The commentary on Jeremiah 9 expresses the deep sorrow of the prophet for the destruction and sins of his people, wishing he could weep endlessly for their plight. It describes the moral decay and deceit prevalent among the people of Judah, highlighting their unfaithfulness to God and to each other. The prophet laments the desolation of their land due to their wickedness and feels the weight of his responsibility to call them to repentance despite their hardened hearts.

1. JEREMIAH 9 COMMENTARY
EDITED BY GLENN PEASE
1 [a]1 Oh, that my head were a spring of water
and my eyes a fountain of tears!
I would weep day and night
for the slain of my people.
BARNES, "This verse is joined in the Hebrew to the preceding chapter. But any break
at all here interrupts the meaning.
A fountain - Rather, “a reservoir,” in which tears had been stored up, so that the
prophet might weep abundantly.
CLARKE, "O that my head were waters - ‫מים‬ ‫ראשי‬ ‫יתן‬ ‫מי‬ mi yitten roshi mayim,
“who will give to my head waters?” My mourning for the sins and desolations of my
people has already exhausted the source of tears: I wish to have a fountain opened there,
that I may weep day and night for the slain of my people. This has been the sorrowful
language of many a pastor who has preached long to a hardened, rebellious people, to
little or no effect. This verse belongs to the preceding chapter.
GILL, "Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears,....
Or, "who will give to my head water, and to mine eyes a fountain of tears?" as the
Septuagint, Vulgate Latin, and Arabic versions. The prophet wishes that his head was
turned and dissolved into water, and that tears might flow from his eyes as water issues
out from a fountain; and he suggests, that could this be, it would not be sufficient to
deplore the miserable estate of his people, and to express the inward grief and sorrow of
his mind on account of it.
That I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people;
the design of all this is to set forth the greatness and horribleness of the destruction,
signifying that words were wanting to express it, and tears to lament it; and to awaken
the attention of the people to it, who were quite hardened, insensible, and stupid. The
1

2. Jewish writers close the eighth chapter with this verse, and begin the ninth with the
following.
HENRY 1-11, "The prophet, being commissioned both to foretel the destruction
coming upon Judah and Jerusalem and to point out the sin for which that destruction
was brought upon them, here, as elsewhere, speaks of both very feelingly: what he said
of both came from the heart, and therefore one would have thought it would reach to the
heart.
I. He abandons himself to sorrow in consideration of the calamitous condition of his
people, which he sadly laments, a one that preferred Jerusalem before his chief joy and
her grievances before his chief sorrows.
1. He laments the slaughter of the persons, the blood shed and the lives lost (Jer_9:1):
“O that my head were waters, quite melted and dissolved with grief, that so my eyes
might be fountains of tears, weeping abundantly, continually, and without intermission,
still sending forth fresh floods of tears as there still occur fresh occasions for them!” The
same word in Hebrew signifies both the eye and a fountain, as if in this land of sorrows
our eyes were designed rather for weeping than seeing. Jeremiah wept much, and yet
wished he could weep more, that he might affect a stupid people and rouse them to a due
sense of the hand of God gone out against them. Note, It becomes us, while we are here
in this vale of tears, to conform to the temper of the climate and to sow in tears. Blessed
are those that mourn, for they shall be comforted hereafter; but let them expect that
while they are here the clouds will still return after the rain. While we find our hearts
such fountains of sin, it is fit that our eyes should be fountains of tears. But Jeremiah's
grief here is upon the public account: he would weep day and night, not so much for the
death of his own near relations, but for the slain of the daughter of his people, the
multitudes of his countrymen that fell by the sword of war. Note, When we hear of the
numbers of the slain in great battles and sieges we ought to be much affected with the
intelligence, and not to make a light matter of it; yea, though they be not of the daughter
of our people, for, whatever people they are of, they are of the same human nature with
us, and there are so many precious lives lost, as dear to them as ours to us, and so many
precious souls gone into eternity.
2. He laments the desolations of the country. This he brings in (v. 10), for impassioned
mourners are not often very methodical in their discourses: “Not only for the towns and
cities, but for the mountains, will I take up a weeping and wailing” (not barren
mountains, but the fruitful hills with which Judea abounded), and for the habitations of
the wilderness, or rather the pastures of the plain, that used to be clothed with flocks or
covered over with corn, and a goodly sight it was; but now they are burnt up by the
Chaldean army (which, according to the custom of war, destroyed to the custom of war,
destroyed the forage and carried off all the cattle), so that no one dares to pass through
them, for fear of meeting with some parties of the enemy, no one cares to pass through
them, every thing looks so melancholy and frightful, no one has any business to pass
through them, for they hear not the voice of the cattle there as usual, the bleating of the
sheep and the lowing of the oxen, that grateful music to the owners; nay, both the fowl of
the heavens and the beasts have fled. either frightened away by the rude noises and
terrible fires which the enemies make, or forced away because there is no subsistence for
them. Note, God has many ways of turning a fruitful land into barrenness for the
wickedness of those that dwell therein; and the havoc war makes in a country cannot
but be for a lamentation to all tender spirits, for it is a tragedy which destroys the stage it
2

3. is acted on.
II. He abandons himself to solitude, in consideration of the scandalous character and
conduct of his people. Though he dwells in Judah where God is known, in Salem where
his tabernacle is, yet he is ready to cry out, Woe is me that I sojourn in Mesech! Psa_
120:5. While all his neighbours are fleeing to the defenced cities, and Jerusalem
especially, in dread of the enemies' rage (Jer_4:5, Jer_4:6) he is contriving to retire into
some desert, in detestation of his people's sin (Jer_9:2): “O that I had in the wilderness
a lodging-place of wayfaring men, such a lonely cottage to dwell in as they have in the
deserts of Arabia, which are uninhabited, for travellers to repose themselves in, that I
might leave my people and go from them!” Not only because of the ill usage they gave
him (he would rather venture himself among the wild beasts of the desert than among
such treacherous barbarous people), but principally because his righteous soul was
vexed from day to day, as Lot's was in Sodom, with the wickedness of their
conversation, 2Pe_2:7, 2Pe_2:8. This does not imply any intention or resolution that he
had thus to retire. God had cut him out work among them, which he must not quit for
his own ease. We must not go out of the world, bad as it is, before our time. If he could
not reform them, he could bear a testimony against them; if he could not do good to
many, yet he might to some. but it intimates the temptation he was in to leave them,
involves a threatening that they should be deprived of his ministry, and especially
expresses the holy indignation he had against their abominable wickedness, which
continued notwithstanding all the pains he had taken with them to reclaim them. It
made him even weary of his life to see them dishonouring God as they did and
destroying themselves. Time was when the place which God had chosen to put his name
there was the desire and delight of good men. David, in a wilderness, longed to be again
in the courts of God's house; but now Jeremiah, in the courts of God's house (for there
he was when he said this), wishes himself in a wilderness. Those have made themselves
very miserable that have made God's people and ministers weary of them and willing to
get from them. Now, to justify his willingness to leave them, he shows,
1. What he himself had observed among them.
(1.) He would not think of leaving them because they were poor and in distress, but
because they were wicked. [1.] They were filthy: They are all adulterers, that is, the
generality of them are, Jer_5:8. They all either practised this sin or connived at those
that did. Lewdness and uncleanness constituted that crying sin of Sodom at which
righteous Lot was vexed in soul, and it is a sin that renders men loathsome in the eyes of
God and all good men; it makes men an abomination. [2.] They were false. This is the sin
that is most enlarged upon here. Those that had been unfaithful to their God were so to
one another, and it was a part of their punishment as well as their sin, for even those
that love to cheat, yet hate to be cheated. First, Go into their solemn meetings for the
exercises of religion, for the administration of justice, or for commerce - to church, to
court, or to the exchange - and they are an assembly of treacherous men; they are so by
consent, they strengthen one another's hands in doing any thing that is perfidious. There
they will cheat deliberately and industriously, with design, with a malicious design, for
(Jer_9:3) they bend their tongues, like their bow, for lies, with a great deal of craft; their
tongues are fitted for lying, as a bow that is bent is for shooting, and are as constantly
used for that purpose. Their tongue turns as naturally to a lie as the bow to the strong.
But they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth. Their tongues are like a bow
strung, with which they might do good service if they would use the art and resolution
which they are so much masters of in the cause of truth; but they will not do so. They
appear not in defence of the truths of God, which were delivered to them by the
3

