fact that the shadows are deepening is
obviously one of the vivid touches of the figurative language used. The “gloaming”
of the dusk is to pass on into the midnight darkness of the “shadow of death.” The
same thought is found in Isaiah 59:10, and (probably with some reference to this
very passage) in our Lord’s words, “If a man walk in the night he stumbleth” (John
11:10; John 12:35).
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:16
“Give glory to YHWH your God, before he cause darkness, and before your feet
stumble on the mountains of gathering gloom (twilight), and, while you look for
light, he turn it into the deep darkness, and make it gross darkness.”
If only they will turn and give glory to YHWH whilst there is still a glimmer of light
all could be well. But if they refuse to turn then He will cause darkness to surround
them, and the mountains on which they live and move will become dark mountains
in the same way as day becomes night, and while they are looking for some glimmer
of light He will turn it into deep darkness, and make it gross darkness.
‘Give glory to YHWH your God.’ This may have been a regular way of calling on
men to recognise and admit their sin. Compare its use in Joshua 7:19; Malachi 2:2;
John 9:24.
17 If you do not listen,
I will weep in secret
because of your pride;
my eyes will weep bitterly,
overflowing with tears,
because the Lord’s flock will be taken captive.
BARNES, "The Lord’s flock - The people carried away captive with Jeconiah
formed the Jewish Church, as we are expressly told, whereas Zedekiah and the people of
Jerusalem possessed only the externals of the Church and not its reality. It is for this
reason that the seventy years’ exile counts from Jeconiah’s captivity.
83

84. CLARKE, "My soul shalt weep in secret places - If you will not hearken to the
Lord, there is no remedy: destruction must come; and there is nothing left for me, but to
go in secret, and mourn and bewail your wretched lot.
GILL, "But if ye will not hear it,.... The advice and exhortation now given, to repent
of sin, be humble before God, and glorify him:
my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride; he would no more act in a
public character; but, laying aside his office as a prophet and public instructor, would
retire to some corner, where he might not be seen or heard, and there lament the sins of
the people, particularly their "pride", which had been the cause of their ruin; or mourn
on account of their glory and excellency, as the word may be rendered, which would
depart from them; their city and temple would be burnt; and their king, princes, and
nobles, and the flower of the nation, carried into Babylon; so the Jews (a) interpret it of
the glory of Israel, which should cease from them, and be given to the nations of the
world; See Gill on Jer_13:9;
mine eyes shall weep sore; or, "shedding tears it shall shed tears" (b); in great
abundance, being, as he wished his eyes might be, a fountain of tears to weep night and
day, Jer_9:1,
and run down with tears; or, "mine eye let down tears" (c); upon the cheek in great
plenty. The phrases are expressive of the sorrow of his heart for the distresses of his
people, and of the certainty of them; the reason of which follows:
because the Lord's flock is carried away captive: that is, the Lord's people, as the
Targum; to whom he stood in the relation of a shepherd, and they to him under the
character of a flock; and this was what so sensibly touched the heart of the prophet, that
they were a people that the Lord had an interest in, a regard unto, and among whom he
had been formerly glorified; wherefore it was to the loss of his honour and interest that
these should be given into the hands of their enemies, and be carried captive; and this
troubled him, for nothing lies nearer the heart of a good man than the glory of God.
HENRY, "This counsel is enforced by some arguments if they continue proud and
unhumbled.
1. It will be the prophet's unspeakable grief (Jer_13:17): “If you will not hear it, will
not submit to the word, but continue refractory, not only my eye, but my soul shall weep
in secret places.” Note, The obstinacy of people, in refusing to hear the word of God, will
be heart-breaking to the poor ministers, who know something of the terrors of the Lord
and the worth of souls, and are so far from desiring that they tremble at the thoughts of
the death of sinners. His grief for it was undissembled (his soul wept) and void of
affectation, for he chose to weep in secret places, where no eye saw him but his who is all
eye. He would mingle his tears not only with his public preaching, but with his private
devotions. Nay, thoughts of their case would make him melancholy, and he would
84

85. become a perfect recluse. It would grieve him, (1.) To see their sins unrepented of: “My
soul shall weep for your pride, your haughtiness, and stubbornness, and vain
confidence.” Note, The sins of others should be matter of sorrow to us. We must mourn
for that which we cannot mend, and mourn the more for it because we cannot mend it.
(2.) To see their calamity past redress and remedy: “My eyes shall weep sorely, not so
much because my relations, friends, and neighbours are in distress, but because the
Lord's flock, his people and the sheep of his pasture, are carried away captive.” That
should always grieve us most by which God's honour suffers and the interest of his
kingdom is weakened.
JAMISON, "
hear it — my exhortation.
in secret — as one mourning and humbling himself for their sin, not self-righteously
condemning them (Phi_3:18).
pride — (see on Jer_13:15; Job_33:17).
flock — (Jer_13:20), just as kings and leaders are called pastors.
K&D, "Knowing their obstinacy, the prophet adds: if ye hear it (what I have declared
to you) not, my soul shall weep. In the concealment, quo secedere lugentes amant, ut
impensius flere possint (Chr. B. Mich.). For the pride, sc. in which ye persist. With tears
mine eye shall run down because the flock of Jahveh, i.e., the people of God (cf. Zec_
10:3), is carried away into captivity (perfect. proph).
CALVIN, "The Prophet had indirectly threatened them; but yet there was some
hope of pardon, provided the Jews anticipated God’s judgment in time and
humbled themselves before him. He now declares more clearly that a most certain
destruction was nigh at hand, If ye will not hear, he says, weep will my soul in secret
But much weight is in what the Prophet intimates, that he would cease to address
them, as though he had said, “I have not hitherto left off to exhort you, for God has
so commanded me; but there will be no remedy, if ye as usual harden yourselves
against what I teach you. There remains then nothing now for me, except to hide
myself in some secret place and there to mourn; for my prophetic office among you
is at an end, as ye are unworthy of such a favor from God.”
He does not state simply, If ye will not hear, but he adds a pronoun, this, If ye will
not hear this, or it: for the Jews might have raised an objection and said, that they
were not disobedient to God, and had prophets among them, as it appeared
yesterday; for there were those who deceived them by their flatteries. The Prophet
then does not speak indistinctly, for that would have had no effect; but he expressly
declares that they were to hear what he had said in the last verse: “Except then,” he
says, “ye give glory to God, I will leave you or bid you farewell, and will hide myself
in some corner, and there bewail your miseries.” When the Prophet said that
nothing remained for him but weeping, he intimated that it was all over with them,
85

86. and that their salvation was hopeless. The sum of the whole is, that they were not to
be always favored with that which they were now despising, that is, to be warned by
God’s servants; for if they continued to despise all the prophets, God would
withdraw such a favor from them.
The Prophet at the same time shows with what feelings he exercised his prophetic
office; for though he knew that he was to perform, the part of an herald, and boldly
to denounce on the Jews the calamity which we have observed; he yet ever felt so
much pity in his soul, that he bewailed that perverseness which would prove their
ruin. The Prophet then connected the two feelings together, so that with a bold and
intrepid spirit he denounced vengeance on the Jews, and at the same time he felt
commiseration and sympathy.
He then mentions the cause, For taken captive is the flock of Jehovah Jeremiah
might have had indeed a regard also for his own blood. When, therefore, he saw the
nation from which he himself sprung miserably perishing, he could not but mourn
for their ruin: but he had an especial regard to the favor of God, as was the case also
with Paul, (Romans 9:2) for though he refers to his descent from the Israelites, and
assigns this as a reason why he wished to be an anathema from Christ on their
account, there were yet other reasons why he spoke highly of them; for he
afterwards adds, that the covenant was theirs, that they derived their origin from
the fathers, that from them Christ came according to the flesh, who is God, blessed
for ever. Paul then so honored and valued the benefits with which the Jews were
adorned, that he wished as it were to die for their salvation, and even wished to be
an anathema from Christ. There is not the least doubt but Jeremiah for a similar
reason adds now, that he would seek retirement or some hidden place where he
might bewail the destruction of his people, for it was the flock of Jehovah (85) We
hence see that it was God’s covenant that made him to shed tears, for he saw that in
a manner it failed through the fault of the people. It follows —
But if ye will not hear, weep in secret places Will my soul, on account of your
haughtiness; Yea, bewailing it will bewail, And pour down will mine eye the tear,
When taken captive is the flock of Jehovah.
The word for “haughtiness,” ‫,גוה‬ is rendered “insolence” by the Septuagint and
Arabic; “pride” by the Vulgate, and “affliction” by the Syriac. The word is
commonly derived from ‫,גאה‬ to swell, to be high, to be elated. It is found in this sense
in two other places, Job 33:17, and Daniel 4:37; and in a good sense, elevation, in
Job 22:29. It seems to be a contraction, in full ‫.גאוה‬ See Psalms 36:12; Proverbs
29:23. This being the meaning of the word, the view of Calvin cannot be admitted.
There is an evident reference to what is said in Jeremiah 13:15, “Be ye not lifted
up,” or, “be ye not haughty.” The cause of his weeping was their haughtiness in not
hearing God speaking to them.- Ed.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:17 But if ye will not hear it, my soul shall weep in secret
places for [your] pride; and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears,
86

87. because the LORD’S flock is carried away captive.
Ver. 17. My soul shall weep in secret places.] Good men are apt to weep, Et faciles
motus mens generosa capit. Good ministers should be full of compassionate tears,
weeping in secret for their people’s unprofitableness, and their danger thereby. The
breast and right shoulder of the sacrifice belonged to the priest, to show that he
should be a breast to love, and a shoulder to support the people in their troubles and
burdens.
ELLICOTT, "(17) My soul shall weep in secret places for your pride.—The words
present no difficulty that requires explanation, but deserve to be noted in their
exquisite tenderness as characteristic of the prophet’s temperament (comp.
Lamentations 1:16), reminding us of the tears shed over Jerusalem (Luke 19:41) and
of St. Paul’s “great heaviness and continual sorrow” (Romans 9:2). Nothing
remained for one who found his labours fruitless but silent sorrow and intercession.
The “secret places” find a parallel in our Lord’s withdrawal for prayer into a
“solitary place” (Mark 1:35).
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:17
“But if you will not hear it, my soul will weep in secret for your pride; and my eye
will weep sore, and run down with tears, because YHWH’s flock is taken captive.”
But what if they do not hear and repent? Then Jeremiah will weep for them in
secret because of their proud obstinacy. His eyes will weep until they are sore, and
will run down with tears. He is trying to bring home to them the seriousness of the
situation. And why will he weep like this? Because they, YHWH’s flock, have been
taken captive. They have been carried off into exile. The idea was almost
incomprehensible. YHWH’s flock taken captive by others! But they had observed its
happening to Israel. Now it would happen to them. YHWH’s favour was dependent
on their response.
Paradoxically the people may still have prided themselves on the fact that they were
‘YHWH’s flock’. People are very good at assuming that they are special and that
God looks down on them benevolently no matter what they do. But they are to
recognise that far from that being so they will soon be a captive flock in the hands of
strangers. It is not, however, something that Jeremiah is complacent about. It
grieves him to his heart. This should not be happening to the flock of YHWH and is
only doing so because of their intransigence and obstinacy.
87

88. 18 Say to the king and to the queen mother,
“Come down from your thrones,
for your glorious crowns
will fall from your heads.”
BARNES, "The queen - i. e., “the queen-mother:” the word signifies literally “the
great lady.” The king’s mother took precedence of his wives.
Sit down - The usual position of slaves.
For your principalities ... - Rather, “for the ornaments of your heads, even the
crown of your majesty, shall come down.”
CLARKE, "Say unto the king and to the queen - Probably Jeconiah and his
mother, under whose tutelage, being young when he began to reign, he was left, as is
very likely.
Sit down - Show that ye have humbled yourselves; for your state will be destroyed,
and your glorious crown taken from your heads.
GILL, "Say unto the king, and to the queen,.... Jehoiachin, and his mother
Nehushta, as it is generally interpreted by the Jewish commentators, and others; who,
with many princes and officers, were carried captive into Babylon, 2Ki_24:12 or rather
Zedekiah and his wife; since the captivity after threatened is a perfect and complete one,
which Jehoiachin's was not:
humble yourselves, sit down; or, "sit down humbled" (d); come down from your
thrones, and sit in the dust; humble yourselves before the Lord for your own sins, and
the sins of the people; in times of general corruption, and which threatens a nation with
ruin, it becomes kings and princes to set an example of repentance, humiliation, and
reformation; though it may be this is rather a prediction of what would be, that they
should descend from their throne, and lose their grandeur, and be in a low and abject
condition, than an exhortation to what was their duty; since it follows:
for your principalities shall come down; their royal state and greatness, and all
the ensigns of it; and especially such as they had upon their heads, as the word used
denotes, and as the following explanation shows:
even the crown of your glory; or glorious crown, which should fall from their heads,
or be taken from them, when they should be no more served in state, or treated as
crowned heads.
88

89. JAMISON, "king — Jehoiachin or Jeconiah.
queen — the queen mother who, as the king was not more than eighteen years old,
held the chief power. Nehushta, daughter of Elnathan, carried away captive with
Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar (2Ki_24:8-15).
Humble yourselves — that is, Ye shall be humbled, or brought low (Jer_22:26;
Jer_28:2).
your principalities — rather, “your head ornament.”
K&D 18-21, "The fall of the kingdom, the captivity of Judah, with upbraidings
against Jerusalem for her grievous guilt in the matter of idolatry. - Jer_13:18. "Say
unto the king and to the sovereign lady: Sit you low down, for from your heads falls the
crown of your glory. Jer_13:19. The cities of the south are shut and no man openeth;
Judah is carried away captive all of it, wholly carried away captive. Jer_13:20. Lift up
your eyes and behold them that come from midnight! Where is the flock that was given
thee, thy glorious flock? Jer_13:21. What wilt thou say, if He set over thee those whom
thou hast accustomed to thee as familiar friends, for a head? Shall not sorrows take
thee, as a woman in travail? Jer_13:22. And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore
cometh this upon me? for the plenty of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered, thy heels
abused. Jer_13:23. Can an Ethiopian change his skin, and a leopard his spots? Then
may ye also do good that are accustomed to doing evil. Jer_13:24. Therefore will I
scatter them like chaff that flies before the wind of the wilderness. Jer_13:25. This is thy
lot, thine apportioned inheritance from me, because thou hast forgotten me and
trustedst in falsehood. Jer_13:26. Therefore will I turn thy skirts over thy face, that thy
shame be seen. Jer_13:27. Thine adultery and thy neighing, the crime of thy whoredom
upon the ills, in the fields, I have seen thine abominations. Woe unto thee, Jerusalem!
thou shalt not be made clean after how long a time yet!"
From Jer_13:18 on the prophet's discourse is addressed to the king and the queen-
mother. The latter as such exercised great influence on the government, and is in the
Books of Kings mentioned alongside of almost all the reigning kings (cf. 1Ki_15:13; 2Ki_
10:13, etc.); so that we are not necessarily led to think of Jechoniah and his mother in
especial. To them he proclaims the loss of the crown and the captivity of Judah. Set
yourselves low down (cf. Gesen. §142, 3, b), i.e., descend from the throne; not in order to
turn aside the threatening danger by humiliation, but, as the reason that follows show,
because the kingdom is passing from you. For fallen is ‫ם‬ ֶ‫יכ‬ ֵ‫ת‬ֹ‫שׁ‬ֲ‫א‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫,מ‬ your head-gear, lit.,
what is about or on your head (elsewhere pointed ‫ת‬ ‫ֲשׁ‬‫א‬ ַ‫ר‬ ְ‫,מ‬ 1Sa_19:13; 1Sa_26:7),
namely, your splendid crown. The perf. here is prophetic. The crown falls when the king
loses country and kingship. This is put expressly in Jer_13:19. The meaning of the first
half of the verse, which is variously taken, may be gathered from the second. In the latter
the complete deportation of Judah is spoken of as an accomplished fact, because it is as
sure to happen as if it had taken place already. Accordingly the first clause cannot
bespeak expectation merely, or be understood, as it is by Grotius, as meaning that Judah
need hope for no help from Egypt. This interpretation is irreconcilable with "the cities of
the south." "The south" is the south country of Judah, cf. Jos_10:40; Gen_13:1, etc., and
is not to be taken according to the prophetic use of "king of the south," Dan_11:5, Dan_
11:9. The shutting of the cities is not to be taken, with Jerome, as siege by the enemy, as
89

90. in Jos_6:1. There the closedness is otherwise illustrated: No man was going out or in;
here, on the other hand, it is: No man openeth. "Shut" is to be explained according to
Isa_24:10 : the cities are shut up by reason of ruins which block up the entrances to
them; and in them is none that can open, because all Judah is utterly carried away. The
cities of the south are mentioned, not because the enemy, avoiding the capital, had first
brought the southern part of the land under his power, as Sennacherib had once
advanced against Jerusalem from the south, 2Ki_18:13., Jer_19:8 (Graf, Näg., etc.), but
because they were the part of the kingdom most remote for an enemy approaching from
the north; so that when they were taken, the land was reduced and the captivity of all
Judah accomplished. For the form ‫ת‬ ָ‫ל‬ְ‫ג‬ ָ‫ה‬ see Ew. §194, a, Ges. §75, Rem. 1. ‫ים‬ ִ‫מ‬ ‫ל‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ is
adverbial accusative: in entirety, like ‫ים‬ ִ‫ר‬ָ‫ישׁ‬ ֵ‫,מ‬ Psa_58:2, etc. For this cf. ‫ָלוּת‬‫גּ‬, Amo_1:6,
Amo_1:9.
The announcement of captivity is carried on in Jer_13:20, where we have first an
account of the impression which the carrying away captive will produce upon Jerusalem
(Jer_13:20 and Jer_13:21), and next a statement of the cause of that judgment (Jer_
13:22-27). In ‫י‬ ִ‫א‬ ְ‫שׂ‬ and ‫י‬ ִ‫א‬ ְ‫ר‬ a feminine is addressed, and, as appears from the suffix in
‫ם‬ ֶ‫ֵיכ‬‫נ‬‫י‬ֵ‫,ע‬ one which is collective. The same holds good of the following verses on to Jer_
13:27, where Jerusalem is named, doubtless the inhabitants of it, personified as the
daughter of Zion - a frequent case. Näg. is wrong in supposing that the feminines in Jer_
13:20 are called for by the previously mentioned queen-mother, that Jer_13:20-22 are
still addressed to her, and that not till Jer_13:23 is there a transition from her in the
address to the nation taken collectively and regarded as the mother of the country. The
contents of Jer_13:20 do not tally with Näg.'s view; for the queen-mother was not the
reigning sovereign, so that the inhabitants of the land could have been called her flock,
however great was the influence she might exercise upon the king. The mention of foes
coming from the north, and the question coupled therewith: Where is the flock? convey
the thought that the flock is carried off by those enemies. The flock is the flock of Jahveh
(Jer_13:17), and, in virtue of God's choice of it, a herd of gloriousness. The relative
clause: "that was given thee," implies that the person addressed is to be regarded as the
shepherd or owner of the flock. This will not apply to the capital and its citizens; for the
influence exerted by the capital in the country is not so great as to make it appear the
shepherd or lord of the people. But the relative clause is in good keeping with the idea of
the idea of the daughter of Zion, with which is readily associated that of ruler of land and
people. It intimates the suffering that will be endured by the daughter of Zion when
those who have been hitherto her paramours are set up as head over her. The verse is
variously explained. The old transll. and comm. take ‫ד‬ ַ‫ק‬ָ‫פּ‬ ‫ל‬ַ‫ע‬ in the sense of visit,
chastise; so too Chr. B. Mich. and Ros.; and Ew. besides, who alters the text acc. to the
lxx, changing ‫ֹד‬‫ק‬ ְ‫פ‬ִ‫י‬ into the plural ‫דוּ‬ ְ‫ק‬ ְ‫פ‬ִ‫.י‬ For this change there is no sufficient reason;
and without such change, the signif. visit, punish, gives us no suitable sense. The phrase
means also: to appoint or set over anybody; cf. e.g., Jer_15:3. The subject can only be
Jahveh. The words from ְ‫תּ‬ ַ‫א‬ ְ‫ו‬ onwards form an adversative circumstantial clause: and yet
thou hast accustomed them ִ‫י‬ַ‫ל‬ָ‫,ע‬ for ִ‫י‬ַ‫ל‬ ֵ‫א‬ rof ,, to thee (cf. for ‫ד‬ ֵ‫מּ‬ ִ‫ל‬ c. ‫ל‬ ֶ‫,א‬ Jer_10:2).
The connection of the words ‫ים‬ ִ‫פ‬ֻ‫לּ‬ ַ‫א‬ ‫ֹאשׁ‬‫ר‬ ְ‫ל‬ depends upon the sig. assigned to ‫ים‬ ִ‫פ‬ֻ‫לּ‬ ַ‫.א‬
Gesen. (thes.) and Ros. still adhere to the meaning taken by Luther, Vat., and many
others, viz., principes, princes, taking for the sense of the whole: whom thou hast
accustomed (trained) to be princes over thee. This word is indeed the technical term for
90

91. the old Edomitish chieftains of clans, Gen_36:15., and is applied as an archaic term by
Zec_9:7 to the tribal princes of Judah; but it does not, as a general rule, mean prince,
but familiar, friend, Ps. 655:14, Pro_16:28, Mic_7:5; cf. Jer_11:19. This being the well-
attested signification, it is, in the first place, not competent to render ִ‫י‬ַ‫ל‬ָ‫ע‬ over or
against thee (adversus te, Jerome); and Hitz.'s exposition: thou hast instructed them to
thy hurt, hast taught them a disposition hostile to thee, cannot be justified by usage. In
the second place, ‫אלפים‬ cannot be attached to the principal clause, "set over thee," and
joined with "for a head:" if He set over thee - as princes for a head; but it belongs to "hast
accustomed," while only "for a head" goes with "if He set" (as de Wet., Umbr., Näg., etc.,
construe). The prophet means the heathen kings, for whose favour Judah had hitherto
been intriguing, the Babylonians and Egyptians. There is no cogent reason for referring
the words, as many comm. do, to the Babylonians alone. For the statement is quite
general throughout; and, on the one hand, Judah had, from the days of Ahaz on, courted
the alliance not of the Babylonians alone, but of the Egyptians too (cf. Jer_2:18); and, on
the other hand, after the death of Josiah, Judah had become subject to Egypt, and had
had to endure the grievous domination of the Pharaohs, as Jeremiah had threatened,
Jer_2:16. If God deliver the daughter of Zion into the power of these her paramours, i.e.,
if she be subjected to their rule, then will grief and pain seize on her as on a woman in
childbirth; cf. Jer_6:24; Jer_22:23, etc. ‫ת‬ ֶ‫שׁ‬ ֵ‫א‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫ד‬ֵ‫,ל‬ woman of bearing; so here, only,
elsewhere ‫ה‬ ָ‫ד‬ֵ‫ל‬ ‫י‬ (cf. the passages cited); ‫ה‬ ָ‫ד‬ֵ‫ל‬ is infin., as in Isa_37:3; 2Ki_19:3; Hos_
9:11.
CALVIN, "The Prophet is here bidden to address his discourse directly to King
Jehoiakim and his mother; for the term lady is not to be taken for the queen, the
wife of Jehoiakim, but for his mother, who was then his associate in the kingdom,
and possessed great authority. (86) And there is no doubt but that God thus
intended to rouse more fully the community in general; that is, by shewing that he
would not spare, no, not the king nor the queen. But we may hence also learn what
has already been observed, that the truth announced by the prophets is superior to
all the greatness of the world. For it was said before to Jeremiah, “Reprove
mountains and rebuke hills;” (87) and still farther,
“Behold, I have set thee over kingdoms and nations, to pull down and to pluck up,”
etc., (Jeremiah 1:10)
This ought to be carefully noticed; for kings and those who are eminent in the
world, think that they are not only, by a singular privilege, exempt from all laws,
but also free from every obligation to observe modesty and to avoid shame. Hence it
is, that they from their elevation despise God and his prophets. Here God shews,
that he supplied the prophets with his word for this end, — that they might close
their eyes to all the splendor of the world, and shew no respect of persons, but pull
down every height, and bring to order everything that is elevated in this world. Paul
also teaches us, that ministers of the gospel are endued with this power;
“Given to us,” he says, “is power against every height that exalteth itself against
Christ.”
91

92. (2 Corinthians 10:5)
And hence we must observe, that all who are chosen to the office of teaching, cannot
faithfully discharge their duty except they boldly, and with intrepid spirit, dare to
reprove both kings and queens; for the word of God is not to be restricted to the
common people or men in humble life, but it subjects to itself all, from the least to
the greatest. This prophecy was no doubt very bitter to the king as well as to the
common people; but it behooved Jeremiah to discharge faithfully his office; and this
was also necessary, for the king Jehoiakim and his mother thought that they could
not possibly be dethroned.
He therefore bids them to descend and to lie down; that is, he bids them to forget
their ancient greatness. He does not simply exhort them to repent, but shews, that as
they had been so refractory in their pride, the punishment of disgrace was nigh at
hand, for the Lord would with a strong hand lay them prostrate. It is not then an
exhortation that the Prophet gives; but he only foretells what they little thought
of, — that they in vain flattered themselves, for the Lord would in a short time
expose them to reproach by casting them down.
And this is evident from what is added, For descend shall the crown of your honor;
that is, it shall be taken away from your highnesses, or from your eminencies, or
from your heads; for the word ‫,ראשה‬ rashe, means sometimes the head. (88) But
some think that it means here eminencies, and that “the magnificent crown” is put
here in apposition.
I have omitted, if I mistake not, to notice one thing; that is, the pride mentioned by
the Prophet; except ye hear, weep will my soul in secret on account of pride
Interpreters render it “your pride;” that is, the pride with which the Jews were
filled; but I am inclined to take a different view, that the Prophet speaks here of the
pride or the great power of those enemies whom the Jews then did not in any degree
fear. “Since then,” says the Prophet, “ye are so secure, I will retire and weep by
myself, and my soul by mourning shall mourn, yea, my eye shall flow down with
tears, on account of the pride of the enemies, who are now so much despised by
you;” Let us now proceed —
The word “queen,” in our version, is rendered “mistress or lady — domina,” by
Calvin, but “potentates” by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic; “governess —
dominatrix,” by the Vulgate; and “queen” by the Targum. The word means
governess; it is rendered “mistress” in Genesis 16:4; “lady” in Isaiah 47:5; and
“queen” in 2 Kings 10:13. — Ed.
For bring down from your heads will he the crown of your glory.
The latter words mean “your glorious crown,” the expression being an Hebraism.
Our common version, as Blayney observes, violates grammar; for the gender of the
92

93. verb ‫,ירד‬ (which, the same author thinks, ought to be ‫,יורד‬ future in Hiphil) is
masculine, while the noun made its nominative is feminine. — Ed
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:18 Say unto the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves,
sit down: for your principalities shall come down, [even] the crown of your glory.
Ver. 18. Say to the king and to the queen.] Or Madam, the lady or mistress; that is,
to the queen regent, even to Necustah, the mother of Jeconiah, say the Jews. When
Beza, in the behalf of the reformed churches in France, made a speech at Possiacum
before the young king and the queen mother, he spake so effectually, saith Rivet,
that a great cardinal who heard it wished that either he had been dumb that day, or
that they had all been deaf. This king and queen in the text might be as much
convinced, though not thoroughly converted.
Humble yourselves, sit down.] Heb., Humble, sit below.
For your principalities.] Or, Your head attires.
The crown of your glory.] Or, Your crown of glory; that is, your glorious crown, of
which you shall have cause enough to say, as Antigonus did of his diadem, O vilis
pannus, &c. Or, as another monarch,
“ Nobilis es, fateor, rutilisque onerata lapillis,
Innumeris curis sod comitata venis:
Quod bene si nossent omnes expendere, nemo,
Nemo foret quite tollere vellet humo. ”
ELLICOTT, " (18) The queen.—Not the usual word, the Hebrew feminine of king,
but literally “the great lady” (“dominatrix” Vulg.), the title of a queen-mother (in
this case, probably, of Nehushta, the mother of Jehoiachin, 2 Kings 24:8), sharing
the throne during her son’s minority. The same word is used of Maachah, the
mother of Asa (1 Kings 15:13; 2 Kings 10:13; 2 Chronicles 15:16), and meets us
again in Jeremiah 29:2.
Your principalities.—Literally, as in the margin, your head-tires, i.e., the diadems
which were signs of kingly state. The word is used nowhere else, and may have been
coined by the prophet or taken from the court vocabulary of the time.
COFFMAN "WARNING TO THE ROYAL FAMILY
"Say thou unto the king and to the queen mother, Humble yourselves, sit down; for
your headtires are come down, even the crown of your glory. The cities of the South
93

94. are shut up, and there is none to open them: Judah is carried away captive, all of it;
it is wholly carried away captive."
The mention of the queen-mother indicates the importance of the king's mother
among the kings of Judah. "They seem to have had some official status in Judah;
indeed, 1 Kings 2:19 suggests that she even occupied a throne adjacent to that of the
king." The passage before us also may indicate that she likewise wore a crown.
"Because Jewish kings generally married subjects, and lived in polygamy, the king's
mother took precedence over his wives."[8]
Dummelow also mentioned the importance of this verse in ascertaining the date
when this chapter was written. "The date of this prophecy is shown pretty clearly
by the word queen-mother, namely, Nehushta, mother of Jehoiachin. The queen-
mother always had a high position; and, in Jehoiachin's case, this would have been
especially so, owing to the king's young age."[9]
BENSON, "Jeremiah 13:18. Say unto the king and queen — That is, to Jehoiachin,
called also Coniah, and his mother, who were carried captives to Babylon at the first
coming of Nebuchadnezzar; see Jeremiah 22:26; 2 Kings 24:12. Some indeed
suppose that Zedekiah and his mother are intended, which does not appear so
probable. Humble yourselves — By true repentance, and so both give glory to God,
and set a good example to your subjects; and sit down — Sit down and consider
what is coming; sit down and lament your condition. For your principalities shall
come down —
The honour and power by which you value yourselves, and in which you confide,
even the crown of your glory — For when you are led away captive, where will the
badges of your power and pre-eminence be then? Blessed be God, there is a crown
of glory which shall never come down, and which they who humble themselves
before God, in true repentance, shall in due time inherit.
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:18
“Say you to the king and to the queen-mother, Humble yourselves, get down, for
your head ornaments are come down, even the crown of your glory.”
Jeremiah now seeks to bring home the implications of his message. The king and
queen mother will have to step down from their thrones in acts of humiliation. Their
crowns and head ornaments will come down from their heads as they are divested of
their glorious crowns which indicate their status. They will become subjects and
humble suppliants. If they will not humble themselves before YHWH, they will be
humbled before another who has less good intentions towards them.
Note the reference to the queen mother. The constant reference to the queen mother
in Kings brings out the special status that she enjoyed in Judah. She may even have
acted as regent when the king was absent. Many associate this passage with
94

95. Jehoiachin who with his mother was carried off to Babylon (2 Kings 24:12). But it
could relate to any Judean royal house.
PULPIT, "The extent of the calamity shown in individual instances. For the
fulfillment, see 2 Kings 24:15. After a reign of three months, the young prince and
his mother were carried to Babylon. And to the queen; rather, and to the queen-
mother (literally, the mistress). It will be noticed that, except in two cases, the names
of the mothers of the reigning kings of Judah are scrupulously mentioned in the
Books of Kings. This and the title of "mistress" are indications of the high rank they
enjoyed in the social system. In the case of Asa, we are told that he removed his
mother, Maachah, from her position as "mistress," or queen-mother, on account of
her idolatry (1 Kings 15:13). The political value of the station is strikingly shown by
the ease with which Athaliah, as queen-mother, usurped the supreme authority (2
Kings 11:1-21.). From an historical point of view, the "queen-mother" of the Jews is
a most interesting personage; she is a relic of the primitive age in which relationship
was reckoned with regard to the mother (so with the Accadians, Etruseans, Finns,
etc.). It should be added, however, that once (viz. 1 Kings 11:19) the same title,
"mistress," is applied to the queen-consort. Humble yourselves, sit down; rather, sit
down in abase-sent; i.e. take the station suitable for your abased circumstances
(comp. Isaiah 47:1). Your principalities; rather, your head. ornaments.
19 The cities in the Negev will be shut up,
and there will be no one to open them.
All Judah will be carried into exile,
carried completely away.
BARNES, "Shall be shut up - Rather, “are shut up, and no man openeth them.”
The cities of the Negeb, the southern district of Judah, are blockaded, with no one to
raise the siege. The captivity was the inevitable result of the capture of the fortified
towns. An army entering from the north would march along the Shefelah, or fertile plain
near the seacoast, and would capture the outlying cities, before it attacked Jerusalem,
almost inaccessible among the mountains.
Judah shall be ... - Translate, “Judah is ...”
95

96. CLARKE, "The cities of the south shall be shut up - Not only the cities of the
north, the quarter at which the Chaldeans entered, but the cities of the south also; for he
shall proceed from one extremity of the land to the other, spreading devastation every
where, and carrying off the inhabitants.
GILL, "The cities of the south shall be shut up, and none shall open them,....
Meaning the cities of Judah, which lay in the southern part of the land of Israel, and to
the south of Babylon; which might be said to be shut up, and not in the power of any to
open, when besieged by the Chaldean army; or rather when destroyed, that there were
none to go in and out; though some think the cities of Egypt are intended, which lay
south of Judea, from whence the Jews should not have the relief they expected, and
where they should find no refuge; but the former sense seems best:
Judah shall be carried away captive all of it; it was in part carried away in
Jehoiachin's time, and wholly in Zedekiah's; which seems to be here respected:
it shall be wholly carried away captive; or, in perfections (e); most perfectly and
completely; the same thing is meant as before, only in different words repeated, to
express the certainty of it.
HENRY, "It will be their own inevitable ruin, Jer_13:19-21. (1.) The land shall be laid
waste: The cities of the south shall be shut up. The cities of Judah lay in the southern
part of the land of Canaan; these shall be straitly besieged by the enemy, so that there
shall be no going in or out, or they shall be deserted by the inhabitants, that there shall
be none to go in and out. Some understand it of the cities of Egypt, which was south
from Judah; the places there whence they expected succours shall fail them, and they
shall find no access to them. (2.) The inhabitants shall be hurried away into a foreign
country, there to live in slavery: Judah shall be carried away captive. Some were
already carried off, which they hoped might serve to answer the prediction, and that the
residue should still be left; but no: It shall be carried away all of it. God will make a full
end with them: It shall be wholly carried away. So it was in the last captivity under
Zedekiah, because they repented not.
JAMISON, "cities of the south — namely, south of Judea; farthest off from the
enemy, who advanced from the north.
shut up — that is, deserted (Isa_24:10); so that none shall be left to open the gates to
travelers and merchants again [Henderson]. Rather, shut up so closely by
Nebuchadnezzar’s forces, sent on before (2Ki_24:10, 2Ki_24:11), that none shall be
allowed by the enemy to get out (compare Jer_13:20).
wholly — literally, “fully”; completely.
CALVIN, "By the cities of the south, almost all understand the cities of the tribe of
Judah, whose portion was towards the south; and by the cities being shut up, they
consider that what is meant is, that they would be forsaken; for they say, that cities
are open when they are frequented. But I am con- strained here also to take another
view. I take the cities of the south to have been those of Egypt; for we know that the
96