4. prophets; but even those that could not deny them to be truths were content to see them
run down. In the administration of justice they have not courage to stand by an honest
cause that has truth on its side, if greatness and power be on the other side. Those that
will be faithful to the truth must be valiant for it, and not be daunted by the opposition
given to it, nor fear the face of man. They are not valiant for the truth in the land, the
land which has truth for the glory of it. Truth has fallen in the land, and they dare not
lend a hand to help it up, Isa_59:14, Isa_59:15. We must answer, another day, not only
for our enmity in opposing truth, but for our cowardice in defending it. Secondly, Go
into their families, and you will find they will cheat their own brethren (every brother
will utterly supplant); they will trip up one another's heels if they can, for they lie at the
catch to seek all advantages against those they hope to make a hand of. Jacob had his
name from supplanting; it is the word here used; they followed him in his name, but not
in his true character, without guile. So very false are they that you cannot trust in a
brother, but must stand as much upon your guard as if you were dealing with a stranger,
with a Canaanite that has balances of deceit in his hand. Things have come to an ill pass
indeed when a man cannot put confidence in his own brother. Thirdly, Go into company
and observe both their commerce and their conversation, and you will find there is
nothing of sincerity or common honesty among them. Nec hospes ab hospite tutus - The
host and the guest are in danger from each other. The best advice a wise man can give
you is to take heed every one of his neighbour, nay, of his friend (so some read it), of
him whom he has befriended and who pretends friendship to him. No man thinks
himself bound to be either grateful or sincere. Take them in their conversation and every
neighbour will walk with slander; they care not what ill they say one of another, though
ever so false; that way that the slander goes they will go; they will walk with it. They will
walk about from house to house too, carrying slanders along with them, all the ill-
natured stories they can pick up or invent to make mischief. Take them in their trading
and bargaining, and they will deceive every one his neighbour, will say any thing,
though they know it to be false, for their own advantage. Nay, they will lie for lying sake,
to keep their tongues in use to it, for they will not speak the truth, but will tell a
deliberate lie and laugh at it when they have done.
(2.) That which aggravates the sin on this false and lying generation is, [1.] That they
are ingenious to sin: They have taught their tongue to speak lies, implying that through
the reluctances of natural conscience they found it difficult to bring themselves to it.
Their tongue would have spoken truth, but they taught it to speak lies, and by degrees
have made themselves masters of the art of lying, and have got such a habit of it that use
has made it a second nature to them. They learnt it when they were young (for the
wicked are estranged from the womb, speaking lies, Psa_58:3), and now they have
grown dexterous at it. [2.] That they are industrious to sin: They weary themselves to
commit iniquity; they put a force upon their consciences to bring themselves to it; they
tire out their convictions by offering them continual violence, and they take a great deal
of pains, till they have even spent themselves in bringing about their malicious designs.
They are wearied with their sinful pursuits and yet not weary of them. The service of sin
is a perfect drudgery; men run themselves out of breath in it, and put themselves to a
great deal of toil to damn their own souls. [3.] That they grow worse and worse (Jer_
9:3): They proceed from evil to evil, from one sin to another, from one degree of sin to
another. They began with less sins. Nemo repente fit turpissimus - No one reaches the
height of vice at once. They began with equivocating and bantering, but at last came to
downright lying. And they are now proceeding to greater sins yet, for they know not me,
saith the Lord; and where men have no knowledge of God, or no consideration of what
4

5. they have known of him, what good can be expected from them? Men's ignorance of God
is the cause of all their ill conduct one towards another.
2. The prophet shows what God had informed him of their wickedness, and what he
had determined against them.
(1.) God had marked their sin. He could tell the prophet (and he speaks of it with
compassion) what sort of people they were that he had to deal with. I know thy works,
and where thou dwellest, Rev_2:13. So here (Jer_9:6): “Thy habitation is in the midst
of deceit, all about thee are addicted to it; therefore stand upon thy guard.” If all men are
liars, it concerns us to beware of men,. and to be wise as serpents. They are deceitful
men; therefore there is little hope of thy doing any good among them; for, make things
ever so plain, they have some trick or other wherewith to shuffle off their convictions.
This charge is enlarged upon, Jer_9:8. Their tongue was a bow bent (Jer_9:3), plotting
and preparing mischief; here it is an arrow shot out, putting in execution what they had
projected. It is as a slaying arrow (so some readings of the original have it); their tongue
has been to many an instrument of death. They speak peaceably to their neighbours,
against whom they are at the same time lying in wait; as Joab kissed Abner when he was
about to kill him, and Cain, that he might not be suspected of any ill design, talked with
his brother, freely and familiarly. Note, Fair words, when they are not attended with
good intentions, are despicable, but, when they are intended as a cloak and cover for
wicked intentions they are abominable. While they did all this injury to one another they
put a great contempt upon God: “Not only they know not me, but (Jer_9:6) through
deceit, through the delusions of the false prophets, they refuse to know me; they are so
cheated into a good opinion of their own ways, the ways of their own heart, that they
desire not the knowledge of my ways.” Or, “They are so wedded to this sinful course
which they are in, and so bewitched with that, and its gains, that they will by no means
admit the knowledge of God, because that would be a check upon them in their sins.”
This is the ruin of sinners: they might be taught the good knowledge of the Lord and
they will not learn it; and where no knowledge of God is, what good can be expected?
Hos_4:1.
(2.) He had marked them for ruin, Jer_9:7, Jer_9:9, Jer_9:11. Those that will not
know God as their lawgiver shall be made to know him as their judge. God determines
here to bring his judgments upon them, for the refining of some and the ruining of the
rest. [1.] Some shall be refined (Jer_9:7): “Because they are thus corrupt, behold I will
melt them and try them, will bring them into trouble and see what that will do towards
bringing them to repentance, whether the furnace of affliction will purify them from
their dross, and whether, when they are melted, they will be new-cast in a better mould.”
He will make trial of less afflictions before he brings upon them utter destruction; for he
desires not the death of sinners. They shall not be rejected as reprobate silver till the
founder has melted in vain, Jer_6:29, Jer_6:30. For how shall I do for the daughter of
my people? He speaks as one consulting with himself what to do with them that might
be for the best, and as one that could not find in his heart to cast them off and give them
up to ruin till he had first tried all means likely to bring them to repentance. Or, “How
else shall I do for them? They have grown so very corrupt that there is no other way with
them but to put them into the furnace; what other course can I take with them? Isa_5:4,
Isa_5:5. It is the daughter of my people, and I must do something to vindicate my own
honour, which will be reflected upon if I connive at their wickedness. I must do
something to reduce and reform them.” A parent corrects his own children because they
are his own. Note, When God afflicts his people, it is with a gracious design to mollify
and reform them; it is but when need is and when he knows it is the best method he can
5

6. use. [2.] The rest shall be ruined (Jer_9:9): Shall I not visit for these things? Fraud and
falsehood are sins which God hates and which he will reckon for. “Shall not my soul be
avenged on such a nation as this, that is so universally corrupt, and, by its impudence in
sin, even dares and defies divine vengeance? The sentence is passed, the decree has gone
forth (Jer_9:11): I will make Jerusalem heaps of rubbish, and lay it in such ruins that it
shall be fit for nothing but to be a den of dragons; and the cities of Judah shall be a
desolation.” God makes them so, for he gives the enemy warrant and power to do it: but
why is the holy city made a heap? The answer is ready, Because it has become an unholy
one?
JAMISON, "Jer_9:1-26. Jeremiah’s lamentation for the Jews’ sins and consequent
punishment.
This verse is more fitly joined to the last chapter, as Jer_9:23 in the Hebrew (compare
Isa_22:4; Lam_2:11; Lam_3:48).
K&D 1-8, "Jer_9:1. "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging-place of wayfarers!
then would I leave my people, and go away from them. For they be all adulterers, a
crew of faithless ones. Jer_9:2. They bend their tongue like their bow with lying; and
not according to faithfulness do they manage in the land, but go on from evil to evil,
and me they know not, saith Jahve. Jer_9:3. Beware each of his neighbour, and trust
not in any brother; for every brother supplanteth, and every friend goeth slandering.
Jer_9:4. And one overreaCheth the other, and truth they speak not; they teach their
tongue to speak lies, to deal perversely they weary themselves. Jer_9:5. Thy dwelling is
in the midst of deceit; in deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jahveh. Jer_9:6.
Therefore thus hath spoken Jahveh of hosts: Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for
how should I deal in regard to the daughter of my people? Jer_9:7. A deadly arrow is
their tongue; they speak deceit; with his mouth one speaketh peace with his neighbour,
and inwardly within him he layeth ambush. Jer_9:8. Shall I not visit this upon them?
saith Jahveh; or on such a people as this shall not my soul take vengeance?"
Jeremiah would flee into the wilderness, far away from his people; because amidst
such a corrupt, false, and cunning people, life had become unbearable, Jer_9:1. ‫י‬ ִ‫מ‬ ‫י‬ִ‫ֵנ‬‫נ‬ ְ‫תּ‬ִ‫,י‬
as in Isa_27:4, equivalent to ‫י‬ ִ‫מ‬ ‫ן‬ ֶ‫תּ‬ִ‫י‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫,ל‬ Psa_55:7 : who would give me = Oh that I had!
The "lodging-place" is not a resting-place under the open sky, but a harbour for
travellers - a building (khan) erected on the route of the caravans, as a shelter for
travellers. Adultery and faithlessness are mentioned as cardinal sins. The first sin has
been rebuked in Jer_5:7, the second is exposed in Jer_9:2-4. ‫ֵד‬‫ג‬ ‫,בּ‬ faithless either
towards God or one's fellow-men; here in the latter sense. The account of the unfaithful
conduct is introduced in Jer_9:2 by the imperf. with ְ‫ו‬ consec., and is carried on in the
perf. Manifestations of sin are the issue of a sinful state of heart; the perfects are used to
suggest the particular sins as accomplished facts.
In the clause, "they bend," etc., ‫ר‬ ֶ‫ק‬ֶ‫שׁ‬ is the second object; and "their bow" is in
apposition to "their tongue:" they bend their tongue, which is their bow, with lying. For
this construction the Hiph. is the proper form, and this is not to be changed into the Kal
(as by Hitz., Gr., Näg.). In Job_28:8 the Hiph. is used instead of the Kal in the sense of
6