97. Jews looked there for a refuge, whenever they were attacked by the Assyrians or the
Chaldeans. Since then they thought that Egypt would be to them a sort of an
asylum, the Prophet declares that all these cities would be closed against them, and
that there would be no one to open them; as though he had said, “The Lord will
drive you out, and will prevent you to take refuge there.”
He would doubtless have spoken more clearly had he meant the cities of Judah; and
besides, as he was at Jerusalem, this way of speaking must have been ambiguous,
and even improper; and we shall find him presently speaking of the Assyrians as
being in the north. He now then warns them, that Egypt would be closed against
them, though they at the same time expected that they would be safe there, and that
an easily-borne exile was in their power. As then they foolishly trusted that they
would be received by the Egyptians, the Prophet says, that the gates would be
closed, and that there would be no one to open them. It then follows, carried away
wholly has been Judah, carried away completely; (89) that is, “Ye shall all be led
away into Assyria and Babylon;” which is the north country, according to what
afterwards follows, —
The transmigration of Judah has been entire, — The transmigration of retributions.
The past time, as in the beginning of the verse, is to be used, though it is used for the
future. The word ‫,שלומים‬ is never found in an adverbial sense; and indeed it is found
only once elsewhere as here, in the plural number, Isaiah 34:8; but thrice in this
sense in the singular number, Deuteronomy 32:35; Hosea 9:7; Micah 7:3. The
Targum favors this rendering, as it retains the idea of retribution. — Ed.
COKE, "Jeremiah 13:19. The cities of the south shall be shut up— "The cities in the
southern parts of Judaea shall be shut up, because there shall be no inhabitants. All
the lot of Judah, heretofore so beautiful, so well-peopled, so full of fine cities, shall
be desolate." Some understand this of Egypt, which lay to the south of Judaea, and
which was to be shut against, and to afford the Jews no succour. But the first
interpretation seems the best, and most agreeable to the context. See Calmet.
ELLICOTT, " (19) The cities of the south.—The term thus rendered (the Negeb) is
throughout the Old Testament used for a definite district, stretching from Mount
Halak northward to a line south of Engedi and Hebron. The strategy of
Nebuchadnezzar’s attack (as it had been of Sennacherib’s, 2 Kings 18:13) was to
blockade the cities of this region, and then, when they were cut off from sending
assistance, to attack Jerusalem.
Shall be shut up . . . shall be carried away.—Both verbs should be in the present
tense, are shut up, is carried away.
BENSON, "Verses 19-21
Jeremiah 13:19-21. The cities of the south, &c. — The cities of Judah, which lay in
97

98. the southern part of Canaan, shall be straitly besieged by the enemy, so that there
shall be no going in and out; or shall be deserted by the inhabitants. Or, as some
think, the cities of Egypt are intended, from whence the Jews expected succour.
These should fail them, and they should find no access to them. Lift up your eyes,
&c. — He speaks as if their enemies were even then upon their march, nay, so near,
that if they did but lift up their eyes and look, they might see them coming. Where is
the flock that was given thee? — He streaks to the king, representing him under the
idea of a shepherd, and the people under that of a flock. Or rather, as the pronouns
are feminine, he addresses the daughter of Judah, that is, the city or state. “What
wilt thou say, when the Lord shall demand of thee an account of the people
committed to thy trust? What wilt thou answer when the sovereign monarch shall
see dissipated, diminished, weakened, destroyed, thy beautiful flock,” or, as ‫צאן‬
‫תפארת‬ rather signifies, the flock of thy glory. In the multitude of people, says
Solomon, is the king’s honour. What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? —
Thou wilt have nothing to say, but be wholly confounded, when God shall visit thee
by this sore judgment. Or, when Nebuchadnezzar’s army, sent by God, shall visit
thee. For thou hast taught them to be captains, &c. — Houbigant renders it, “Since
thou hast made them expert against thee, and hast drawn them upon thine own
head;” and Blaney, more literally, “Seeing it is thou that teachest them to be rulers
in chief over thee.” “Thou hast frequently called them to thy succour, and taught
them the way to thy country, whereof they dreamed not before; and not only thus,
but by accumulating crimes upon crimes, and filling up the measure of thine
iniquity, thou hast drawn down the vengeance of heaven, and put thyself in the
power of the Chaldeans.” See Calmet. Some have understood the alliances,
contracted heretofore with the Assyrians by Ahaz, and the conduct of Hezekiah
toward the ambassadors of the king of Babylon, to be here alluded to. “But I rather
think,” says Blaney, “that the wicked manners of the people are principally
designed; which put them out of the protection of Almighty God, and rendered them
an easy conquest to any enemy that came against them. Thus they taught their
enemies to oppress, and to be lords over them; against whom, but for their own
faults, they might have maintained their security and independence.”
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:19
“The cities of the South are shut up, and there is none to open them. Judah is
carried away captive, all of it, it is wholly carried away captive.”
A further consequence is indicated. The ‘cities of the south’ are the cities of the far
south, the Negeb (compare Genesis 12:9), the semi-desert pastureland which was the
southern border of Judah. Even those remote cities on the farthest borders away
from the north will be affected. They will be closed up because there will be no one
available to open their gates. They will be cities of the dead. (Compare Isaiah 24:10).
In other words they will be desolate, and all of Judah will have gone into captivity.
The rape of Judah is in mind. Few will be left in the land.
PULPIT, "The rendering of the Authorized Version is substantially right, as the
98

99. events referred to are obviously future. The tense, however, in the Hebrew, is the
perfect—viz. that of prophetic certitude. Jeremiah sees it all in prophetic vision, as if
it were actually taking place. The cities of the south; i.e. of the dry, southern country
of Judah, called the Negeb—shall be [are] shut up—i.e. blocked up with ruins (as
Isaiah 24:10)—and none shall open them (openeth them), because all Judah will
have been carried captive. (For fulfillment, see Jeremiah 34:7.)
20 Look up and see
those who are coming from the north.
Where is the flock that was entrusted to you,
the sheep of which you boasted?
BARNES, "Jerusalem is asked where the cities, which once lay grouped round her,
like a goodly flock of sheep, are gone? The question implies blame.
CLARKE, "Where is the flock - thy beautiful flock? - Jerusalem is addressed.
Where are the prosperous multitudes of men, women, and children? Alas! are they not
driven before the Babylonians, who have taken them captive?
GILL, "Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the north,.... There
are a Keri and a Cetib of the words "lift up" and "behold"; they are written in the singular
number, and may be considered as directed to the king, as the words following are; and
they are read in the plural number, the state and whole body of the people being called
upon to observe the Chaldean army, which came from the north; and is represented as
on the march, just at hand to invade, besiege, take, and carry them captive. The
Septuagint version renders it, "lift up thine eyes, O Jerusalem"; and the Arabic version,
"O Israel: where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?" that is, the people,
as the Targum interprets it, which were committed to the care and charge of the king, as
sheep into the hands of a shepherd; and were a fine body of people, chosen of God and
precious, distinguished above all others by wholesome and righteous laws and statutes,
and special privileges; a people who were a kingdom of priests, a holy nation, and a
peculiar people, the glory of the whole earth; but now carried, or about to be carried,
99

100. captive. It is no unusual thing to represent a king as a shepherd, and his people as a
flock, guided, governed, and protected by him, and who is accountable for his trust to
the King of kings; see Psa_78:71.
HENRY, "The enemy was now at hand that should do this (Jer_13:20): “Lift up your
eyes. I see upon their march, and you may if you will behold, those that come from the
north, from the land of the Chaldeans; see how fast they advance, how fierce they
appear.” Upon this he addresses himself to the king, or rather (because the pronouns are
feminine) to the city or state. [1.] “What will you do now with the people who are
committed to your charge, and whom you ought to protect? Where is the flock that was
given thee, thy beautiful flock? Whither canst thou take them now for shelter? How can
they escape these ravening wolves?” Magistrates must look upon themselves as
shepherds, and those that are under their charge as their flock, which they are entrusted
with the care of and must give an account of; they must take delight in them as their
beautiful flock, and consider what to do for their safety in times of public danger.
Masters of families, who neglect their children and suffer them to perish for want of a
good education, and ministers who neglect their people, should think they hear God
putting this question to them: Where is the flock that was given thee to feed, that
beauteous flock? It is starved; it is left exposed to the beasts of prey. What account wilt
thou give of them when the chief shepherd shall appear?
JAMISON, "from ... north — Nebuchadnezzar and his hostile army (Jer_1:14; Jer_
6:22).
flock ... given thee — Jeremiah, amazed at the depopulation caused by
Nebuchadnezzar’s forces, addresses Jerusalem (a noun of multitude, which accounts for
the blending of plural and singular, Your eyes ... thee ... thy flock), and asks where is the
population (Jer_13:17, “flock”) which God had given her?
CALVIN, "We here see that Egypt and Chaldea are set in opposition, the one to the
other; as though the Prophet had said, “Whenever anything is said to you about the
Chaldeans, ye turn your eyes to Egypt, as though that would be a quiet residence for
you; but God will prevent you from having any escape there. Now see, see your
enemies who are coming from another quarter, even from Chaldea. Lift up then
your eyes.” As they were so very intent on their present ease, he bids them to lift up
their eyes, that they might see farther than they were wont to do.
He then says, Where is the flock which had been given to thee? and the sheep of thy
glory? It is through pity that the Prophet thus speaks; for he saw by the Spirit the
whole land deserted, and in wonder he asks, “What does this mean, that the flock is
scattered which had been given to thee?” He addresses the people under the
character of a woman, as he does often in other places. (90) In short, he confirms
what he had said before, — that he would go to some secret place, if the people were
not influenced by his doctrine, and that he would there by himself deplore their
calamity; but he employs other words, and at the same time intimates, that he alone
had eyes to see, as others were blind, for God had even taken from them
understanding and discernment. The Prophet then shews here that he saw the
dreadful desolation that was soon to come; and therefore as one astonished he asks,
100

101. Where is the flock with which God had enriched the land? and further he asks,
Where are the sheep which possessed a magnificent honor or beauty? It follows —
COKE, "Jeremiah 13:20. Lift up your eyes, &c.— "Ye people of Judah, behold and
reconnoitre the Chaldean army, coming against you from the north." The next
words are addressed to the king and queen; see Jeremiah 13:18. He represents them
under the idea of a shepherd, and the people under that of a flock. "What will you
say when the Lord shall demand of you an account of the people committed to your
trust? What will you answer, when the sovereign monarch shall see dissipated,
diminished, weakened, destroyed, thy beautiful flock, or flock of thy glory?" which
is explained by Proverbs 14:28.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:20 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the
north: where [is] the flock [that] was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
Ver. 20. Lift up your eyes, &c.] Still he bespeaketh the king and the queen.
Where is the flock that was given thee?] Thee, O queen regent (for the pronoun is
feminine), or thee, O state; Redde, Vare, legiones, said Augustus, bewailing the loss
of so many gallant soldiers in Germany, under the command of Varus, who was
there also slain.
Thy beautiful flock.] Heb., Thy flock of goodliness. See Proverbs 14:28. {See Trapp
on "Proverbs 14:28"}
ELLICOTT, " (20) Lift up your eyes.—The Hebrew verb is feminine and singular,
the possessive pronoun masculine and plural. Assuming the reading to be correct,
the irregularity may have been intended to combine the ideal personification of
Jerusalem, the daughter of Zion, as the natural protectress of the other cities, with
the concrete multitude of her inhabitants. The “beautiful flock” of those cities had
been committed to her care, and she is now called to give an account of her
stewardship.
Them that come from the north.—These are, of course, as in Jeremiah 1:14 and
elsewhere, the invading army of the Chaldeans, and probably also their Scythian
allies.
COFFMAN, "WARNING OF DEFEAT; CAPTIVITY AND HUMILIATION
"Lift up your eyes and behold them that come from the north: where is the flock
that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? What wilt thou say, when he shall set over
thee as head those whom thou hast thyself taught to be friends to thee? shall not
sorrows take hold of thee, as of a woman in travail?"
"That come from the north ..." (Jeremiah 13:20). Practically all of the invaders of
101

102. Judah came from the north, as that was the most feasible military entrance into the
city of Jerusalem; but the particular invasion prophesied here was that of the
Babylonians.
"Whom thou ... hast taught to be thy friends" (Jeremiah 13:21). The plural here
indicates that both Egypt and Babylon are meant. Contrary to the warnings of
Isaiah and Jeremiah, Judah's kings had cultivated the friendship of foreign powers,
seeking to make alliances with them from time to time. It will be remembered that
Hezekiah had embraced Merodach-baladan as his friend, showing him all of the
treasures of the whole kingdom (Isaiah 39:1-2); and the question of this passage is,
"What are you going to say when such a `friend' becomes your king?"
PARKER, " Jeremiah"s Questions
Jeremiah 13-14
The Book of Jeremiah is full of questions. They are questions indicative of
bewilderment, amazement, ignorance, hopefulness; they stand often in place of that
silence which is more eloquent than speech, as if the prophet would tempt the Lord
himself into reply by asking questions. Thus we tempt little children, and thus we
would tempt the wisest scholars with whom we come into momentary contact, and
thus adoringly would we seek to lure God into audible speech.
"Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?" ( Jeremiah 13:20).
Let this stand as an inquiry from God himself. The prophet often personates God:
sometimes it is almost impossible to tell who is speaking, whether it is God, or
whether it is the prophet speaking in the divine name; but we can always tell by its
quality and by its music whence the question comes. "What wilt thou say when he
shall punish thee?" Here is a flock that is being inquired about, not a flock only, but
a beautiful flock. The question comes into our family life, and asks us where all the
children are, those lovely children, that banished the silence of the house and made
it ring with music. They were fair, they were charming, they were affectionate; what
a sweet, merry little fellowship they made!—where are they? The parent ought to be
able to give some answer to that inquiry. Have they been spoiled into evil, flattered
into self-idolatry, neglected into atheism? Have they been over-instructed, over-
disciplined, wholly overborne, so that the will has not been only broken but
shattered? Where are they? Are children likely to grow up of themselves? Flowers
do not, fruits do not, horses do not. There is more man in a horse than there is
horse. Will children turn out to be saints and psalmists and preachers by your
enjoying yourselves and letting them go their own way? Nature does not submit to
that philosophy of life; she says: "You must watch me—mother Nature; you must be
up in the morning almost as early as I Amos , and you must begin your training
whilst the dew is upon me, or I will uproot your flowers and set a weed where every
one of them grew." Oh, the cruelty of kindness! the madness of neglect! A good
example should be supported by good instruction. He is no shepherd, but a tyrant,
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103. who does not co-operate with his children, lure them, fascinate them, and give them
sacred instruction without appearing to do Song of Solomon , and who when
offering religious privileges offers them as if offering coronation, yea, and all
heaven.
The question enters also into our Church life, saying to every pastor, "Where is the
flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?"—not large, perhaps, but so
expectant, so sympathetic, so co-operative. It is possible for preachers to be always
in their places, and yet always out of them. What the flock wants is pastoral
preaching. The difficulty is to overcome the temptation to preach to somebody who
is not there. There is another difficulty almost impossible to escape, and that is to
preach to the one man rather than to all souls—the one man being the critic, the
intolerable Prayer of Manasseh , who does not understand human nature, who is
cursed with a competence, and cursed by knowing so many books—as to their title-
pages. The preacher will be ruined by that Prayer of Manasseh , unless that man is
ruined by the preacher; a great controversy, though not always patent to the public
eye, must take place, and the preacher must oust the critic. The people must have
pastoral prayer, prayer often all tears, always trembling with sympathy, always
indicative of the open eye that sees human life in its most tragic features and
relations. The preacher must always know himself to be set for the healing and
nurture of men. In every congregation there are the brokenhearted, those who are
shattered in fortune, feeble in health, spiritually-minded; women who have great
home cares; souls that cannot thrive on criticism; lives that need all nourishment
and comfort and loving sympathy. The pastor who so recognises his duty and
conducts his function will be able to tell where the flock Isaiah , the beautiful flock,
the sheep and the lambs; he will carry the lambs in his bosom. Preaching of that sort
will never need any foolish assistance in gathering together a flock. Men soon know
the physicians who can heal broken hearts. It is marvellous how the poor and the
weary and the sad come to know that somewhere there is a man who has the divine
touch, the shepherd"s voice, the pastoral enthusiasm. Let it be known by father,
mother, preacher, king, queen, that the time will come when the question will be
asked, "Where is the flock, the beautiful flock?" Nor will it be sufficient to return a
vague and multitudinous reply. The Lord knows every one of his flock. You cannot
offer him thirty-nine instead of forty; you cannot persuade him to look upon the
flock as a whole, a moving crowd; he counts while he looks, he numbers all his flock,
and each passes under the rod. We must be careful for the individual. There is an
abundance of public benevolence; a wonderful desire to preside at public meetings,
and a shameful disregard of the one little crushed life, the one half-sobbed
intercession, which asks for pity, which begs for bread.
Question follows question in this prophet: "And if thou say in thine heart,
Wherefore come these things upon me?" ( Jeremiah 13:22), thou wilt assume the
role of the hypocrite, thou wilt talk for talking" sake; for thou knowest right well
that God"s judgments come upon human sin. The Lord never punishes for the sake
of punishing. It is not to test the quality of his rod, but to develop the character of
Prayer of Manasseh , that God smites any living creature. When he drowned the
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104. world, he first drowned his own heart in tears. He suffered more than you suffered
when he took the one little ewe lamb away from you because you were turning it
into an idol or a temptation. In all our affliction he is afflicted.
"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?" ( Jeremiah 13:23).
There is no pathos in that inquiry. Perhaps there is a little cadence of satire; there
may be some hint of mockery. It is a moral inquiry, ending in this
conclusion—"Then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil." Man
cannot do a little of each, and do both with indifference or reluctance, and have the
good set down to him as a positive virtue. Habit becomes second nature, according
to the assurance of the proverb. There is a use in evil; it is easy to get into the skill of
evildoing; verily we seem to the manner born; it is easier to do wrong than to do
right. That, however, is but a partial view, because when proper discipline has been
undergone it becomes impossible to do evil. How is it that men do go astray? Why is
not one child born that stands up and says, "I will never budge, I will be inflexible
in virtue, heroic in suffering, valiant in testimony: I will be the man the ages have
been sighing and groaning for." Where is that child? If we speak of original sin we
are mocked. We dare scarcely mention the name of Adam, though—mystery of
mysteries—we have a doctrine of heredity. This doctrine as now understood seems
to go no farther back than the grandfather. That is a poor heredity, and laying
tremendous responsibility upon that venerable gentleman. What has he done to be
the fountain and origin of heredity? he never heard the word; he would need to
have it explained to him if he returned to these earthly schools. If we once
acknowledge the doctrine of heredity, then there is no Adam, though he were born
millions of ages ago, who can escape the responsibility of being the first. We do
nothing with this doctrine but aggravate the responsibilities of our own immediate
ancestors. The larger doctrine takes in all humanity. There I will stand by the
doctrine of heredity. It is a historical fact; it is a philosophy; it is a science by itself;
it deserves the devoutest, calmest study: but the doctrine of heredity must not be
terminated at a certain point, it must cover the whole ground, otherwise it is partial,
whimsical, fanciful, and misleading. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin?" That
question ought to be answerable. "Or the leopard his spots?" There ought to be no
difficulty about that inquiry. The prophet means by these interrogations that sooner
shall these miracles be wrought than that habitual evil shall turn to the ways of light
and wisdom and pureness. Then, is it impossible? With man this is impossible, but
with God all things are possible. That is the open door. We must be born again. It is
easy to sneer at the doctrine, to call it ancient, and to regard it as metaphysical; but
it does take place in every advancing life, and sometimes when we even disown the
name we accept the process. We are not to be limited by human definitions. We do
not go to some great theologian to tell us the meaning of regeneration; we go into
our own experience, and through that we read the divine word, and by the
reciprocal action of the divine word and the human consciousness we begin to see
what is meant by the Ethiopian changing his skin and the leopard his spots, what is
meant by rejuvenation, the offcasting of the old Prayer of Manasseh , and the
blooming of the new life, the regenerated soul. This cannot be explained in words, it
can be felt in the heart.
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105. "Wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once be?" ( Jeremiah 13:27).
"O the Hope of Israel, the Saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be
as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a
night?" ( Jeremiah 14:8).
Here we reach a deeper pathos. The prophet is conscious of the absence of God. A
great change has taken place in the divine relation to Jeremiah and to the world. He
who once came to reside, to abide, now called in like a wayfaring Prayer of
Manasseh , and passed on. What does the pilgrim care for the politics of the city? He
came but yesternight, tomorrow he will be gone; he cannot entangle himself with the
politics, or the social life, or the family life of the city; he says, I can tarry but a
night, I may not unsandal my feet, and my staff I had better have in my hand whilst
I sleep a little; I must be up with the dawn. Why art thou as a pilgrim, a wayfaring
Prayer of Manasseh , one who can turn aside but to tarry for a night? Almighty
One, gracious One, thou didst live with us once; thou wert as part of us, our very
home lift depended upon thee, we breathed the atmosphere of thy fellowship, and
now we hardly ever see thee; thou dost come sandalled, thou dost come with the
staff in thine hand, thou dost scarcely ask a question, or express a sympathy, or
disclose a solicitude; thou art no sooner here than gone. O the Hope of Israel, the
Saviour thereof in time of trouble, our hearts ache when we think of thee coming as
a stranger—thou once a friend!
"Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul loathed Zion? why hast thou
smitten us, and there is no healing for us?" ( Jeremiah 14:19).
The Lord had told the prophet it was useless to pray for the offender, but the
prophet scarcely believed it. It is hard for those who know God to believe that he
will resort to judgment. Jonah said: "I knew thou wouldst not destroy Nineveh, I
knew I was on a fool"s errand; I knew thy mercy, thy love, thy pity; I had been
calling, In forty days Nineveh should be destroyed, and I knew that if Nineveh but
whimpered thou wouldst humiliate me and spare the city." So it Isaiah , the
individual must go down, the personal consciousness must be rebuked; the city must
be saved, the man must be redeemed, and the redeeming God will presently talk to
the complaining prophet, and mayhap reconcile him.
"Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the
heavens give showers?" ( Jeremiah 14:22).
Remember it was a time of dearth. The question turned upon the presence of grass;
there was no grass, and therefore the hind calved in the field and forsook its own
offspring, that it might abate its own hunger, seeking grass in some far-away place.
Natural instincts were subdued and overcome, and the helpless offspring was left in
helplessness, that the poor dying mother, hunger smitten, might find a mouthful of
green herbage somewhere. And the ground was dust; the ploughmen were ashamed,
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106. they resorted to that last sign of Oriental desperation and grief, to cover their heads,
because there was no rain, no grass; and now the prophet asks, "Are there any
among the vanities of the Gentiles than can cause rain?" What can the idols do? If
they can give rain, let them give it now. Can the heavens themselves give showers—
the blue heavens that look so kind—can they of themselves and as it were by their
own motion pour a baptism of water upon the earth? No. This is the act of the living
God, the providence of the redeeming Father, the miracle of love. Thus we are
driven in various ways to pray. You never know what a man is religiously, until he
has been well tried, hungry a long time, and had no water to drink, until his tongue
is as a burning sting in his mouth, until it hardens like metal, and if he can then
move his lips you may find the coward trying to pray.
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:20
“Lift up your eyes, and behold those who come from the north. Where is the flock
that was given to you, your beautiful flock?”
And who will do this to them? Let them lift up their eyes and look to the north. It is
the invaders who come from there who will do it. Where then will be the flock that
YHWH gave to the leaders of Judah to watch over, their beautiful flock? Compare
Jeremiah 23:1; Jeremiah 50:6; Jeremiah 50:17; Isaiah 53:6; Ezekiel 34:6. The
feminine singular verbs and pronouns indicate that ‘the daughter of Jerusalem’ (i.e.
as responsible for its inhabitants, and those who lived around it) is in mind.
BI, "Where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?
A question for parents and pastors
Here is a flock that is being inquired about, not a flock only, but a beautiful flock.
1. The question comes into our family life, and asks us where all the children are,
those lovely children, that banished the silence of the house and made it ring with
music. They were fair, they were charming, they were affectionate; what a sweet,
merry little fellowship they made!—where are they? Have they been spoiled into evil,
flattered into self-idolatry, neglected into atheism? Have they been over-instructed,
over-disciplined, wholly overborne, so that the will has not been only broken but
shattered? He is no shepherd, but a tyrant, who does not cooperate with his children,
lure them, fascinate them, and give them sacred instruction without appearing to do
so, and who when offering religious privileges offers them as if offering coronation,
yea, and all heaven.
2. The question enters also into our Church life, saying to every pastor, “Where is the
flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock?”—not large, perhaps, but so expectant,
so sympathetic, so cooperative. What the flock wants is pastoral preaching. The
difficulty is to overcome the temptation to preach to somebody who is not there. The
preacher must always know himself to be set for the healing and nurture of men. In
every congregation there am the broken-hearted, those who are shattered in fortune,
feeble in health, spiritually-minded; women who have great home cares; souls that
cannot thrive on criticism; lives that need all nourishment and comfort and loving
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107. sympathy. (J. Parker, D. D.)
God’s claim on parents
I. What is here shown us respecting the flock.
1. It is not yours in proprietorship, only in charge. Children are peculiarly and
specially God’s. Authority over them is God’s gift to parents but He has a claim prior
to yours. He continues His work of creation in every child born. Its existence is
wonderful. Much more so its capacities—physical, mental, social, spiritual.
2. Christ highly estimates the flock. Christian hospitality to a child is homage to God.
II. The responsibility of parents to whom God has entrusted His flock.
1. They have to impart religious ideas. At home the first principles are instilled:
indeed, the child’s mind is there made acquainted with the germ of all truth—sin,
forgiveness, righteousness, salvation, love human and Divine: all the ideas involved
in religion.
2. Parents represent to their children the character of the Invisible God. The Gospel
is a declaration of the paternal love.
3. The inquiry for the flock will be addressed to parents.
III. The way in which this responsibility should be met. If you would prepare to answer
joyfully this question, set it before you as—
1. A distinct purpose. The wish for your children’s salvation is not enough. Register a
purpose in the sight of God.
2. Intense devotion is necessary. To have converting power over your own children
you must love their souls, and hold them fast for God. (A. Davies.)
Where are you
What a question this for ministers and for people! For ministers. Where are the few
sheep whom He has put under our care? What have we done for them? And for the flock
likewise, God’s people and children. What a question for them! Where are you?
I. You are God’s flock. “The people of His pasture, and the sheep of His hand.” He
acknowledges you as His sheep, and like the Good Shepherd, He knows you every one.
He looks at you as you are, and thinks of the difference between one and another.
II. His flock is “beautiful.”
1. For what He has made them. Look how beautiful He has made us all in body,
mind, and soul.
2. Because of what they are capable of. Look at the wonderful things which man has
been enabled to do, and then think what more God may intend him to do. Look at
him sailing over the sea, and travelling over land by means of fire and water! And
then think what may not man’s mind and body be capable of doing. But look at man
sanctified by the Holy Ghost, his soul filled with grace, and bringing forth fruits of
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108. righteousness. How beautiful is a Christian, when he is gentle, forgiving, loving,
forgetting himself, and seeking to help others, bearing trials without murmurs, and
rejoicing even in sorrow!
3. Because of what they are intended for. You, poor creatures that you are,
disappointed and disappointing yourselves so constantly, promising yourselves so
much and performing so little—God intends you to be lights in this world, to show
the way to those around you, and to be His companions in heaven.
III. “Where are you?” “Where am I?”
1. We are here, whilst so many others have been called away.
2. Judge yourselves where you are in spiritual things.
(1) To this end review your opportunities, and see what they have done for you,
where they have left you. They are like the wind or steam to a ship, like the
carriage or train to the traveller; they are intended to help you on your way, and
you ought to find yourself nearer home since you have had the use of them.
(2) Judge yourselves about open, plain public sins. What have there been of
these in the year? drunkenness, swearing, thieving, cheating, lying, uncleanness,
wasting Sunday, slandering your neighbour. Have you done such things as these?
(3) Judge yourselves whether you are more in earnest about religion than you
were. Are you ever anxious about yourself? Are you taking any pains? (W. H.
Ridley, M. A.)
Christian responsibility
To the minister of Christ, when looking back on the irremediable past, and forward on
the dim future, the thought must naturally arise,—How much have we to answer for, and
what answer shall we make? But let all seriously minded Christians consider how great is
the responsibility of us all, with respect to children and young persons, that they be
brought up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. Everyone knows that example is
more forcible than precept, and especially evil example than good precept. When grown-
up persons then, whether parents or others, use themselves to violent and intemperate
language, swearing, or indecent expressions, or slander, it is as if they took pains to
instruct children in the language of lost spirits. Or, to glance at another case; many there
are who, while they preserve a decent exterior of conduct, yet leave their children, or
other young persons for whom they are in any manner responsible, to shift for
themselves; I mean in religious matters, take no personal care or trouble to give them an
education substantially Christian. But I ask, Is not that which is true and good for the
parent, true and good for the child? Must not fathers and mothers be answerable for the
bringing up of their little flock, the children whom God has given them, in the nurture
and admonition of the Lord? And can this be true Christian nurture and admonition, to
habituate them to those unfixed and unprincipled notions and ways in the great matter
of Divine worship, and communion with Christ’s Church here militant, but in heaven
triumphant? This responsibility lies on us all—all grown-up persons—all have an
influence either for good or evil on the younger; and happy will they be, who shall be
found to have exerted this influence to the honour of our Almighty Lord and Master, and
the edification of that flock which He purchased with His own blood. Such persons, if
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109. parents, have made it a principal matter of their thoughts and cares that their children
should be also God’s children. (Plain Sermons by Contributors to the “Tracts for the
Times.”)
21 What will you say when the Lord sets over you
those you cultivated as your special allies?
Will not pain grip you
like that of a woman in labor?
BARNES, "Translate, “What wilt thou say, O Jerusalem, when He, Yahweh, shall set
over thee for head those whom thou hast taught to be thy bosom friends?” The foreign
powers, whose friendship she has been courting, will become her tyrants.
CLARKE, "Thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee -
This is said of their enemies, whether Assyrians or Chaldeans: for ever since Ahaz
submitted himself to the king of Assyria, the kings of Judah never regained their
independence. Their enemies were thus taught to be their lords and masters.
GILL, "What will thou say when he shall punish thee?.... Or, "visit upon thee"
(f); that is, either when God shall punish thee for thy sins, thou canst bring no charge of
injustice against him, or murmur and repine at the punishment inflicted on thee; so
Jarchi; to which agrees the Targum,
"when he shall visit on thee thy sin;''
or else, to which the following words seem to incline, when the enemy shall visit upon
thee; so Kimchi and Abarbinel, when the Chaldeans shall come upon thee, and pay thee
a visit, an unwelcome one; yet who wilt thou have to blame but thyself? so the
Septuagint and Arabic versions render it, "when they shall visit thee"; these words are
directed, not to the king, nor to the queen neither; but to the body of the people, the
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110. Jewish state, represented as a woman; who, upon consideration of things past, would
have a great deal of reason to reflect upon themselves for what they had done in former
times, which had led on to their ruin and destruction:
(for thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee;) the Jews
showed the Assyrians the way into their country, used them to come thither, and taught
them how to conquer them, and be masters over them; or, "hast taught them against
thee" (g); to thy hurt and detriment, to be captains or governors;
for an head, to have the rule over them: this was done by Ahaz, when he sent to
Tiglathpileser king of Assyria to come and save him out of the hands of the kings of Syria
and Israel, 2Ki_16:7 and by Hezekiah, when he showed the messengers of the king of
Babylon all his treasures; these were invitations and temptations to come and plunder
them:
shall not sorrows take thee as a woman in travail? denoting the suddenness of
their calamities; the sharpness and severity of them; and that they would be inevitable,
and could not be prevented.
HENRY, "“What have you to object against the equity of God's proceedings? What
will thou say when he shall visit upon thee the former days? Jer_13:21. Thou canst say
nothing, but that God is just in all that is brought upon thee.” Those that flatter
themselves with hopes of impunity, what will they say? What confusion will cover their
faces when they shall find themselves deceived and that God punishes them! [3.] “What
thoughts will you now have of your own folly, in giving the Chaldeans such power over
you, by seeking to them for assistance, and joining in league with them? Thus thou hast
taught them against thyself to be captains and to become the head.” Hezekiah began
when he showed his treasures to the ambassadors of the king of Babylon, tempting him
thereby to come and plunder him. Those who, having a God to trust to, court foreign
alliances and confide in them, do but make rods for themselves and teach their
neighbours how to become their masters. [4.] “How will you bear the trouble that is at
the door? Shall not sorrows take thee as a woman in travail? Sorrows which thou canst
not escape nor put off, extremity of sorrows; and in these respects more grievous than
those of a woman in travail that they were not expected before, and that there is no
manchild to be born, the joy of which shall make them afterwards to be forgotten.”
JAMISON, "captains, and as chief — literally, “princes as to headship”; or “over
thy head,” namely, the Chaldeans. Rather, translate, “What wilt thou say when God will
set them (the enemies, Jer_13:20) above thee, seeing that thou thyself hast accustomed
them (to be) with thee as (thy) lovers in the highest place (literally, ‘at thy head’)? Thou
canst not say God does thee wrong, seeing it was thou that gave occasion to His dealing
so with thee, by so eagerly courting their intimacy.” Compare Jer_2:18, Jer_2:36; 2Ki_
23:29, as to the league of Judah with Babylon, which led Josiah to march against
Pharaoh-necho, when the latter was about to attack Babylon [Maurer].
sorrows — pains, throes.
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111. CALVIN, "As the Prophet observed that the Jews were in no way moved, he
addressed them still further, and set before them what seemed then incredible, even
the calamity, from which they thought they were able easily to defend themselves by
means of their auxiliaries.
He then adds, What wilt thou then say? For the false teachers made a clamor, and
whenever Jeremiah began to speak, they violently assailed him, and the common
people also wantonly barked at him. As then they thus petulantly resisted God and
his truths, the Prophet intimates that the time would come when they should become
mute through shame: What wilt thou say then? he says, “Ye are now very talkative,
and God cannot obtain a hearing from you; but he will check your wantonness,
when the enemy shall distress you.” It is the same as though he had said, “It will not
be the time then for your loquacity, for the Lord will constrain you to be silent.”
Some refer to God what follows, When, he shall visit you; but it ought on the
contrary to be applied to the Chaldeans; for he immediately adds, But thou hast
accustomed them, etc. There is indeed a change or an anomaly of number, but this is
common in the prophets. When he uses the singular, the head of the army is
referred to, but afterwards the whole forces are included. What then wilt thou say,
when the enemy shall visit thee? He then adds, But then, etc.; that is, “If thou
seekest to cast blame on others, when the Assyrians and the Chaldeans shall
overwhelm thee, thou wilt attempt it in vain? for thou hast opened a passage for
them, and hast accustomed them to be thy leaders over thy head.” For the Assyrians
had a long time before been sent for by the Israelites; and the Jews also had formed
confederacies with the Chaldeans against the Assyrians, before these monarchies
were united. As then they had called them in as auxiliaries, they had accustomed
them to rule, and, as it were, had set them over themselves. The case was similar to
that of the Turks at this day, were they to pass over to these parts and exercise their
authority; for it might be asked the French kings and their counsellors, “Whose
fault it is that the Turks come to us so easily? It is because ye have prepared for
them the way by sea, because ye have bribed them, and your ports have been
opened to them; and yet they have wilfully exercised the greatest cruelty towards
your subjects. All these things have proceeded from yourselves; ye are therefore the
authors of all these evils.” So also now the Prophet upbraids the Jews, because they
had accustomed the Chaldeans to be their leaders; and as they had set them over
their own heads, he says to them, that it was no wonder that they were now so
troublesome and grievous to them. (91)
He afterwards says, Shall not sorrows lay hold on thee as on a woman in travail? By
this comparison he intimates, that the Jews gained nothing by their vain hopes; for
when they should say, peace and security, destruction, such as they by no means
expected, would suddenly come upon them. This similitude we know often occurs,
and it is a very apt one; for a woman with child may be very cheerful and quietly
enjoying herself, and yet a sudden pain may seize her. So also it will be with the
wicked; they cannot now bear to hear anything sad or alarming, and they drive
from them every fear as far as possible; but the more they harden themselves, the
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112. heavier is God’s vengeance which follows them, and which will overtake them
suddenly and unexpectedly. As then it was incredible to the Jews, that the
Chaldeans would soon come to lay waste their land, he says to them, “Surely
sorrows will take hold on you, though you look not for them. Though a woman with
child thinks not of her coming pain, yet it comes suddenly and cannot be driven
away; so you will gain nothing by heedlessly promising to yourselves continual
peace and quietness.” I cannot finish what follows today if I go on farther; I shall
therefore put it off to the next Lecture.
For thou hast taught them to be over the leaders in chief.
It is the feminine gender that is still used; and the queen or governess may be
addressed as the representative of the ruling power in the land. — Ed.
COKE, "Jeremiah 13:21. For thou hast taught them, &c.— Houbigant renders it,
Since thou hast made them expert against thee, and hast drawn-them upon thine
own head. "Thou hast frequently called them to thy succour, and taught them the
way to thy country, whereof they dreamed not before; and not only thus, but by
accumulating crimes upon crimes, and filling up the measure of thine iniquity, thou
hast drawn down the vengeance of heaven, and put thyself in the power of the
Chaldeans." See Calmet.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:21 What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee? for thou
hast taught them [to be] captains, [and] as chief over thee: shall not sorrows take
thee, as a woman in travail?
Ver. 21. For thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee,] scil., By
thy crouching unto them, and craving their help, thou hast made the Chaldeans
masters of all thou hast. So did the British princes Vortiger and Vortimer bring in
the Saxons here, and the Greeks the Turks.
ELLICOTT, "(21) What wilt thou say?—The verse is difficult, and requires an
entire retranslation. What wilt thou (the daughter of Zion) say? for He (Jehovah)
shall set over thee as head those whom thou taughtest (=tried to teach) to be thy
familiar friends. This was to be the end of the alliance in which Judah had trusted.
She had courted the Chaldean nobles as her lover-guides and friends (the word is
the same as in Jeremiah 3:4; Psalms 55:13; Proverbs 2:17; Proverbs 16:28). Another
possible construction gives, shall set over thee those whom thou delightest to be thy
friends as head over thee, i.e., those whose supremacy Judah had acknowledged in
order that she might court their alliance. What could come then but that which was
to the Hebrew the type of extremest anguish (Isaiah 13:8; Isaiah 21:3; Psalms 48:6),
the travail-pangs which were followed by no joy that a man was born into the world
(John 16:21)?
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:21
112