7. tread upon, walk upon; here it is used of the treading of the bow to bend it, and lying is
looked upon as the arrow with which the bow is stretched or armed for shooting. If the
verb be changed into the Kal, we must join ‫ר‬ ֶ‫ק‬ֶ‫שׁ‬ with ‫ם‬ ָ‫תּ‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ַ‫:ק‬ their lying-bow. For this
connection ֵ‫כּ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ַ‫דּ‬ ‫ה‬ ָ‫מּ‬ִ‫,ז‬ Eze_16:27, may be cited; but it gives us the unnatural figure:
their tongue as a bow, which is lying. It is neither the tongue nor the bow which is lying,
but that which they shoot with their tongue as with a bow. According to faithfulness; ְ‫ל‬
of the rule, norm, as in Jer_5:3. Not faithfulness to their convictions (Hitz.), but in their
behaviour towards their fellow-man. ‫ר‬ ַ‫ָב‬‫גּ‬, be strong, exercise strength, rule, and manage.
The prophet has in view the great and mighty who had power in their hands, and who
misused it to oppress their inferiors. From evil to evil they go on, i.e., they proceed from
one sin to another; but God the Lord they know not, i.e., are determined to know
nothing of Him; cf. 1Sa_2:12; Job_18:21. Hence each must keep himself on his guard
against the other. To express this in the most emphatic manner, Jeremiah gives it the
form of a command: Beware each of his neighbour, trust not in a brother; for each seeks
to overreach and trip up the other. In the words ‫ב‬ ‫ק‬ָ‫ע‬ ‫ֲקֹב‬‫ע‬ַ‫י‬ there seems to be an allusion
to Jacob's underhand dealing with his brother Esau, Gen_27:36. On "goes slandering,"
cf. Jer_6:28, and cf. also the similar description in Mic_7:5-6.
Jer_9:4-8
In Jer_9:4 these sinful ways are exposed in yet stronger words. ‫ל‬ ֵ‫ת‬ ָ‫ה‬ְ‫,י‬ uncontracted
form of the imperf. Hiph. of ‫ל‬ַ‫ל‬ ָ‫,תּ‬ trip up, deceive. On the infin. ‫ֵה‬‫ו‬ֲ‫ע‬ ַ‫,ה‬ cf. Ew. §238, e,
and Gesen. §75, Rem. 17. They weary themselves out, put themselves to great labour, in
order to deal corruptly; ‫ה‬ ָ‫א‬ ְ‫ל‬ִ‫נ‬ as in Jer_20:9; Isa_16:12, elsewhere to be weary of a thing;
cf. Jer_6:11; Jer_15:6. - In Jer_9:5 the statement returns to the point at which it
commenced: thy sitting (dwelling) is in the midst of deceit. In deceit, i.e., in the state of
their mind, directed as it is by deceit and cheating, they refuse to know me, i.e., they are
resolved to have nothing to do with the knowledge of God, because in that case they
must give up their godless ways.
(Note: The lxx have not understood ְ‫תּ‬ ְ‫כ‬ ִ‫שׁ‬ dootsr. They have split it up into ‫ב‬ֻ‫שׁ‬
ֹ‫תּ‬, joined ‫שׁב‬ to ‫אוּ‬ ְ‫ֹל‬‫נ‬, and translated, after adding ‫ֹא‬‫ל‬ ְ‫:ו‬ καὶ ου ̓ διέλιπον τοῦ
ἐπιστρέψαι τόκος ἐπὶ τόκῳ (i.e., usury upon usury) καὶ δόλος ἐπὶ δόλω οὐκ ἤθελον
εἰδέναι με. Ew. has adopted this construction, and so translates: "have accustomed
their tongue to speak lies, to do perversity, are weary of turning again; wrong upon
wrong, deceit upon deceit, they are not willing to know me." But this text is not
better, but worse, than the Masoretic: for, 1st, the perverse dealing or action is
attributed to the tongue; 2nd, the thought, they are weary of turning again, does not
suit the context, since the persons described here have never sought to return or
repent, and so cannot have become weary of it. For these reasons, neither Hitz. nor
Graf has given countenance to the lxx text.)
By reason of this depravity, the Lord must purge His people by sore judgments. He will
melt it in the fire of affliction (Isa_48:10), to separate the wicked: cf. Isa_1:25; Zec_13:9;
and on ‫ן‬ ַ‫ח‬ ָ‫,בּ‬ Jer_6:27. For how should I do, deal? Not: what dreadful judgments shall I
inflict (Hitz., Gr.), in which case the grounding ‫י‬ ִ‫כּ‬ would not have its proper force; but: I
can do none otherwise than purge. Before the face of, i.e., by reason of, the daughter,
because the daughter of my people behaves herself as has been described in Jer_9:2-4,
7

8. and as is yet to be briefly repeated in Jer_9:7. The lxx have paraphrased ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫פּ‬ ִ‫:מ‬ ἀπὸ
προσώπου πονηρίας. This is true to the sense, but it is unfair to argue from it, as Ew.,
Hitz., Gr. do, that ‫ת‬ַ‫ע‬ ָ‫ר‬ has been dropped out of the Hebrew text and should be
restored. - In Jer_9:7 what has been said is recapitulated shortly, and then in Jer_9:8
the necessity of the judgment is shown. ‫ץ‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ‫ט‬ ֵ‫ח‬ ‫,שׁ‬ a slaying, slaughtering, i.e., murderous
arrow. Instead of this Chet., which gives a good sense, the Keri gives ‫חוּט‬ָ‫,שׁ‬ which,
judging from the Chald. translation, is probably to be translated sharpened. But there is
no evidence for this sig., since ‫חוּט‬ָ‫שׁ‬ occurs only in connection with ‫ב‬ ָ‫ָה‬‫ז‬, 1Ki_10:16, and
means beaten, lit., spread gold. At ‫ה‬ ָ‫מ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ִ‫מ‬ ‫ר‬ ֵ‫בּ‬ ִ‫ד‬ the plural passes into the singular: he (one
of them) speaks; cf. Psa_55:22. ‫ב‬ ֶ‫ר‬ֹ‫א‬ for insidious scheming, as in Hos_7:6. With Jer_
9:8 cf. Jer_5:9, Jer_5:29.
CALVIN, "He follows the same subject. During times of tranquillity, when nothing
but joyful voices were heard among the Jews, he bewails, as one in the greatest grief,
the miseries of the people; and being not satisfied with this, he says, Who will set, or
make, my head waters, and my eye a fountain of tears? He intimates by these words,
that the ruin would be so dreadful that it could not be bewailed by a moderate or
usual lamentation, inasmuch as God’s vengeance would exceed common bounds,
and fill men with more dread than other calamities.
The meaning is, that the destruction of the people would be so monstrous that it
could not be sufficiently bewailed. It hence appears how hardened the Jews had
become; for doubtless the Prophet had no delight in such comparisons, as though he
wished rhetorically to embellish his discourse; but as he saw that their hearts were
inflexible, and that a common way of speaking would be despised, or would have no
weight and authority, he was constrained to use such similitudes. And at this day,
there is no less insensibility in those who despise God; for however Prophets may
thunder, while God spares and indulges them, they promise to themselves perpetual
quietness. Hence it is, that they ridicule and insult both God and his servants, as
though they were too harshly treated. As then, the same impiety prevails now in the
world as formerly, we may hence learn what vehemence they ought to use whom
God calls to the same office of teaching. Plain teaching, then, will ever be deemed
frigid in the world, except it, be accompanied with sharp goads, such as we find
employed here by the Prophet (235) He adds —
COFFMAN, "SORROWFUL LAMENT FOR FALLEN ISRAEL
The theme of this whole chapter is given here in Jeremiah 9:1, which in the Hebrew
Bible concludes Jeremiah 8, to which it also is appropriate.
The pitifully wicked and immoral behavior of God's Once Chosen People had at last
8