113. “What will you say, when he shall set over you as head those whom you have
yourself taught to be your friends? Will not sorrows take hold of you, as of a woman
in travail?”
The greatest ignominy will be found in that their conqueror will set over them rulers
from among those with whom they have at one time or another been in alliance.
They had ‘taught them to be their friends’ and now they would have been set over
them. It would cause them grief of heart and anguish like that of a woman bearing a
child, used as an illustration because it was the worst kind of experience that men
came across in their daily lives. Certainly when Nehemiah came back Jerusalem
would be subject to Sanballat the governor of Aram (Syria) in association with
Tobiah the Ammonite and Geshem the Arabian, together with the Ammonites, the
Arabians and the Ashdodites (Nehemiah 4:1; Nehemiah 4:17; Nehemiah 6:1).
BI, "What wilt thou say when He shall punish thee?
A question to the impenitent
It was in view of certain threatened calamities that were to come on Judah from the
hand of the Lord, that this question is asked of her. I put this question to each individual
who is not obeying the Gospel of Christ. What wilt thou say, dying as thou art living,
appearing before God in judgment as thou appearest to Him now, continuing
impenitent, persisting in disobedience to the Gospel, if the character thou carriest into
eternity be that which you are now forming for it? But perhaps you have no faith in
future punishment; perhaps you do not believe that you, or any sinner will ever be
brought into these circumstances. Then you have no faith in the veracity of God, or in
the Bible as His Word. You are fulfillers of prophecy, for it is said (1Pe_3:1-22) there
should be such as you. But you say, the belief is unreasonable; it conflicts with all our
ideas of benevolence and justice. What! that a righteous moral Governor should punish
incorrigible offenders, rebels that refuse to be reconciled to Him, though often invited,
and the meanwhile most kindly dealt with by their injured Sovereign, and when the
terms of reconciliation are easy as they could be made, and the whole expense of
bringing it about is borne by God! The question is not, what now you have to say, for
now you imagine you have a great deal to say. And some can speak long and fluently in a
strain of self-exculpation; but then, when confronted with your Maker and Judge; and
when all things are seen by the clear and searching light of eternity; then, what wilt thou
say?
1. You will not be able to say that you were ignorant of the existence of the law, for
the transgression of which you are condemned.
2. Nor can you say that this law is unintelligible. Whatever obscurity attaches to the
doctrines of the Bible, none rests on its precepts.
3. Nor, again, can you reasonably complain of the character of this law. “The law is
holy, and the commandment holy, lust, and good.” Its spirit is love; its tendency
happiness.
4. Nor can you complain of any want of adaptation in this law; that it transcends
your capacities, exceeds your natural powers of performance. No; you want no new
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114. faculty to obey it perfectly. You want only a rectified heart. You want but the will.
5. You cannot plead ignorance of its penalty. You cannot say that you were not
warned of the consequences of disobedience; and that God strikes, before He speaks.
What has not been done to deter you from sinning? What obstructions have not been
thrown in your way to destruction! But you surmount them all. What then wilt thou
say, when He shall punish thee? That you have never transgressed this law, or only
once, or but seldom, and then inadvertently, through infirmity? This you will not say;
you cannot. Who has not sinned many times, and deliberately? Will you say that your
sin did no harm, injured no one, no one but God? But you must allow the Lawgiver
to be the judge of that. The consequences of a particular sin He alone is able to trace
out. Will you be able to say, that, when you had sinned, God hastened the execution
of the sentence against you; waited not for a second offence, and gave you no
opportunity to evade the stroke; that as soon as you found you had sinned, you were
sorry, and penitently sought His face, but was spurned away; and that, seeing your
case to be hopeless, you went on sinning in despair? What will you say? That there
was an irreversible Divine decree that stood an insurmountable obstruction in your
way to heaven, and even impelled you in the downward direction? You will see by the
light of eternity that that was not the case, nor indeed the doctrine of those who were
supposed to hold it. What then wilt thou say, when He shall punish thee? I can think
of nothing, nothing exculpatory, nothing extenuating. You will be speechless, not
through intimidation, but from conviction, not as unable to speak, but as having
nothing to say; self-condemned, as well as condemned by your Judge; conscience
confirming the decision against you, and your own self through all eternity
reproaching you, and thus nourishing a worm gnawing within worse than the fire
that shall burn about you. And shall it come to this? Shall this be the issue of life?
(W. Nevins, D. D.)
Future punishment
I. The punishment supposed.
1. Sometimes it commences in the present world.
2. It will assuredly be inflicted after death.
3. It will be consummated at the judgment day.
4. It will be proportionate (Mat_19:27; Rom_2:6; Rev_2:23).
5. That it will be everlasting.
II. The interrogation presented.
1. Will you say it is unrighteous?
2. Will you say it is severe?
3. Will you say that you were not warned?
4. Will you plead for a further period of trial?
5. Will you confess your guilt, and seek mercy?
6. Will you endeavour to resist the almighty arm? (Isa_27:4; Nah_1:5)
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115. 7. Will you endeavour to meet your doom with firmness? (Pro_1:27; Rev_6:17.)
Application—
1. Future punishment may be averted. Bless God that you are favoured with time and
opportunities; with mercy, and with gracious invitations.
2. Timely repentance, and sincere faith in the Lord Jesus Christ, will infallibly
preserve you from the wrath to come. (J. Burns, D. D.)
The justice of future punishment
I. Offer three general remarks.
1. All the afflictions to the wicked have the nature of punishment: they are not
salutary. Grace turns the serpent into a rod; but sin turns the rod into a serpent. The
former turns poison into a remedy; the latter, the remedy into poison.
2. Punishment is the natural and necessary consequence of sin. If we drink of the
cup of abominations, God will give us the cup of trembling (Psa_75:8).
3. Whoever are the immediate instruments of inflicting punitive evils, God is the
author of them.
II. Consider the solemn inquiry in our text. “What wilt thou say when He shall punish
thee?”
1. Wilt thou charge God with injustice, or say that the punishment is undeserved? To
admit such a thought betrays the greatest insolence and pride, as well as an entire
ignorance of all the principles of truth and righteousness (Rom_3:5-6; Rev_15:3;
Rev_16:7).
2. Wilt thou say that God is severe and that though punishment be deserved, yet it is
too great for the offence? (2Th_1:6-10.)
3. Wilt thou say that thou wast taken by surprise, without being warned; and that,
therefore, judgments came unlooked for? The very heathens cannot say this; for as
the creatures instruct them, so conscience warns them.
4. Wilt thou desire a further time of trial, that judgment may be deferred, and a
longer season of probation be afforded thee? Instead of wishing for a greater
extension of Divine forbearance, God might say to the dying and desponding sinner,
The measure of thine iniquities is already full, and further forbearance would only
make it run over. “Put in the sickle, for the harvest is ripe.”
5. Wilt thou say that thou hast sinned by an inevitable necessity, and that thy ruin
was predetermined? But if this be the language of sinners in this world, it will not be
so in the world to come. They will then know that if they were the slaves of sin and
Satan, they were so voluntarily, and by choice; that if they were sold to commit
iniquity, like Ahab, they sold themselves; and that if any spiritual blessing were
withheld, it was that to which they had no claim and for which they had no desire
(Jer_7:10; Isa_63:17; Mat_23:37 Joh_5:40; Act_2:23; Joh_12:39; Joh_15:22;
Rom_9:19-20).
6. The question proposed in the text implies that the sinner will have nothing to say
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116. when he falls into the hands of God. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
A serious question
I. The punishment referred to. A freethinker once said, “I am seventy years old, and have
never seen such a place as hell, after all that has been said about it.” A child at once
replied, “But have you ever been dead yet?”
1. The punishment itself. This is brought before us—
(1) By express declarations.
(2) In figurative forms.
2. Its infliction.
(1) God, faithful to promises, must also be to threatenings.
(2) Graded, in accordance with degree of crime.
II. The persons on whom it will be inflicted.
1. Atheists.
2. Unbelievers.
3. Hypocrites.
4. Persecutors.
5. Backsliders.
III. The question, “What wilt thou say?” Many can talk now, revile, question, sneer.
What will you say then? (Homiletic Magazine.)
No appeal
Advert to the time when, in the order of the Divine government, ungodly sinners will be
punished according to law. What wilt thou say in extenuation of thy guilt, and against
the justice of the punishment that He shall inflict upon thee?
1. Will you say that you did not know the law which you had broken? Whose fault
was that? Had you not a Bible as your own? Had you not a law in your conscience
which acquitted or accused you in the actions of life?
2. That you meant no wrong in what you had done? Then why do wrong? For
pleasure? For profit? Was this any justification of wrong-doing?
3. That your sins had not done such evil as to deserve such punishment? Can you be
a judge in this?
4. That God might have prevented you sinning, and the results of your sins, if He
had been so disposed? Yes, had He destroyed your free agency. But did not God use
means to prevent you, and you would not?
5. That you sinned only a short time in comparison with the duration of your
punishment? Punishment is not given in its duration according to the time taken in
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117. the act of transgression. The act of murder, and its punishment.
6. That you have only done as others have done? A thousand doing wrong is no
justification or extenuation of one doing a similar or the same wrong that they have
committed.
7. That you have not been so bad as others? The law knows nothing of degrees in
crime, so far as exempting from punishment. Besides, he that offends in one point is
guilty of all.
8. That while you have done many things that have been wrong, you have done
others that have been right? Doing a right will not save you from the punishment of
doing a wrong.
9. That you had great temptations to do as you have done? But there were at your
command resources of help sufficient to keep you from their power.
10. That you were led into sin by bad examples? There were good examples to follow
as well as bad, why did you not follow them?
11. That you were never educated? Education has nothing to do with moral
principles and actions.
12. That you were never warned or admonished against sin? Can this be true? If you
were not, whose fault was it? Had you not warnings and admonitions of conscience
and of the Spirit of God?
13. That the Spirit of God never strove with you? This is false, or God’s Word is, and
human experience. Perhaps you so quenched the Spirit as to harden your heart.
14. That you were born into the world with a sinful nature, and could not help
sinning? But God made every provision to meet your case in this respect.
15. That the inconsistencies of Christians were a stumbling block to you? If one man
walk awry, or if he stumble, is that any reason why you should do so
16. That you were preordained by God to do as you have done? This is false, both in
reason and in Scripture.
17. That your punishment is too severe? It is no wonder you should say this. Is it
undeserved? Is it against law and justice?
18. That your punishment is more than you can bear? You should have thought of
this before. Did you in committing sin think of how others could bear the wrong you
were doing them? How God could bear your sins? (Local Preacher’s Treasury.)
22 And if you ask yourself,
117

118. “Why has this happened to me?”—
it is because of your many sins
that your skirts have been torn off
and your body mistreated.
BARNES, "
Made bare - Rather, “ill-used, treated with violence.” The long flowing robes worn by
ladies of rank, are to be laid aside, that they might do menial work, bare-legged, like
slaves. The ill-usage to the heels is the having to tramp barefoot, a thing very painful to
women accustomed to the seclusion of the female apartments.
CLARKE, "Are thy skirts discovered - Thy defenseless state is every where
known; thou art not only weak, but ignominiously so. It is thy scandal to be in so
depressed a condition; thou art lower than the basest of thy adversaries, and thou art so
because of thy sin.
GILL, "And if thou say in thine heart,.... Not daring to express it with the mouth;
and which, notwithstanding, God, that knows the heart, was privy to, and could discern
all the secret workings of it; putting such a question as this:
wherefore come these things upon me? all these calamities, the invasion and siege
of the enemy, famine, sword, captivity, &c.: the answer returned is,
for the greatness of thine iniquity; the enormous crimes the Jews were guilty of,
such as idolatry, blasphemy, &c. which were attended with aggravated circumstances:
or, "for the multitude of thine iniquity" (h); their sins being so many, as well as great:
are thy skirts discovered, and thy heels made bare; being obliged to walk naked
and barefoot, their buttocks uncovered, and their legs and feet naked, without stockings
or shoes, as captives used to be led, to their great shame and disgrace; see Isa_20:2. The
phrases are expressive of captivity, and the manner of it; the cause of which was the
greatness and multitude of their sins. The Targum is,
"because thy sins are multiplied, thy confusion is revealed, thy shame is seen.''
HENRY, "Here is, I. Ruin threatened as before, that the Jews shall go into captivity,
and fall under all the miseries of beggary and bondage, shall be stripped of their clothes,
their skirts discovered for want of upper garments to cover them, and their heels made
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119. bare for want of shoes, Jer_13:22. Thus they used to deal with prisoners taken in war,
when they drove them into captivity, naked and barefoot, Isa_20:4. Being thus carried
off into a strange country, they shall be scattered there, as the stubble that is blown
away by the wind of the wilderness, and nobody is concerned to bring it together again,
Jer_13:24. If the stubble escape the fire, it shall be carried away by the wind. If one
judgment do not do the work, another shall, with those that by sin have made
themselves as stubble. They shall be stripped of all their ornaments and exposed to
shame, as harlots that are carted, Jer_13:26. They made their pride appear, but God will
make their shame appear; so that those who have doted on them shall be ashamed of
them.
II. An enquiry made by the people into the cause of this ruin, Jer_13:22. Thou wilt say
in thy heart (and God knows how to give a proper answer to what men say in their
hearts, though they do not speak it out; Jesus, knowing their thoughts, replied to them,
Mat_9:4), Wherefore came these things upon me? The question is supposed to come
into the heart, 1. Of a sinner quarrelling with God and refusing to receive correction.
They could not see that they had done any thing which might justly provoke God to be
thus angry with them. They durst not speak it out; but in their hearts they thus charged
God with unrighteousness, if he had laid upon them more than was meet. They seek for
the cause of their calamities, when, if they had not been willfully blind, they might easily
have seen it. Or, 2. Of a sinner returning to God. If there come but a penitent thought
into the heart at any time (saying, What have I done? Jer_8:6, wherefore am I in
affliction? why doth God contend with me?) God takes notice of it, and is ready by his
Spirit to impress the conviction, that, sin being discovered, it may be repented of.
III. An answer to this enquiry. God will be justified when he speaks and will oblige us
to justify him, and therefore will set the sin of sinners in order before them. Do they ask,
Wherefore come these things upon us? Let them know it is all owing to themselves.
1. It is for the greatness of their iniquities, Jer_13:22. God does not take advantage
against them for small faults; no, the sins for which he now punishes them are of the
first rate, very heinous in their own nature and highly aggravated - for the multitude of
thy iniquity (so it may be read), sins of every kind and often repeated and relapsed into.
Some think we are more in danger from the multitude of our smaller sins than from the
heinousness of our greater sins; of both we may say, Who can understand his errors?
JAMISON, "if thou say — connecting this verse with “What wilt thou say” (Jer_
13:21)?
skirts discovered — that is, are thrown up so as to expose the person (Jer_13:26;
Isa_3:17; Nah_3:5).
heels made bare — The sandal was fastened by a thong above the heel to the instep.
The Hebrew, is, “are violently handled,” or “torn off”; that is, thou art exposed to
ignominy. Image from an adulteress.
K&D, "This will befall the daughter of Zion for her sore transgressions. Therefore will
she be covered with scorn and shame. The manner of her dishonour, discovery of the
skirts (here and esp. in Jer_13:26), recalls Nah_3:5, cf. Isa_47:3; Hos_2:5. Chr. B. Mich.
and others understand the violent treatment of the heels to be the loading of the feet
with chains; but the mention of heels is not in keeping with this. Still less can the
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120. exposure of the heels by the upturning of the skirts be called maltreatment of the heels;
nor can it be that, as Hitz. holds, the affront is simply specialized by the mention of the
heels instead of the person. The thing can only mean, that the person will be driven forth
into exile barefoot and with violence, perhaps under the rod; cf. Psa_89:52.
CALVIN, "The Prophet again declares that God’s judgment would be just, which
he had previously foretold; for hypocrites, we know, do not cease to quarrel with
God, except they are often proved guilty; and it is always their object, where they
cannot wholly excuse themselves, to extenuate in some measure their fault. The
Prophet therefore here removes every pretense for evasion, and declares that they
were wholly worthy of such a reward.
But his manner of speaking ought to be noticed, If thou wilt say in thine heart, etc.
Hypocrites do not only claim for themselves righteousness before the world, but
they also deceive themselves, and the devil so dementates them with a false
persuasion, that they seek to be counted just before God. This then is what the
Prophet sets forth when he says, If thou wilt say in thine heart, Why have these evils
happened to me? (92) that is, if thou seekest by secret murmuring to contend with
God, the answer is ready, — Because of the multitude of thine iniquity, discovered
are thy skirts, and thy heels are denuded.” The multitude of iniquity he calls that
perverse wickedness which prevailed among the Jews; for they had not ceased for a
long time to provoke the wrath of God. Had they only once sinned, or had been
guilty of one kind of sin, there would have been some hope of pardon, at least God
would not have executed a punishment so severe; but as there had been an
uninterrupted course of sinning, the Prophet shews that it would not be right to
spare them any longer.
As to the simile, it is a form of speaking often used by the prophets, that is, to
denude the soles of the feet, and to discover the skirts. We know that; men clothe
themselves, not only to preserve them from cold. but that they also cover the body
for the sake of modesty: there is therefore a twofold use of garments, the one
occasioned by necessity, and the other by decency. As then clothes are partly made
for this end — to cover what could not be decently shewn or left bare without
shame, the prophets use this mode of speaking when they have in view to shew that
one is exposed to public reproaJeremiah (93) It afterwards follows —
(lang. cy) Pam y digwyddodd i mi y pethau hyn ?
But if “these things” preceded the verb, it would be in the plural. — Ed.
For the number of thine iniquity Discovered have been thy skirts, Violently stripped
off have been thy heels.
“Skirts” here stand for the parts covered by them, and “heels” for the sandals which
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121. were worn. Both the Septuagint and the Vulgate mention the parts, and not
skirts — “the hinder parts,” “the uncomely parts,” but they retain the word “heels.”
The metonomy exists, no doubt, as to both. The Syriac has “skirts” and “ankles.”
The Targum gives the meaning, “confusion” and “ignominy.” The past time is used
for the future. — Ed.
COFFMAN, ""And if thou say in thy heart, Wherefore are these things come upon
me? for the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts uncovered and thy heels suffer
violence. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye
also do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Therefore will I scatter them, as the
stubble that passeth away, by the wind of the wilderness."
"For the greatness of thine iniquity ..." (Jeremiah 13:22). This is God's blunt answer
to the question of why? all these things happened to Israel.
"Thy skirts uncovered ..." (Jeremiah 13:22). See under Jeremiah 13:26. below, for
comment on this.
"Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots ..." (Jeremiah 13:23)?
A negative answer is required for both of these questions; and the meaning is simply
that it is too late for Israel to change her ways. She has persistently wallowed in sin
such a long time that there is no longer any hope of her changing. Such a condition
came about because of (1) the deliberate rebellion of Israel against her God, and (2)
the consequent judicial hardening of the apostate nation so frequently mentioned in
Isaiah (See Isaiah 6:9,10, etc).
BENSON, "Jeremiah 13:22. If thou say, Wherefore come these things upon me? —
Hypocrites will rarely confess their own shame and God’s righteousness, but are
ready to expostulate with him, and to inquire why he hath dealt so with them, as if
he had treated them unjustly. But, saith God, For the greatness of thine iniquity are
thy skirts discovered, &c. — That is, thou art carried into captivity, stripped and
bare, without covering to thy nakedness; it being the barbarous custom of
conquerors, in ancient times, to treat their captives with such indignities in
conducting them to the place of their intended residence: see note on Isaiah 3:17;
and Nahum 3:5. Lowth thinks the words may also allude to the punishment that
used to be inflicted upon common harlots and adulteresses, which was to strip them
naked, and expose them to the eyes of the world: and thus God threatened he would
deal with Jerusalem, upon account of her spiritual fornication.
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:22
“And if you say in your heart, ‘Why have these things come on me?’”
At some stage they will begin to question in their why all this has happened to them.
It will be the first stage in possible repentance. Jeremiah 13:24 reveals that this was
to be seen as YHWH speaking.
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122. Jeremiah 13:22
“Because of the greatness of your iniquity are your skirts uncovered, and your heels
suffer violence.”
And the answer is already provided for them. It is because of the greatness of their
iniquity. This is a reminder, as so much of Jeremiah is a reminder, of the seriousness
with which God views sin and disobedience to His commandments. We must never
think that because forgiveness is so freely offered by God that it means that our sins
are not really important. We have only to look at the blood-stained and awful
history of the world to see what devastation sin has wrought. And it is our sin. Some
ask why God allows these things? The answer is clear. It is because if He once
interfered ALL of us to the very last man and woman would perish.
And it was because of their indwelling sin that they would be humiliated before the
nations. The uncovering of the skirts was, outside the privacy of marriage, an act of
contempt and shame. No one bothered about the uncovering of a prostitute. The
‘heels suffering violence’ may be a euphemism for being violently sexually assaulted
or even raped. Prostitutes were regularly treated harshly by their clients. Thus
Judah were being revealed as spiritual prostitutes. Alternately the clothes that
indicated the rank of the great ladies may be in mind. The ‘heels suffering violence’
probably then refers to men and women who were used to being properly shod
being forced to march barefoot (compare Isaiah 20:2-4). They were used to allowing
their heels to hit the ground first, and being unused to walking barefoot, would,
once they were led away as captives, soon experience the consequences.
23 Can an Ethiopian[b] change his skin
or a leopard its spots?
Neither can you do good
who are accustomed to doing evil.
BARNES, "This verse answers the question, May not Judah avert this calamity by
repentance? No: because her sins are too inveterate. By the Ethiopian (Hebrew: Cushite)
is meant not the Cushite of Arabia but of Africa, i. e., the negro.
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123. CLARKE, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin - Can a black, at his own
pleasure, change the color of his skin? Can the leopard at will change the variety of his
spots? These things are natural to them, and they cannot be altered; so sin, and
especially your attachment to idolatry, is become a second nature; and we may as well
expect the Ethiopian to change his skin, and the leopard his spots, as you to do good,
who have been accustomed to do evil. It is a matter of the utmost difficulty to get a
sinner, deeply rooted in vicious habits, brought to the knowledge of himself and God.
But the expression does not imply that the thing is as impossible in a moral as it is in a
natural sense: it only shows that it is extremely difficult, and not to be often expected;
and a thousand matters of fact prove the truth of this. But still, what is impossible to
man is possible to God. See the note on Jer_13:27.
GILL, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin?.... Or, "the Cushite"; either, as the
Arabic version, the "Abyssine", the inhabitant of the eastern Ethiopia; properly an
Ethiopian, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it; or, the "Chusean
Arabian"; the inhabitant of Arabia Chusea, which was nearer Judea than the other
Ethiopia, and better known, and which were of a dark complexion. The Targum renders
it, the Indian; and so does the Syriac version. In the Misna (i) mention is made of Indian
garments, with which the high priest was clothed on the day of atonement; upon which
the gloss (k) is, that they were of linen of the country of India; and which is the land of
Cush (or Ethiopia), as Jonathan Ben Uzziel interprets Jer_13:23.
"can the Cushite, the Indian, change his skin?''
and it is highly probable, that, in the time of Jeremiah, no other India was known by the
Jews but Ethiopia, or Arabia Chusea, and no other black people but the inhabitants
thereof, or any other than the Arabians; and, as Braunius (l) observes, it need not be
wondered at, that with the Jews, in those times, Ethiopia and India should be reckoned
the same country; when with the ancients, whatever was beyond the Mediterranean sea,
as Arabia, Ethiopia, and even Judea itself, was called India; so Joppa, a city of Phoenicia,
from whence Andromeda was fetched by Perseus, is by Ovid (m) said to be in India; so
Bochart (n) interprets the words of the Saracens or Arabians, who are of a swarthy
colour, and some black; and indeed have their name from the same word the raven has,
which is black; and particularly the inhabitants of Kedar were black, one part of Arabia,
to which the allusion is in Son_1:5. Jarchi interprets the word here by "the moor", the
blackamoor, whose skin is naturally black, and cannot be changed by himself or others;
hence to wash the blackamoor white is a proverbial expression for labour in vain, or
attempting to do that which is not to be done:
or the leopard his spots? a creature full of spots, and whose spots are natural to it;
and therefore cannot be removed by any means. Some think a creature called "the
ounce", or "cat-a-mountain" is meant, whose spots are many, and of a blackish colour;
but the description well agrees with the leopard, which is a creature full of spots, and has
its name in the eastern languages, particularly the Chaldee and Arabic, from a word (o)
which signifies "spotted", "variegated", as this creature is; so the female is called "varia"
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124. by Pliny (p), because, of its various spots; and these spots are black, as the Arabic writers
in Bochart (q). The word here used signifies such marks as are made in a body beat and
bruised, which we call black and blue; hence some render it "livid", or black and blue
spots (r); and these marks are in the skin and hair of this creature, and are natural to it,
and cannot be changed; and it is usual with other writers (s) to call them spots, as well as
the Scripture:
then may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil; signifying that they
were naturally sinners, as blackness is natural to the Ethiopian, and spots to the leopard;
and were from their birth and infancy such, and had been so long habituated to sin, by
custom founded upon nature, that there was no hope of them; they were obstinate in sin,
bent upon it, and incorrigible in it; and this is another reason given why the above
calamities came upon them. The metaphors used in this text fitly express the state and
condition of men by nature; they are like the Ethiopian or blackamoor; very black, both
with original and actual sin; very guilty, and very uncomely; and their blackness is
natural to them; they have it from their parents, and by birth; it is with them from their
infancy, and youth upwards; and very hard and difficult to be removed; it cannot be
washed off by ceremonial ablutions, moral duties, evangelical ordinances, or outward
humiliations; yea, it is impossible to be removed but by the grace of God and blood of
Christ. Their sins are aptly compared to the leopard's spots, which are many and natural,
and difficult to get clear off. What is figuratively expressed in the above metaphors is
more plainly signified by being "accustomed" or "taught to do evil" (t); which denotes a
series and course of sinning; a settled habit and custom in it, founded on nature, and
arising from it; which a man learns and acquires naturally, and of himself, whereby he
becomes void of fear and shame; and there is a good deal of difficulty, and indeed a
moral impossibility, that such persons should "do good": nothing short of the powerful
and efficacious grace of God can put a man into a state and capacity of doing good
aright, from right principles to right ends, and of continuing in it; for there is no good in
such men; nor have they any true notion of doing good, nor inclination to it, nor any
ability to perform it: in order to it, it is absolutely necessary that they should first be
made good men by the grace of God; that they should be regenerated and quickened by
the Spirit of God; that they should be created in Christ Jesus unto good works, and have
faith in him; all which is by the grace of God, and not of themselves.
HENRY, "It is for their obstinacy in sin, their being so long accustomed to it that
there was little hope left of their being reclaimed from it (Jer_13:23): Can the Ethiopian
change his skin, that is by nature black, or the leopard his spots, that are even woven
into the skin? Dirt contracted may be washed off, but we cannot alter the natural colour
of a hair (Mat_5:36), much less of the skin; and so impossible is it, morally impossible,
to reclaim and reform these people. (1.) They had been long accustomed to do evil. They
were taught to do evil; they had been educated and brought up in sin; they had served an
apprenticeship to it, and had all their days made a trade of it. It was so much their
constant practice that it had become a second nature to them. (2.) Their prophets
therefore despaired of ever bring them to do good. This was what they aimed at; they
persuaded them to cease to do evil and learn to do well, but could not prevail. They had
so long been used to do evil that it was next to impossible for them to repent, and
amend, and begin to do good. Note, Custom in sin is a very great hindrance to
conversion from sin. The disease that is inveterate is generally thought incurable. Those
that have been long accustomed to sin have shaken off the restraint of fear and shame;
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125. their consciences are seared; the habits of sin are confirmed; it pleads prescription; and
it is just with God to give those up to their own hearts' lusts that have long refused to
give themselves up to his grace. Sin is the blackness of the soul, the deformity of it; it is
its spot, the discolouring of it; it is natural to us, we were shapen in it, so that we cannot
get clear of it by any power of our own. But there is an almighty grace that is able to
change the Ethiopian's skin, and that grace shall not be wanting to those who in a sense
of their need of it seek it earnestly and improve it faithfully.
JAMISON, "Ethiopian — the Cushite of Abyssinia. Habit is second nature; as
therefore it is morally impossible that the Jews can alter their inveterate habits of sin,
nothing remains but the infliction of the extremest punishment, their expatriation (Jer_
13:24).
K&D 23-24, "Judah will not escape this ignominious lot, since wickedness has so
grown to be its nature, that it can as little cease therefrom and do good, as an Ethiopian
can wash out the blackness of his skin, or a panther change it spots. The consequential
clause introduced by ‫ַם‬‫גּ‬ ‫ם‬ ֶ‫תּ‬ ַ‫א‬ connects with the possibility suggested in, but denied by,
the preceding question: if that could happen, then might even ye do good. The one thing
is as impossible as the other. And so the Lord must scatter Judah among the heathen,
like stubble swept away by the desert wind, lit., passing by with the desert wind. The
desert wind is the strong east wind that blows from the Arabian Desert; see on Jer_4:11.
SBC, "I. Conversion is wholly the work of God, man himself being incapable of effecting
it, by any means, or through any instrumentality. What is the judgment of Scripture with
respect to the condition of man as a fallen creature? (1) "He cannot please God." The
Divine Spirit puts forth His power when men are born again; and until He thus puts
forth His power, they are in the flesh, and cannot please God however much their
actions may seem to resemble those which His word enjoins. (2) Man in his natural state
cannot love and serve God. He is described as being without God, and as being alienated
from Him. (3) Man cannot of himself do good either in the way of thinking or acting. (4)
Man cannot of himself believe God’s word. (5) Man in his natural state is represented in
the Scripture as dead in sin. As the ear of the dead is sealed up against every sound, so
are men while unrenewed insensible to the calls of God addressed to them in His word.
As the dead hand cannot grasp, so the spiritually dead cannot lay hold of God’s gracious
offers.
II. While we say that nothing which men can do can qualify them for conversion, or
merit conversion, or be the cause of conversion, we say at the same time, that there are
certain things which they may do, and which they are bound to do, towards their
conversion. (1) As the Word of God is the common instrument of conversion, men may
do something toward their conversion and are bound to do so, by the way in which they
read it, and the improvement they make of what they read. (2) Men may do something
towards their conversion in the improvement they make of the ordinary means of grace,
especially the preaching of the gospel. (3) Men can do something toward their
conversion through the instrumentality of prayer. (4) They can avoid occasions to sin, by
which they have been led away; they can serve God more faithfully, up to the light they
have received; they can choose the company of the godly. All these are helps onward in
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126. the right path to Christ’s believing people.
A. D. Davidson, Lectures and Sermons, p. 259.
CALVIN, "God declares in this verse, that the people were so hardened in their
wickedness, that there was no hope of their repentance. This is the sum of what is
said. But it was a very bitter reproof for the Prophet to say that his own nation were
past hope — that they had so entirely given themselves up to their vices that they
were no longer healable.
But he uses a comparison, — Can the Ethiopian, (94) he says, change his skin?
Blackness is inherent in the skin of the Ethiopians, as it is well known. Were they
then to wash themselves a hundred times daily, they could not put off their
blackness. The same also must be said of leopards or panthers, and we know that
these animals are besprinkled with spots. Such then is the spotted character of the
leopard or panther, (95) that whatever might be done to him he would still retain his
color. We now then see what the Prophet means — that the Jews were so corrupted
by long habit that they could not repent, for the devil had so enslaved them that they
were not in their right mind; they no longer had any discernment, and could not
discriminate between good and evil.
Learned men in our age do not wisely refer to this passage, when they seek to prove
that there is no free-will in man; for it is not simply the nature of man that is spoken
of here, but the habit that is contracted by long practice. Aristotle, a strong advocate
of free will, confesses that it is not in man’s power to do right, when he is so
immersed in his own vices as to have lost a free choice, (7. Lib. Ethicon) and this also
is what experience proves. We hence see that this passage is improperly adduced to
prove a sentiment which is yet true, and fully confirmed by many passages of
Scripture.
Jeremiah, then, does not here refer to man’s nature as he is when he comes from the
womb; but he condemns the Jews for contracting such a habit by long practice. As,
then, they had hardened themselves in doing evil, he says that they could not repent,
that wickedness had become inherent, or firmly fixed in their hearts, like the
blackness which is inherent in the skin of the Ethiopians, or the spots which belong
to the leopards or panthers.
We may at the same time gather from this passage a useful doctrine — that men
become so corrupt, by sinful habits and sinful indulgence, that the devil takes away
from them every desire and care for acting rightly, so that, in a word, they become
wholly irreclaimable, as we see to be the case with regard to bodily diseases; for a
chronic disease, in most instances, so corrupts what is sound and healthy in the
body, that it becomes by degrees incurable. When, therefore, the body is thus
infected for a long time, there is no hope of a cure Life may indeed be prolonged,
but not without continual languor. Now, as to spiritual diseases it is also true, that
when putridity has pervaded the inward parts, it is impossible for any one to repent.
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127. And yet it must be observed, that we do not speak here of the power of God, but
only shew, that all those who harden themselves in their vices, as far as their power
is concerned, are incurable, and past all remedy. Yet God can deliver, even from the
lowest depths, such as have a hundred times past all recovery. But here, as I have
already said, the Prophet does not refer to God’s power, but only condemns his own
nation, that they might not complain that God treated them with too much severity.
The meaning then is, that they ought not to have thought it strange that God left
them no hope; for they became past recovery, through their own perverseness, as
they could not adopt another course of life after having so long accustomed
themselves to everything that was evil: Wilt thou also, he says, be able to do good?
that is, wilt thou apply thy mind to what is just, who hast been accustomed to evil,
or who hast hitherto learnt nothing but to do evil? (96) We now perceive the design
of the Prophet — that they unreasonably sought pardon of God, who had
contracted such hardness by a long course of sinning that they were become
incurable. It afterwards follows —
Can the Cushite change his skin, Or the panther his spots? — Also ye, can ye do
good, Who have learned evil?
The future tense in Hebrew ought often to be rendered potentially, and sometimes
subjunctively. — Ed.
COKE, "Jeremiah 13:23. Can the Ethiopian, &c.— Jeremiah does not mean hereby
to express the absolute impossibility of a moral change; such as that in nature,
whereof he speaks. To suppose this, would be to contradict the whole tenor of his
writings, and to render insignificant and absurd all his invitations to repentance.
Nay, it appears from the last verse of this very chapter, that he did not suppose the
reformation of this people an absolute impossibility. We are, therefore, to
understand this as a proverbial expression, which, like many others in Scripture, is
not to be taken in the strictness of the letter; the prophet designing only to express
the extreme difficulty of a moral change in habitual sinners, and particularly in
these presumptuous and obstinate sinners of Israel, to whom his discourse is
directed. Archbishop Tillotson remarks, "That this expression, Can the Ethiopian,
&c. is much to be mitigated, will appear, by considering some other like passages of
Scripture; as where our Saviour compares the difficulty of a rich man's salvation, to
that which is naturally impossible,—to a camel's passing through the eye of a
needle: nay, he pitches his expression higher, and doth not only make it a thing of
equal, but of greater difficulty: I say unto you, it is easier for a camel to go through
the eye of a needle, than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God. And yet,
when he comes to explain this to his disciples, he tells them, that he only meant that
the thing was very difficult; How hard is it for those that have riches to be saved!
And in another place,—For those that trust in riches, and that it was not impossible:
but, speaking according to human probability, with men this is impossible, but not
with God. In like manner we are to understand this high expression, which is very
hyperbolical,—Can the Ethiopian, &. that is to say, This moral change of men,
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128. settled and fixed in bad habits, is very difficult, though, as the Archbishop goes on
to shew, there is still ground to hope that it may be done. And when we consider the
Christian religion, and the power of divine grace, there is all the reason in the world
to believe that it will be done, when we heartily set about it, and use every necessary
and proper endeavour. See his Sermons, vol. 2: p. 166.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:23 Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots? [then] may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
Ver. 23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin?] Proverbial speeches arguing a very
great difficulty, if not an utter impossibility, Aethiopem abluo ut candidum reddam,
said Diogenes, when he reproved an ill man to no purpose; I do but wash a
blackamore. And the like said Nazianzen concerning Julian the apostate. It is said
that the negroes paint the devil white, as being a colour contrary to their own, and
which they less well affect. Will the Ethiopian change his skin? so the Hebrew hath
it.
Or the leopard his spots.] Sin is in us as the spots of a leopard, not by accident, but
by nature, which no art can cure, no water wash off; because they are not in the
skin, but in the flesh and bones, in the sinews and in the most inner parts. Where
then is man’s freewill to good? &c.
Then may ye also do good that are accustomed to do evil.] Custom in sin takes away
the sense of it, and becomes a second nature; which, though expelled with a fork, as
it were, will yet return again. It looks for continual entertainment where it hath once
gotten a haunt, as humours fall toward their old issue. Canis qui semel didicerit
edere corium, nunquam desistet, A dog who at times learns to eat flesh, will never
stop, saith Lucian; an evil custom is not easy left. Nothing so weak as water; yet let
much water (so sin, Satan, and custom) be joined together, and nothing stronger. It
was not for nothing, therefore, that the Cretans, when they would curse their
enemies with most bitter execrations, they wished that they might take delight in
some or other evil custom. Modestoque voti genere efficacissimum ultionis genus
reperiunt, saith the historian; (a) by a modest kind of wish they sufficiently avenged
themselves.
ELLICOTT, "(23) Can the Ethiopian . . .?—Literally, the Cushite. The meaning of
the question is obvious. The evil of Judah was too deep-ingrained to be capable of
spontaneous reformation. There remained nothing but the sharp discipline of the
exile. The invasion of Tirhakah and Pharaoh-nechoh, the presence of Ethiopians
among the servants of the royal household (Jeremiah 38:10), the intercourse with
the upper valley of the Nile implied in Zephaniah 3:10 and Psalms 68:31; Psalms
87:4, had made the swarthy forms of Africa familiar objects. Possibly the use of
leopard-skins by Ethiopian princes and warriors, as seen on Egyptian monuments
and described by Herodotus (vii. 69), had associated the two thoughts together in
the prophet’s mind. If the king’s household were present (as in Jeremiah 13:18), he
may have pointed to such an one, Ebedmelech (Jeremiah 38:10), or another so
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129. arrayed, in illustration of his words.
BENSON, "Jeremiah 13:23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, &c. — The word
Cushi, here rendered Ethiopian, often signifies Arabian, in the Scriptures; Ethiopia
being, by ancient writers, distinguished into Eastern (the same with Arabia) and
Western Ethiopia. But here an inhabitant of the latter, that is, of Ethiopia properly
so called, seems evidently to be meant, the people of that country, which lay south of
Egypt, being much more remarkable than the Arabians for their black colour. It
seems hardly necessary to observe to the reader, that Jeremiah does not intend to
express here the absolute impossibility of a change taking place in the principles and
practices of the ignorant and wicked. “To suppose this, would be to contradict the
whole tenor of his writings, and to render insignificant and absurd all his invitations
to repentance. Nay, it appears from the last verse of this chapter that he did not
suppose the reformation even of this people to be an absolute impossibility. We are
therefore to understand this as a proverbial expression, which, like many others in
Scripture, is not to be taken in the strictness of the letter; the prophet designing only
to express the extreme difficulty of a moral change in habitual sinners, and
particularly in those presumptuous and obstinate sinners of Israel to whom his
discourse is directed.” — Dodd.
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:23
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then may you also do
good, who are accustomed to do evil.”
“Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?” was a well known
proverb. In the Ancient Near East the North African (strictly speaking not
Ethiopian, rather northern Sudanese) was noted for his darker than normal skin.
Rather than being olive skinned he was black. No racism was intended. It was
simply a matter of fact. As was also the case with the leopard. It could not disguise
itself by removing its spots. It was stuck with them. Both were facts of life. So was it
also a fact of life that those who were hardened in sin did not ‘do good’. They might
appear to do so, but it would be from a wrong motive. They were hardened sinners.
Judah’s judgment was coming on them because they were so hardened in sin that
there was no hope of repentance. (Compare Jesus’ warning to the Pharisees that
they were in danger of becoming the same - Mark 3:29).
GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE, "
Habit
Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? then may ye also do
good, that are accustomed to do evil.—Jer_13:23.
The people of Jerusalem were occasionally accustomed to see the dark-skinned
Ethiopian, whether we suppose that these were true negroes from Southern Egypt
or dark Arabs, and now and then leopards came up from the thickets on the Jordan,
129