9. reached its terminal extent; and the horrible punishment which their apostasy so
richly deserved was soon to be executed upon the degenerate, reprobate nation. The
lament expressed here was not only applicable to the fallen condition of ancient
Israel; but the words are just as appropriate today for the millions of people who
have forsaken their first love, and have chosen to wallow in the sensuous pleasures
of sin for a season, rather than to live by the true standards of God's Word.
Halley's thumbnail summary of this chapter is as good as any we have seen.
"Jeremiah, a man of sorrows, in the midst of a people abandoned to everything
vile (Jeremiah 9:2-9), weeping day and night at the thought of impending
retribution, moved about among them, begging, pleading, persuading, threatening,
entreating, imploring that they turn from their wickedness. But in vain."
Jeremiah 9:1
"Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep
day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people."
Jeremiah had already wept over the condition of Israel as much as it was possible
for him to weep; and here he expressed a wish for the ability to weep even more.
Henry pointed out that in Hebrew the same word signifies "both the eye and a
fountain, as if in this land of sorrows our eyes were designed rather for weeping
than for seeing. And while we find our hearts such fountains of sin, it is fit that our
eyes should be fountains of tears."[2]
COKE, "Jeremiah 9:1. Oh that my head were waters— We have here a fine
instance of the pathetic, wherein Jeremiah so much excels. He sympathizes with the
calamities of his people, in order to excite them to a sense of their own misfortunes,
and to prevail upon them to humble themselves under the afflicting hand of the
Almighty.
CONSTABLE, "Jeremiah loved his people so much that he wished he had more
tears to shed for those of them that had died (cf. 2 Samuel 18:33; Matthew 23:37;
Luke 19:41-44; Romans 9:1-5; Romans 10:1). His empathy with his people"s
sufferings earned him the nickname "the weeping prophet" (cf. Jeremiah 13:17;
Jeremiah 14:17). This is the last verse of chapter8 in the Hebrew Bible.
"It"s unusual today to find tears either in the pulpit or the pews; the emphasis
seems to be on enjoyment." [Note: Wiersbe, p90.]
NISBET, "A TRUE PATRIOT
‘Oh … that I might weep day and night.’
Jeremiah 9:1
9

10. How was this one man able to do so much for Israel, to give it no less than six
hundred years of life? Because of his character.
We, too, have great tasks to perform. Salt kills corruption and so saves life. Christ
says to us, ‘Ye are the salt of the earth.’ Are we giving life to the nation we belong
to?
If we wish to know how to do it, let us note what it was that empowered Jeremiah
for his bitter, glorious task. Three characteristics are worthy of note.
I. His unbending steadfastness.—His two strongest passions were love of country
and love of God. But he made the love of God supreme, and had to suffer abuse,
imprisonment, all but death, at the hands of the countrymen he so dearly loved
(Jeremiah 20:7-11). He was, as God had called him to be—an iron pillar. This is
what we need in our churches. To save our nation from the love of pleasure we need
such ‘iron pillars.’
II. His tender sympathy.—The four chapters, 31–33, are known as the ‘Book of
Consolation.’ Where can you find more touching messages than these? ‘Is Ephraim
my dear son? Is he a pleasant child? My bowels are troubled for him; I will surely
have mercy upon him, saith the Lord.… Refrain thy voice from weeping, and thine
eyes from tears.… I have satiated the weary soul, and I have replenished every
sorrowful soul. Upon this I awaked and beheld, and my sleep was sweet unto me’
(Jeremiah 31:20; Jeremiah 31:16; Jeremiah 31:25-26). He was a man of a great soul,
able and willing to weep with the oppressed and suffering and guilty. He was an
‘iron pillar’ in steadfastness to his God, but he was as a gentle mother to the erring
children.
III. His spirituality.—The people had broken the old covenant. It had been written
on tables of stone. Jeremiah’s great hope was in looking forward to a New Covenant
that was to be purely spiritual. ‘This is the covenant that I will make with the house
of Israel. In their heart will I write it.… They shall all know Me.… I will forgive
their iniquity, and their sin will I remember no more for ever’ (Jeremiah 31:33-34).
Here, then, is to be our strength—in unbending steadfastness to God, in tender love
for the people, and in having the law and the love of God written on our hearts. Let
us see to these three things and we shall become powerful for the pulling down of
strongholds.
Illustrations
(1) ‘With the beautiful Temple fell all the hopes and confidence of the Jews. They
were carried off into captivity, and it seemed as if the last stay of God’s true worship
was gone. (597 and 586 b.c.) But one man was left to build up the ruins. It was
Jeremiah. He preserved his faith in the one true God; rallied Israel around that
10

11. belief as the centre of their national life; and gave them the hope of again enjoying
God’s favour. Thus they were kept steadfast in exile, and came back, some sixty or
seventy years after (537 b.c.), to their own land with a purified faith. The nation had
been at the point of extinction. It was brought back to its fatherland and lived six
hundred years. But it sinned once again, and this time against God’s own Son, and
was finally shattered in the year 70 a.d.’
(2) ‘Tears, give me tears, as I see the vast population of Great Britain, growing up
without the religion that made our land great. When the working classes in growing
numbers absent themselves from places of worship; when the youths and maidens
turn their backs upon the religion of their fathers; when the little children count
their Sunday-schools irksome—what reason there is to weep! When Jesus beheld
the city He wept over it.’
(3) ‘Once the voice of joy and thanksgiving had been heard in Jerusalem, but now
on every side there was bloodshed, and the patriot prophet could only weep
incessantly over the slain. A lodge in the wilderness seemed preferable to the most
luxurious mansion in the city, better than to continue to associate with the ungodly
perpetrators of such crimes. Yet we must not go out of the fray as long as our
Captain wants us to remain in it, in dependence upon Him.’
PULPIT, "Jer_9:1
The Hebrew more correctly attaches this verse to Jer_8:1-22. Oh that my head were
waters, etc.! A quaint conceit, it may be said. But "if we have been going on pace for
pace with the passion before, this sudden conversion of a strong-felt metaphor into
something to be actually realized in nature, is strictly and strikingly natural." So Bishop
Dearie, quoting, by way of illustration, Shakespeare’s ’Richard II.,’ "meditating on his
own utter annihilation as to royalty:"
"Oh that I were a mockery king of snow,
To melt before the sun of Bolingbroke!"
The tone of complaint continues in the following verse, though the subject is different.
BI, "Oh that my head were waters.
Christian anguish over spiritual desolation
There is a solemn beauty in Jeremiah’s devotion to the welfare of his fellow countrymen.
Blinded as they were by sin, they could not appreciate his anxiety, and when his loving
devotion broke into the tenderest words of warning, they regarded him in the light of an
enemy instead of a sincere friend. The depth of his feeling, the tenderness of his words,
remind us strongly of another scene which took place more than five hundred years after
these events: “O Jerusalem, Jerusalem, thou that killest the prophets,” etc. The most
beautiful sight on earth is unselfish devotion to the social, mental, moral and spiritual
interests of humanity. While the less thoughtful may be dazzled by the great military
11

12. achievements of conquering heroes, the more thoughtful are rather charmed by that self-
sacrificing devotion which, losing sight of worldly applause and worldly honour, has
thought of nothing but the opportunity of doing good. As the prodigal son, in his
ingratitude, profligacy, and sinful wanderings, did not check the pulsations of his
father’s heart, but rather intensified them and brought to light the richness of his
father’s love, so the unbelief, idolatry, and sinful lives of the Jewish people only served to
reveal the strength, the sweetness and richness of the prophet’s nature. The history of
the Christian Church is history of men and women who have not counted their lives dear
unto themselves, but who have bestowed their warmest affections and divinest
endeavours upon those who seemed the least likely to respond to such manifestations of
interest and of love. The history of Jewish backslidings, of vows solemnly taken and as
readily broken, reminds us in a vivid manner of scenes which have transpired from time
to time in the Christian dispensation. For the progress of the Christian Church toward a
larger benevolence, a broader charity, a purer morality, and a more intelligent piety has
neither been rapid nor uniform. Seasons of great revival have been followed by periods
of marked decline. Into the midst of torrid heat comes a wave of arctic cold. A narrow
denominationalism has often thrown its dark shadow across the pathway of Christian
catholicity. Creeds, catechisms, formulas, confessions of faith have often outweighed
sobriety, virtue, benevolence, and all the other graces which adorn the Christian
character, while practical unbelief, clothed in the formulas of an accepted dogma, has
passed for genuine Christianity without even the semblance of a challenge. As each
period of Jewish history was favoured with some that were true and brave—whose words
of instruction, reproof, and warning were spoken above the din of the busy multitudes—
so each period of the Christian dispensation has been honoured with some John the
Baptist, whose earnest words have resounded from valley to valley, from peak to peak,
and from land to land, echoing the Gospel of the blessed Lord, and summoning men to
self-sacrifice, to holiness, and to purity. Our interest in the human race will depend
largely upon our faith in human possibilities. If we see in man simply the possibilities of
an animal, possibilities, to be sure, greater than belong to any other earthly creature, but
possibilities determined by material conditions, limited to threescore years and ten,
possibilities that have no relation to a future world—if we see in man nothing but the
ability to trace in the sands of time a few illegible characters, then our interest in his
welfare and prosperity can neither be deep nor abiding. But if, on the other hand, we see
in man a creature made in the Divine image, with feeling, with thought, with spirituality,
with volition, with freedom, with immortal properties, created for a higher sphere and
for a better world, capable of companionship with angels, capable of communion with
the omnipotent Author of his existence, endowed with power to love and serve the
mighty Ruler of the universe, with unlimited capacity for growth and development—if
we see in him an intelligent, moral, responsible, and immortal being, then we have an
object worthy of our broadest sympathies, our warmest affections and our divinest
endeavours. (Ezra Tinker, B. D.)
Genuine philanthropy
I. Genuine philanthropy melting with earnestness.
1. Heart intensely earnest concerning the temporal condition of men. Chaldean army
among them, etc. Weeps as patriot.
2. Heart intensely earnest concerning the moral condition of men. Their carnalities,
12