130. or from the hills of the southern wilderness about the Dead Sea. The black hue of
the man and the dark spots that starred the skin of the fierce beast are fitting
emblems of the evil that dyes and speckles the soul. Whether it wraps the whole
character in black, or whether it only spots it here and there with tawny yellow, it is
ineradicable; and a man can no more change his character once formed than a
negro can cast his skin, or a leopard whiten out the spots on his hide.
When the words of the text were spoken, Coniah was still king over Jerusalem, and
it was a kind of last appeal, sorrowful, plaintive, almost hopeless; for the people had
so long turned away from God, had indeed sinned so deeply and for so many years,
that sin appeared to be ingrained in them, and no more to be eradicated than the
blackness of an African skin or the spots on a leopards hide. Jeremiah, indeed, well
knew in his heart that Judah would not return to Jehovah, and so with pathetic
bitterness he exclaimed: “Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his
spots?”
The spots of the leopard, though they have been acquired by imitation of its
surroundings, have through long ages been so ingrained and fixed that they cannot
be changed. The creature itself cannot alter or remove them by any effort; they are
part of its very nature; and the pattern of its skin lasts throughout the whole life of
the animal, and is communicated from parent to offspring. And so every sinner
knows how very hard it is to change evil habits, to efface the stains of sin that have
become dyed in the flesh. It is fatally easy to acquire what it is fatally hard to get rid
of. You get so accustomed to your sin that you never feel how sinful it is. You are so
like your surroundings that you have no sense of contrast or shame. You are content
with yourselves, and make no effort to become better. And even when your
conscience is aroused and you see the evil and the misery of your sin, the effort to
root it out is painful in the extreme.1 [Note: H. Macmillan, The Gate Beautiful, 108.]
Here is a text on Habit. Let us consider—
I. The Acquisition of Habit.
II. The Power of Habit.
III. The Hallowing of Habit.
IV. The Change of Habit.
I
The Acquisition of Habit
It appears to be an involuntary principle of our nature that we should acquire a
tendency to repeat whatever we do often. This disposition or tendency we call habit.
It is the effect of custom influencing all we do; according to the old adage, “Use is
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131. second nature.” And this tendency to repeat an action until it becomes habitual
increases with each repetition, like the revolution of a wheel moving down an
incline.
1. Habit may be conceived to arise in this way. When, in the process of time—of the
day, or the week, or the month, or the year—the point comes round at which we
have been thinking of anything, or have done anything, by the law of the association
of ideas we think of it again, or do it again. For instance, when day dawns we awake.
We get out of bed because we have done so at that time before. At a later hour we
take breakfast, and go away to business, for the same reason; and so on through the
day. When Sunday morning comes our thoughts turn to sacred things, and we make
ready to go to the House of God, because we have always been accustomed to do
that. As the New Year draws nigh our mind turns to friendliness, and we think of all
the means by which we can let our friends know that we are thinking of them. Of
course it may be by some other juncture of circumstances, and not by the revolution
of time, that we are reminded of what has been done in the past; but the cycles of
time, the narrower and the wider, have a very great deal to do with the formation of
habit. If we have done a thing only once before, when the point of time comes round
again at which we did it there will be a tendency to recall it and to do it again; but
this tendency will of course be far stronger if we have done it often before.
Frequency enters greatly into habit. The reason why, when Sunday morning comes,
we think of church, is not because we have been there once, but because we have
been there every Sunday of our lives. The more frequently anything has been done,
the stronger is habit, and frequency acts on habit through something else.
Frequency gives ease and swiftness to the doing of anything. We do easily and
swiftly anything that we have done often. Even things which seemed impossible can
not only be done, but be done with facility, if they have been done often.
2. Habits are the elements of character. The deeds we do ripen into habits, and these
form the warp and woof of character. The single act does not make character. There
is sometimes a protest in the soul against the act just done, and a purpose never to
repeat it. The first smoke may make the youth sick, but it does not characterize him
as a smoker. The first drink may make the head dizzy, but it does not entitle the
drinker to be called a drunkard. It is the repetition of acts that forms habits; and
the habits of a man give him his character. It is a curious thing that the word
“habit” means a garment that you can throw off when you please, and also a way of
living that may be so bound up with you that you cannot change it. It seems as if it
were meant in this twofold sense to convey the great truth that the sin which at first
you can lay aside with ease like a loose coat may by frequent indulgence take such a
firm hold of you as to become part of your very life—as much part of yourself as the
spots on the leopards skin—and you may find it impossible to wrench yourself free
from it. The wise man says in the Book of Proverbs. “Though thou shouldst bray a
fool in a mortar among wheat with a pestle, yet will not his foolishness depart from
him.”
When someone on one occasion repeated to Wellington the maxim that “Habit is
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132. second nature,” his reply was “Second nature! It is ten times nature”—a sentiment
very likely to be in the mind of a disciplinarian who had spent all his life getting
men to obey the word of command, and to face death in circumstances in which
natural instinct would lead them to flee away.1 [Note: J. Stalker.]
The power of exercising the will promptly, in obedience to the dictates of conscience,
and thereby resisting the impulses of the lower nature, is of essential importance in
moral discipline, and absolutely necessary for the development of character in its
best forms. To acquire the habit of well-doing, to resist evil propensities, to fight
against sensual desires, to overcome inborn selfishness, may require a long and
persevering discipline; but when once the practice of duty is learnt, it becomes
consolidated in habit, and thenceforward is comparatively easy.
The valiant good man is he who, by the resolute exercise of his freewill, has so
disciplined himself as to have acquired the habit of virtue; as the bad man is he who,
by allowing his freewill to remain inactive, and giving the bridle to his desires and
passions, has acquired the habit of vice, by which he becomes, at last, bound as by
chains of iron.2 [Note: Samuel Smiles, Character (ed. 1874), 192.]
II
The Power of Habit
1. Habit gains power by every repetition of an act. Human gifts and faculties have a
power of expansion. They increase and multiply. For example, money attracts
money, learning increases learning, joy brings joy. It is so with goodness: good
habits lead us to acquire still better habits, while the poor fellow who has once
earned a bad name, and who is shut out from the helps and privileges that ordinary
men enjoy, will generally cultivate his evil propensities and strengthen only such
habits as are bad.
Our several acts in life seem to be of little consequence in themselves, but they have
all a terrible significance, for habit is just made up of little acts, and each one helps,
and each one tells, and each succeeding act tells more and more. We know that if a
stone is dropped from a height it falls so many feet—sixteen feet during the first
second. The next second it does not fall the same number of feet, but has acquired
increased speed, and falls four times the distance it did during the previous second,
and each succeeding second the speed is greater and swifter. The earth has a
stronger gravitating power over it, draws it more quickly down, and it acquires
momentum and gathers increasing rapidity as it falls. That is precisely the case with
sin. It moves slowly at the start; but when it has begun, it increases in force and
speed and dashes down the steep incline with resistless might.
In South Africa there is a curious plant known as a hook-thorn or grapple-plant,
said to bear some resemblance to the cuttle-fish. The large flowers are of a lovely
purple hue and spread themselves over the ground or hang in masses from the trees
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133. and shrubs. The long branches have sharp, barbed thorns, set in pairs throughout
their length. When the petals fall off and the seed-vessels are developed and fully
ripe, the two sides separate widely from each other and form an array of sharp-
curved hooks. Woe to the traveller who ventures near at such a time! In one of the
Kaffir wars with England, the English soldiers suffered terribly from this plant.
While the Kaffir, unclothed and oily, escaped harm, the European was certain to be
made and held a prisoner. If one hooked thorn caught a coat-sleeve the first
movement at escape would bend the long slender branches and hook after hook
would fix its point into the clothing. Struggling only multiplied the number of
thorned enemies, and there was no way of escape except to stand still, cut off the
clinging seed-vessels, and remove them one by one. Many a luckless soldier was run
to death by a Kaffirs spear while thus trying to free himself. This is a vivid
illustration of the dangerous power of evil habit, which through custom and long
self-indulgence hooks into a mans very heart and holds him against his reason and
against his will a prisoner even to his death.1 [Note: L. A. Banks, The Sinner and his
Friends, 242.]
2. The power of habit steadily grows till it dominates the will. We cannot explain
this phenomenon; the fact we know, and it is of vast importance that we should
know it. A repetition of the same thoughts and actions is so apt to ensure their
continuance that it is one of the most difficult things in the world to check this
habitual operation of the mind, and give it a different direction from that in which it
has been wont to flow. Even habits which relate to matters of indifference become
inveterate, and are with great difficulty modified and overcome. Especially are they
obstinate when they are under the control of some prevailing disposition, and fall in
with the natural inclination of the mind.
Even in the most indifferent matter, the most ordinary postures, movements, and
actions, when once people have got into a way of practising them, it seems next to
impossible to leave them off. We come to do things without being aware that we do
them: and when our attention is drawn to them, we feel as if we could not leave
them off. Such is the power of habit or custom, put into our minds and bodies by
Almighty God that we might be tried whether we will make a good or a bad use of
it. How fearful to think what a turn it too often takes! how exceedingly horrible to
be aware of shameful, corrupting, deadly sins, in a mans own self or his neighbour,
having come to be so habitual as to be committed without the sinner being aware of
it; or, if he is aware, with the feeling that he cannot help it.
The tyranny of evil habit is proverbial. The moralists compare it to a thread at the
beginning, but as thread is twisted with thread, it becomes like a cable which can
turn a ship. Or they compare it to a tree, which to begin with is only a twig that you
can bend any way, but when the tree is fully grown, who can bend it? And apart
altogether from such illustrations, it is appalling how little even the most strong and
obvious motives can turn aside the course of habit.1 [Note: J. Stalker.]
I have seen a photograph of a group of undergraduates, among whom was the late
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134. Bishop Creighton, and next to whom stood a man of brilliant gifts, of great
scholastic attainments, one who was thought to be about to take a great part in the
world, and yet who died a billiard-marker in a low public-house near Wapping, a
slave to drink and gambling. So it is, indeed, that sin grows and grows, the deadly
cords of habit tighten and tighten, and the soul wanders further and further from
God, until perhaps the man even boasts of the sin he has done, of the evil he has
taught a boy, gloats over it, as Fagin gloating over the Artful Dodger. And
ultimately, indeed, the habits become so formed that he does not even care to try to
break them, and the stern decree sent forth in the vision of the Revelation comes
true—“He that is unjust, let him be unjust still; and he which is filthy, let him be
filthy still.”2 [Note: L. T. Dodd.]
3. One of the greatest dangers in the formation of evil habit is that the man who is
drawn away into sin will not appreciate the deadly seriousness of his situation until
the habit has become a most important factor in his whole scheme of life. Coleridge
calls attention to the fact that centres or centrepieces of wood are put by builders
under an arch of stone while it is in process of construction, till the keystone is put
in. Just such is the use that we make of pleasure. The pleasure lasts, perhaps, till the
habit is fully formed; but, that done, the structure may stand eternal. All the
pleasure and fascination that appeared at first in the sin disappears, and only the
vice-like grip of a wicked habit remains.
A naturalist who has been travelling in South America tells how he was once
walking in the forests of the Amazon River collecting bird-skins for mounting. He
was threading a forest path, carrying in hand a gun loaded with very fine bird-shot,
while his Indian guide followed, carrying a heavier gun charged with buckshot to
use in case they should come upon a jaguar. A bird of brilliant plumage flew into a
tree which overhung the path, and as he peered into the foliage trying to discern the
bird he became aware of something swaying before his eyes and a flashing of
prismatic colours producing on him something of the impression of a kaleidoscope.
So unobtrusively had this thing come into view that it dawned only slowly on his
mind, preoccupied with the search for the bird, that the object so softly reaching
toward him was the head and six feet of the neck and body of an enormous water-
boa. From its mouth the forked tongue was shooting and vibrating, and changing
lights were flashed from its eyes, bent upon the hunter. With his cocked gun in hand
he did not think to use it or to run away, but stood gazing, literally spellbound, as
the snake, slipping from the bough on which it lay, advanced its head toward him.
Suddenly he heard his guide shout from behind him. The snakes head drew back
with an angry hiss as the Indian crowded past him, raising his gun to his shoulder as
he did so, and with the loud crack! crack! of the two barrels he seized the hunter
with both arms and rushed him away from the place. Then he saw the snake, which
had dropped from the tree, writhing and twisting in the path—a monster twenty-
eight feet long and of girth in proportion. Its head was shattered by the two charges
of buckshot, but the convulsions of the body were enough to show the reptiles
enormous strength and give an idea of how the naturalist would have fared if once it
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135. had thrown its coils around him. The boa would have done this in a few moments
more if he had been left to himself. If the guide had not rushed to his aid, he would
have stood still fascinated, and never would have stirred to avoid his fate. The snake
had hypnotized him beyond the power of resistance or retreat.1 [Note: L. A. Banks,
The Sinner and his Friends, 168.]
III
The Hallowing of Habit
1. The soul has its habits, which it acquires, even as the body and the mind acquire
theirs, by use and practice. The habit of living without God is one which may be
learned by any of us if we will. It is one of the easiest of all habits to acquire. Unlike
some other habits, it demands of us no exertion and no self-denial; rather it consists
in the refusal and repudiation of both of these. We have only to live at our ease,
without care and without effort, and the habit is formed, too often for ever. When it
is fully formed, then comes the peace of death, of spiritual death; and the soul that
let God alone is at last let alone by God.
When you have for two or three days together forgotten your prayers, has it not
become, even in that short time, more easy to neglect, more difficult to resume
them? When you have left God out of sight in your daily life, when you have allowed
yourself to think scorn of His commands, when you have become careless about
your language, trifling if not profane in conversation, cold and contemptuous and
resentful in your thoughts of others; when you have thus fallen into an unchristian
and irreligious state of mind and life, how soon have you found this state become as
it were natural to you; how much less, day by day, did the idea of living without
God alarm you; how much more tranquil, if not peaceful, did conscience become as
you departed further and further in heart from the living God!2 [Note: C. J.
Vaughan, Memorials of Harrow Sundays, 220.]
As you pass along the spacious nave of some ancient cathedral, and your eye rests
upon the exquisite carving which adorns each arch and mullion and corbel, you
might be disposed to think that so much art was no part of the original design, that
what you saw and admired was the effect of skilful ornamentation, laid on,
superimposed upon the original structure after the building was completed. But this
is not so. In the best specimens of ecclesiastical architecture, every single piece of
carving is wrought out of the solid stone; nothing is added or laid on. The building
has grown in beauty as it grew in size and dignity, step by step, until it approached
completion in fulfilment of the architects design. Those highly decorated corbels,
that lovely tracery in the windows, those richly ornamented capitals, festooned,
perhaps, with vine or oak leaves and hanging in natural clusters of grapes or acorns,
so perfect that you feel you could go and pluck them from the stony stems out of
which they spring, and from which they are suspended—all this delicate carving is
inwrought in the actual material of the building itself. It is so with character. It must
not be a something laid on, but inwrought, worked up out of the material of
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136. circumstance and wrought into the texture of our lives. The thin veneer of culture,
the artificial polish of good breeding and good manners, is no substitute for
character.1 [Note: V. R. Lennard, Our Ideals, 90.]
2. But there is another, an opposite, habit of soul—that of living to God, with God,
and in God. That too is a habit, not formed so soon or so easily as the other, yet, like
it, formed by a succession of acts, each easier than the last, and each making the
next easier still. We must admit God into our life, and allow Him to shape and
hallow our habits. There are two aspects of character, the Divine and the human;
two determining influences at work, God and circumstance. In the lower aspect,
character is the harvest of the years: a result of the amalgamated labours and trials,
the conflicts and decisions, of this life, in which all the accumulated joys and
sorrows, the hopes and regrets, of the past have registered their mark and left their
impress upon the man. In the higher aspect, character proceeds from the touch of
Divinity. It is the shaping of the human soul by the hand of God Himself.
There are thousands of people in the world with abilities that remain undeveloped,
and talents that are wasted and thrown away. Poets, philosophers, architects,
mathematicians, statesmen who are lost to the world through their genius never
having been discovered; men whom circumstance has shunted from the path of
fame and left to die in ignorance of powers which might otherwise have enriched
mankind. The talent was there, latent in the mind, but it remained hidden and
suppressed, waiting for education to draw it out. It is so with religion. The instincts
of prayer and praise, of faith, hope, and love, are not dead, even where they remain
passive and inoperative; they are hidden and suppressed in the case of every man
who leads a godless life, buried deep down within the soul under the accumulated
load of worldly cares and alien associations, but they are still alive, like seeds lying
through the long winter, forgotten in the earth, waiting for the return of spring to
woo them from their hiding-place.
3. We must resolutely draw out the good which is the opposite of the evil we are
indulging. And by educating, by drawing out more and more, the desire after this
good, the evil is more and more put to flight. Thus the way to overcome
inattentiveness of the mind is not so much to fix our attention on the fault as to
cultivate and educate its opposite, concentration of mind. So the unhappy custom of
always seeing the failings in our neighbours is best met by cultivating the spirit of
charity, by going with those people who are opposite to ourselves in this respect; by
endeavouring to look at the world in a larger, kindlier, and more gracious spirit; so
those who are slaves to fleshly lusts may gradually diminish the power of these
things by occupying their minds with chaste thoughts and images, and reading
books which foster the growth of a pure imagination; and those who have the
miserable habit of grumbling at life, which you will generally find where there is
most to be thankful for, can by educating the spirit of gratitude put this tendency to
flight, which more than any other takes all the savour out of life, and turns its
sweetest blessings into bitterest gall.
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137. Why should we think so dolorously of habit—this law of life? Like all Gods swords
of truth, it is two-edged, and turns both ways, working for good as much as for ill. It
is a friendly ally that we find in this solemn law of habit, as it may also be an enemy.
Commonly, when men speak of habits, they have bad habits in their mind. As
Professor James of Harvard says, in his Talks on Psychology: “They talk of the
smoking-habit, and of the swearing-habit, and of the drinking-habit, but not of the
abstention-habit, or the moderation-habit, or the courage-habit.” After a certain
output of deliberate effort and a period of practice, the vital virtues become second-
nature; we acquire the instinct for self-denial, the prayer-habit, the Bible-reading-
habit, the purity-habit, the truth-habit, the habits of faith, and hope, and love. Our
receptive and expansive nature waits ready to incorporate all such pieties and
virtues in its fibre and spontaneous movement. It is specially at the early stage that
we have to bend our wills and drill our natural proclivities and watch ourselves with
sentinel alertness. Time after time it is much “against the grain” to keep up the good
custom; but “the grain” will soon “grow to” the repeated demand, like the muscles
of a child-acrobat, or the branches of a Japanese dwarf-tree. Every time we repeat
the exercise in self-mastery or honour or devotion, by the law of vis inertiae in
nature the power to keep on in the good way increases.1 [Note: R. E. Welsh, Man to
Man, 129.]
IV
Change of Habit
Has Jeremiah uttered the whole truth? Can nothing be done if years of habit have
bent our natures into one shape, and that shape is deformed? Are we helpless if
character has already been made crooked and perverse by the continual warping of
evil habit? Is there no hope that the Ethiopian can change his skin or the leopard his
spots?
1. It is next to impossible for a man who has arrived at mature age, with evil habits
formed in early years, to turn his course; no consideration that you can put before
him has sufficient power to break down the practice. He is as convinced as you can
be of the mischief of the course he is pursuing; no one laments it more bitterly, and
at times feels it more keenly, and no one is more ready to form resolutions to amend.
But the language of the prophet is expressive of the case, “Can the Ethiopian change
his skin, or the leopard his spots?” There is an irresistible force in the cravings of
that long-indulged temper or appetite, which the man, with all his good intentions,
has not the energy to resist. There has been no inward change, no power at work
beyond the mere human resolution; and the consequence is that the latter state often
becomes worse than the first. Those who witness the process become more and more
convinced that there never will be any material change in that man; and they are
ready to adopt language fully as expressive as that of the text—that it is as easy for
the leopard to change his spots as it is for that man, with all his convictions and all
his efforts, to continue in well-doing.
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138. 2. But that which is impossible with men is possible with God. We cannot change the
Ethiopians skin or the leopards spots; but God can. He who made the machinery of
the mind can, when it is broken, fashion it anew, and restore it to its functions. It is
possible to convert the soul which has long been accustomed to do evil; but such
conversion is as much the work of God as the creation of the soul was at the
beginning.
The heart which no assaults could storm yields to the voice of love and mercy; the
will which offered an obstinate resistance to the exhortation to turn and repent is at
length subdued: the offer of a free pardon for all that is past overcomes the
resistance. Religion, then, in a changed heart becomes the main business of life. It
begins to pervade the every-day occupations. The heart is filled with the knowledge
and love of God; and the new affections expel the old from the long-usurped throne.
A change comes over the perceptive faculties. Beauty and consistency are now
discerned in Gods plan of redemption. New fields of interest and occupation open
out: a new world has been discovered, in which are seen things of greater moment
than the politics or controversies of the day. And the wonder to a soul so enlightened
is, how it could have been so exclusively set upon the things of earth, when the
things that are spiritual were so close at hand, and, now that they are seen, afford
such scope for the exercise of the highest faculties of the soul. It is thus, if we may so
speak, that the Ethiopian does change his skin, and the leopard his spots; for God
Himself undertakes to do that which with man is declared to be impossible.
When I lay in darkness and blind night, when I was tossed hither and thither by the
billows of the world, and wandered about with an uncertain and fluctuating course,
according to my habits at that time I considered it as something difficult and hard
that anyone could be born again, lay aside what he was before, and although his
corporeal nature remained the same, could become in soul and disposition another
man. “How,” said I, “can there be so great a transformation—that a man should all
at once lay aside what is either innate from his very organization, or through habit
has become a second nature? How should a man learn frugality who has been
accustomed to luxuries? How should he who has been clothed in gold and purple
condescend to simple attire? Intemperance must always, as heretofore, invite him
with tenacious allurements, pride puff him up, anger influence him, ambition allure
him, pleasure captivate him—thus I have often said to myself, For as I was
entangled in many errors of my former life, and did not believe that I could be freed
from them; so I complied with the vices that cleaved to me, and despairing of
amendment, submitted to my evil inclinations, as if they belonged to my nature. But
after the stain of my former life had been taken away by the aid of regenerating
water, a pure and serene light was poured into the reconciled heart; when, through
the Spirit received from heaven, the second birth transformed me into a new man—
things formerly doubtful were confirmed in a wonderful manner—what before was
closed, became open, and dark things were illuminated; power was given to perform
what before seemed difficult, and what was thought impossible became possible.”1
[Note: Cyprian, Epistola ad Donatum, 3.]
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139. (1) When once we are linked to Christ, that union breaks the terrible chain that
binds us to the past. “All died.” The past is broken as much as if we were dead. It is
broken by the great act of forgiveness. Sin holds men by making them feel as if what
has been must be—an awful entail of evil. In Christ we die to former self. As by
changing the centre of a circle you change the position of all its radii, so, by
changing the affections and the desires of the heart, Christ roots out every wrong
action and implants the germ of every virtuous deed. His solution is not
reformation, but regeneration—not new resolves, but a new birth.
Augustine in his Confessions wrote it as with his blood: “For this very thing I was
sighing—bound as I was, not with anothers irons, but by my own will. For of a
froward will was a lust made; and a lust served became a custom; and a custom not
resisted became necessity. By which links, as it were, joined together, a hard
bondage held me enthralled.”
Augustines Confessions tell us of his penal chains, but they tell us also how these
chains were broken; and the power that broke their links of iron was, in one word,
Christ. This transformation of a habit-bound slave of sin into a virtuous man of God
is a moral miracle far more wonderful than any physical miracle recorded in the
New Testament. When John Newton, the brutal swearing sailor, was changed into
the saintly singer of such hymns as “How sweet the name of Jesus sounds,” the
Ethiopian changed his skin, the leopard his spots, and one “accustomed to do evil”
learnt to do good. And there are multitudes alive among men and beatified before
God who have been emancipated from the grip of evil habit and made “new
creatures in Christ.” There is no cant about it, nor any fond fancy; it is as sure as
natures law itself.
That agnostic Positivist, the late Cotter Morison, gave away the most of his case
against Christianity when he made the frank avowal: “Ardent love, gratitude and
veneration for Christ, when kindled, are able to snap the chains of habit, and
sometimes prevent their being welded together again.” Explain it how you will—and
better than staying to explain it is proving it by trial—the fact is certified that when
Christ is sought and trusted with whole-hearted surrender, His Spirit works a moral
revolution.1 [Note: R. E. Welsh, Man to Man, 134.]
(2) We are animated by a new motive. “The love of Christ constraineth.” As is a
mans love, so is his life. The mightiest revolution is to excite a new love, by which old
loves and tastes are expelled. “A new affection” has “expulsive power,” as the new
sap rising in the springtime pushes off the lingering withered leaves. So union with
Him meets the difficulty arising from inclination still hankering after evil. It lifts life
into a higher level where the noxious creatures that were proper to the swamps
cannot live. The new love gives a new and mighty motive for obedience.
Obedience is the essential spirit of the Christian life. Christs command to us, as to
His first followers, is “Follow me.” We do not know whither He will lead us. The
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140. future is veiled before our eyes. It is no part of our business to inquire into the
consequences of our discipleship. That is in His hands. Having heard the imperative
of the Highest in His call, our task is to follow His leading in the practical conduct of
daily life, and for all the needs of the future to surrender our lives to Him in the
great obedience of trust. Like the disciples of old, we follow behind Him on the road
of life in the spirit of wonder. Sometimes He comes graciously near to us as a
Friend; but at all times He is enthroned in our hearts as Lord and Master. “Ye call
me Master and Lord; and ye say well, for so I am.” That is His word. And the
response for which He asks is a love that expresses itself in a life of obedience to His
commands.1 [Note: S. M. Berry, Graces of the Christian Character, 54.]
(3) We are set in a new world which yet is old. All things are changed if we are
changed. They are the same old things, but seen in a new light, used for new
purposes, disclosing new relations and powers. Earth becomes a school and
discipline for heaven. The world is different to a blind man when cured, or to a deaf
one—there are new sights for the one, new sounds for the other.
There is only one way in which the leopard can change his spots. It is by removing it
to another locality where there are no trees, and no surroundings like those of its
native place; and there it would gradually lose, in the course of a few generations, its
protective spots, and become like the new circumstances. Fixed as the spots of the
leopard may seem, there is no creature in reality more variable. The panther is a
variety of the leopard, whose spots are different, because it inhabits different places;
and the ounce is a kind of leopard which is found in cold and mountainous places,
and therefore has a rougher fur, and its spots are not so sharply defined, and have a
tendency to form stripes, while the general colour is paler. The American leopard or
jaguar has got bold black streaks on its breast, and larger spots on its body, with a
small mark in the middle of them; while the puma or American lion, which is only a
kind of leopard, has a uniform light tawny tint. And the remarkable thing is that the
young puma displays a gradual change of fur like the lion cub; its coat being at first
marked by dark streaks and spots, which fade away into the uniform tawny hue
when the animal increases in size. Thus you see that the spots of the leopard change
with its changing circumstances.
And this was the way in which God endeavoured to cure the evil habits of His own
people. All reforms had been on the surface only; the evil was too deep-seated to be
removed by temporary repentance. So long as they remained in the place where they
were accustomed to do evil they could not learn to do well. But away from the
idolatrous associations with which their native land had become tainted, a new life
of truth and holiness was possible to them. God therefore allowed them to be carried
captive to Babylon; and there in new circumstances they were to re-learn the
forgotten lessons of faith and righteousness.2 [Note: H. Macmillan, The Gate
Beautiful, 110.]
MACLAREN, "AN IMPOSSIBILITY MADE POSSIBLE
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141. Jeremiah 13:23. - 2 Corinthians 5:17. - Revelation 21:5.
Put these three texts together. The first is a despairing question to which experience
gives only too sad and decisive a negative answer. It is the answer of many people
who tell us that character must be eternal, and of many a baffled man who says, ‘It
is of no use-I have tried and can do nothing.’ The second text is the grand Christian
answer, full of confidence. It was spoken by one who had no superficial estimate of
the evil, but who had known in himself the power of Christ to revolutionise a life,
and make a man love all he had hated, and hate all he had loved, and fling away all
he had treasured. The last text predicts the completion of the renovating process
lying far ahead, but as certain as sunrise.
I. The unchangeableness of character, especially of faults.
We note the picturesque rhetorical question here. They were occasionally
accustomed to see the dark-skinned, Ethiopian, whether we suppose that these were
true negroes from Southern Egypt or dark Arabs, and now and then leopards came
up from the thickets on the Jordan, or from the hills of the southern wilderness
about the Dead Sea. The black hue of the man, the dark spots that starred the skin
of the fierce beast, are fitting emblems of the evil that dyes and speckles the soul.
Whether it wraps the whole character in black, or whether it only spots it here and
there with tawny yellow, it is ineradicable; and a man can no more change his
character once formed than a negro can cast his skin, or a leopard whiten out the
spots on his hide.
Now we do not need to assert that a man has no power of self-improvement or
reformation. The exhortations of the prophet to repentance and to cleansing imply
that he has. If he has not, then it is no blame to him that he does not mend.
Experience shows that we have a very considerable power of such a kind. It is a pity
that some Christian teachers speak in exaggerated terms about the impossibility of
such self-improvement.
But it is very difficult.
Note the great antagonist as set forth here-Habit, that solemn and mystical power.
We do not know all the ways in which it operates, but one chief way is through
physical cravings set up. It is strange how much easier a second time is than a first,
especially in regard to evil acts. The hedge once broken down, it is very easy to get
through it again. If one drop of water has percolated through the dyke, there will be
a roaring torrent soon. There is all the difference between once and never; there is
small difference between once and twice. By habit we come to do things
mechanically and without effort, and we all like that. One solitary footfall across the
snow soon becomes a beaten way. As in the banyan-tree, each branch becomes a
root. All life is held together by cords of custom which enable us to reserve conscious
effort and intelligence for greater moments. Habit tends to weigh upon us with a
pressure ‘heavy as frost, and deep almost as life.’ But also it is the ally of good.
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142. The change to good is further made difficult because liking too often goes with evil,
and good is only won by effort. It is a proof of man’s corruption that if left alone,
evil in some form or other springs spontaneously, and that the opposite good is hard
to win. Uncultivated soil bears thistles and weeds. Anything can roll downhill. It is
always the least trouble to go on as we have been going.
Further, the change is made difficult because custom blinds judgment and
conscience. People accustomed to a vitiated atmosphere are not aware of its foulness.
How long it takes a nation, for instance, to awake to consciousness of some national
crime, even when the nation is ‘Christian’! And how men get perfectly sophisticated
as to their own sins, and have all manner of euphemisms for them!
Further, how hard it is to put energy into a will that has been enfeebled by long
compliance. Like prisoners brought out of the Bastille.
So if we put all these reasons together, no wonder that such reformation is rare.
I do not dwell on the point that it must necessarily be confined within very narrow
limits. I appeal to experience. You have tried to cure some trivial habit. You know
what a task that has been-how often you thought that you had conquered, and then
found that all had to be done over again. How much more is this the case in this
greater work! Often the efforts to break off evil habits have the same effect as the
struggles of cattle mired in a bog, who sink the deeper for plunging. The sad cry of
many a foiled wrestler with his own evil is, ‘O wretched man that I am! who shall
deliver me from the body of this death?’ We do not wish to exaggerate, but simply to
put it that experience shows that for men in general, custom and inclination and
indolence and the lack of adequate motive weigh so heavily that a thorough
abandonment of evil, much more a hearty practice of good, are not to be looked for
when once a character has been formed. So you young people, take care. And all of
us listen to-
II. The great hope for individual renewal.
The second text sets forth a possibility of entire individual renewal, and does so by a
strong metaphor.
‘If any man be in Christ he is a new creature,’ or as the words might be rendered,
‘there is a new creation,’ and not only is he renewed, but all things are become new.
He is a new Adam in a new world.
Now {a} let us beware of exaggeration about this matter. There are often things said
about the effects of conversion which are very far in advance of reality, and give a
handle to caricature. The great law of continuity runs on through the change of
conversion. Take a man who has been the slave of some sin. The evil will not cease to
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143. tempt, nor will the effects of the past on character be annihilated. ‘Whatsoever a
man soweth, that shall he also reap,’ remains true. In many ways there will be
permanent consequences. There will remain the scars of old wounds; old sores will
be ready to burst forth afresh. The great outlines of character do remain.
{b} What is the condition of renewal?
‘If any man be in Christ’-how distinctly that implies something more than human in
Paul’s conception of Christ. It implies personal union with Him, so that He is the
very element or atmosphere in which we live. And that union is brought about by
faith in Him.
{c} How does such a state of union with Christ make a man over again?
It gives a new aim and centre for our lives. Then we live not unto ourselves; then
everything is different and looks so, for the centre is shifted. That union introduces
a constant reference to Him and contemplation of His death for us, it leads to self-
abnegation.
It puts all life under the influence of a new love. ‘The love of Christ constraineth.’
As is a man’s love, so is his life. The mightiest devolution is to excite a new love, by
which old loves and tastes are expelled. ‘A new affection’ has ‘expulsive power,’ as
the new sap rising in the springtime pushes off the lingering withered leaves. So
union with Him meets the difficulty arising from inclination still hankering after
evil. It lifts life into a higher level where the noxious creatures that were proper to
the swamps cannot live. The new love gives a new and mighty motive for obedience.
That union breaks the terrible chain that binds us to the past. ‘All died.’ The past is
broken as much as if we were dead. It is broken by the great act of forgiveness. Sin
holds men by making them feel as if what has been must be-an awful entail of evil.
In Christ we die to former self.
That union brings a new divine power to work in us. ‘I live, yet not I, but Christ
liveth in me.’
It sets us in a new world which yet is the old. All things are changed if we are
changed. They are the same old things, but seen in a new light, used for new
purposes, disclosing new relations and powers. Earth becomes a school and
discipline for heaven. The world is different to a blind man when cured, or to a deaf
one,-there are new sights for the one, new sounds for the other.
All this is true in the measure in which we live in union with Christ.
So no man need despair, nor think, ‘I cannot mend now.’ You may have tried and
been defeated a thousand times. But still victory is possible, not without effort and
sore conflict, but still possible. There is hope for all, and hope for ME.
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144. III. The completion in a perfectly renewed creation.
The renovation here is only partial. Its very incompleteness is prophetic. If there be
this new life in us, it obviously has not reached its fulness here, and it is obviously
not manifested here for all that even here it is.
It is like some exotic that does not show its true beauty in our greenhouses. The life
of a Christian on earth is a prophecy by both its greatness and its smallness, by both
its glory and its shame, by both its brightness and its spots. It cannot be that there is
always to be this disproportion between aspiration and performance, between
willing and doing. Here the most perfect career is like a half-lighted street, with long
gaps between the lamps.
The surroundings here are uncongenial to the new creatures. ‘Foxes have holes’-all
creatures are fitted for their environment; only man, and eminently renewed man,
wanders as a pilgrim, not in his home. The present frame of things is for discipline.
The schooling over, we burn the rod. So we look for an external order in full
correspondence with the new nature.
And Christ throned ‘makes all things new.’ How far the old is renewed we cannot
tell, and we need not ask. Enough that there shall be a universe in perfect harmony
with the completely renewed nature, that we shall find a home where all things will
serve and help and gladden and further us, where the outward will no more distract
and clog the spirit.
Brethren, let that mighty love constrain you; and look to Christ to renew you.
Whatever your old self may have been, you may bury it deep in His grave, and rise
with Him to newness of life. Then you may walk in this old world, new creatures in
Christ Jesus, looking for the blessed hope of entire renewal into the perfect likeness
of Him, the perfect man, in a perfect world, where all old sorrows and sins have
passed away and He has made all things new. Through eternity, new joys, new
knowledge, new progress, new likeness, new service will be ours- and not one leaf
shall ever wither in the amaranthine crown, nor ‘the cup of blessing’ ever become
empty or flat and stale. Eternity will be but a continual renewal and a progressive
increase of ever fresh and ever familiar treasures. The new and the old will be one.
Begin with trusting to Him to help you to change a deeper blackness than that of the
Ethiopian’s skin, and to erase firier spots than stain the tawny leopard’s hide, and
He will make you a new man, and set you in His own time in a ‘new heaven and
earth, where dwelleth righteousness.’
SIMEON, "Verse 23
DISCOURSE: 1049
144