13. idolatries, and crimes affect his pious spirit more than physical sufferings and
political disasters. Think of the soul—
(1) In relation to its capacity of suffering and happiness.
(2) In relation to the influences for good or evil it is capable of exerting.
(3) In relation to its power of being a delight or a grief to the heart of infinite
Love.
II. Genuine philanthropy sighing for isolation.
1. The sigh of a spiritually vexed soul.
2. The sigh of disappointed love. Nothing is more saddening to generous souls than
the discovery of indifference, ingratitude, and growing vice in the very men they seek
to bless.
Conclusion—
1. The vicariousness of genuine philanthropy. It inspires the possessor with the spirit
that will prompt him to sacrifice his very being for the good of others.
2. The abuse of genuine philanthropy. The greatest sin in the universe is sin against
love.
3. The imperfection of genuine philanthropy. Like the best of everything human,
love is not perfect here. Disheartened, Jeremiah sought isolation. (Homilist.)
England’s sorrows
Sometimes tears are base things; the offspring of a cowardly spirit. Some men weep
when they should knit their brows, and many a woman weepeth when she should resign
herself to the will of God. But ofttimes tears are the noblest things in the world. The
tears of penitents are precious: cup of them were worth a king’s ransom. He that loveth
much, must weep much; much love and much sorrow must go together in this vale of
tears. Jeremiah was not weak in his weeping; the strength of his mind and the strength
of his love were the parents of his sorrow. It would seem as if some men had been sent
into this world for the very purpose of being the world’s weepers. Men have their
sorrows; they must have their weepers; they must have men of sorrows who have it for
their avocation to be ever weeping, not so much for themselves as for the woes of others.
I. To begin, then, with actual murder and real bloodshed.
II. But I have now a greater reason for your sorrow—a more disregarded, and yet more
dreadful, source of woe. “Oh, that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of
tears, that I might weep day and night,” for the morally slain of the daughter of my
people. The old adage is still true, One half of the world knows nothing about how the
other half lives. Oh, how many of our sons and daughters, of our friends and relatives,
are slain by sin! Ye weep over battlefields, ye shed tears on me plains of Balaklava; there
are worse battlefields than there, and worse deaths than those inflicted by the sword. Ah,
weep ye for the drunkenness of this land! How many thousands of our race reel from our
gin palaces into perdition! But there are other crimes too. Alas, for that crime of
debauchery! What scenes hath the moon seen every night! Are these the only demons
that are devouring our people? Ah, would to God it were so. Behold, throughout this
13

14. land, how are men falling by every sin, disguised as it is under the shape of pleasure. O
members of churches, ye may well take up the wary of Jeremiah when ye remember
what multitudes of these you have in your midst men who have a name to live and are
dead: and others, who though they profess not to be Christians, are almost persuaded to
obey their Lord and Master, but are yea not partakers of the Divine life of God. But now I
want, I can, to press this pathetic subject a little further upon our minds. In the day
when Jeremiah wept this lamentation with an exceeding loud and bitter cry, Jerusalem
was in all her mirth and merriment. Jeremiah was a sad man in the midst of a multitude
of merry makers; he told them that Jerusalem should be destroyed, that their temple
should become a heap, and Nebuchadnezzar should lay it with the ground. They laughed
him to scorn; they mocked him. Still the viol and dance were only to be seen. And now,
today, here are many of you merry makers in this ball of life; ye are here merry and glad
today, and ye marvel that I should talk of you as persons for whom we ought to weep.
“Weep ye for No!” you say; “I am in health, I am in riches, I am enjoying life; why weep
me? I need none of your sentimental weeping!” Ah, but we weep because foresee the
future. Oh, if today some strong archangel could unbolt the gates hell, and for a solitary
second permit the voice of wailing and weeping to come to our ears: oh, how should we
grieve! Remember, again, O Christian, that those for whom we ask you to weep this day
are persons who have had great; privileges, and consequently, if lost, must expect greater
punishment. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Why the righteous should weep for the wicked
I. Because they are infinite blessings.
1. There are many present blessings men lose by rebellion against God. There is a
“peace that passeth all understanding,” and a “joy” unspeakable and full of glory,
attending belief in, and devotion to, His service. The having one’s passions in
subjection gives serenity of mind. But enjoying of God’s favour, and the light of His
countenance, is the source of richest blessings mortals possess on earth. But what
peace is there for the cursed?
2. But the eternal blessings they lose are beyond imagination.
3. And not these things matters of just lamentation? How must we pity him who,
when there is a rest prepared, and a supper spread for him, in heaven, provokes God
to swear that he “shall not enter in,” nor even taste of that supper.
II. Because of the influence woes they entail on themselves.
1. How inexpressibly dreadful are the torments which the wicked will endure in hell.
2. And can we view sinners hastening to that place of torment and not weep over
them?
III. Because of the aggravated guilt under which they perish. Every offer of salvation
aggravates the guilt of those who reject it; and every increase of guilt is followed by
increase of misery. Infer—
1. How little true charity is there in the world. Charity to the soul is the soul of
charity.
2. How earnest should men be in seeking the salvation of their own souls.
14

15. (Evangelical Preacher.)
Grief for sinners
There is an anecdote told of a careless Sabbath breaker who stumbled into Mr.
Sherman’s chapel one Sunday evening when he was engaged in prayer. He took his stand
in the aisle, and, seeing the tears rolling down the minister’s cheeks and falling on the
book as he was pleading for the conversion of sinners, he was aroused, and said to
himself: “This man is evidently in earnest; there must be something in the condition of
sinners that I do not understand.” He remained, was instructed and converted, and
became a useful and steady member of the congregation.
Painful solicitude for the souls of others
This concern was incessant with the apostle. “I have continual sorrow in my heart.” The
pain was unceasing. His interest in sinners was not spasmodic; it had become blessedly
chronic. There are some of us who every now and then get a passing qualm of conscience
and a consequent spurt in the matter, but how long does it last? It is a mere emotion, a
transient feeling, a spasm that scarcely suffices to stir us for so much as a single Sabbath.
Oh, that there were in the pastor’s heart, and in the hearts of all his people, a breaking, a
yearning that cannot be satisfied, for the salvation of London, and of all who know not
Jesus! I find myself weeping, but I weep because I weep so little. I confess myself this
morning grieving, but I fear my greatest grief is that I do not grieve as I should. Well,
that is a hopeful beginning. Let us all get to this at least, and we shall reach the other by
and by. (Thomas Spurgeon.)
Jeremiah 9:2
Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men.
Two prayers of Jeremiah
(with Jer_14:8-9):—In all the fellowship of, the prophets Jeremiah is by far the most
unwilling and reluctant. If Isaiah’s watchword was “Here am I—send me,” Jeremiah’s
might have been, “I would be anywhere else but here—let me go.” It was out of this
besetting mood of his that the prayer rose which I have taken as the first of my texts, “Oh
that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men, that I might leave my
people and go from them.” That is not a prayer for solitude. It is some wayside
caravanserai or hotel which Jeremiah longs for; and there he would have been far less
alone than in his unshared home at Jerusalem. No, it is not a prayer for solitude, but a
prayer to be set where a man can enjoy all the interest of life without having any of its
responsibility. Oh, to have no other work in life than to watch the street from the balcony
window, than to feel the interest and glitter of life, and achieve your duty towards your
fellows, by a kindliness and a courtesy that are never put to the strain of prolonged
acquaintance! But our prayers often outrun themselves in the very utterance; and
Jeremiah’s wish, too, carried within it its own denial Look at the words, “That I might
leave my people.” Emphasise the last two—“My people.” They are the answer to
Jeremiah’s prayer. God had not sent him to earth to be as separate from the life of men
15

16. as a musing man is from the river flowing past his feet; God had sent him, not to watch
life from a balcony, but leaping down to share it; not to live in an inn where a man is not
even responsible for the housekeeping, but has only his way to pay. God had begotten
Jeremiah into a nation. He had made him a citizen. He had given him a patriot’s lot, with
the patriot’s conscience and heart. So he stayed on where he was in Jerusalem, and the
world may have lost certain studies in human life in the great caravanserai of the
Lebanon or Arabian desert roads, for wherever he went Jeremiah would not have kept
his brain and pen idle. We may even have lost a book, something between Job and
Ecclesiastes, but we have gained the book of Jeremiah, the book of the citizen-prophet,
and who, because he was a citizen-prophet, and not a caravanserai one, was also a
citizen-priest, the first man who entered into the true meaning of vicarious suffering,
and therefore stands out clear from all the shadows of the Old Testament—so clear a
symbol of our Saviour Jesus Christ. Look now at the main elements of Jeremiah’s
experience as he thus stood to his post of prophet and priest at Jerusalem. I take these
elements to be mainly three.
1. The first was the reality of sin. A prophet has got to begin there, or he had better
not begin at all. And he has got to begin there not in order to satisfy some dogma or
another, but because the facts are there. There is a kind of preaching about sin far
too prevalent in our day, which treats of it doctrinally and not practically, which lays
its strength to proving to a man that he must be a sinner, instead of touching his
conscience with the knowledge that he is one. But Jeremiah laid his finger on the
actual plague spots of the people. He was very definite with these. But there was
another note which Jeremiah sounded equally with that on the reality of sin.
2. It was the note of the swiftness and irretrievableness of time where character and
salvation are concerned. Live with men in the city, grow old with the same
individuals and groups, and learn things—how inexorable habit is; how irrecoverable
are the chances of youth; how short and swift is the summer granted to each man’s
character to ripen in; learn how even the Gospel of the grace of God is just like the
sybil of old coming back each time: you have forced him to return with less power of
promise and persuasion; and how even repentance—that great freedom of man, that
joy of God and the angels—has its times and its places, which, being missed, are not
found again, though we seek them with tears. Upon these thoughts the roll of
Jeremiah’s prophecy rises every now and again with a great sob. What distinguished
Jeremiah from all the prophets who had gone before him was that he did not stand
on the banks while all Israel rushed rapidly past him irretrievably to ruin, but that he
was with the people, taking their reproach as his reproach, and sharing the penalty of
their sins.
3. This suffering for the sins of others, being the sin-bearer as well as the conscience
of his people, is the third element of Jeremiah’s experience. How did he come to it?
It is interesting to watch, for in God’s providence he was the first forerunner of
Christ in this path. Well, first of all he loved his people; he had a very rich, tender
heart, and he loved his people with the whole of it. And then God gave him a
conscience about them, that conscience of their sin, and of the penalty to which it
was leading. It was in the meeting of such a heart and such a conscience that
Jeremiah knew how one man can suffer for others. Oh! it is a terrible fate to be the
conscience of those you love, to be their only conscience, to feel their sins as you
know they do not feel them themselves, and to be aware of the inevitable judgment to
which they are so indifferent. Jeremiah often wondered at it. It perplexed him. After
16

17. clearly stating the causes why God should smite Israel, he would suddenly turn
round in his sympathy with the doomed people, and exclaim, like a beaten animal
looking up in the face of his master, “Why hast Thou smitten me?” And again, that
strange prayer of his, “O Lord, Thou hast deceived me, and I am deceived. Thou art
stronger than I.” What can we answer to the perplexed prophet except this, that if a
man have the Divine gift of a pure conscience and a more loving heart than his
fellows, there comes with such gifts the necessary, the inevitable, obligation of
suffering. The physical results of Israel’s sin Jeremiah did not bear for the people. He
bore these with the people in the most heroic and self-denying patience, but he did
not do so for or instead of his people. But the spiritual distress, the keener
conscience, the agony of estrangement from God, the knowledge of His wrath upon
sin—these Jeremiah did bear instead of the dull impenitent Israel. And is it too much
to say that it was for his sake that in the end Israel was saved from utter extinction?
Now, with this knowledge of what Jeremiah came through, look at his second prayer.
The two chief words are exactly the same as before a “wayfaring man”: and “Oh that I
were in a lodge of wayfaring men”; and the verb “to spend the night,” is the same
word as the noun “lodge” or “inn” of wayfaring men—literally a place to pass the
night. Jeremiah’s second prayer, therefore, is just this, that God would be to the
people what Jeremiah himself had tried to be. (Prof. G. A. Smith.)
Jeremiah, a lesson for the disappointed
No prophet commenced labours with greater encouragements than Jeremiah. A king
reigned who was bringing back the times of the man after God’s own heart. This devout
and zealous king was young. What might not therefore be effected in course of years?
Schism, too, was at an end since Israel’s captivity. Kings of the house of David again
ruled over the whole land. Idolatry was destroyed by Josiah in all the cities. Thus, at first
sight, it seemed reasonable to anticipate further and permanent improvements.
I. Everyone begins with being sanguine. Jeremiah did. God’s servants entered on their
office with more lively hopes than their after fortunes warranted. Very soon the cheerful
prospect was overcast for Jeremiah, and he was left to labour in the dark.
1. Huldah’s message fixed the coming fortunes of Judah: she foretold the early death
of the good king and a fierce destruction to the unworthy nation. This prophecy came
five years after Jeremiah entered office; so early in his course were his hopes cut
away.
2. Or, the express word of God came to and undeceived him.
3. Or, the hardened state of sin in which the nation lay destroyed his hopes.
II. Resignation a more blessed state of mind than sanguine hope.
1. To expect great efforts from our religious exertions is natural and innocent, but
arises from inexperience of the kind of work we have to do—to change the heart and
will of men.
2. Far nobler frame of mind to labour, not with hope of seeing fruit, but for
conscience’ sake, as matter of duty, and in faith, trusting good will be done though
we see it not.
3. The Bible shows that though God’s servants began with success, they ended with
17

18. disappointment. Not that God’s purposes or instruments fail, but because the time
for reaping is not here, but hereafter.
III. The vicissitude of feeling which this transition from hope to disappointment
produces. Affliction, fear, despondency, sometimes restlessness, even impatience under
his trials, find frequent expression in Jeremiah’s writings (Jer_5:3; Jer_5:30-31; Jer_
12:1-3; Jer_15:10-18; Jer_20:7-14).
IV. The issue of these changes and conflicts of feeling was resignation. He comes to use
language which expresses that chastened spirit and weaned heart which is the
termination of all agitation and anxiety in religious minds. He, who at one time could not
comfort himself, was sent to comfort a brother; and in comforting Baruch he speaks in
that nobler temper of resignation which takes the place of sanguine hope and harassing
fear, and betokens calm and clear-sighted faith and inward peace. (J. H. Newman, D. D.)
2 Oh, that I had in the desert
a lodging place for travelers,
so that I might leave my people
and go away from them;
for they are all adulterers,
a crowd of unfaithful people.
BARNES, "From their punishment the prophet now turns to their sins.
Jer_9:2
The prophet utters the wish that he might be spared his daily striving, and in some
lone wilderness give way to his sorrow, without restraint.
A lodging place - It was usual to build in the desert, either by private charity or at
the public expense, caravanserais, to receive travelers for a single night, who had
however to bring their own supplies with them.
An assembly - Or, a gang.
Treacherous - Faithless toward one another.
18

19. CLARKE, "O that I had in the wilderness - In the eastern countries there are no
such inns or houses of entertainment as those in Europe. There are in different places
public buildings called caravanserais, where travelers may lodge: but they are without
furniture of any kind, and without food. Indeed they are often without a root being mere
walls for a protection against the wild beasts of the desert. I wish to hide myself any
where, in the most uncomfortable circumstances, that I may not be obliged any longer to
witness the abominations of this people who are shortly to be visited with the most
grievous punishments. Several interpreters suppose this to be the speech of God. I
cannot receive this. I believe this verse to be spoken by the prophet, and that God
proceeds with the next verse, and so on to the ninth inclusive.
GILL, "Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men,....
Such as travellers take up with in a desert, when they are benighted, and cannot reach a
town or village. This the prophet chose, partly that he might have an opportunity to give
vent to his grief, being alone; for which reason he did not desire to be in cities and
populous places, where he might be amused and diverted while his people were in
distress: and partly to show his sympathy, not being able to bear the sight of their
misery; and also some degree of indignation at their impieties, which had brought ruin
upon them; on account of which it was more eligible to dwell with the wild beasts of the
desert than with them in his native country: wherefore it follows,
that I might leave my people, and go from them; which of itself was not
desirable; no man chooses to leave his country, his own people, and his father's house,
and go into distant lands and strange countries; and especially into a wilderness, where
there is neither suitable food nor agreeable company: wherefore this shows, that there
must be something very bad, and very provoking, to lead him to take such a step as this:
the reason follows,
for they be all adulterers; either in a literal or figurative sense; the latter seems
rather intended; for though corporeal fornication and adultery might greatly prevail
among them, yet not to such a height as that "all" of them were guilty; whereas idolatry
did generally obtain among them: an assembly of treacherous men; not a few only, but in
general they were apostates from God and from true religion, and treacherous to one
another. The Septuagint calls them "a synod"; and Joseph Kimchi interprets it "a
kingdom"; deriving the word from ‫,עצר‬ as it signifies to have rule and dominion;
denoting, that the kingdom in general was false and perfidious.
JAMISON, "lodging-place — a caravanseral for caravans, or companies travelling
in the desert, remote from towns. It was a square building enclosing an open court.
Though a lonely and often filthy dwelling, Jeremiah would prefer even it to the comforts
of Jerusalem, so as to be removed from the pollutions of the capital (Psa_55:7, Psa_
55:8).
CALVIN, "Here the Prophet entertains another wish: He had before wished that his
head were waters, that he might shed tears, and he had wished his eyes to be the
fountains of tears; but now, after having duly considered the wickedness of the
19