145. THE POWER OF EVIL HABITS
Jeremiah 13:23. Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots? Then
may ye also do good, that are accustomed to do evil.
OF any particular acts which we have done amiss, we have been conscious: they
have, as it were, obtruded themselves upon our notice, and we could not turn our
eyes from them: but of an evil principle operating within us, we have been strangely
insensible; though, if we had been at all observant of our daily habits, we could not
but have both seen and felt it. It is owing to this that we have, for the most part, so
high a conceit of our own sufficiency for what is good. We imagine that we have but
to make a resolution, and any change which we propose will take place of course:
but experience shews, that our habits of sin are not so easily broken, nor our
resolutions respecting holiness so easily carried into effect. The truth is, that “the
Ethiopian may as soon change his skin, or the leopard his spots, as we, by any power
of our own, get into a course of what is good, after having been so long and so
habitually accustomed to do evil.”
From the words before us, I will take occasion to point out,
I. The power of sin, as inherent in our nature—
No wonder that we are entirely led captive by it: for,
1. It pervades all our faculties, whether of mind or body—
[Our understanding is blinded by it; our will is rendered perverse; our affections
are made earthly and sensual; our conscience is stupefied; and our very memory is
enfeebled with respect to every thing truly good. By it, also, is the whole of our body
defiled. St. Paul, with a remarkable particularity, specifies the subjection of our
several members to this evil principle, from head to foot [Note: Romans 3:12-15.]: so
that what the prophet speaks of the Jewish people, may well be said of us: “From
the sole of the foot even to the head there is no soundness in us; but wounds, and
bruises, and putrefying sores [Note: Isaiah 1:6.].” The whole man is corrupt;
insomuch that “every imagination of the thoughts of our hearts is only evil
continually [Note: Genesis 6:5.];” and “all our members are instruments of
unrighteousness unto sin [Note: Romans 6:13.].”]
2. It finds in us nothing to counteract its influence—
[True indeed, man, in his fallen state, possesses both reason and conscience: but
neither of these perform their office, in opposing the evil principle within us, any
farther than to testify against such flagrant acts as may expose us to shame before
men, I deny not, but that there are at times some secret stirrings in the mind, even at
a very early period of life; some remonstrances against sin; and some intimations
that we ought to serve our God, But these arise not from any remnant of good in our
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146. fallen nature: they are the fruits of divine grace, produced by the operation of the
Spirit of God upon the soul; even of that blessed Spirit who wrought on Samuel, and
John, and Timothy, from the very womb. The Scripture says expressly, that “in us,
that is, in our flesh, dwelleth no good thing [Note: Romans 7:18.]:” we cannot so
much as will what is good, and much less do it, unless God work within us to that
end [Note: Philippians 2:13.]; “nor have we a sufficiency even to think a good
thought [Note: 2 Corinthians 3:5.],” unless it be put into our hearts by the only
Giver of all good. In reference to all spiritual exercises, reason and conscience are
rather on the side of the corrupt principle; justifying, rather than condemning, the
neglect of them; and substituting in their place such services as are altogether
unworthy of Him who “claims to be worshipped in spirit and in truth.”]
3. It receives aid from every thing around us—
[“All that is in the world” is comprehended by the Apostle under these three
designations; “the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life [Note: 1
John 2:16.].” And what are these, but confederates of the evil principle within us,
giving it continually fresh scope for exercise, and soliciting it in every possible way
to enslave our souls? Every thing we see, every thing we hear, has a tendency to
draw us from God, to gratify our corrupt nature, and to give to the evil principle
within us an advantage against us to our destruction. Even the Saviour himself,
whilst to God’s elect “he is made a sanctuary,” is, to those who are destitute of
divine grace, “a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence, yea, as a gin and a snare,
whereby multitudes stumble and fall, and are broken and snared, and taken [Note:
Isaiah 8:14-15, with 1 Peter 2:7-8.].”]
4. It conceals its influence under specious names—
[There is not an evil which the corrupt principle does not lead us to palliate by some
gentle name, whilst on vital godliness it invariably casts reproach. What will it not
commend to us, under the idea of innocent amusement? and what will it not
sanction, under the terms conviviality and good breeding? Covetousness,
worldliness, ambition, yes, and licentiousness itself, all lose their hateful qualities
under the less offensive terms of prudence, and honour, and youthful indiscretion.
Is it any wonder, then, that men are led captive by sin and Satan, and that godliness
is in so great a degree banished from the world?]
But, to get a just notion of this evil principle, we must yet further mark,
II. Its power, as augmented and confirmed by evil habit—
Habit is to us as a second nature: and by it, sin is greatly augmented and confirmed.
1. Its odiousness is diminished—
146