20. people, he puts off every feeling of humanity, and as one incensed, he desires to
move elsewhere, and wholly to leave the people; for their impiety had so prevailed
that he could no longer live among them. It is indeed certain that the Prophet had no
common grief, when he perceived that God’s dreadful vengeance was not far
distant: it is also certain that he was moved and constrained by their detestable
conduct to desire to be removed elsewhere. But he speaks not only for his own sake;
for he regards his own nation, and expresses his feelings, that he might more
effectually touch their hearts. We must then understand, that so great was the
sympathy of the Prophet, that he was not satisfied with shedding tears, but that he
wished that his whole head would flow into fearn It appears, also, that he was so
moved with idignation, that he wished wholly to leave his own people. But, as I have
said, his object was to try whether he could restore them to the right way.
He then shews, in this verse, that the Jews had become so detestable, that all the true
servants of God wished to be removed far away from them: Who then will set me in
the desert? He seeks not for himself another country; he desires not to dwell in a
pleasant situation, or that some commodious asylum should be offered to him? but
he desires to be placed in the desert, or in the lodging of travelers. He speaks not of
those lodgings or inns, which were in villages and towns; but of a lodging in the
desert; according to what is the case, when a long and tedious journey is made
through forests, some sheds are formed, that when a traveler is over — taken by the
darkness of night, he might be protected by some covering, and not He down in the
open air. It is of this kind of lodging that the Prophet speaks: then he no doubt
means a shed; but as to the word, we may retain, as I have said, its proper meaning.
What is meant is, that to dwell in the desert alllong wild beasts was better than to be
among that abominable people. By expressing this wish he inflamed no doubt the
fury of the whole people, or at least of most of them; but it was necessary thus
forcibly to address them: as they submitted to no kind and wholesome warnings and
counsels, they were to be forcibly stimulated and urged by such reproofs as these.
I will leave my people This had an emphatic, bearing; for delightful to every one is
his native soil, and it is also delightful to dwell among one’s own people. As then the
Prophet wished to be removed into the desert,, and to leave his own people, all his
relatives and the nation from which he sprang, and to depart frora them, it follows
that they nmst have come to extremities.
And the reason is added, For all are adulterers I take the word ‫מנאפים‬ menaphim,
adulterers, in a metaphorical sense, as meaning all those who had departed from
God, and abandoned themselves to ungodly superstitions, or those who had become
so vitiated and corrupt as to retain no integrity. He does not then call them
adulterers, because they were given to whoredoms, but because they were immersed
in all kinds of defilements. He afterwards calls them an assembly of apostates, or of
perfidious men. The word ‫עצר‬ , otsar, means to prohibit, to restrain: hence the noun
‫עצרת‬ ostaret, means a summoned assembly, when, according to an oath or laws, men
are forced to meet; and after the assembly is proclaimed, they dare not depart. Then
the Prophet by this word points out the consent and union that existed among that
20

21. people, as though he had said, that they no less clave to their sins, that if by a solemn
rite or authority or ordinance they had been summoned together and were
prohibited to depart. We hence see that he condemns the impious consent that was
among the people, and also their pertinacity; for they could by no means be restored
to a right mind. And for this reason he calls them also ‫בגדים‬ begadim, transgressors;
for by this word the Hebrews mean, not every kind of sinners, but those who are
wholly wicked: and hence the prophets, when, they speak of apostates and revolters,
ever call them ‫,בגדים‬ begadim, as in this passage. (236) I shall not proceed farther.
O that I, had in the desert the lodging of travellers, Then I would go away from
them; For all of them are adulterers, A company of hypocrites.
He preferred living in the temporary sheds of travellers, erected in the desert, rather
than to live among his own people. How intolerably wicked they must have been! A
company, or an assembly, a multitude: the word need not be deemed as retaining its
primary idea. The meaning is, that the whole community, the whole people, were
hypocrites; they pretended to worship and serve God, and at the same time were
idolaters and treacherous and immoral in their conduct. The word for “hypocrites”
is derived from one that means a garment, a cloak, a covering; and the verb
means to act under a cover, to act deceitfully, or falsely, or hypocritically, or
perfidiously. It is rendered “deceivers” by the Septuagint, “prevaricators” by
the Vulgate, “liars” by the Syriac, “falsifiers” by the Targum, and “perfidious
dealers” by Blayney. — Ed.
COFFMAN, ""Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men;
that I might leave my people and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an
assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongue, as it were their bow, for
falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed
from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah."
"The blatant sins Jeremiah described here are literal; society was shot through and
through with wickedness. The first sin mentioned in this indictment was universal
adultery. This is called `spiritual adultery,' or the worshipping of idols; but in that
worship gross immoralities were practiced."[3]
The speech of the people was loaded with falsehood, slander, and every evil; and
Jeremiah here used the metaphor of a bow with arrows to describe it. The bow and
arrow, of course, were weapons of warfare in that age. As Keil noted, "It was
neither the tongue nor the bow which was lying, but that false speech which they
shot with their tongue, as with a bow."[4]
There existed in that society at that time, "An utter want of upright dealing between
man and man."[5]
21

22. COKE, "Jeremiah 9:2. A lodging-place of wayfaring men— Travellers in the East
are not, nor ever were, accommodated at inns on the road, after the manner
of the European nations. In some places, indeed, there are large public
buildings provided for their reception, which they call caravanseras: but
these afford merely a covering, being absolutely without furniture; and the
traveller must carry his own provisions and necessaries along with him, or he
will not find any. Nor are even these empty mansions always to be met with;
so that if the weary traveller at night comes into a town, where there is no
caravansera, or ‫,נבםהןקויןם‬ as it is called, Luke 10:34 he must take up his lodging in
the street, unless some charitable inhabitant will be pleased to receive him into his
house, as we find, Judges 19:15. And if he passes through the desart, it is well for
him if he can light upon a cave, or a hut, which some one before him may have
erected for a temporary shelter. And this last is what I conceive to be here meant by
‫מלון‬ ‫ארחים‬ melon orchim, a solitary, and not very comfortable, situation; but yet
preferable to the chagrin of living continually in the society of men of profligate
manners.
CONSTABLE, "Jeremiah longed for a place of retreat in the wilderness where he
could go to get away from his fellow countrymen. Their spiritual adultery and
treachery repulsed him. A few recent commentators take the first five verses of this
pericope to be the words of God rather than Jeremiah"s. [Note: E.g, Page H. Kelley,
Jeremiah 1-25 , pp143-45. Kelley wrote the commentary on8:4-16:21 in this volume
of the Word Biblical Commentary, which appears in the bibliography of these notes
after Craigie, the writer of the first part of the book.]
PULPIT, "Jer_9:2
A lodging place of wayfaring men; a "khan" or "caravanserai," to use the terms now
so familiar from Eastern travel, where "wayfaring men" could at least find shelter, and
the means of preparing their provisions. Comp; besides the parallel passage in Psa_55:6,
Psa_55:7, our own Cowper’s fine reminiscence of Jeremiah: "Oh for a lodge in some vast
wilderness!" etc. Adulterers … treacherous men (see Jer_2:20; Jer_3:8, Jer_3:9;
Jer_3:20; Jer_5:11).
GREAT TEXTS OF THE BIBLE, "The Call of Life
Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave
my people, and go from them!—Jer_9:2.
Jeremiah is the most human of all the prophets. He takes us into the secrets of his
inner life, and we are made to know his misgivings and questionings. He had to be a
prophet of God in the saddest and darkest day. It fell to him to speak for God when
22

23. Jerusalem was hastening to its doom. His ministry is as the bright evening sun,
which amid the gathering darkness sheds a glory over Judah, as it sinks into the
night. We cannot imagine a situation more pathetic and painful. He has to watch the
lingering agony of his exhausted land, to tend it during the alternate fits of despair
and futile hope which precede the end. He is as the minister who has to accompany
the condemned criminal to the scaffold, and who knows that the criminal is his own
brother, flesh of his flesh. His heart is at war with his duty. He is in the cruellest
dilemma. He would give all he has to make Judah happy and Jerusalem prosperous,
and yet he has to declare their inevitable fate. How thankful he would be if he had
never known the truth and if it had not been his to speak it. He is full of pity for the
miseries of the people and the unhappy fate of his beloved fatherland, and yet he
foresees the end and must declare it; and, truest patriot who ever lived though he
be, he must bear the stigma of a traitor to his country for the sake of God and of
truth.
No wonder that in all the fellowship of the prophets Jeremiah is by far the most
unwilling and reluctant. Other prophets, like Isaiah, with his “Here am I—send
me,” stand boldly forward, exulting in their gifts; but Jeremiah is always shrinking,
protesting, craving leave to retire. Unassisted by circumstance, by nature timid,
easily wearied and impatient, distrustful of his own gifts, he was kept to his great
career solely and wholly by the sense that God had called him and predestined him.
And that sense was so generally one of unmixed labour and pain that he is almost
constantly found praying to be released from it. If Isaiahs watchword was: “Here
am I—send me,” Jeremiahs might have been, “I would be anywhere else but here—
let me go.” It was out of this besetting mood that the cry arose: “Oh that I had in the
wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men!”
Let us look, first, at the prophets wish to escape from lifes stern demands; and,
secondly, at the obligation to persevere in the path of duty.
I
The Wish to Escape
1. “Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might
leave my people, and go from them!” That is not a prayer for solitude. It is some
wayside caravanserai or hotel that Jeremiah longs for; and there he would have
been far less alone than in his unshared home at Jerusalem. No, it is not a prayer for
solitude, but a prayer to be set where a man can enjoy all the interest of life without
having any of its responsibility; where all men are wayfarers and come and go, like
the river past the bank on which you lie the long summer afternoon, and rouse your
pity and help you to muse and perhaps to sing, but never touch your conscience;
where you may be an artist or a poet, or only a good fellow, but cannot possibly be
required to be a prophet. It was so terrible to have to look below the surface of life,
to know people long enough both to judge them with a keener conscience than
themselves and to love them with a breaking heart. Oh, to have no other work in life
23