147. [I have already said, that there are certain acts of sin which, notwithstanding their
general approbation of it, men are agreed to stigmatize as evil; and into these, men
do not plunge themselves, without some checks of conscience, and some remorse
after they have fallen into the commission of them. And, if a person were warned
that he was in danger of abandoning himself to these, he would be ready to reply,
“Is thy servant a dog, that he should do this thing [Note: 2 Kings 8:13.]?” But we see
to what lengths of wickedness men will proceed, when once these restraints are
broken through; and how they will even come at last to “glory in their shame [Note:
Philippians 3:18-19.].” Who that walk the streets with shameless impudence, or that
addict themselves to theft and robbery till they bring themselves to an untimely end,
would ever have believed, that sin, which, when first committed, caused in them a
blush of conscious guilt, should ever be carried by them to such a fearful extent, and
be familiarized to them as their inseparable companion?]
2. Its power is strengthened—
[It is of the very nature of habit to strengthen the principle that is called into action,
whether it be good or bad. The mind, the memory, the judgment, are strengthened
by exercise; as the bodily organs are also: and they acquire a facility in doing things
which at first are difficult. And thus it is also with evil habits: a man may have so
accustomed himself to anger, intemperance, impurity, or sloth, that he shall not be
able to withstand the smallest temptation: every trifle will irritate him; every
opportunity of indulgence ensnare him; “his eyes will be so full of adultery, that he
cannot cease from sin [Note: 2 Peter 2:14.];” and “on his bed he shall become like a
door upon its hinges,” that knows of no motion but from one side to another [Note:
Proverbs 26:14.]. This is placed in a peculiarly strong point of view by our blessed
Lord, who tells us that “it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle,
than for a rich man to enter into the kingdom of God [Note: Matthew 19:24.].” And
wherefore is this? It is because his habits of indulgence have so enslaved him, that
he cannot overcome them; nor can any thing but Omnipotence itself effect his
deliverance [Note: Matthew 19:26.].]
3. Its opportunities for exercise are multiplied—
[Habit calls around us those persons and temptations that are most subservient to
its indulgence. The man of pleasure moves in a round of gaiety and amusement. The
man who is in the pursuit of wealth, is to be found, wherever his favourite object
may be best accomplished. The man who affects pre-eminence and distinction, is
ever prosecuting his plans by such methods as lie within his reach. Thus all put
themselves in the very way of temptation, and of indulging the sin which most easily
besets them. If they even fled from the occasions of sin, they would be in great
danger: but when they accumulate to themselves occasions of falling, and lay
continually stumbling-blocks in their own way, it is no wonder that they fall. For,
“can a man take fire in his bosom, and his clothes not be burnt? or can he walk
upon hot coals, and his feet not be burnt [Note: Proverbs 6:27-28.]?” So if, instead
of watching against temptation, we court it, and rush into it, and familiarize
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148. ourselves with it, there can be no hope but that we shall fall and perish. “A bird
hasting to the snare, is not more sure of ruin than we [Note: Proverbs 7:22-23.].”]
4. The powers whereby it should be resisted are destroyed—
[We have before said, that against enormous wickedness there are some barriers,
arising from conscience, and a desire of man’s applause. But by habits of sin, “the
conscience becomes seared as with a hot iron,” and is rendered altogether incapable
of discharging its proper office [Note: 1 Timothy 4:2.]. A fear of detection, or of
God’s displeasure, may sometimes operate to restrain from great iniquity: but the
mind may become altogether “hardened through the deceitfulness of sin [Note:
Hebrews 3:13.],” till we resemble those of whom the prophet speaks in a preceding
chapter: “Thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed
them, but they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder
than a rock: they have refused to return [Note: Jeremiah 5:3.].” What can be
expected of such persons, but that they will “wax worse and worse [Note: 2 Timothy
3:13.],” and continue “treasuring up wrath,” till it shall come upon them to the
uttermost?”]
5. Every thing that is good is put, by it, at an unapproachable distance—
[“How shall they do good that have been accustomed to do evil?” If “the putting off
the old man” be so difficult, what hope is there of such persons “putting on the new
[Note: Ephesians 4:22-24.]”? The loving, serving, honouring of God, are things
which come not into the mind of one who is addicted to the commission of evil: in
this sense, “God is not in all his thoughts [Note: Psalms 10:4.].” And if any man
think that of himself he can turn unto the Lord, and serve him in sincerity and
truth, let him first wash an Ethiopian white; and then he may hope to accomplish
the task of converting his own soul, and of “creating himself anew after the Divine
image, in righteousness and true holiness.”]
Learn then, beloved,
1. Your need of converting grace—
[You need it for the subjugation of sin, and much more for the implantation of
holiness in your souls. Yes, indeed, Brethren, “you must be born again, and be made
new creatures in Christ Jesus.” No power, but that which formed the universe at
first, can ever make you what you ought to be; and what you must be, if over you
would behold the face of God in peace — — —]
2. The difference between sin and grace, as affected by our habits—
[You have seen the terrible effect of habit in relation to sin. But it is far different in
relation to grace: for though it is true that gracious habits render the exercise of
grace more easy, they will never, in any degree, supersede the need of fear and
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149. watchfulness. Behold David, the man after God’s own heart: he catches but a
glimpse of Bathsheba, and what becomes of all his gracious affections? See Peter,
also, who was so bold that he would die with his Divine Master: a maiden does but
point him out as a follower of his Lord, and he denies him with oaths and curses.
The truth is, that habits of sin increase the corrupt bias that is in the soul, and
render its departure from a right line more easy and more certain than it was
before: but habits of grace are only like an augmenting of a man’s power to roll a
stone up hill: but if he intermit his labour, whatever advance he may have made, the
stone will instantly roll down, and he will have all his labour to begin again. “Let
him, then, that thinketh he standeth, take heed lest he fall [Note: 1 Corinthians
10:12.].” Still has the most eminent amongst us “the flesh lusting against the Spirit,
as well as the Spirit lusting against the flesh [Note: Galatians 5:17.].” Yes, and still
has the corrupt principle within him the force of “a law, which wars against the law
of his mind, and brings him more or less into captivity to the law of sin which is in
his members [Note: Romans 7:23.].” And this I say to humble you, and to put you on
your guard. Yet, let not any of you be discouraged: for “the grace of Christ is amply
sufficient for you,” if you will but seek it; “nor shall any temptation occur to you
without a way to escape, that so “you may be able to bear it [Note: 1 Corinthians
10:13.].” Be weak, then, in yourselves, and “strong in the Lord [Note: Ephesians
6:10.]:” so shall “his strength be perfected in your weakness [Note: 2 Corinthians
12:9.],” and his name be glorified in your salvation.]
BI, "Can the Ethiopian change his skin, or the leopard his spots?
The Ethiopian
I. The question and its answer.
1. The difficulty in the sinner’s case lies—
(1) In the thoroughness of the operation. The Ethiopian can wash, or paint; but
he cannot change that which is part and parcel of himself. A sinner cannot
change his own nature.
(2) In the fact that the will is itself diseased by sin. In man’s will lies the essence
of the difficulty: he can not, means that he does not will to have it done. He is
morally unable.
(3) In the strength of habit. Practice in transgression has forged chains, and
bound the man to evil.
(4) In the pleasure of sin, which fascinates and enslaves the mind.
(5) In the appetite for sin, which gathers intensity from indulgence.
Drunkenness, lechery, covetousness, etc., are a growing force.
(6) In the blindness of the understanding, which prevents men from seeing the
evil of their ways, or noting their danger. Conscience is drugged into a deep sleep.
(7) In the growing hardness of the heart, which becomes more stolid and
unbelieving every day, till nothing affects it.
(8) In the evident fact that outward means prove ineffectual: like “sope” and
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150. “nitre” on a negro, they fail to touch the living blackness.
2. For all these reasons we answer the question in the negative: sinners can no more
renew themselves than Ethiopians can change their skins.
(1) Why then preach to them? It is Christ’s command, and we are bound to obey.
Their inability does not hinder our ministry, for power goes with the word.
(2) Why tell them that it is their duty to repent? Because it is so: moral inability
is no excuse: the law is not to be lowered because man has grown too evil to keep
it.
(3) Why tell them of this moral inability? To drive them to self-despair, and
make them look to Christ.
II. Another question and answer.
1. All things are possible with God (Mat_19:26).
2. The Holy Spirit has special power over the human heart.
3. The Lord Jesus has determined to work this wonder, and for this purpose He
came into this world, and died, and rose again (Mat_1:21).
4. Many such jet-black sinners have been totally changed: among ourselves there are
such, and in all places such may be found.
5. The Gospel is prepared with that end.
6. God has made His Church long for such transformations, and prayer has been
offered that they may now be wrought. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Evil habits a great difficulty to reformation of life
Habit may be looked on—
1. As a necessary law.
(1) A facility of performing an act in proportion to its repetition.
(2) A tendency grows up in us to repeat what we have often done.
2. As a beneficent law. It is because acts grow easier and generally more attractive
the oftener they are performed, that men advance in the arts, the sciences, the
morality, and the religion of life.
3. As an abused law. The text is a strong expression of its abuse. The words of course
are not to be taken in an absolutely unqualified sense. The idea is great difficulty.
Our subject is the difficulty of converting old sinners, men “accustomed to do evil.”
I. It is a self-created difficulty.
1. Habit is but an accumulation of acts, and in each of the aggregate acts the actor
was free.
2. The sinner himself feels that he has given his moral complexion the Ethiopian
stain, and painted his character with the leopard spots. This fact shows—
(1) The moral force of human nature. Man forging chains to manacle his spirit,
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151. creating a despot to control his energies and his destiny.
(2) The egregious folly of wickedness. It makes man his own enemy, tyrant,
destroyer.
II. It is a gradually augmenting difficulty. Habit is a cord. It is strengthened with every
action. At first it is as fine as silk, and can be broken with but little effort. As it proceeds
it becomes a cable strong enough to hold a man of war, steady amidst boisterous billows
and furious winds. Habit is a momentum. It increases with motion. At first a child’s
hand can arrest the progress. As the motion increases it gets a power difficult for an
army of giants to overcome. Habit is a river, at its headspring you can arrest its progress
with ease, and turn it in any direction you please, but as it approaches the ocean it defies
opposition, and rolls with a thunderous majesty into the sea.
1. The awful condition of the sinner.
2. The urgency for an immediate decision Procrastination is folly.
3. The necessity of the special prayers of the Church on behalf of aged sinners.
III. It is a possibly conquerable difficulty.
1. The history of conversions shows the possibility of overcoming this difficulty.
2. The mightiness of Christ shows the possibility of overcoming this difficulty, He
saves to the uttermost.
Uttermost in relation to the enormity of the sin—uttermost in relation to the age of the
sinner. (Homilist.)
Evil habits and their cure
If we compare together these words of Jeremiah with other words on the same subject
by Isaiah we arrive at a more complete view of the force of evil habits than is presented
to us by this single text. “Come, now, let us reason together, though your sins,” etc. This
is the essential message of Christ, that there is forgiveness of sins—that the
transgressions of the past can be blotted out and he who has done evil learn to do good.
This doctrine was very early objected to. It was one of the arguments that the educated
heathen in the first ages of the Christian Church brought against Christianity that it
declared that possible which they believed to be impossible. “It is manifest to everyone,”
writes Celsus, the first great polemical adversary of Christianity, who flourished in the
second century, “that those who are disposed by nature to vice, and are accustomed to it,
cannot be transformed by punishment, much less by mercy, for to transform nature is a
matter of extreme difficulty,” but our Lord has taught us that what is impossible with
men is possible with God, and Christianity proved again and again its Divine origin in
accomplishing this very work which, according to men, was impossible. Against the
sweeping assertion of Celsus to the contrary, we may place the living examples of
thousands upon thousands who through the Gospel have been turned from darkness to
light and from the power of Satan unto God. To trace the steps of such a change in any
particular case is one of the most fascinating studies in biography; but no study will ever
explain all, for in the work of a soul’s regeneration there is a mystery which can never be
brought into the mould of thought. “The wind,” said Christ, “bloweth where it listeth,
and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh or whither it
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152. goeth; so is everyone that is born of the Spirit,” but man’s part in the work can be
conceived, and this is what we should strive to understand, so that we may work with
God, and there are three chief ways in which we may do so:
1. There is resistance. As every yielding to temptation strengthens a bad habit, so
every act of resistance weakens it. It was the belief of the North American Indians
that the strength of the slain foe passed into the body of the slayer; and in the moral
world it is so, for not only does resistance take from the force of habit, it strengthens
the will against it, so that in a double way acts of resistance undermine the force of
habit.
2. Then there is education. Every man who is not wholly lost to a sense of right-
doing feels every time he gives way to an evil habit a silent protest working in his
breast, something that tells him he is wrong, that urges him to do differently, that
interferes with the pleasure of the sin, mingling with it a sense of dissatisfaction. This
protest will generally take the form of urging us towards the good which is opposite
to the evil in which we are indulging. And by educating, by drawing out the desire
after this good more and more, the evil is more and more put to flight. Thus the way
to overcome inattentiveness of the mind is not so much to fix our attention on the
fault, as to cultivate and educate its opposite, concentration of mind.
3. Once again, there is prayer. It has been said that to labour is to pray, and that is
true in a measure; and those who labour in resisting evil habits and in cultivating
good ones are, in a sense, by such actions praying to God; but anyone who has ever
prayed knows that that definition does not exhaust the meaning or force of prayer.
Prayer is more than labour—it is having intercourse with God. It is one of the chief
means by which we are made conscious that we are not alone in the battle of life; but
that there is One with us who is our unchangeable Friend, who looks down upon us
with an interest that never flags, and a love that never grows cold. (Arthur Brooke,
M. A.)
Inability to do good arising from vicious habits
I. To explain the nature of evil habits, particularly the tendency of them, to render men
indisposed to moral goodness. No habit leaveth a man in a state of indifference, it
putteth a strong bias upon his mind to act according to its direction, as experience
showeth in innumerable instances, and in the most ordinary affairs, and even
amusements of life; how naturally and easily do we fall into the beaten track, and hold
on the accustomed course, though our reason discerneth no importance in it at all! Nay,
by the influence of habit, trifles are magnified into matters of great moment, at least they
engage the desire, and determine the active powers as if they were, so that we find it very
difficult to break them off. Again, the only rational way of reclaiming men from ill
practices is, by convincing them that they are ill, and that they must be attended with
unhappy consequences to themselves: but the effect of habits is to darken the
understanding, to fill the mind with prejudices, and to render it unattentive to reason.
How then shall they that are accustomed to do evil learn to do well, since they are
biassed against it, being expert in the contrary practice, and since they have made
themselves in a great measure incapable of instruction?
II. Consider particularly how we are to understand that disability to do good which is
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153. contracted by being accustomed to do evil.
1. That the impotence is not total nor equal to that which is natural, will appear from
the following considerations.
(1) Where there is a total disability, and equal to that which is natural, there can
be no guilt.
(2) It is very well known in a multitude of instances, that men by strong
resolutions, and a vigorous exertion of the natural force of their minds, have
actually conquered very inveterate habits, and turned to a quite different way of
living.
2. You see then where the difference lieth, that it is in ourselves, and what that
impotence is which ariseth from habits, that it is no more than irresolution which is
properly the fault of the mind, and to be charged wholly upon it.
3. God waiteth to be gracious to them, unwilling they should perish, if they are
disposed on their part to submit to the remedy which His mercy hath provided. (J.
Abernethy, M. A.)
Habits
1. Everyone remembers how much of his discipline as a child was connected with
points of manner; how often he was reproved for little rudenesses, etc. And if by the
neglect of others or by his own he formed any such habit, does he not remember too
how much pain and effort it cost him to get rid of it, however little pleasure there
might be in indulging it, or however easy it might appear, in prospect, to part with it
at any moment when it might become troublesome? And I need not remind any of
you of the force of habit as shown, in an opposite way, in matters which, though they
occupy much of your time and thoughts elsewhere, must yet be regarded as trifling in
comparison with the graver subjects which ought to fill our minds here; I mean, in
those exercises of bodily strength and skill which form so large a part of our youthful
training.
2. But now go one step farther, and observe the effect of habit, for good or evil, upon
the mind. If language be your chief subject of study, the repeated sight of certain
symbols, which were at first entirely strange and unintelligible to you, makes them
familiar, and associates them forever in your mind with the ideas which they
symbolise; and the repeated formation for yourselves of words and sentences in that
foreign language, according to certain rules, gives you at last an almost intuitive and
instantaneous perception of what is right and beautiful in it. This is the reward of the
diligent; their reward in proportion to the original gift of mind for which they are not
responsible, and to their diligence in the use of it for which they are. And if this be, in
intellectual matters, the force of habit for good, need I speak of its influence for evil?
Those repeated neglects which make up the school life of an idle or presumptuous
boy; the little separate acts, or rather omissions of act, which seem to him now so
trifling; the postponements, half-learnings, or total abandonments of lessons; the
hours of inattention, vacancy, or wandering thoughts, which he spends in school; the
shallowness and looseness and slovenliness—still worse, the too frequent
unfairness—of his best preparations of work; these things too are all going to form
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154. habits.
3. The soul too is the creature of habit. Have you not all found it so? When you have
for two or three days together forgotten your prayers, has it not become, even in that
short time, more easy to neglect, more difficult to resume them? When you have left
God out of sight in your daily life; when you have fallen into an unchristian and
irreligious state of mind and life, how soon have you found this state become as it
were natural to you; how much less, day by day, did the idea of living without God
alarm you; how much more tranquil, if not peaceful, did conscience become as you
departed farther and farther in heart from the living God! But there is another, an
opposite, habit of the soul, that of living to God, with God, and in God. That too is a
habit, not formed so soon or so easily as the other, yet like it formed by a succession
of acts, each easier than the last, and each making the next easier still.
4. I have spoken separately of habits of the body, the mind, and the soul. It remains
that we should combine these, and speak a few serious words of those habits which
affect the three. Such habits there are, for good and for evil. There is a devotion of
the whole man to God, which affects every part of his nature. Such is the habit of a
truly religious life; such a life as some have sought in the seclusion of a cloister, but
which God wills should be led in that station of life, whatsoever it be, to which it has
pleased or shall please Him to call us. One day so spent indeed, is the earnest, and
not the earnest only hut the instrument too, of the acquisition of the inheritance of
the saints in light. How can we, after such thoughts, turn to their very opposite, and
speak of habits affecting for evil conjointly the body, the mind, and the soul? Yet
such habits there are, and the seed of them is often sown in boyhood.
5. It is the fashion with some to undervalue habits. The grace of God, they say, and
say truly, can change the whole man into the opposite of what he is. It is most true:
with God—we bless Him for the word, it is our one hope—all things are possible. But
does God give any encouragement in His Word to that sort of recklessness as to early
conduct, which some practically justify by their faith in the atonement? Is it not the
whole tenour of His Word that children should be brought up from the first in the
nurture and admonition of the Lord?
6. I have spoken, as the subject led me, of good habits and evil: there is yet a third
possibility, or one which seems such. There is such a thing, in common language at
least, as having no habits. Yes, we have known such persons, all of us; persons who
have no regularity and no stability within or without; persons who one day seem not
far from the kingdom of God, and the next have drifted away so far from it that we
wonder at their inconsistency. As you would beware of bad habits, so beware also of
having no habits. Grasp tenaciously, and never let go, those few elements at least of
virtuous habit which you acquired in earliest childhood in a Christian home. You will
be very thankful for them one day. (Dean Vaughan.)
Importance of the rigid formation of habits
I. How far the influence of habit extends. Habit extends its influence over the body, the
mind, and the conscience The body, considered merely as an animal frame, is much
under the influence of habit. Habit inures the body to cold or heat; renders it capable of
labour, or patient of confinement. Through habit the sailor rides upon the rocking wave
without experiencing that sickness which the unaccustomed voyager is almost sure to
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155. feel. I might now proceed from the body to the mind, only there are some cases which
are of a mixed nature, partaking both of body and mind, in which we neither
contemplate the body apart from the mind, nor the mind apart from the body; and habit
has its influence upon both. Such is the pernicious use of strong liquors, habit increases
the desire, diminishes the effect of them. So all undue indulgence of the body increases
the desire of further indulgence. The appetite by constant gratifications becomes
uncontrollable; and the mind also grows debauched, is rendered incapable of purer
pleasures, and altogether unfit for the exercises of religion. Nor is it only through the
body that habit has its effect upon the mind. There are habits purely mental, as well as
habits purely bodily. Profaneness may become a habit; a man may contract a habit of
swearing, a habit of speaking irreverently of sacred things. So the anger of a passionate
man is often called constitutional. Further, the Apostle Paul speaks of those whose mind
and conscience is defiled. Habit has its effect on the conscience also. One would think
that the more frequently a man had committed a fault, the more severely would his
conscience upbraid him for it. But the very contrary is the case: his conscience has
become familiar with the sin, as well as his other faculties of mind or body.
II. The difficulty of overcoming habits. Even in the case of those who have been soberly
and virtuously brought up, and whose life is unstained by a course of profane or
licentious conduct, there is a principle of evil which keeps them far from God. They have
no love to Him, no delight in Him, no communion with Him. How much more palpably
impossible is it for the wretched sinner to break his chains, when sin by long indulgence
has become habitual; when the body itself has been made subject to it, the mind polluted
by it, and the conscience seared as with a red-hot iron! Does experience teach you to
expect that these men will correct themselves! It may be that such men may change one
sin for another, a new bad habit, as it acquires strength, may supplant an old one, the
sins of youth may give way to the sins of age. But this is not ceasing to do evil, and
learning to do well. It is only altering the manner of doing evil. With men it is
impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible. Divine grace can not
only take away the greatest guilt; it can also enlighten the darkest understanding, and
sanctify the most corrupt heart.
III. Address two descriptions of characters.
1. Those who are still walking in their accustomed way of evil.
2. Those who have been delivered from it. (J. Fawcett, M. A.)
Habits
The formation of habits goes on in part by conscious volition or purpose. Men set
themselves at work in certain directions to acquire accomplishments and various
elements of power. Thus are habits formed. And the same process goes on under a more
general schooling. We are living in society at large. Not only are we influenced by that
which goes on in our households, but there is the reflection of a thousand households in
the companionship into which we are thrown day by day, which influences us. The world
of most persons is a microcosm with a small population; and they reflect the influence of
the spheres in which they have had their training and their culture. The influences which
surround them, for good and evil, for industry or indolence, are well-nigh infinite in
number and variety. Every man should have an end in view; and every day he should
adopt means to that end, and follow it from day to day, from week to week, from month
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156. to month, and from year to year. Then he is the architect of, and he is building, his own
fortune. Out of a careless and unarmoured way spring up mischievous habits which at
first are not very striking, nor very disastrous. Prominent among them is the habit of
carelessness respecting the truth—carelessness in respect to giving one’s word in the
form of a promise. Never make a promise without a distinct and deliberate thought as to
whether you can fulfil it; or not; and having made a promise, keep it at all hazard, even
though it be to your damage. Do not break your word. Then, aside from that mode of
falsifying, men fall into the habit of uttering untruths. The love of truth is not in them.
They do not esteem truth for itself’s sake. They regard it as an instrument, as a coin, as it
were; and when it is profitable they speak the truth, but when it is not profitable they are
careless of it. Multitudes of persons by suppression falsify and they use so thin and gauzy
a veil as this: “Well, what I said was strictly true.” Yes; but what you did not say was
false. For you to tell the truth so that no one shall suspect the truth, and so that it shall
produce a false and illusory impression—that has an evil effect upon others, and a still
more evil effect upon your own character. The desire to conform your speech to Yea, yea,
and Nay, nay; the desire for simplicity of truth; the desire to state things as they are, so
that going from your mind they shall produce pictures in another’s mind precisely as
they lie in your own—that is manly. Still more likely are men by extravagance to fall from
strict habits of truth. We live in an age of adjectives, Nothing is natural. The whole force
of adjectives is exhausted on the ordinary affairs of life, and nothing is left for the
weightier matters of thought and speech. Men form a habit in this direction, Frequently
it is formed because it is very amusing. When a man has a good reputation for speaking
the truth, and he speaks in a back-handed way, at first it is comical; as, for instance,
where a man speaks of himself as being a dishonourable fellow when he is known to be
the very pink of honesty and scrupulousness; or, where a man speaks smilingly of trying
with all his might to live within his income, when he is known to roll in riches. Such
extravagances have a pleasing effect once or twice; and not only individuals, but families
and circles fall into the habit of using extravagant words and expressions, because under
certain conditions they are amusing; but they cease to be so when they are applied to the
common elements of life, and are heard every day. They become altogether distasteful to
persons of refinement, and are in every way bad. The same is true of bluntness. Now and
then the coming in of a blunt expression from a good, strong, honest man is like a clap of
thunder in a hot, sultry day in summer—and we like it; but when a man makes himself
disagreeable under the pretence that bluntness of speech is more honest than the refined
expressions of polite society, he violates good taste and the true proportions of things.
Nor is it strange, under such circumstances, that a man feels himself easily led to the last
and worst form of lying—deliberate falsification; so that he uses untruth as an
instrument by which to accomplish his ends. Closely connected with this obliteration of
moral delicacy there comes in a matter of which I will speak, reading from Ephesians,
the 5th chapter—“All uncleanness, or covetousness, let it not be once named among
you,” etc. Where men tip their wit with salacious stories; where men indulge in double
entendre; where men report things whose very edge is uncomely and unwholesome;
where men talk among themselves in such a way that before they begin they look around
and say, “Are there any ladies present?” where men converse with an abominable
indecorum and filthiness in repartee, jesting with things that are fine, and smearing
things that are pure, the apostle says, “It is not convenient.” The original is, It is not
becoming. In other words, it is unmanly. That is the force of the passage. And we are
forbidden to indulge in these things. Yet very many men run through the whole of them,
sink into the depths of pollution, and pass away. I scarcely need say that in connection
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157. with such tendencies as I have reprobated will come in the temptation to a low tone of
conduct socially; to coarse and vulgar manners, and to carelessness of the rights of
others. By good manners I mean the equity of benevolence. If you will take the 13th
chapter of 1st Corinthians, and, though it be perverting the text a little, substitute for
“charity” the word politeness, you will have a better version of what true politeness is
than has ever been written anywhere else. No man has any right to call himself a
gentleman who is oblivious of that equity of kindness which should exist under all
circumstances between man and man. I have noticed a want of regard for the aged. Grey
hairs are not honourable in the sight of multitudes of young men. They have not trained
themselves to rise up and do obeisance to the patriarch. I have observed that there was a
sort of politeness manifested on the part of young men if the recipient of it was young
and fair; but I have noticed that when poor women come into a car, sometimes bearing
their babes in their arms, young men, instead of getting up and giving them their places,
are utterly indifferent to them. The habits of our times are not courteous, and you are
not likely to learn from them the art of good manners, which means kindness and equity
between man and man in the ordinary associations of life; and if you would endow
yourself with this Christian excellence you must make it a matter of deliberate
consideration and assiduous education. I will mention one more habit into which we are
liable to fall, and toward which the whole nation seems to tend: I mean the habit of
loving evil. I refer not to the love of doing evil, but to the love of discussing evil. True
Christian charity, it is also said in the 13th of 1st Corinthians, “rejoiceth not in iniquity.”
A man ought to be restrained from any commerce with that which is evil—evil news, evil
stories, evil surmises, evil insinuations, innuendoes, scandals, everything evil that relates
to society. Set yourselves, then, as Christian men and women, to abhor evil and to rejoice
not in iniquity, but in the truth. I will speak of one other habit—namely, the growing
habit of profanity. Men accustom themselves to such irreverence in the use of words
which are sacred, that at last they cease to be words of power to them. Men swear by
God, by the Almighty, by the Lord Jesus Christ, in a manner which shocks the feelings
and wounds the hearts of truly conscientious people. And they who thus addict
themselves to rudeness of speech violate the law of good society. Not only that, but; they
do it uselessly. You do not give weight to what you are saying in conversation by the
employment of expletives. There is no statement which is more forcible than that which
is expressed in simple language. And in giving way to the habit you are doing violence to
the Word of God, to your best moral instincts, and to your ideal of the sanctity of your
Ruler and your Judge; and I beseech of you who are beginning life to take heed of this
tendency, and avoid it. We are all building a character. What that character is to be it
doth not yet appear. We are working in the dark, as it were; but by every thought and
action we am laying the stones, tier upon tier, that are going into the structure; and what
it to be the light of the eternal world will reveal. It is, therefore, wise for every man to
pray, “Search me, O God; try me and see if there be any evil way at me.” It is worth our
while to go back to the Old Testament again, and say, “Wherewithal shall a young man
cleanse his way? By taking heed thereto according to Thy Word.” The cleanest Book, the
most honourable Book, the most manly Book, the truest, the simplest, and the noblest
Book that ever was written or thought of is this Book of God. In the Psalms of David, in
the Proverbs of Solomon, in the whole New Testament, you cannot go amiss. Them is
not one place where you will be led down morally, where the ideal is not noble, and
where it does not ascend higher and higher, till you stand in Zion and before God. (H. W.
Beecher.)
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158. Of the difficulty of reforming vicious habits
I. The great difficulty of reforming vicious habits, or of changing a bad course, to those
who have been deeply engaged in it and long accustomed to it. This will fully appear—
1. If we consider the nature of all habits, whether good, or bad, or indifferent. A
rooted habit becomes a governing principle, and bears almost an equal sway in us
with that which is natural. It is a kind of a new nature superinduced, and even as
hard to be expelled, as some things which are primitively and originally natural.
2. This difficulty ariseth more especially from the particular nature of evil and
vicious habits. These, because they are suitable to our corrupt nature, and conspire
with the inclinations of it, are likely to be of a much quicker growth and
improvement, and in a shorter space, and with less care and endeavour, to arrive at
maturity and strength, than the habits of grace and goodness.
3. The difficulty of this change ariseth likewise from the natural and judicial
consequences of a great progress and long continuance in an evil course.
II. The case of these persons, though it be extremely difficult, is not quite desperate; but
after all, there is some ground of hope and encouragement left, that they may yet be
reclaimed and brought to goodness.
1. There is left, even in the worst of men, a natural sense of the evil and
unreasonableness of sin; which can hardly be ever totally extinguished in human
nature.
2. Very bad men, when they have any thoughts of becoming better, are apt to
conceive some good hopes of God’s grace and mercy.
3. Who knows what men thoroughly roused and startled may resolve, and do? And a
mighty resolution will break through difficulties which seem insuperable.
4. The grace and assistance of God when sincerely sought, is never to be despaired
of. (J. Tillotson, D. D.)
The difficulty of repentance
I. From the nature of habits in general of vicious habits in particular. Concerning habits,
we may observe that there are many things which we practise at first with difficulty, and
which at last, by daily and frequent repetition, we perform not only without labour, but
without premeditation and design. Thus it is with the habits of memory. By frequent
practice and slow degrees we acquire the use of speech: we retain a surprising variety of
words of arbitrary sounds, which we make the signs of things. Thus it is in the habits of
the imagination. When we accustom our minds to certain objects, when we call them
often before us, these objects, which at first were perhaps as indifferent as any other,
become familiar to us, they appear uncalled and force themselves upon us. Thus it is
with the habits of sin. They are acquired like other habits by repeated acts; they fix
themselves upon us in the same manner, and are corrected with the same difficulty. A
sinner by long offending contracts an aversion from his duty, and weakens his power of
deliberating and choosing upon wise motives. By giving way to his passions he has made
them ungovernable; they rise of themselves, and stay not for his consent, and by every
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159. victory over him they gain new strength, and he grows less able to resist them. His
understanding and reason become unserviceable to him. At first, when he did amiss, he
was ashamed of it; but shame is lost by long offending. Add to this, that vicious habits
make a deeper impression and gain faster upon us than good habits. Sin recommends
itself to our senses by bringing present profit or pleasure, whilst religion consists
frequently in renouncing present profit or pleasure for a greater interest at a distance,
and so recommends itself, not to our senses, but to our reason; upon which account it is
more difficult to be good than to be bad. One being asked, what could be the reason why
weeds grew more plentifully than corn? answered, Because the earth was the mother of
weeds, but the stepmother of corn; that is, the one she produced of her own accord, the
other not till she was compelled to it by man’s toil and industry. This may not unfitly be
applied to the human mind, which on account of its intimate union with the body, and
commerce with sensible objects, easily and willingly performs the things of the flesh, but
will not bring forth the spiritual fruits of piety and virtue, unless cultivated with
assiduity and application.
II. From experience. There are few who forsake any vice to which they are remarkably
addicted. The truth of this may be easiest observed in those faults where the body seems
not to be much concerned, such as pride, conceit, levity of mind, rashness in judging and
determining, censoriousness, malice, cruelty, wrath, moroseness, envy, selfishness,
avarice. These bad dispositions seldom forsake a person in whom they are fixed. Besides,
many of them are of so deceitful a nature, that the mind entertains them and knows it
not; the man thinks himself free from faults which to every other person are most
visible.
III. Scripture concurs with reason and experience. When the Scriptures speak of evil
habits, they make use of figures as strong and bold as language can utter and the
imagination conceive, to set forth their pernicious nature. Persons in that condition are
said to be enclosed in a snare, to be taken captives, to have sold themselves to work
wickedness, to be in a state of slavery. Even those passages which contain great
encouragement and favourable promises to repentance, inform us at the same time of
the difficulty of amending. Our Saviour gives a plain and familiar representation of it. A
shepherd, says He, rejoices more over one sheep which was lost and is found, than over
ninety-and-nine which went not astray. Why so? For this, amongst other reasons,
because he could not reasonably expect such good fortune, and had little hopes of
finding a creature exposed to a thousand dangers, and unable to shift for itself.
IV. Reflections useful to persons of all ages and of all dispositions.
1. If the words of the text were to be taken rigorously and in the strictest sense, it
would be a folly to exhort a habitual sinner to repentance, and an unreasonable thing
to expect from him a natural impossibility; but it is certain that they mean no more
than an extreme difficulty.
2. There are persons who sincerely profess the Christian religion, who fear God and
desire to be in His favour, but whose lives are not so conformable to their belief as
they ought to be, who are sorry for their faults, and fall into them again, who make
not the progress in goodness which they acknowledge to be justly expected from
them, and who have not that command over their passions which by a little more
resolution and self-denial they might acquire. Such persons should seriously
consider the difficulty of reforming bad habits, and the extreme danger of that state:
for though it be not their present condition, yet if they use not timely caution, sad
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160. effects may ensue.
3. These sad examples should be a warning to those whose obedience is so
incomplete and sullied with so many defects, whose love of virtue is not equal and
uniform, and whose affections are placed sometimes on God and religion, and
sometimes on the follies and vanities of the world.
4. There are Christians who abstain from known and deliberate transgressions, who
strive to make a daffy progress in goodness, and to perform an acceptable service to
God. The difficulty of reforming vicious habits may warn them to be upon their
guard, that after they have set out well and proceeded well, they fail not at last, nor
lose a reward near at hand.
5. They who have wisely and happily preserved themselves from evil habits ought to
be very thankful to God, by whose blessing they are free from that heavy bondage,
and strangers to the sad train of evils which attend it. (J. Jortin, D. D.)
The sinner’s helplessness
I. If man cannot turn himself to happiness and God, why not?
1. Because of the force of sinful habit. The man who has his arm paralysed cannot
use it for his own defence; and sin deprives the soul of power, it paralyses the soul.
The man thinks he can pray, but when the time comes, he finds that sinful habits are
so strong upon him that he cannot. I well recollect, one winter night, when the storm
was raging and the wind was howling, being called up to attend one who was in the
agonies of death, and who had long been living an avowed life of sin, but he became
anxious at the last to know if it were possible for him to find a place of safety; and
never shall I forget the answer which that poor man made to me, when I directed
him to pray: “Pray, sir! I cannot. I have lived in sin too long to pray. I have tried to
pray, but I cannot, I know not how; and if this be all, I must perish.” A long
continued life of sin had paralysed that man’s soul; and it does so, consciously or
unconsciously, in every case.
2. Because of the fault of his sinful nature. You know well, that if the glorious sun in
the heavens were to shine upon the face of a man who is naturally dead he would
neither see it nor feel its warmth. If you were to present to that man all the riches of
the world he would have no eye to look at them, no heart to wish for them, no hand
to put forth to grasp them. And so with the man who is unconverted. He may be all
alive to sin, he may have all the powers of his mind in full exercise, but his heart is
alienated from God; he has no wish for “the unsearchable riches of Christ”; he has no
desire to become enriched with those treasures which shall endure forever.
3. Because of the enmity of Satan. Do you see that poor man who has been toiling in
all the heat of a summer’s day with a heavy burden upon him? His strength is now
gone, and he has fallen into the ditch; and when he tries to raise himself, do you see
that tyrant who has got his foot upon his back, and who plunges him again into the
ditch and keeps him down? You have them a picture of the enmity and power of
Satan.
II. If man cannot turn himself, if he be like the Ethiopian who cannot change his skin,
why tell him of it? Is it not to pour insult upon his miserable and abject condition? Oh
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161. no! It is necessary to tell him of his helplessness.
1. Because God commands it. His eye is upon the poor prodigal in all his wanderings:
He knows the desperate wickedness and deceitfulness of his heart; He, the Lord,
searches the heart; He knows what it is best for fallen man to know and to be made
acquainted with; and He tells those whom He sends to be His ambassadors to preach
the Word, to proclaim the whole counsel of God, to keep back nothing whatsoever
that is contained in the revealed will of God.
2. Because there must be a sense of need before deliverance can be experienced. If a
man were to have an idea, when he was in a building surrounded by danger, that
whenever he pleased he could get up and take the key out of his pocket and unlock
the door and walk out, then he might indeed sit still and laugh at those who would
fain arouse him to a sense of his danger; but if you can tell the man that the key
which he fancies he possesses he has lost—if you can get him to feel for it, if you can
once bring him to the conviction that he has lost it, and that he cannot get out of the
building in which he is, then you rouse him from his state of apathy, then you bring
him to the point at which he is ready to welcome the hand of any deliverer.
3. God has promised to give us His Holy Spirit. Here the sinner’s objections are met.
If he has no power, yet if he has the wish to be delivered from his dreadful state, God
promises to pour out His Spirit; and that Spirit leads to Jesus, convinces of sin, and
then takes of the things of Jesus and applies them to the sinner’s soul
III. Inferences.
1. Without Christ men must perish.
2. Is there not a danger of delay in this matter?
3. Think of the responsibility of this present moment. (W. Cadman, M. A.)
Custom in sin exceeding dangerous
I. The defilement of sin.
1. Its inherence.
(1) This should humble and abase us in consideration of our vileness; not lead us
to excuse our sins.
(2) We see here what cause we have to desire that God would change our nature,
and bestow a new nature on us.
2. Its monstrousness.
(1) It alters a man’s country; turns an Israelite into an Ethiopian, and thus causes
a degeneration there.
(2) It also alters a man’s nature; gives him the quality and disposition even of the
beasts, makes him a leopard, and thus makes a degeneration there.
3. Its multiplication. A beast of divers colours, marks, and spots (Gal_5:19).
4. Its universality. A deformity in all parts and members (Isa_1:5; Gen_6:5).
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162. II. The entanglements of sin.
1. The qualification or condition of the persons accustomed to do evil. More
correctly, “taught to do evil.” Taught—
(1) By doctrine and instruction. There is a great deal of such teaching in the
world (Mat_5:19; Tit_1:11; Mar_7:7; 2Ti_4:3-4).
(2) By pattern and example. That which men see to be practised they soon and
easily fall into.
(3) By practice and use “accustomed to do evil.” Use makes perfect.
2. The invincible necessity which follows upon custom in sin: they “cannot do good.”
(1) An impotency to good (Gal_5:17).
(2) A precipitancy unto evil (Ecc_8:11).
Conclusion—
1. Take heed of having anything to do with sin at first.
2. If any should fall into sin, do not stay in it, but hasten out of it with speed (Rom_
6:1).
3. Take heed of relapses, and falling back to sin again (2Pe_2:20). (T. Herren, D. D.)
The alarming power of sin
I. The habits of men are strengthened and confirmed by indulgence. Even habits which
relate to matters of indifference become inveterate, and are with great difficulty modified
and overcome. The longer a man continues in sinful courses, the more fully his mind
becomes trained in these habits of resistance to all that is good. He is insensibly led on
from one course of wickedness to another, till he is under a sort of necessity of sinning.
He has taken so many steps in this downward road, and his progress has become so
accelerated and impetuous that he cannot resist it.
II. The influence of this world, as men advance in life, usually becomes more perplexing,
and a greater hindrance to their conversion. While the eye is pleased, the ear regaled,
and all the senses delighted, there is everything to corrupt and destroy. A man in middle
life may, now and then, feel powerful inducements to become pious; the grasp of the
world may, for a short season, be partially relaxed; and he may withdraw himself for a
little from his old companions, to think of the scenes of that invisible world to which he
is hastening; but soon his courage and self-denial fail him, and he is soothed or
frightened away from his purpose. Some golden bait, some earnest entreaty, some subtle
stratagem, some unhallowed influence disheartens him, and he goes back again to the
world. The world is still his idol. The concerns of time absorb the attention and exhaust
the vigour of his mind. Having thrown himself into the current, he becomes weaker and
weaker, and though the precipice is near, he cannot now stem the tide and reach the
shore.
III. As years increase, men become less interested in the subject of religion, and more
obdurate and averse to any alteration in their moral character. The season of
sensitiveness and ardent affection is gone by. The only effect which the most powerful
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163. instructions or the best adapted means of grace are apt to have upon such a mind, is
increasing insensibility and hardness, and greater boldness in iniquity. They cannot
endure to be disturbed in their sins. When you urge the claims of piety upon them, they
treat the whole matter with neglect and contempt. They have made up their minds to run
the hazard of perdition, rather than be roused to the severe and dreadful effort of
forsaking their sins. Here, too, is the danger of men accustomed to impenitence. The
scenes of eternity to such men have a melancholy and direful aspect. Everything is
conspiring to harden, deceive, and destroy them; and there is little probability that these
augmented obstacles to their conversion will ever be removed.
IV. The thought of multiplied and long-continued transgression is very apt to
discourage all attempts at repentance. Not unfrequently they will tell you, “Once the
work might have been performed, but it is now too late; the favourable opportunity is
past; human life is but a dream, and the day of hope is gone by!” It is a dark—very dark
problem, whether persons of this description will ever repent and believe the Gospel. It
is true that God’s mercies are infinite; that those who seek Him shall find Him; that the
blood of Jesus Christ His Son cleanseth from all sin; and that while there is life there
may be hope; and yet a more hopeless condition this side eternity cannot easily be
conceived, than the condition of such a man.
V. There is awful reason to apprehend that God will leave men of this description to
perish in their sins. If we look into the Bible, we shall find that most of the prophets and
apostles, as well as those who were converted through their instrumentality, were called
into the kingdom of God in childhood, or youth, or in the dawn and vigour of manhood.
One of the distinctive features of all revivals of religion is, that they have prevailed
principally among the young. It has also been remarked, that in ordinary seasons, the
individuals who have occasionally been brought into the kingdom of Christ, with few
exceptions, have been from those not habituated to impenitence. Almost the only
exception to this remark is found in places where men have never sat under faithful
preaching, and never enjoyed a special outpouring of the Holy Spirit, until late in life. In
such places I have known persons brought into the vineyard at the eleventh hour. And
this is also true of heathen lands. But even here, there are comparatively few instances of
conversion from among those who have grown old in sin. Conclusion—
1. Admonition to the aged. What the means of grace could do for you, they have
probably clone; and that your day of merciful visitation has well nigh reached its last
limits. God still waits that He may be gracious. And He may wait till the last sand of
life has fallen. But, oh, how ineffably important to you is the present hour! Your
hoary hairs may be even now “a crown of glory, if found in the way of righteousness.”
Let not another hour be lost! This very call rejected may seal our destiny.
2. Our subject addresses those who are in middle life. The period most auspicious to
the interests of your immortality is gone. You are now in the midst of your most
important designs and pursuits, and probably at the zenith of your earthly glory.
Everything now conspires to turn away your thoughts from God and eternity. Better
leave every other object unattained than your eternal salvation. Better give up every
other hope, than the hope of heaven. Oh, what a flood of sorrows will roll in upon
you by and by, when you see that “the harvest is past, the summer is ended, and you
are not saved!”
3. Our subject addresses the young. Yours is the season of hope. If you become early
devoted to God, you may live to accomplish much for His cause and kingdom in the
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164. world; your influence and example may allure multitudes around you to the love and
practice of godliness; and you may be delivered from the guilt of that destructive
influence, which will plant thorns in your dying pillow. (G. Spring, D. D.)
Habit
When in a vacant hour we fall into reverie, and the images of the past come pouring out
of the storehouse of memory at their own sweet will, how arbitrary appears the
succession of our thoughts! With a rapidity greater than that of seven-leagued boots, the
mind passes from country to country, and from century to century. This moment it is in
Norway, the next in Australia, the next in Palestine, the next in Madagascar. But this
apparent arbitrariness is not real. In reality thought is linked to thought, and for the
wildest leaps and most arbitrary turns of the fancy there is in every ease a sufficient
reason. You are thinking of Norway; but that makes you recall a friend who is now in
Australia, with whom you visited that picturesque country; and so your thought flies to
Australia. Then, being in Australia, you think of the Southern Cross, because you have
been reading a poem in which that constellation was described as the most remarkable
feature of the southern hemisphere. Then the likeness of the name of the cross makes
you think of the Cross of Christ, and so you pass over centuries and find yourself in
Palestine; and the Cross of Christ makes you think of the sufferings of Christians, and
your mind is in Madagascar, where the missionaries have recently been exposed to
suffering. Thus, you see, beneath the phenomena apparently most arbitrary, there is law;
and even for the most apparently unaccountable flights and leaps of the mind there is
always a good reason.
I. The origin of habit. Habit may be conceived to arise in this way. When, in the
revolution of time—of the day, or the week, or the month, or the year,—the point comes
round at which we have been thinking of anything, or have done anything, by the law of
the association of ideas we think of it again, or do it again. For instance, when day dawns
we awake. We get out of bed because we have done it at that time before. At a later hour
we take breakfast, and go away to business, for the same reason; and so on through the
day. When Sunday morning comes our thoughts turn to sacred things, and we make
ready to go to the house of God, because we have always been accustomed to do that.
The more frequently anything has been done, the stronger is habit, and frequency acts
on habit through something else. Frequency gives ease and swiftness to the doing of
anything. We do anything easily and swiftly which we have done often. Even things
which seemed impossible can not only be done, but done with facility, if they have been
done often. A celebrated character tells that in a month he learned to keep four balls up
in the air and at the same time to read a book and understand it. Even tasks that caused
pain may come to be done with pleasure, and things that were done at first only with
groans and tears may at last become a source of triumph. It is not only the mind that is
involved in habit. Even the body is subdued to its service. Do we not recognise the
soldier by his gait, the student by his stoop, and the merchant by his bustle? And in the
parts of the body that are invisible—the muscles and nerves—there is a still greater
change due to habit. Hence the counsel of the philosopher, and I think it is a very
profound counsel: “Make your nervous system your ally instead of your enemy in the
battle of life.”
II. Excessive habit. Habit, even good habit, may be excessive. It tends to become hide-
bound and tyrannical. There is a pharisaical sticking to opinions once formed, and to
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165. customs once adopted, which is the principal obstacle to human progress. Yet, on the
whole, there is no possession so valuable as a few good habits, for this means that not
only is the mind pledged and covenanted to good, but the muscles are supple, and even
the very bones are bent to what is good.
III. Desirable habits. I should be inclined to say that the most desirable habit which any
young person can seek to have is self-control; that is the power of getting yourself to do
what you know you ought to do, and to avoid what you know you ought to avoid. At first
this habit would be exceedingly difficult to acquire, but there is an enormous
exhilaration when a man can do the thing he knows he ought to do. It is moral strength
that gives self-respect, and it will very soon win the respect of others. The second habit I
would like to name is the habit of concentration of mind. I mean the power of
withdrawing your thoughts from other subjects, and fixing them for long at a time on the
subject in hand. I am sure many of you know how difficult that habit is to acquire. If you
attempt to think on any particular subject, immediately you will think of other things;
but by perseverance your mind will become your servant, and then you are on the way to
being a thinker, for it is only to people who begin to think in this way that the secret and
joy of truth unfold themselves. I mention, as the third desirable habit, that of working
when you are at work. I do not care what your work is, whether work of brain or hand,
whether well-paid or ill-paid; but what I say is, do it as well as it can be done for its own
sake, and for your own sake. Do it so that you can be proud of it. There is one other habit
that I should like to mention that is very desirable, and that is prayer. Happy is that man
who at some hour or hours every day—the time which he finds to be most suitable for
himself—goes down on his knees before his Maker. I say happy is that man, for his
heavenly Father who seeth in secret will reward him openly.
IV. The tyranny of evil habit. Evil habits may be acquired through simply neglecting to
acquire good ones. Like weeds, they grow up wherever the field is uncultivated and the
good seed is not sown. For example, the man who does not work becomes a dissipated
loafer. The young man who does not keep up the habit of going to church loses spiritual
instinct—the instinct for worship, for fellowship, for religious work, and becomes a prey
to sloth on the Sabbath. The tyranny of evil habit is proverbial. The moralists compare it
to a thread at the beginning, but as thread is twisted with thread, it becomes like a cable
which can turn a ship. Or they compare it to a tree, which to begin with is only a twig
which you can bend any way, but when the tree is fully grown, who can bend it? And
apart altogether from such illustrations, it is appalling how little even the most strong
and obvious motives can turn aside the course of habit. This truth is terribly expressed
in our text: “Can the Ethiopian,” etc. I suppose we all have contracted evil habits of some
kind, and therefore for all of us it is an important question, Can these be unlearned and
undone?
V. How to break bad habits. Moralists give rules for undoing evil habits. Here are some
of them.
1. “Launch yourself on the new course with as strong an initiative as possible.” I
suppose he means, do not try to taper your evil habit off, but break it off at once.
Give it no quarter; and pledge yourself in some way; make some public profession.
2. “Never suffer an exception to occur till the new habit is rooted in your life.”
3. “Seize the very first possible opportunity to act on every resolution you make, and
on every emotional prompting you may experience in the direction of habits you
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166. aspire to gain.”
4. “Keep the faculty of effort alive in you by a little gratuitous exercise every day.”
This writer strongly recommends that every one who seeks moral strength should
every day do something he does not want to do, just to prove to himself he has the
power of doing it. He would not mind very much whether it was an important thing
or not, but he would say, “Every day do something deliberately that you do not want
to do, just that you may get power over yourself—the power of getting yourself to do
anything you want.”
5. I do not disparage rules like these. We have to work out our own salvation with
fear and trembling, but the other half of that maxim is equally true, “It is God that
worketh in you both to win and to do His good pleasure.” (James Stalker, D. D.)
Habit
1. To form a vicious habit is one of the easiest processes in nature. Man comes into a
world where sin is, in many of its various forms, originally pleasant, and where evil
propensities may be gratified at small expense. Nothing is required but to leave man
to what is called the state of nature, to make him the slave of habitual sensuality. But
even after the mind is, in some degree, fortified by education, and reason has
acquired a degree of force, the ease with which a bad habit can be acquired is not less
to be lamented. Vice gains its power by insinuation. It winds gently round the soul,
without being felt, till its twines become so numerous, that the sinner, like the
wretched Laocoon, writhes in vain to extricate himself, and his faculties are crushed
at length in the folds of the serpent. Vice is prolific. It is no solitary invader. Admit
one of its train, and it immediately introduces, with an irresistible air of insinuation,
the multitude of its fellows, who promise you liberty, but whose service is corruption,
and whose wages is death.
2. The effects of sinful indulgence, which make its relinquishment so difficult, are,
that it perverts the moral discernment, benumbs the sensibility of conscience,
destroys the sentiment of shame, and separates the sinner from the means and
opportunities of conversion. The moral discernment is perverted. As the taste can be
reconciled to the most nauseous and unpleasant impressions, the eye familiarised to
a deformed object, the ear, to the most grating and discordant noises, and the
feeling, to the most rough and irritating garment, so the moral taste becomes
insensible to the loathsomeness of vice. Another effect of habitual transgression is, to
banish the sentiment of shame. It is the tendency of habit to make a man regardless
of observation, and at length of censure. He soon imagines that others see nothing
offensive in what no longer offends himself. Besides, a vicious man easily gathers
round him a circle of his own. It is the society of numbers which gives hardihood to
iniquity, when the sophistry of the united ingenuity of others comes in aid of our
own, and when, in the presence of the shameless and unblushing, the young offender
is ashamed to blush. The last effect of vicious habits, by which the reformation of the
sinner is rendered almost desperate, is, to separate him from the means of grace. He,
who indulges himself in any passion, lust, or custom which openly or secretly offends
against the laws of God or man, will find an insuperable reluctance to those places,
persons, or principles by which he is necessarily condemned. One means of recovery
yet remains, the reproof and example of the good. But who will long bear the
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167. presence of another, whose very looks reprove him, whose words harrow up his
conscience, and whose whole life is a severe, though silent, admonition?
3. Do you ask when education should commence? Believe me, it has begun. It began
with the first idea they received—the insensible education of circumstances and
example. While you are waiting for their understandings to gain strength, vice, folly,
and pleasure have not waited your dilatory motions. While you are looking out for
masters and mistresses, the young immortals are under the tuition of innumerable
instructors. Passion has been exciting, and idleness relaxing them, appetite
tempting, and pleasure rewarding them, and example, example has long since
entered them into her motley school. Already have they learned much, which will
never be forgotten: the alphabet of vice is easily remembered. Is it not time to
examine, whether there be not in you some vicious habit, which, notwithstanding
your caution, frequently presents itself to their greedy observation, thus
recommended by all the weight of parental authority? But, though the doctrine of the
early operation of habit be full of admonitions, it presents consequences, also, full of
consolation and pleasure. God hath set the evil and the good, one over against the
other; and all His general laws are adapted to produce effects ultimately beneficial. If
the love of sensual pleasure become inveterate by indulgence, the pure love of truth
and goodness, also, may, by early instillation and careful example, become so natural
and constant, that a violation of integrity, and offence against gratitude, a breach of
purity or of reverence toward God, may prove as painful as a wound. (J. S.
Buckminster.)
The force of habit
I. The nature of our habits generally. As we become accustomed to the performance of
any action, we have a proneness to repeat it on like occasions, the ideas connected with it
being always at hand to lead us on and direct us; so that it requires a particular effort to
forbear it, but to do it demands often no conscious act of the will at all. Habits of body
are produced by repeated external acts, as agility, gracefulness, dexterity in the
mechanical arts. Habits of mind are formed by the repeated exertion of the intellectual
faculties, or the inward practical principles. To the class of mental habits belong the
moral virtues, as obedience, charity, patience, industry, submission to law, self-
government, the love of truth. The inward practical principles of these qualities, being
repeatedly called into exertion, and acted upon, become habits of virtue: just as, on the
other hand, envy, malice, pride, revenge, the love of money, the love of the world, when
carried into act, gradually form habits of vice. Habit is in its own nature therefore
indifferent to vice or virtue. If man had continued in his original righteousness, it would
have been, what the merciful Creator designed it to be, a source of unspeakable moral
strength and improvement. Every step in virtue would have secured further advances.
To what point man might at length have reached by the effect of use and experience thus
acting on faculties made for enlargement, it is impossible to say, and it is vain to inquire.
For we are lost creatures. We are prone to commit sin, and every act of it only disposes
us to renewed transgressions. The force of these evil habits lies much in the gradual and
almost imperceptible manner in which they are acquired. No man becomes reprobate at
once. The sinner at first has difficulties. Shame, conscience, education, motives of
religion, example, the unreasonableness of vice, the immediate evil consequences of it in
various ways, God’s judgments on sinners, alarming events in His providence, the
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168. admonitions of friends and the warnings of ministers, are all barriers to the inundation.
But habits, insensibly formed, sap the embankment. The powerful current works its way,
and all opposing hindrances are carried before it. It is, indeed, true, that habit, in many
cases, diminishes the enjoyment derived from sin. The sense of vicious pleasure is palled
by indulgence. But, unhappily, the same indulgence which lessens the pleasure increases
the vicious propensity. A course of debauchery, for example, deadens the sense of
pleasure, but increases the desire of gratification. The passive principle is in some degree
worn away, but the active principle is invigorated. Drunkenness, again, destroys the
sensibility of the palate, but strengthens the habit of intemperance. A continued course
of impiety and profaneness lessens the lamentable pleasure which the scoffer originally
felt in insulting religion, but confirms him in the practical rebellion against its laws. A
continued course of worldliness and irreligion takes off from the zest and relish of
worldly pursuits, but augments the difficulty of renouncing them. They are become
joyless; but are still followed from a sort of sad necessity.
II. The consequences arising from corrupt habits, in our fallen state. Any one
transgression, if habitual, excludes from the kingdom of heaven, and every transgression
is in the way of speedily becoming so: here lies the danger. Look at yonder criminal,
whose hands have violated the property, and perhaps been imbrued in the life, of his
fellow creature. His conscience is seared as with a hot iron. Is he ashamed when he
commits abomination? Nay, he is not at all ashamed, neither can he blush. What has
brought him hither? What has transformed the meek and decent and reputable youth
into the fierce and vindictive ruffian? Evil habits. He began with breaking the Sabbath;
this led to wicked company; drunkenness followed, and brought every other sin in its
train—lust, passion, malice, desperation, cruelty, bloodshed. The road, dreadful as it
seems to us, was easy to him. One bad habit prepared for the following. But my design is,
not to dwell on a picture too shocking for a calm consideration; but to point out the
danger of the same principle in cases by far more common and less suspected; and
where the fatal effects of sinful customs in hardening the heart against the calls of grace
and duty are less conspicuous perhaps at first sight, but not less fatal to the conversion
and salvation of the soul. For what can account for that sober and measured system of
sensual indulgence in which the great mass of mankind live, but habit working on the
fallen state of mind? How is it that an immortal creature, gifted with reason and
destined for heaven, can go insecure, in gratifying, all those earthly passions, which he
once well knew to be inconsistent with a state of grace; but which he now pursues,
forgetful of God and religion? What has made him morally insensible to the obligations
of holiness, purity, and the love of God? The habit to which he has resigned himself. The
effect has not been brought about at once. The desire for indolent and sensual
gratification has increased with indulgence. Every day his resolutions for serving God
have become weaker, and his practical subjugation to an earthly life has been confirmed.
He has lost almost all notions of spiritual religion and self-government. He moves
mechanically. He has little actual relish even for his most favourite pleasures; but they
are necessary to him. He is the slave of the animal part of his frame. He vegetates rather
than lives. Habit has become a second nature. If we turn from this description of
persons, and view the force of habit in multitudes of those who are engaged in the affairs
of trade and commerce, or in the prosecution of respectable professions, we need only
ask what can account for the practical object of their lives? Why are nefarious or
doubtful practices so frequently countenanced? Why are precarious speculations so
eagerly embraced? Why are the aggrandisement of a family, the amassing of riches, the
gratification of ambition, so openly pursued? And how does it arrive that this sort of
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169. spirit pervades so many thousands around us? It is their habit. It is the force of custom
and the influence of the circle in which they move. They came by degrees within the
magic charm, and are now fixed and bound to earth and its concerns. Again, notice for a
moment the intellectual habits of many of the scholars and philosophers of our age. The
world by wisdom knows not God. The pride of our corrupted hearts readily forms the
properly intellectual or reasoning part of our nature to habits, as ensnaring and as fatal,
as any which have their seat more directly in the bodily appetites. If once the inquisitive
student resigns himself to a daring curiosity, applies to the simple and majestic truth of
revelation the sort of argumentation which may safely be employed in natural inquiries,
he is in imminent peril of scepticism and unbelief. The mind comes within a dangerous
influence. A young and superficial reader once fixed in a habit of this sort, comes at last
either tacitly to explain away the fundamental doctrines of the Holy Trinity, of the Fall,
of human corruption, of redemption, and the work of the Holy Ghost, or openly to
sacrifice them to the madness of infidelity, or to the scarcely less pernicious errors of the
Socinian heresy. And whence is all this? Habit, working on a corrupt nature, has
produced it, confirmed it, riveted it. Habit is as fruitful and as fatal a cause of intellectual
disorder as of merely animal or sensual depravation. What, again, seduces the mere
external worshipper of God to withhold from his Maker him heart, whilst he insults Him
with a lifeless service of the lips? What, but the surprising and unsuspected influence of
evil habit? He knows that the Almighty sees everything. He cannot but acknowledge that
outward ceremonies, if destitute of fervent and humble devotion, are nothing less than a
mockery of God, and abominable in His sight. And yet he proceeds in a heartless round
of religious duties,—a mere lifeless shadow of piety. This he has so long allowed himself
to offer to the Almighty, that at last his mind is unconscious of the impiety of which he is
guilty. A habit of formality and ceremonial observance, with a practical, and perhaps at
length an avowed, opposition to the grace of true religion as converting and sanctifying
the whole soul, has darkened even his judgment. Nor can I forbear to add that the
general indifference to practical religion, which prevails in our age, may be traced back
in a great measure to the same cause. Men are so accustomed to put off the concerns of
their salvation, and to disregard really spiritual religion, that they at length learn to draw
a regular and well-defined line between merely decent and reputable persons, and those
who lead a seriously religious life; and to proscribe the latter as extravagant and
hypocritical.
III. The extent and magnitude of that conversion to God which is therefore necessary. A
state of sin and a state of holiness are not like two ways running parallel by each other,
and just parted by a line, so that a man may step out of the one into the other; but like
two diverging roads to totally opposite places, which recede from each other as they go
on, and lead the respective travellers farther and farther apart every step. What, then, is
to bring man back to God? What to break the force of custom? What is to stop him in his
rushing down the precipice? What to awaken him in his profound lethargy? What to be
the starting post of a new race? What the principle of a new life? What the motive, the
master motive, of a thorough and radical moral alteration? There never was, there never
can be, any other effectual method proposed for these high purposes but that which the
Scriptures reveal, an entire conversion of the whole soul to God by the mighty operation
of the Holy Spirit. God alone that created the heart can renew it after His image. When
the soul receives this new and holy bias, then the evil habits in which men formerly lived
will resolutely be relinquished, and other and better habits will succeed. They will then
repent of sin and separate from it. They will watch and pray against temptation. They
will believe in the inestimable promises of life in Jesus Christ, trusting alone in His
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170. merits, and renouncing their imagined righteousness which was of the law. They will
depend exclusively on the graces and influences of the Holy Spirit for every good thought
and every holy action. Thus they will stop at once in the course of their former habits,
and begin to form new ones. They will now enter on a life of humility and fear, of
conscientiousness and circumspection, of mortification and purity, of meekness and
temperance, of justice and charity; all springing from faith in the atonement of Christ,
and from a genuine love to His name. (D. Wilson, M. A.)
On vicious habits
I. There is in human nature so unhappy an inclination and propensity to sin, that
attention and vigilance are always requisite to oppose this inclination, and maintain our
integrity. The power and influence of habit is the subject of daily observation. Even in
matters merely mechanical, where no attention of mind is required, custom and practice
give, we know, an expertness and facility not otherwise to be acquired. The case is the
same, however unaccountable, in the operations of the mind. Actions frequently
repeated form habits; and habits approach near to natural propensions. But if such be
the influence of habits in general, vicious ones are still more peculiarly powerful. If the
power of custom be on all occasions apt to prevail, we shall have still less inclination to
oppose it where the object to which we accustom ourselves is naturally agreeable and
suited to our corruption. Here all the resolution we can summon to our assistance will be
requisite, and perhaps ineffectual. We may form an idea of the unhappy situation of an
habitual offender from the difficulty we find in conquering even an indifferent custom.
What was at first optional and voluntary, becomes by degrees in a manner necessary and
almost unavoidable. And yet, besides the natural force of custom and habit, other
considerations there are, which add to the difficulty of reforming vicious manners. By
vicious habits we impair the understanding, and our perception of the moral distinction
of actions becomes less clear and distinct. Smaller offences, under the plausible pretext
of being such, gain the first admittance to the heart: and he who has been induced to
comply with one sin, because it is a small one, will be tempted to a second, from the
consideration that it is not much worse. And the same plea will lead him on gradually to
another, and another, of still greater magnitude. Every new sin is committed with less
reluctance than the former; and he endeavours to find out reasons, such as they are, to
justify and vindicate what he is determined to persist in, and to practise: and thus, by
habits of sinning, we cloud the understanding, and render it in a manner incapable of
distinguishing moral good and evil. But further: As, by long practice and perseverance in
sin, we lose or impair the moral discernment and feeling of the mind; so, by the same
means, we provoke the Almighty to withdraw His assisting grace, long bestowed in vain.
II. Yet, notwithstanding this difficulty and danger, the sinner may have it in his power to
return to duty, and reconcile himself to God. When once the sinner feels his guilt,—feels
just impressions of his own disobedience, and of the consequent displeasure and
resentment of heaven; if he is serious in his resolutions to restore himself by repentance
to the favour of his offended God; God, who is ever ready to meet and receive the
returning penitent, will assist his resolution with such a portion of His grace, as may be
sufficient, if not totally, at once to extirpate vicious habits, yet gradually to produce a
disposition to virtue; so that, if not wanting to himself, he shall not fail to become
superior to the power of inveterate habits. In this case, indeed, no endeavours on his
part ought to be neglected,—no attempts left unessayed, to recommend himself to the
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171. throne of mercy. Never, therefore, think of postponing the care of your salvation to the
day of old age; never think of treasuring up to yourselves difficulties, sorrows,
repentance, and remorse, against an age, the disorders and infirmities of which are
themselves so hard to be sustained. Let not these be the comforts reserved for that
period of life which stands most in need of consolation. What confusion must cover the
self-convicted sinner, grown old in iniquity! How reluctant to attempt a task to which he
has always been unequal; and to travel a difficult road, which opens to him, indeed,
happier prospects, but has hitherto been found impracticable! But if any of us have
unhappily lost this first, best season of devoting ourselves to God,—and have reserved
nothing but shame, sorrow, and remorse, for the entertainment of riper years;—let the
review of former transgressions be an incitement to immediate repentance. (G. Carr.)
The power of evil habits
I. The power of sin, as inherent in our nature.
1. It pervades all our faculties, whether of mind or body.
2. It finds in us nothing to counteract its influence.
3. It receives aid from everything around us.
4. It conceals its influence under specious names. Amusement, conviviality, good
breeding, etc.
II. Its power, as confirmed and augmented by evil habit.
1. Its odiousness is diminished.
2. Its power is strengthened.
3. Its opportunities for exercise are multiplied.
4. The powers whereby it should be resisted are destroyed.
5. Everything good is by it put at an unapproachable distance. (C. Simeon, M. A.)
The force of habit
It is, as Mr. Darwin says, notorious how powerful is the force of habit. The most complex
and difficult movements can in time be performed without the least effort or
consciousness. It is not positively known how it comes that habit is so efficient in
facilitating complex movements; but physiologists admit that the conducting power of
the nervous fibres increases with the frequency of their excitement. This applies to the
nerves of motion and sensation as well as to those connected with the act of thinking.
That some physical change is produced in the nerve cells or nerves which are habitually
used can hardly be doubted, for otherwise it is impossible to understand how the
tendency to certain acquired movements is inherited. That they are inherited we see with
horses in certain transmitted paces, such as cantering and ambling, which are not
natural to them; in the pointing of young pointers and the setting of young setters; in the
peculiar manner of flight of certain breeds of the pigeon, etc. We have analogous cases
with mankind in the inheritance of tricks or unusual gestures. As to the domination
which evil habit acquires over men, that needs not even a passing allusion. It is
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172. remarkable that the force of habit may affect even caterpillars. Caterpillars which have
been fed on the leaves of one kind of tree have been known to perish from hunger rather
than to eat the leaves of another tree, although this afforded them their proper food
under a state of nature. Their conduct might suggest reflection to men who are tempted
by habit to risk death by adherence to debauched courses rather than return to a natural
mode of living. (Scientific Illustrations and Symbols.)
Effects of habit
While shaking hands with an old man the other day we noticed that some of his fingers
were quite bent inward, and he had not the power of straightening them. Alluding to this
fact, he said, “In these crooked fingers there is a good text. For over fifty years I used to
drive a stage, and these bent fingers show the effect of holding the reins for so many
years.”
How habits are formed
A writer describing a stalactite cave says, “Standing perfectly still in the cavernous hall I
could hear the intense silence broken by first one drop of water and then another, say
one drop in each half minute. The huge rock had been formed by the infinitesimal
deposit of lime from these drops—deducting the amount washed away by the same
water—for the drops were not only building, they were wasting at the same time. The
increase was so minute that a year’s growth could hardly be estimated. It is a powerful
illustration of minute influences. A man might stand before it and say, ‘It is thus my
habits have all been formed. My strong points and my weaknesses all come from
influences as quiet, minute, and generally as secret as these water drops.’”
No substitute for spiritual renewal
No earthly change whatever can be a substitute for the change which comes from above;
any more than the lights of earth will suffice for the sun, moon, and stars; any more than
all the possible changes through which a potter may pass a piece of clay can convert it
into the bright, pure, stamped, golden coin of the realm. (J. Bates.)
Moral suasion cannot renew the soul
All mere outward declarations are but suasions, and mere suasions cannot change and
cure a disease or habit in nature. You may exhort an Ethiopian to turn himself white, or
a lame man to go; but the most pathetic exhortations cannot procure such an effect
without a greater power than that of the tongue to cure nature; you may as well think to
raise a dead man by blowing in his mouth with a pair of bellows. (S. Charnock.)
Washing an Ethiopian
Then the shepherds led the pilgrims to a place where they saw one Fool and one Want-
wit washing an Ethiopian, with an intention to make him white; but the more they
washed him the blacker he was. Then they asked the shepherds what this should mean.
So they told them saying, “Thus it is with the vile person: all means used to get such a
one a good name, shall in conclusion tend but to make him more abominable.” Thus it
172

173. was with the Pharisees; and so it shall be with all hypocrites. (J. Bunyan.)
A change of heart should be immediately sought after
The longer you stay, the more leisure you give the devil to assault you, and to try one way
when he cannot prevail by another, and to strengthen his temptations: like a foolish
soldier who will stand still to be shot at, rather than assault the enemy. And the longer
you delay, the more your sin gets strength and rooting. If you cannot bend a twig, how
will you be able to bend it when it is a tree? If you cannot pluck up a tender plant, are
you more likely to pluck up a sturdy oak? Custom gives strength and root to vices. A
blackamoor may as well change his skin, or a leopard his spots, as these who are
accustomed to do evil can learn to do well. (R. Baxter.)
The Divine and human element in conversion
There is produced in a telescope an image of a star. There is produced in the soul an
image of God. When does the image of the star start up in the chamber of the telescope?
Only when the lenses are clear and rightly adjusted, and when the axis of vision in the
tube is brought into exact coincidence with the line of the rays of light from the star.
When does the image of God, or the inner sense of peace and pardon, spring up in the
human soul? Only when the faculties of the soul are rightly adjusted in relation to each
other, and the will brought into coincidence with God’s will. How much is man’s work,
and how much is the work of the light? Man adjusts the lenses and the tube; the light
does the rest. Man may, in the exercise of his freedom, as upheld by Divine power, adjust
his faculties to spiritual light, and when adjusted in a certain way God flashes through
them. (Joseph Cook.)
24 “I will scatter you like chaff
driven by the desert wind.
BARNES, "Stubble - Broken straw separated from the wheat after the grain had been
trampled out by the oxen. Sometimes it was burned as useless; at other times left to be
blown away by the wind from the desert.
173

174. CLARKE, "The wind of the wilderness - Some strong tempestuous wind,
proverbially severe, coming from the desert to the south of Judea.
GILL, "Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth away,....
Because of their many sins, and continuance in them, their habits and custom of sinning,
they are threatened with being carried captive into other nations, where they should be
dispersed and separated one from another, which would make their state and condition
very uncomfortable; and this would be as easily and as swiftly done as the light stubble
which is blown away by every puff of wind; nor would they be able any more to resist the
enemy, and help themselves, than the stubble is to stand before the wind; as follows:
by the wind of the wilderness; which blows freely and strongly; so the Chaldean
army is compared to a dry wind of the high places in the wilderness, even a full wind that
should scatter and destroy, Jer_4:11; or, "to the wind of the wilderness" (u); and so may
denote the wilderness of the people, or the land of Babylon, whither they should be
carried captive, and from whence the wind should come that should bring them thither.
Kimchi and Ben Melech make mention sea wilderness between Jerusalem and Babylon,
as what may be intended.
JAMISON, "(Psa_1:4).
by the wind — before the wind.
of the wilderness — where the wind has full sweep, not being broken by any
obstacle.
CALVIN, "This is an inference which Jeremiah draws from the last verse. As long
as there is any hope of repentance, there is also room for mercy; God often declares
that he is long-suffering. Then the most wicked might object and say, that God is too
rigid, because he waits not until they return to a sound mind. Now the Prophet had
said that it was all over with the people: here therefore he meets the objection, and
shews that extreme calamity was justly brought on them by God, because the Jews
had obstinately hardened themselves in their vices and wickedness.
After having shewn, therefore, that corruption was inherent in them, as blackness in
the skin of an Ethiopian, and as spots in panthers, he now comes to this
conclusion — I will scatter them as stubble which passes away by the wind of the
desert This scattering denotes their exile; as though he had said, “I will banish them,
that they may know that they are deprived of the inheritance in which they place
their safety and their happiness.” For the Jews gloried in this only — that they were
God’s people, because the Temple was built among them, and because they dwelt in
the land promised to them. They then thought that God was in a manner tied to
them, while they possessed that inheritance. Hence Jeremiah declares, that they
would become like stubble carried away by the wind.
174

175. He mentions the wind of the desert, that is, the wind of the south, which was the
most violent in that country. The south wind, as we know, was also pestilential; the
air also was more disturbed by the south wind than by any other, for it raised
storms and tempests. Therefore the Scripture, in setting forth any turbulent
movement, often adopts this similitude. Some think that Jeremiah alludes to the
Egyptians; but I see no reason to seek out any refined explanation, when this mode
of speaking is commonly adopted. Then by this similitude of south wind God
intimates the great power of his vengeance; as though he had said, “Even if the Jews
think that they have a firm standing in the promised land, they are wholly deceived,
for God will with irresistible force expel them.” And he compares them to stubble,
while yet they boasted that they were like trees planted in that land; and we have
before seen that they had been planted as it were by the hand of God; but they
wanted the living root of piety, they were therefore to be driven far away like
stubble. (97)
Let us then learn from this passage not to abuse the patience of God: for though he
may suspend for a time the punishment we deserve, yet when he sees that we go on
in our wickedness, he will come to extreme measures, and will deal with us without
mercy as those who are past remedy. It follows —
And I will scatter them like the stubble That is subject to the wind of the desert.
To pass over to a thing is to become within its range, or to its possession. The sense
would be given by the following version, —
That is carried away by the wind of the desert.
The meaning is not what the Septuagint give, “carried by the wind to the desert;”
nor what the Vulgate presents, “carried by the wind in the desert;” but what is
meant is, “the wind of the desert,” or, as Calvin says, the south wind. When the
stubble was exposed to that, it is carried away with the greatest violence: such would
be the scattering of the Jews. — Ed.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:24 Therefore will I scatter them as the stubble that passeth
away by the wind of the wilderness.
Ver. 24. Therefore I will scatter them.] This was no small aggravation of their
misery, that they should be thus severed one from another. So the persecutors of the
primitive times relegated and confined the poor Christians to isles and mines, where
they could not have access one to another for mutual comfort and support, as
Cyprian complaineth. (a)
ELLLICOTT, " (24) Stubble.—Our English word means the “stalks of the corn left
in the field by the reaper” (Johnson). The Hebrew word is applied to the broken
straw left on the threshing-floor after the oxen had been driven over the corn, which
was liable to be carried away by the first gale (Isaiah 40:24; Isaiah 41:2).
175

176. The wind of the wilderness.—i.e., the simoom blowing from the Arabian desert
(Jeremiah 4:11; Job 1:19).
BENSON, "Verse 24-25
Jeremiah 13:24-25. Therefore will I scatter them — Separate them from one
another, and disperse them abroad in that strange and remote country to which
they are carried captive; as the stubble, or chaff, rather, that passeth away by the
wind — That is dissipated and carried far away by a fierce wind: he adds, of the
wilderness, to render the declaration the more emphatical, the chaff being more
easily and effectually scattered by the wind in an open place, where there are no
houses. This is the portion of thy measures from me — What thou wilt receive of my
hand; because thou hast forgotten me — The favours I have bestowed upon thee,
and the obligations thou art under to me: of these thou hast no sense, no
remembrance; and trusted in falsehood — In idols, in an arm of flesh, in the self-
flatteries of a deceitful heart.
25 This is your lot,
the portion I have decreed for you,”
declares the Lord,
“because you have forgotten me
and trusted in false gods.
BARNES,
The portion of thy measures - i. e., “thy measured portion” Job_11:9. Others
render it: “the portion of thy lap,” the upper garment being constantly used for holding
things Rth_3:15.
In falsehood i. e - in idols (see the marginal reference).
CLARKE, "Trusted in falsehood - In idols, and in lying prophets.
GILL, "This is thy lot,.... Meaning not the king's, or the queen's only, but the lot of the
whole Jewish state:
176

177. the portion of thy measures from me, saith the Lord; which were divided and
distributed, and measured out to them by the Lord, who appointed these calamities to
befall them, and brought them upon them, and that in righteous judgment. The Targum
is,
"and the portion of thine inheritance;''
who, instead of having the land of Canaan for their inheritance, to which the allusion is,
and of which they boasted, the land of Babylon was assigned them, not to be possessors
of it, but captives in it; and instead of having God to be their portion and inheritance,
they were banished from him, and this was but righteous measure; they had measure for
measure:
because thou hast forgotten me; their Maker and Benefactor; the goodness he had
shown them, the mercies and benefits he had bestowed upon them; or, "my law", as the
Arabic version; or, "my worship", as the Targum; therefore he forgot them, took no
notice of them, hid his face from them, and gave them up into the hands of their
enemies:
and trusted in falsehood; either in the Egyptians and Assyrians, who deceived them;
or in their idols, which were falsehood and lying vanities, and could not help them.
HENRY, "It is for their treacherous departures from the God of truth and
dependence on lying vanities (Jer_13:25): “This is thy lot, to be scattered and driven
away; this is the portion of thy measures from me, the punishment assigned thee as by
line and measure; this shall be thy share of the miseries of this world; expect it, and
think not to escape it: it is because thou hast forgotten me, the favours I have bestowed
upon thee and the obligations thou art under to me; thou hast no sense, no
remembrance, of these.” Forgetfulness of God is at the bottom of all sin, as the
remembrance of our Creator betimes is the happy and hopeful beginning of a holy life.
“Having forgotten me, thou hast trusted in falsehood, in idols, in an arm of flesh in
Egypt and Assyria, in the self-flatteries of a deceitful heart.” Whatever those trust to that
forsake God, they will find it a broken reed, a broken cistern.
JAMISON, "portion of thy measures — the portion which I have measured out to
thee (Job_20:29; Psa_11:6).
falsehood — (Jer_13:27), false gods and alliances with foreign idolaters.
K&D 25-27, "In Jer_13:25 the discourse draws to a conclusion in such a way that,
after a repetition of the manner in which Jerusalem prepares for herself the doom
announced, we have again, in brief and condensed shape, the disgrace that is to befall
her. This shall be thy lot. Hitz. renders ‫ַת‬‫נ‬ ְ‫מ‬ ִ‫י‬ ַ‫דּ‬ ִ‫:מ‬ portion of thy garment, that is allotted
for the swelling folds of thy garment (cf. Ruth. Jer_3:15; 2Ki_4:39), on the ground that
‫ד‬ ַ‫מ‬ never means mensura, but garment only. This is, however, no conclusive argument;
since so many words admit of two plural forms, so that ‫ים‬ ִ‫דּ‬ ִ‫מ‬ might be formed from
177

178. ‫ה‬ ָ‫דּ‬ ִ‫;מ‬ and since so many are found in the singular in the forms of both genders, so that,
alongside of ‫ה‬ ָ‫דּ‬ ִ‫,מ‬ ‫ד‬ ַ‫מ‬ might also be used in the sense of mensura; especially as both the
signiff. measure and garment are derived from the same root meaning of ‫ד‬ ַ‫ד‬ ָ‫.מ‬ We
therefore adhere to the usual rendering, portio mensurae tuae, the share portioned out
to thee. ‫ר‬ֶ‫ֲשׁ‬‫א‬, causal, because. Trusted in falsehood, i.e., both in delusive promises (Jer_
7:4, Jer_7:8) and in the help of beingless gods (Jer_16:19). - In the ‫י‬ִ‫ֲנ‬‫א‬‫ַם־‬‫ג‬ ְ‫ו‬ lies the force
of reciprocation: because thou hast forgotten me, etc., I too have taken means to make
retribution on your unthankfulness (Calv.). The threatening of this verse is word for
word from Nah_3:5. - For her lewd idolatry Jerusalem shall be carried off like a harlot
amid mockery and disgrace. In Jer_13:27 the language is cumulative, to lay as great
stress as possible on Jerusalem's idolatrous ongoings. Thy lewd neighing, i.e., thy ardent
longing for and running after strange gods; cf. Jer_5:8; Jer_2:24. ‫ה‬ ָ‫מּ‬ִ‫,ז‬ as in Eze_16:27;
Eze_22:9, etc., of the crime of uncleanness, see on Lev_18:17. The three words are
accusatives dependent on ‫י‬ ִ‫ית‬ ִ‫א‬ ָ‫,ר‬ though separated from it by the specification of place,
and therefore summed up again in "thine abominations." The addition: in the field, after
"upon the hills," is meant to make more prominent the publicity of the idolatrous work.
The concluding sentence: thou shalt not become clean for how long a time yet, is not to
be regarded as contradictory of Jer_13:23, which affirms that the people is beyond the
reach of reformation; Jer_13:23 is not a hyperbolical statement, reduced within its true
limits here. What is said in Jer_13:23 is true of the present generation, which cleaves
immoveably to wickedness. It does not exclude the possibility of a future reform on the
part of the people, a purification of it from idolatry. Only this cannot be attained for a
long time, until after sore and long-lasting, purifying judgments. Cf. Jer_12:14., Jer_
3:18.
CALVIN, "The Prophet no doubt wished to strip the Jews of their vain confidence,
through which they acted arrogantly and presumptuously towards God, while yet
they professed his name and claimed his favor. They said that they had obtained
that land by an hereditary right, because it had been promised to their father
Abraham. This indeed was true. They also said, that the land was God’s rest; and
they derived this from the prophets. They said farther that God was their heritage;
and this also was true. But since they had wickedly profaned God’s name, he takes
from them these false boastings, and says, This is thy lot But still they said, When
God divided the nations, his lot fell on Israel, for so says Moses. (Deuteronomy 32:8)
As then they were wont to say, that God afterwards deceived them, the Prophet here
on the other hand reminds them, that they foolishly confided in that lot, because
God had rejected them, and did not acknowledge them now as his children, as they
were become degenerate and perfidious. This, he says, is thy lot (98)
We see that there is to be understood here a contrast: God was the lot of the people,
and they were also the lot of God, according to the passages to which we have
referred. They were the heritage of God, and they boasted that God was their
heritage; the land was a symbol and a pledge of this heritage. The Prophet now
says: “This lot shall be to thee the portion of thy measures from me.” He alludes to
178

179. an ancient custom; for they were wont to divide fields and meadows by lines, as they
afterwards used poles; and we call such measures in the present day perches
( perticas .)
We now then understand what the Prophet means; for he intimates that the Jews
vainly and presumptuously and foolishly boasted, that God was their heritage; for
he owned them not now as his children: and he also declares that another lot was
prepared for them, far different from that of heritage, — that God would banish
them from the promised land, which they had polluted by their vices. Thus we see
that we ought not presumptuously and falsely to pretend or profess the name of
God; for though he has been pleased to choose us as his people, it is yet required of
us to be faithful to him; and if we forsake him, the same reward for our impiety will
no doubt await us as Jeremiah threatens here to his own nation. Let us then so use
the favor of God and of Christ, and all the blessings which are offered to us by the
gospel, that we may not have to fear that vengeance which happened to the Jews.
He adds the reason, Because thou hast forgotten me and trusted in falsehood (99) By
falsehood the Prophet means not only the superstitions in which the Jews involved
themselves, but also the false counsels which they adopted, when at one time they
had recourse to the Egyptians, at another to some other ungodly nations, in order to
get aids in opposition to the will of God. For wherever there was any danger, they
thought they had a remedy at hand by having the favor and help of the Egyptians,
or of the Assyrians, or of the Chaldeans. In the word falsehood, then, the Prophet
includes those perverse designs which they formed, when they sought to defend
themselves against God, who would have protected them by his power, had it not
been necessary to punish them for their sins. What Jeremiah then condemned in the
people was, that they placed their trust in falsehood, that is, that they souglint here
and there vain helps, and at the same time disregarded God; nay, they thought
themselves safer when God was displeased with them: and hence he says, Thou hast
forgotten me For the Jews could not have sought deliverance from the Egyptians or
from other heathen nations, or from their idols, without having first rejected God;
for if this truth had been really fixed in their minds, — that God cared for their
safety, they would no doubt have been satisfied with his protection. Their
ingratitude was therefore very manifest in thus adopting vain and impious hopes;
for they thus dishonored God, and distrusted his power, as though he was not
sufficient to preserve them. It now follows—
This thy lot is the share of thy measures From me, saith Jehovah.
The “lot” was the scattering threatened in the previous verse. “The share of thy
measures,” is a Hebrew idiom for “a measured share,” or “a measured portion,” as
rendered by Blayney. Some say that “measures” are mentioned, because the length
and breadth were included. — Ed.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:25 This [is] thy lot, the portion of thy measures from me,
saith the LORD because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.
179

180. Ver. 25. This is thy lot.] Look for no better, since thou, by going after lying vanities,
forsakest thine own mercies, being miserable by thine own election.
Because thou hast forgotten me.]
“ Esque oblita mei; vitiorumque oblita caeno. ”
ELLICOTT, " (25) The portion of thy measures.—The meaning of the latter word is
doubtful, but it is probably used, as in 1 Samuel 4:12; Leviticus 6:11; 2 Samuel 20:8;
Ruth 3:15, for the “upper garment” or “lap” of the dress. In this sense the phrase is
connected with those which speak of reward or punishment being given men “into
their bosom” (Jeremiah 32:18; Psalms 79:12; Proverbs 21:14).
In falsehood.—Better, perhaps, in a lie, i.e., in the worship of false gods that were no
gods.
COFFMAN, ""This is thy lot, the portion measured unto thee from me, saith
Jehovah; because thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood. Therefore will I
uncover thy skirts upon thy face, and thy shame shall appear."
"Thou hast forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood" (Jeremiah 13:25). Trusting in
falsehood means worshipping idols and believing in them. Such worship is also
designated as "The Lie" in Jeremiah.
"Uncover thy skirts upon thy face ..." (Jeremiah 13:26). The shameful punishment
of an adulterous woman in antiquity included lifting her skirts above her head,
exposing her nakedness, smearing her with filth, and driving her through the city.
The expression, "your heels shall suffer violence" (Jeremiah 13:23) could refer to
"your body, or genitals."[10]
This drastic kind of punishment prescribed for Israel was justified and appropriate,
because, the uncovering of her most intimate parts during her adulterous worship of
the Baalim in their orgiastic ceremonies closely paralleled the punishment. For a
more complete description of this awful punishment, see Nahum 3:5; Isaiah 47:2,
and Ezekiel 16:37.
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:25
“This is your lot, the portion measured to you from me,” the word of YHWH,
“Because you have forgotten me, and trusted in falsehood.”
YHWH makes it clear that while they have brought it on themselves it is His hand
that is at work in what is happening. It is the lot that He has chosen for them, the
portion that He is measuring out to them, because they have forgotten Him and put
their trust in lies. And this is the prophetic word of YHWH, guaranteed and certain.
180

181. Notice the twofold emphasis. On the one hand YHWH is carrying out His will in
accordance with His own determination. On the other it is man in his extreme
sinfulness who must bear the responsibility. He brings his judgments on himself.
We are reminded here, as so often, of two parallel strands in history. God does not
cause men to be vile, and to behave vilely, but He utilises their vileness as they freely
exercise it (and are therefore to blame for it) in bringing about His purposes. men
may think that they are in control, but overall it is God Who is in control. The same
idea lies behind the words, ‘shall evil come on a city and YHWH has not done it?’
(Amos 3:6).
26 I will pull up your skirts over your face
that your shame may be seen—
BARNES, "Therefore will I - literally, “And I also;” I also must have my turn, I too
must retaliate. Compare Nah_3:5.
CLARKE, "
Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face - It was the custom to punish
lewd women by stripping them naked, and exposing them to public view; or by throwing
their clothes over their heads, as here intimated. Was this the way to correct the evil?
GILL, "Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face,.... Turn them up, or
throw them over the head or face; that is, expose to public shame and disgrace; which
was done when their city and temple were burnt, and they were carried captive; hence it
follows:
that thy shame may appear; that their sins might appear to themselves and others,
of which they had reason to be ashamed. The allusion is to the treatment which captive
women sometimes meet with, or adulterous women, to which the Jews are here
compared. The Targum is,
"and I also will reveal the confusion of thy sin upon thy face, and thy shame shall be
seen.''
181

182. HENRY, " It is for their idolatry, their spiritual whoredom, that sin which is of all
sins most provoking to the jealous God. They are exposed to a shameful calamity (Jer_
13:26) because they have been guilty of a shameful iniquity and yet are shameless in it
(Jer_13:27): “I have seen thy adulteries (thy inordinate fancy for strange gods, which
thou hast been impatient for the gratification of, and hast even neighed after it), even the
lewdness of thy whoredoms, thy impudence and insatiableness in them, thy eager
worshipping of idols on the hills in the fields, upon the high places. This is that for which
a woe is denounced against thee, O Jerusalem! nay, and many woes.”
JAMISON, "discover ... upon thy face — rather, “throw up thy skirts over thy
face,” or head; done by way of ignominy to captive women and to prostitutes (Nah_3:5).
The Jews’ punishment should answer to their crime. As their sin had been perpetrated in
the most public places, so God would expose them to the contempt of other nations most
openly (Lam_1:8).
CALVIN, "He continues the same subject, — that God did not deal with his people
with so much severity without the most just cause; for it could not be expected that
he should treat them with more gentleness, since they rejected him and had recourse
to vain confidences. I also, he says; for the particle ‫,גם‬gam, denotes something
mutual, as though he had said, “I also will have my turn; for I have it in my power
to avenge myself: I will retaliate,” he seems to say, “this thine ingratitude; for as
thou hast despised me, so will I expose thee to reproach and shame.” For God was
shamefully despised by the Jews, when they substituted the Egyptians and their
idols in his place: they could not have done him more dishonor than by transferring
his glory to the ungodly and to their own figments. We hence see that there is an
emphasis in the particle also, I will also make bare, or discover, thy skirts on thy
face; that is, I will cast thy skirts on thy face. (100)
This mode of speaking often occurs in the Prophets; and as I have elsewhere
explained, it means the uncovering of the uncomely parts: it is as though a vile
woman was condemned to bear the disgrace of being stripped of her garments and
exposed to the public, that all might abhor a spectacle so base and disgraceful. God,
as we have before seen, assumed the character of a husband to his people: as then he
had been so shamefully despised, he now says, that he had in readiness the
punishment of casting the skirts of his people over their faces, that their reproach or
baseness might appear by exposing their uncomely parts. It then follows —
And I also will strip (or roll) up thy skirts over thy face.
The versions all differ, but the Septuagint convey this idea. Blayney’s uncovering
“thy skirts before thee,” imparts no meaning. — Ed.
BENSON, "Verse 26-27
Jeremiah 13:26-27. Therefore will I discover thy skirts — Lay thee open to shame
182

183. and disgrace. See on Jeremiah 13:22. I have seen thine adulteries — Thy idolatries;
thy inordinate desire after strange gods, which thou hast been impatient to gratify:
thy neighings — A metaphorical expression taken from horses neighing to each
other; the lewdness of thy whoredoms — Thy impudence and unsatiableness in the
worship of idols, on the hills, in the fields, upon the high places. Wo unto thee, O
Jerusalem — Miserable art thou, and greater miseries await thee, as the fruit of
such practices. Wilt thou not be made clean? — The prophet here expresses, in the
strongest manner, his desire for the repentance and reformation of this people. The
original, ‫עוד‬ ‫,מתי‬ When once? is remarkably emphatical. The aposiopesis, as it is
called, or form of speech, by which, through a vehement affection, the prophet
suddenly breaks off his discourse, is remarkably beautiful and expressive.
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:26
“Therefore will I also uncover your skirts on your face, and your shame will
appear.”
And it is because of their evil behaviour in forgetting God and listening to palatable
lies that they are to be exposed to shame. They will be treated with the contempt
with which a common prostitute was treated in those days, as a thing of nought, to
be exposed and humiliated without a thought. They will be laid bare before the
nations.
27 your adulteries and lustful neighings,
your shameless prostitution!
I have seen your detestable acts
on the hills and in the fields.
Woe to you, Jerusalem!
How long will you be unclean?”
BARNES,
And thine abominations - “Even thy abominations.” The prophet sums up the
three charges against Judah, namely, spiritual adultery, inordinate eagerness after
idolatry (see the note at Jer_5:7 note), and shameless participation in pagan orgies.
183

184. In the fields - “in the field,” the open, unenclosed country (see Jer_6:25; Jer_12:4).
Wilt thou not ... once be? - “Or, how long yet ere thou be made clean!” These
words explain the teaching of Jer_13:23. Repentance was not an actual, but a moral
impossibility, and after a long time Judah was to be cleansed. It was to return from exile
penitent and forgiven.
CLARKE, "I have seen thine adulteries - Thy idolatries of different kinds,
practiced in various ways; no doubt often accompanied with gross debauchery.
Wo unto thee, O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean? - We see from this,
that though the thing was difficult, yet it was not impossible, for these Ethiopians to
change their skin, for these leopards to change their spots. It was only their obstinate
refusal of the grace of God that rendered it impossible. Man cannot change himself; but
he may pray to God to do it, and come to him through Christ, that he may do it. To
enable him to pray and believe, the power is still at hand. If he will not use it, he must
perish.
GILL, "I have seen thine adulteries,.... Not literally such, though they were greatly
guilty of that sin; but figuratively, their idolatries:
thy neighings; expressive of their strong desires after other gods, like that of adulterers
and adulteresses after one another; and both which are like the neighing of horses.
Kimchi thinks this designs their rejoicing in their evil works:
the lewdness of thy whoredom; their sinful thoughts, and wicked desires, which
were continually after their idols and idolatrous practices:
and thine abominations on the hills in the fields; their idols, which were
abominable to God, and ought to have been so to them; and which they placed on high
hills, and there worshipped them; all which were seen and known by the Lord, nor could
it be denied by them; and this was the reason of their being carried captive, and
therefore could not complain they had been hardly dealt with; yea, notwithstanding all
this, the Lord expresses a tender and compassionate concern for them:
woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! sad will be thy case, dreadful are the calamities coming
upon thee, unless thou repentest:
wilt thou not be made clean? wilt thou show no concern, land make use of no means
to be cleansed, nor seek for it, where it is to be had? neither repent of sin, nor reform
from it, nor seek to God for his grace, signified by clean water; or to the blood of Christ,
the fountain opened, which cleanses from it:
when shall it once be? some instances there were of it in the times of Christ and his
apostles; but it will not be completely done until they seek the Lord, and his Christ, and
fear him, and his goodness, in the latter day; when they shall turn unto him, and all
Israel shall be saved; or, "thou wilt not be cleansed after a long time" (w); this the Lord
184

185. foresaw, and therefore pronounces her case sad and miserable.
HENRY, " It is for their idolatry, their spiritual whoredom, that sin which is of all
sins most provoking to the jealous God. They are exposed to a shameful calamity (Jer_
13:26) because they have been guilty of a shameful iniquity and yet are shameless in it
(Jer_13:27): “I have seen thy adulteries (thy inordinate fancy for strange gods, which
thou hast been impatient for the gratification of, and hast even neighed after it), even the
lewdness of thy whoredoms, thy impudence and insatiableness in them, thy eager
worshipping of idols on the hills in the fields, upon the high places. This is that for which
a woe is denounced against thee, O Jerusalem! nay, and many woes.”
IV. Here is an affectionate expostulation with them, in the close, upon the whole
matter. Though it was adjudged next to impossible for them to be brought to do good
(Jer_13:23), yet while there is life there is hope, and therefore still he reasons with them
to bring them to repentance, Jer_13:27. 1. He reasons with them concerning the thing
itself: Wilt thou not be made clean? Note, It is the great concern of those who are
polluted by sin to be made clean by repentance, and faith, and a universal reformation.
The reason why sinners are not made clean is because they will not be made clean; and
herein they act most unreasonably: “Wilt thou not be made clean? Surely thou will at
length be persuaded to wash thee, and make thee clean, and so be wise for thyself.” 2.
Concerning the time of it: When shall it once be? Note, It is an instance of the wonderful
grace of God that he desires the repentance and conversion of sinners, and thinks the
time long till they are brought to relent; but it is an instance of the wonderful folly of
sinners that they put that off from time to time which is of such absolute necessity that,
if it be not done some time, they are certainly undone for ever. They do not say that they
will never be cleansed, but not yet; they will defer it to a more convenient season, but
cannot tell us when it shall once be.
JAMISON, "
neighings — (Jer_5:8), image from the lust of horses; the lust after idols degrades to
the level of the brute.
hills — where, as being nearer heaven, sacrifices were thought most acceptable to the
gods.
wilt thou not ... ? when — literally, “thou wilt not be made clean after how long a
time yet.” (So Jer_13:23). Jeremiah denies the moral possibility of one so long hardened
in sin becoming soon cleansed. But see Jer_32:17; Luk_18:27.
CALVIN, "Here the Prophet explains at large what I have before stated, — that the
people were justly punished by God, though very grievously, because they had
provoked God, not at one time only, but for a long time, and had obstinately
persisted in their evil courses. Moreover, as their sins were various, the Prophet
does not mention them all here; for we have seen elsewhere, that they were not only
given to superstitions, but also to whoredoms, drunkenness, plunders, and outrages;
but here he only speaks of their superstitions, — that having rejected God, they
followed their own idols. For by adulteries he no doubt means idolatries; and he
does not speak here of whoredom, which yet prevailed greatly among the people;
but he only condemns them for having fallen away into ungodly and false forms of
185

186. worship. To the same thing must be referred what follows, thy neighings; for by this
comparison, we know, is set forth elsewhere, by way of reproach, that furious ardor
with which the Jews followed their own inventions. The word indeed sometimes
means exultation; for the verb ‫,צהל‬ tsel, is to exult; but here, as in Jeremiah 5:0 it
signifies neighing.
He then says, Thy adulteries and thy neighings, etc. Now this is far more shameful
than if he had said thy lusts, for by this comparison we know their crime was
enhanced, because they were not merely inflamed by a violent natural lust, such as
adulterers feel towards strumpets, but they were like horses or bulls: Thy adulteries
then and thy neighings; and he adds, the thought of thy whoredom, etc. The word
‫,זמת‬ zamet, is to be taken here for thought, and this is its proper meaning. It is
indeed taken sometimes in a bad sense; but the Prophet, I have no doubt, meant
here to wipe off a color with which the Jews painted themselves; for they said that
they intended to worship God, while they accumulated rites which were not.
prescribed in the law. The Prophet therefore condemns them here as being within
full of unchastity, as though he had said, “I do not only accuse you of open acts of
wickedness, but ye burn also within with lust, for impiety has taken such hold on all
your thoughts, that God has no place at all in you; ye are like an unchaste woman,
who thinks of nothing but of her filthy lovers, and goes after her adulterers: ye are
thus wholly given up to your whoredoms.
Some read the words by themselves and put them in the nominative case, “ Thy
adulteries and thy neighings, and the thought of thy whoredom on the mountains;”
and then they add, “In the field have I seen thine abominations.” But I prefer to
take the whole together, and thus to include all as being governed by the verb ‫,ראיתי‬
I have seen; “Thy adulteries and thy neighings, the thought of thy whoredom on the
mountains in the field have I seen, even thy abominations.” The last word is to be
taken in apposition with the former words. But the Prophet introduces God here as
the speaker, that the Jews might not seek evasions and excuse themselves. He
therefore shews that God, whose proper office it is to examine and search the hearts
of men, is the fit Judge. (101)
He mentions hills and field. Altars, we know, were then built on hills, for they
thought that God would be better worshipped in groves; and hence there was no
place, no wood, and even no tree, but that they imagined there was something divine
in it. This is the reason why the Prophet says, that their abominations were seen by
God on the hills as well as on the plains. And he adds fields, as though he had said,
that the hills did not suffice them for their false worship, by which they profaned the
true worship of God, but that the level fields were filled with their abominations.
We now then perceive the meaning of what is here said, that the Jews in vain tried
to escape by evasions, since God declares that he had seen them; as though he had
said, “Cease to produce your excuses, for I will allow nothing of what ye may bring
forward, as the whole is already well known by me.” And he declares their doings to
be abominations, and also adulteries and neighings.
186

187. At length he adds, Woe to thee, Jerusalem! The Prophet here confirms what we
have before observed, that the Jews had no just ground of complaint, for they had
provoked God extremely. Hence the particle woe intimates that they were now justly
given up to destruction. And then he says, Will they never repent? But this last part
is variously explained; and I know not whether it can today be fully expounded. I
will however briefly glance at the meaning.
Jerome seems to have read ‫,אחרי‬ achri, “after me,” “Wilt thou not then return after
me?” as though God here intended to exhort the Jews to return at length to him, as
he was ready to be reconciled to them. But as it is simply ‫,אחרי‬achri, and he may
have read without the points, I do not wish to depart from what is commonly
received. There is further a difficulty in the words which follow, for interpreters
vary as to the import of the words ‫עד‬ ‫,מתי‬mati od, “how long yet?” In whatever
sense we may take the words, they are sufficient to confute the opinion of Jerome,
which I had forgotten to mention, because the malediction in that case would be
improper and without meaning, “Woe to thee, Jerusalem, wilt thou not be made
clean after me?” for what can this mean? It is therefore necessary so to read as to
include all the words in the sentence, “Wilt thou not hereafter or at length be made
clean?” Some, however, read the words affirmatively, “Thou shalt not be cleansed
hereafter,” as though it was said, “Thou shalt not be cleansed until I first drive thee
into exile.” But this meaning is too refined, as I think. I therefore take the words in
their simple form, Wilt thou not at length be made clean? how long yet? as though
God again reproved the hardness of the people, as indeed he did reprove it. Hence
he says, “Wilt thou not at length be made clean?” for I take ‫,אחרי‬ achri, as meaning
“at length.” Then follows an amplification, ‫,מתיעד‬ mati od, “how long yet?” (102)
that is, “Wilt thou never make an end? and can I not at length obtain this from thee,
since I have so often exhorted thee, and since thou seest that I make no end of
exhorting thee? how long yet shall thy obstinacy continue, so that I cannot subdue
thee by my salutary admonitions?” This is the meaning.
On hills in the field have I seen thy abominations.
Another arrangement, suggested by Gataker, is more consonant with the Hebrew
style, by considering the substantive verb to be understood in the first clause, as
follows, —
27.Thy adulteries and thy neighings, The scheming of thy fornication,
Have been on hills in the field; I have seen thine abominations.
The word ‫,זמת‬ which I render “scheming,” is from a verb which means to devise, to
contrive, to scheme, to plot. It is rendered “wickedness” by the Vulgate, “alienation”
by the Septuagint, “fornication” by the Syriac, and “design” or counsel by the
Targum. It never means “lewdness.” It seems to mean here the contrivances and
devices formed by those given to fornication. Blayney considers it a verb in the
second person: he connects the first line with the preceding verse, and renders thus
187

188. what follows, —
Thou hast devised thy whoredom upon the hills,
In the fields I have seen thine abominations.
The simplicity of this order recommends it, but the former seems preferable. — Ed.
TRAPP, "Jeremiah 13:27 I have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the
lewdness of thy whoredom, [and] thine abominations on the hills in the fields. Woe
unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? when [shall it] once [be]?
Ver. 27. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean?] He closeth with
this emphatic and most affectionate contestation, pressing them to hearty and
speedy repentance, as he had done oft before, but with little good success. The cock
crowed, though Peter still denied his Master. Peter knocked still, though Rhoda
opened not to him. He launched out into the deep, though he had laboured all night
for nothing. So did good Jeremiah here, in obedience to God, and goodwill to his
unworthy countrymen.
COKE, "Jeremiah 13:27. Woe unto thee, &c.— The prophet here expresses in the
strongest manner his hopes and his desires for the repentance and reformation of
this people. The original is remarkably emphatical, ‫אחרי‬ ‫מתי‬ ‫עד‬ acharei mathai od,
when once? The aposiopesis is peculiarly beautiful and expressive.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, They who stopped their ears against the prophet's words,
have now a sign before their eyes, if any means might be found to fasten conviction
upon their hearts. We have,
1. The sign. A linen girdle, or sash, which the prophet is commanded to procure and
wear; and which would be the more taken notice of, as his rough garments were
unused to be bound with such finery. No water must touch it; but when worn
awhile, he must go to the river Euphrates, and hide it in a hole in the rock, where,
by the rising and falling of the river, it would become wet and dry, and rot the
sooner. After a while he is sent to fetch it thence, and found it spoiled and rotten.
Interpreters are divided concerning this matter, whether it was only done in vision,
as Ezekiel 8:3; Ezekiel 11:24 or real. The former seems more generally received,
because of the length of the way, and the time required to be spent in the journey,
when his presence at home was so necessary.
2. The explanation. God had chosen Israel, and caused them to cleave unto him, as a
girdle about the loins of a man; intimating how near and dear they were to him;
brought into a state of most intimate communion with him, permitted to enter into
the courts of his house, favoured with his presence, and engaged by innumerable
favours to cleave to him in all fidelity and love, that they might be to him for a
people, a peculiar people; for a name renowned in the earth, and to shew forth his
praise and glory; and thus, like the curious girdle of the ephod, be ornamental to
188

189. their profession, and an honour to their holy religion. But they would not hear; and
therefore he threatens to mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem,
especially elated with having the temple in the midst of her; but the higher their
pride rose, the lower shall their fall be. Since they had corrupted their ways by
wickedness, and refused to hear the words of God's prophets, following their own
vain imaginations, and sunk into abominable idolatries, God will utterly consume
them, and make them vile as that girdle of rags. Note; (1.) The greater the mercies
are that we enjoy, the greater are our obligations to be faithful. (2.) God's service is
the highest honour; and while we are most solicitous to glorify him, we at the same
time gain for ourselves that great name which is worth our ambition. (3.) It is folly
to pretend a relation to God as his people, if we are not to him for a praise. (4.)
Whatever we are proud of, whether parts, gifts, station, wealth, or power, God
regards such self-complacence with abhorrence; and what turned angels into devils,
will make men who imitate their sins companions in their sufferings.
2nd, We have,
1. Another judgment threatened, under the figure of bottles filled with wine. They
were filled with drunkenness, and they shall be filled with wrath: not understanding
the prophet's meaning, they seem to ridicule it; Do we not certainly know that every
bottle shall be filled with wine; this is not such a strange thing that it need be
ushered in with such pomp, as thus saith the Lord God of Israel; but let them wait
the explanation, and it will be found momentous; for God threatens to fill all the
inhabitants of the land, king, priests, prophets, and people, high and low, with
drunkenness, with a spirit of infatuation, which will have the same effect upon them
as wine; their counsels shall be confounded, they shall stagger, be weak as a
drunken man, and be made sick with smiting; dashed one against another with
intestine quarrels, they shall help forward their own ruin, even the fathers and the
sons together; I will not pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them with an
utter destruction. Note; Drunkards are chief among those whose damnation
slumbereth not.
2. An admonition given them of God, to humble themselves before it was too late. Be
not proud, above being taught, or too stubborn to bend to reproof. Yea, the king
and queen are called upon to set their subjects the example, and to sit down in the
dust; and there, confessing their sins, and acknowledging the justice of their
sufferings, to give glory to God before he come forth in judgment, and cause
darkness, giving them up to the Babylonish captivity; and before your feet stumble
upon the dark mountains, or the mountains of gloominess; referring to the
afflictions which they should suffer; and while ye look for light, a gleam of
prosperity, and assistance from their confederates, he turn it into the shadow of
death, and make it gross darkness, overwhelming them with their calamities and
disappointments, and sinking them in despair. For, unless they prevented their
doom by a timely repentance, it is determined that your principalities shall come
down, all the power and dignity in which they prided themselves and confided, even
the crown of your glory, plucked from the king's head with all the ensigns of
189

190. royalty, and he, among the rest, led into an inglorious captivity. Note; (1.) They who
are too proud to bend, are not too high to be broken. (2.) If sinners will not give God
glory by their penitence, he will glorify himself in their perdition. (3.) There is no
escaping God's judgments by attempting to fly from them; the only door of hope is
in humiliation to fly to him. (4.) The vain hopes of sinners will serve but to
aggravate their misery, and to increase their confusion. (5.) It becomes those who
are most exalted to set the gracious example; kings are not too great to sit in the
dust, when God calls to weeping and mourning for the sins of the land.
3. The prophet expresses the unspeakable grief that it would give him to see them
reject the divine admonitions. If ye will not hear it, and obey, my soul shall weep in
secret places for your pride; to some lonely solitude he would retire, and pour out
his griefs before God, since it was vain to expostulate with them. That pride and
stubbornness of which they would not repent, he with tears would bewail, and weep
sore for those desolations which they would not believe, nor seek to avert, because
the Lord's flock, for such they had once been, is carried away captive; and hereby
God would be dishonoured and blasphemed, which especially affected the prophets
heart. Note; (1.)They who know the terrors of the Lord themselves, cannot but
tremble for those who appear insensible of their danger. (2.) The sins of their people
cause many an aching heart to God's ministers, and they mourn exceedingly over
those whom they cannot reform.
4. Their ruin was inevitable. Their cities (which lay south of Babylon) shall be shut
up, either besieged, or left without inhabitant, and their captivity be complete. In
Jehoiakim's time some were carried away, but in Zedekiah's none shall be left. The
terrible army of invaders is already in view, coming from the north. Where is the
flock that was given thee, thy beautiful flock? once so distinguished with every mark
of God's favour and regard, and the glory of the whole earth, now dispersed and
scattered, and their place is no more found. What wilt thou say when he shall
punish thee? how speechless would they be found before God, when by the
Chaldean sword he should arise to visit their iniquities? for thou hast taught them
to be captains, and as chief over thee; having invited them into their country
formerly, and thereby opened a door for their conquests, 2 Kings 16:7. Shall not
sorrows take thee as a woman in travail? sorrows, sudden, terrible, and
unavoidable, would then seize on this devoted Judea. Note; (1.) They who have the
charge of others committed to them, parents, magistrates, and especially ministers,
should often think of the solemn account which they must one day give before the
great Shepherd and Bishop of Souls. (2.) They who have rejected God's admonitions
will be speechless in the day of their visitation.
3rdly, It is here foretold, as before, that captivity awaited them, when naked and
barefoot they should be led away, confounded and ashamed before their
conquerors. In this miserable case,
1. They are represented as inquiring into the cause of their calamities: If thou say in
thine heart, for God knows what passes there, Wherefore come these things upon
190

191. me? either quarrelling with their afflictions and fretting against the Lord, or driven
by the severity of their sufferings penitently to inquire into their cause.
2. God answers them, For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts discovered,
and thy heels made bare. God had not laid on them more than they had deserved;
for their iniquities were great and numberless, and they utterly incorrigible: the
black Ethiopian as soon might change his skin, or the leopard his spots, as they be
reclaimed from their abominations, which habit and custom had ingrained, and
made a second nature; or learn that good which their prophets inculcated. God had
been forgotten by them, and their confidence placed on falsehood, the broken reed
of Egyptian aid. Their idolatries and adulteries had been multiplied on every hill, in
every field, openly and without a blush; therefore they might easily perceive the
cause of their ruin. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem: for these things they are scattered
as stubble before the wind of the wilderness, the Chaldean army; and this is their
lot, and the portion assigned them of God, in just judgment for such impieties and
impenitence. Note; (1.) God never lays upon sinners more than they deserve, but in
all his judgments will be justified. (2.) Every man by nature is born like the sooty
Ethiopian, black in original sin; and by practice and habit the stain is still deeper
fixed in the soul. Not all the waters of the ocean can change the hue; no labours or
attempts of man to cleanse himself by natural means are of any avail; the fountain
of a Redeemer's blood alone can wash this Ethiopian white, and change this
leopard's spots. (3.) Inveterate habits are very difficult to be conquered; but if we
sincerely seek for divine grace, we shall find it all-sufficient.
3. The prophet expostulates once more with them; dangerous as their case was, it
might not be yet utterly desperate; wilt thou not be made clean? shall no intreaty
prevail, when the fountain is yet open, and God's patience waits; when shall it once
be? surely it was now high time to bethink themselves, when ruin was almost at the
door. Note; (1.) The reason why sinners perish is, because they will not come to
Christ that they may have life. (2.) We must be made clean, or we can never enter
God's holy place in heaven. (3.) God waits long upon sinners, and expostulates with
them on their delays; and they who disappoint his patience will be left without
excuse. (4.) Most men resolve sometime or other to repent; but, putting it off to a
distant day, death surprises them in their sins.
Woe to thee, Jerusalem! thou wilt not be cleansed
After what time wilt it yet be?
Literally it may be rendered, “After when yet?” — Ed.
ELLICOTT, " (27) Thine adulteries.—The words refer primarily to the spiritual
adultery of the idolatries of Judah. The “neighings,” as in Jeremiah 2:24; Jeremiah
5:8, express the unbridled eagerness of animal passion transferred in this passage to
the spiritual sin. The “abominations on the hills” are the orgiastic rites of the
worship of the high places, which are further described as “in the field” to
emphasise their publicity.
191

192. Wilt thou not be made clean?—Better, thou wilt not be cleansed; after how long
yet? Sad as the last words are, they in some measure soften the idea of irretrievable
finality, “Will the time ever come, and if so, when?” Like the cry addressed to God,
“How long, O Lord . . .” (Revelation 6:10), it implies a hope, though only just short
of despair.
COFFMAN, ""I have seen thine abominations, even thine adulteries, and thy
neighings, the lewdness of thy whoredom, on the hills, in the field. Woe unto thee, O
Jerusalem! Thou wilt not be made clean; how long shall it be?"
This is a further elaboration of the reasons why the dreadful punishment prescribed
for Israel in the above verses was justified and appropriate.
"Thy neighings ..." (Jeremiah 13:27). Jeremiah mentioned this same thing back in
Jeremiah 5:8 where he compared the behavior of the people to well-fed stallions,
"everyone neighing to his neighbor's wife," indicating that they wanted a sexual
experience with every woman in sight. The use of such a metaphor as this, as
Robinson pointed out, most certainly indicates, "actual sexual immorality,"[11]
which was so prominent a feature of the cultic worship of the Baalim.
"The tragic thing was that these same people frequented the temple, mouthing
formulas like, `the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh, the temple of Yahweh.'
"[12]
"How long shall it yet be ..." (Jeremiah 13:27)? The actual meaning of these words
is somewhat ambiguous. They may mean, "how long will it be before Jerusalem is
cleansed?" or "how long will it be before the judgment of God falls upon her?" If
Jeremiah still retained any hope of averting the terrible judgment which God
through him had prophesied, the former meaning might be correct; but if he no
longer supposed that Jerusalem would ever be cleansed, then the latter meaning is
correct.
"Jeremiah lived to see the judgment fall; and after that, his hope rested upon the
promise of a future day of restoration (Jeremiah 31:31-34),"[13] upon which
occasion "all would know the Lord, from the least unto the greatest of the people,"
and when the sins of the people would be gloriously forgiven.
That occasion, of course, would be the coming of the Kingdom of Messiah; and we
may not suppose that Jeremiah understood all the implications of the prophecies
God gave to mankind through him.
This concludes the five warnings set forth in this chapter. If Israel ever made the
slightest gesture toward heeding any of them, the sacred scriptures retain no record
of such a thing.
192

193. SIMEON, "Verse 27
DISCOURSE: 1050
GOD IS DESIROUS OF SAVING MEN
Jeremiah 13:27. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! Wilt thou not be made clean? When shall it once
be?
THROUGHOUT all the sacred writings we behold the goodness and severity of God: sometimes
the one attracts our notice, and sometimes the other; and in many places, as in that before us, we
are struck with the union and combination of them both. Jerusalem was the city of the living God,
the residence of his peculiar people; yet he denounces woe against them: but at the same time he
declares, in very pathetic language, the ardent desires of his soul to exercise mercy towards
them.
From these most affecting words we shall take occasion to shew,
I. The woes which impenitent sinners have reason to expect—
This is a painful, but necessary, subject of our inquiries—
The punishment that awaits sinners is most tremendous—
[The loss of heaven is one part of it: and who shall declare how great a loss this is? — — — The
miseries of hell (which is the other part) are equally beyond the powers of language to describe, or
of imagination to conceive — — —]
This, however, the impenitent have but too much reason to expect—
[“Woe unto thee!” says my text: and this is the voice of reason [Note: There must be a difference
between the righteous and the wicked.] — — — of Scripture [Note: Against ten thousand
passages to this effect, there is not one syllable that has an opposite aspect.] — — — of
experience [Note: The union of sin and misery is felt by all. Where is there a sinner that is truly
happy? See Isaiah 57:20-21.] — — — of the compassionate Saviour himself [Note: See how often
woe is denounced, Matthew 23:13-16; Matthew 23:23; Matthew 23:25; Matthew 23:27; Matthew
23:29; Matthew 23:33.] — — — What stronger evidence can any man wish for? and how blind
must he be that is not convinced by it!]
But however merited and awful these woes are, we see from the text,
II. How unwilling God is to inflict them—
He complains of men’s obstinacy in rejecting the overtures of his mercy—
[It is their sin only that exposes them to his displeasure: were that once removed, he would
“rejoice over them to do them good.” And whence is it that they are not cleansed from it? Has not
God provided such means for their cleansing, us should certainly be effectual, if only they were
applied? Has he not opened a fountain to cleanse them from guilt [Note: Zechariah 13:1. 1 John
1:7. ]? — — — Has he not promised to sprinkle them with water that should purify and renew their
very inmost souls [Note: Ezekiel 36:25-27.]? — — — Yes: but they are averse to that purification:
they hate the very means by which it is to be attained, and the regimen whereby it is to be
preserved — — — God would gladly effect the work for them, if only they would submit to it; but
they will not [Note: Ezekiel 33:11.]. Hence those complaints so often uttered by the prophets
[Note: Psalms 81:11-13. Jeremiah 7:23-26.], and by Christ himself [Note: John 5:40. Matthew
23:37.] — — —]
193

194. He expresses also an impatient longing for an opportunity to bless their souls—
[Long has he waited to no purpose: yet still “he waiteth to be gracious unto us:” “he stands at the
door of our hearts, and knocks.” His address to us is, “Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways i for
why will we die, O house of Israel?” Every day appears to him an age [Note: Hosea 8:5. Jeremiah
15:6. “I am weary with repenting.”]: he is at a loss, as it were, what to do, whether to give us up, or
to use any further means [Note: Hosea 6:4; Hosea 11:8. Jeremiah 3:4; Jeremiah 3:19.]. The
complaint in the text is scarcely less the language of despondency than of compassion; “When
shall it once be?” It is us though he said, ‘My patience is almost exhausted: your return to me is
the most earnest desire of my soul: but I fear I shall be forced, in spite of all my efforts to save
you, to abandon you at last, and to execute the judgments which you so obstinately provoke.’]
Address—
1. Those who imagine that they have no need of cleansing—
[What child of man has not need to be cleansed from that taint which we inherit from our first
parents [Note: Job 14:4; Job 15:14; Job 25:4.]? And who has not contracted much moral
defilement by means of actual transgression? — — — Let none entertain such proud conceits.
The best amongst us, no less than the worst, need to be washed in the blood of Christ, and be
renewed by his Spirit; and, without this cleansing, must inevitably perish.]
2. Those who are unwilling to be cleansed—
[Many are unwilling to part with even the grossest lusts. What then must we say to them? Must we
speak peace to them, instead of denouncing woes? If we were to do so, God would not confirm
our word: so that we should only delude them to their ruin. But indeed they themselves would not
be deluded by any such assertions: for, with whatever confidence they utter them themselves,
they would not endure to hear them if uttered from the pulpit.
But it is not gross sin only that must be put away: we must be “cleansed also from secret faults:”
whatever stops short of this, is ineffectual. The right hand, the right eye, must be sacrificed; and
the whole heart be turned unto God — — —]
3. Those who desire the cleansing of their souls—
[It is of infinite importance that you seek this blessing aright. It is not in floods of tears that you are
to be cleansed; though floods of tears are proper and desirable: it is the blood of Christ alone that
can cleanse from the guilt of sin; and the Spirit of Christ alone that can cleanse from the power
and pollution of sin. To apply these effectually, we must embrace the promises, and rest upon
them, trusting in God to accomplish them to our souls. We must not first cleanse ourselves, and
then embrace God’s promises of mercy; but first lay hold on the promises, and then, by virtue
derived from them, proceed to “cleanse ourselves from all filthiness both of flesh and spirit [Note:
2 Corinthians 7:1. with Acts 15:9.].”]
PETT, "Jeremiah 13:27
“I have seen your abominations, even your adulteries, and your neighings, the lewdness of your
whoredom, on the hills in the open country (fields). Woe to you, O Jerusalem! you will not be
made clean. How long will it yet be?”
But it will be very much a case of reaping what they have sowed. They have revealed themselves
as no better than common prostitutes by their lewd behaviour on the open hills. Their neighings
(cries of lust and passion) and their willingness to engage in free sex at their hilltop sanctuaries
will rebound upon them.
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195. And because they have now gone too far there is no opportunity of cleansing for the present
generation. Their behaviour and attitudes have negated all their ritual activity in the Temple, which
is no longer acceptable. All that they can expect to face is ‘WOE’. And this will be so for a long
time to come. How long it will be is left an open question (elsewhere it is fixed at seventy years
(Jeremiah 25:11-12; Jeremiah 29:10) dated from the initial exile, and then at seventy ‘sevens’
(Daniel 9) indicating a long while to come).
PULPIT, "I have seen, etc. The Hebrew is again more forcible than the English. It runs, "Thine
adulteries and thy neighings," etc. l (this is an exclamation as it were; then more reflectively)," I
have seen thine abominations." Neighings; i.e. passionate craving for illegitimate objects of
worship (comp. Jeremiah 2:24, Jeremiah 2:25; Jeremiah 5:8). In the fields. The Hebrew has the
singular. The "field," as usual, means the open country. Wilt thou not, etc.? rather, How long ere
thou be made clean? In Jeremiah 13:23 the prophet had vehemently declared his people to be
incorrigible. But, like the tender Hoses, he cannot continue to hold such gloomy thoughts; surely
Israel, God's people, must eventually be "made clean!" But this can only be as the result of judicial
affliction, and these afflictions will be no slight or transient ones.
BI, "O Jerusalem I wilt thou not he made clean?
The necessity of holiness
I. The question.
1. It is of great importance to be cleansed from the filth of sin, and is what should be
sought after with the utmost seriousness (Eze_36:25).
2. Cleansing the heart from sin is the work of God. He that cleanses from guilt, must
also cleanse us from corruption; and Christ is made unto us sanctification, as well as
righteousness and redemption (Tit_3:4-6).
3. God has much at heart the sanctification of His people (Isa_48:18).
4. Our own unwillingness is the great hindrance to our sanctification. When the will
is gained, the man is gained; and those who will be made clean are in part made so
already.
5. Yet the obstinacy of the will shall not prevent the purposes of grace: God’s design
shall be accomplished, notwithstanding all.
II. The various answers which will be made.
1. Some are willing to be delivered from the punishment of sin, but not from its
power. Those who would have the former without the latter, are likely to have
neither.
2. Others would be cleansed outwardly, but not inwardly. No prayers, lastings,
pilgrimages, penances, nor any other external performances, can supply the want of
internal holiness. The sepulchre, however painted and adorned, is but a sepulchre
still.
3. Some would be made partly clean, but not wholly so.
4. Some would be made clean, but they do not like God’s way of doing it, or the
means He uses for this purpose.
5. There are some who would be made clean, but it must be hereafter. Like Saint
Austin, who prayed to be delivered from his easily besetting sin, but added, “Not yet,
Lord!”
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196. 6. More awful still: some speak out and say, they will not be cleansed at all. They
prefer sin and hell to holiness and heaven.
7. Put this question to the real Christian, or the truly awakened sinner, whose
conscience has been filled with remorse for his past transgressions, and who has
found a compliance with the call of every lust to be the severest bondage Wilt thou be
made clean? “Yea, Lord,” says he, with all my heart! “When shall it once be?” This
very instant, if I might have my wish. It is what I pray for, wait for, and strive after;
nor can I have a moment’s rest till I obtain it. (B. Beddome, M. A.)
God is desirous of saving men
I. The woes which impenitent sinners have reason to expect. The punishment that
awaits sinners is most tremendous. The loss of heaven is one part of it: and who shall
declare how great a loss this is?
II. How unwilling God is to inflict them. He complains of men’s obstinacy in rejecting
the overtures of His mercy. Long has He waited to no purpose: yet still “He waiteth to be
gracious unto us.” “He stands at the door of our hearts, and knocks.” Address—
1. Those who imagine that they have no need of cleansing. Let none entertain such
proud conceits. The best amongst us, no less than the worst, need to be washed in
the blood of Christ and be renewed by His Spirit; and without this cleansing, must
inevitably perish.
2. Those who are unwilling to be cleansed.
3. Those who desire the cleansing of their souls. It is the blood of Christ alone that
can cleanse from the guilt of sin; and the Spirit of Christ alone that can cleanse from
the power and pollution of sin. To apply these effectually, we must embrace the
promises, and rest upon them, trusting in God to accomplish them to our souls.
(Theological Sketchbook.)
Soul cleansing
1. The great need of the soul.
2. The great helplessness of the soul.
3. The great grace of God.
4. The great drawback on our part.
5. The great work of the ministry.
(1) To bring home the feeling of guilt.
(2) To ask the question of the text.
(3) To direct to the cleansing fount.
(4) To urge the importance of immediate application. (W. Whale.)
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197. God’s desire to bless the sinner
I. Man’s uncleanness—
1. In heart;
2. In life;
3. In religion.
II. God’s desire that he should be clean.
III. His expostulation with s.
IV. Our refusal.
V. God’s condemnation. (H. Bonar, D. D.)
A hopeful question
It would seem as if the prophet were speaking the language of despair; but a little
rearrangement of the translation will show that the prophet is really not giving up all
hope: Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem! wilt thou not be made clean? Shall there not at the
very end be a vital change in thee? When the day is drawing to a close shalt thou not feel
the power of the Holy One, and respond to it? Shalt thou not be born as a child at
eventide? So the spirit of the Bible is a spirit of hopefulness. It will not lose any man so
long as it can keep hold of him. It is a mother-like book, it is a most shepherdly book, it
will not let men die if they can be kept alive. Here is the Gospel appeal: “Wilt thou not be
made clean?” Here is no urging upon Jerusalem to clean herself, to work out her own
regeneration, to throw off her own skin, and to cleanse her own characteristic spots and
taints and stains. These words convey an offer, point to a process, preach a Gospel. Hear
the answer from the leper: “Lord, if Thou wilt, Thou canst make me clean.” There is a
river the streams whereof receive all our diseases, and still the river flows like crystal
from the throne of God. We know what the great kind sea is. It receives all the nations,
gives all the empires a tonic, and yet rolls round the world an untainted blessing. The
question addressed to each heart is, “Wilt thou not be made clean? when shall it once
be?” Shall it not be at once? Shall it not be at the very end? Shall not the angels have yet
to report even concerning the worst, last of men, the festers of moral creation, “Behold,
he prayeth!” The intelligence would vibrate throughout heaven, and give a new joy to
eternity. (J. Parker, D. D.).
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