24. than to watch the street from the balcony window, than to feel the interest and
glitter of life, and to achieve your duty towards your fellows by a kindliness and a
courtesy that are never put to the strain of prolonged acquaintance!
The trade-routes had such places dotted along their course, where travellers and
traders could put up for the night. The caravanserai was often a busy place, for all
its cheerless furnishing; there would be men coming and going, hurrying on their
pleasure or their business, merchants, court-officials, or ordinary travellers, full of
news and alive with interests of every kind. There, thought Jeremiah, I could feel at
home; I could content myself with letting things go unchallenged. He wanted
evidently to be no more than a looker-on at life. He was tired, not so much of human
beings as of responsibility for any of them. Out on the steppes, in a khan, he could
still keep in touch with some currents of existence, and yet be no more than a cool,
indifferent spectator.
Thoreau, that singular American who has written some beautiful essays, who went
and lived in the woods, says that he chose so to spend his days, “on the promenade
deck of the world, an outside passenger, where I have freedom in my thought and in
my soul am free.”1 [Note: A. Ramsay, Studies in Jeremiah, 61.]
Pythagoras was once asked contemptuously by a Greek tyrant who he was and what
was his particular business in the world. The philosopher replied that at the
Olympic games some people came to try for the prizes, some to dispose of their
merchandise, some to enjoy themselves and meet their friends, and some to look on.
“I,” said Pythagoras, “am one of those who come to look on at life.” Bacon, in telling
the story, adds: “But men must know that in this theatre of mans life it is reserved
only for God and angels to be lookers-on.”2 [Note: J. Moffatt, Reasons and Reasons,
45.]
2. What moved Jeremiah to harbour this wish?
(1) He tells us himself that it was because he was so out of touch with the people, and
because they had, as by a national apostasy, departed from God. He felt often as if
he alone stood for God amid a faithless generation. “Run ye to and fro through the
streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if
you can find a man, if there be any that doeth justly, that seeketh truth.” And again
he says, “From the least of them even unto the greatest of them every one is given to
covetousness; and from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth falsely.”
It was a terrible isolation in which he stood: in the crowded market-place this man
was as much alone as in the widest solitudes. One faithful disciple we know he had,
and a few there must have been who listened to his voice; but these were so few and
far between, and they were so little in evidence, that they did not affect the universal
antipathy with which he was regarded. None shared his ideals; none offered to God
the worship of righteousness.
There are moments and moods when even a strong nature will feel tempted to
24

25. escape, or to wish to escape, from the pressure of responsibility into a position where
it would only be necessary to look on. Such was Jeremiahs case at this period of his
career. He felt disappointed and disquieted with his age. He was at that critical
phase of life when the first flush of enthusiasm, which throws men into eager
contact with their fellows, has been succeeded by a profound sense of the corruption
and self-will and greed which sometimes thwart an enterprise of religious or
national reform. He had failed to carry the people with him; he was unpopular; and
he was disheartened. At one moment he was ready to weep for his land. “Oh that my
head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and
night for the slain of the daughter of my people.” That is the anguish of a true
patriot over evils which are being allowed to eat away the heart of a nation, over the
rampant selfishness which forgets the rights and claims of God or of ones fellow-
men, over the indifference of people to human pain and to Divine appeals.
When a preacher has to say, “Who hath received our report?” a true mans heart
knows its own bitterness. The hopes of his day of ordination and the meagre results
attained by all his labours go not well together.
In the glory of youth the young man went,
His heart with pride was stirred.
They should yield, he cried, to the message sent
And force of the burning word.
The long years passed, and a wearied man
Crept back to the old home door;
I have spoken my word and none has heard,
And the great world rolls as before.1 [Note: A. Ramsay, Studies in Jeremiah , 35.]
(2) He had none of the ordinary solaces by which such loneliness is relieved. He had
neither wife nor child; he had not the interest of any occupation outside of his
prophetic career; he was shut off from mingling in the social life of the people.
Regretfully he tells us that he was not permitted to rejoice with the joyful or to
sorrow with the sorrowful. What, then, is left to this lonely man? Is not this a
moment of general dissolution and shipwreck, when the terrible cry may be raised,
“Let each man look to himself; let him save himself who can”? The State was being
broken up: monarchy, nation, ritual, temple were all being thrown into the
whirlpool of ruin. The individual was being left to his own resources; the best that
could be hoped was that men might escape with their lives.
25

26. We live in groups, in societies; but these, after all, touch only upon our upper levels.
Rarely do they reach the realm where we dwell. We live in crowded cities, but you
can be lonelier in Fleet Street than in the centre of Sahara. Nature introduces us, at
different stages of our career, to successive phases and varieties of loneliness. With
many of us she begins early. Is there an acuter experience than that of the boy, away
from the home he has never before left, on his first night at school? To many a
sensitive soul it has been the first night in hell. He will have many more nights
there—to find what an excellent place hell is as a school of culture. Later on, he will
meet his other lonelinesses. The higher his nature the more acute they will be. Think
of the solitude of the man of genius; of the leader, the teacher in advance of his age!
His followers have got a living personality in front of them; the sight of him warms
their hearts, stirs their enthusiasm. But what has he in front of him—Luther on his
way to Worms, Jesus treading the road to Jerusalem? No visible leader for them;
nothing for them but the invisible! Who is there to comprehend them, who to share
their inmost thought? Their cry is that of Confucius of old: “Alas! there is no one
that knows me, … but there is Heaven—that knows me.” Solitude is the lot of all the
teachers, of all the originals. Says Newman in one of his letters: “God intends me to
be lonely. He has so framed my mind that I am in a great measure beyond the
sympathies of other people, and thrown upon Himself.” There he speaks for all who
have trodden the higher pathways.1 [Note: J. Brierley, Religion and To-Day, 153.]
3. We can all understand why such a wish, with all the power of an enchantment,
should arise in this mans heart, for it has had a place in our own. Without a tithe of
his reasons and excuse, there can be few of us who have not felt the impulse to a self-
regarding life. Why should we not limit our interests to our own concerns? What
hinders that we look only to our own ease and comfort and personal salvation?
Kingdom of God, Church of Jesus Christ, nation, city, condition of the people, cause
of freedom and righteousness—all this that stands for what is beyond the individual
and the selfish—why should we have a care for such things? “Oh that I had in the
wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men!”
(1) We yearn for an escape from the responsibilities of life—not “all the weary
weight of this unintelligible world,” but just the burdens that lie at our own door.
For as life advances—if it is being well lived—responsibilities are bound to gather.
Business increases, influence extends, the life of the home is larger and fuller and
deeper. In hours of high courage, too, and when the heart is strong, men enter on
the public service of their city, and that weight must be carried through many a
thankless day. So again is the prophets mood begotten. Men long for release—to lay
the burden down. They think how supremely happy life would be without the black
care that sits behind the horseman. That thought was not a stranger to Jeremiah.
(2) We long to escape from monotony. When day after day men rise to the same
task, when morning by morning—spring, summer, autumn, winter—the hands have
to take up the same weary drudgery, then sooner or later comes the rebellious hour
when the heart craves passionately for escape. That hour comes sometimes through
26

27. the reading of books which bring home to us the rich and varied action of humanity;
sometimes when other lives that seem so unrestrained are brought into bitter
contrast with our own; and sometimes when the first signs of spring have come,
when the awakening earth woos us to liberty, when the warmth of the sun and the
breath of the wind are on us. In such ways the mood of rebellion is begotten. We fret
and chafe at the dulness of our days. The dreary monotony of daily work grows
odious. There surges within us the longing for release. That very longing surged in
the noble heart of Jeremiah.
(3) There are hours when we wish to escape from ourselves. We begin by thinking
that if we could change our lot we should be very happy and contented. We imagine
that if we could only get away into new scenes, it would be infinitely restful. But as
we grow older, and perhaps wiser, we discover that, go where we will, we carry our
own hearts with us, and that what we really craved for—although we did not know
it—was not a change of scene but change of self. We come to know ourselves so well
as life proceeds—our weaknesses, our limitations. There are men who have
everything to make them happy, yet somehow they have not the genius to be happy.
Hence springs the strange rebellion of unrest; the wish for the wings of the morning
that we may fly away, not merely from the burden of our lot, but from the heavier
burden of ourselves.
Men often blind themselves to facts, and weave theories to make the burden lighter.
They speak of sin and death and poverty and care in a way that is irreconcilable
with facts. It is not truth they are seeking, it is ease. It is not actuality, it is relief.
They want the world to be golden, and they make it so, though it is full of sorrow
and leaden-eyed despair—and remember, there is a cowardice of mind, no less than
a cowardice upon the field of battle. When men turn away from the straight gaze of
Christ, and when they run to philosophies and theories which have no cry in them,
no cross, no blood—only harmonious and flattering music—that is another betrayal
of the strange yet quenchless longing to escape.1 [Note: G. H. Morrison, The
Unlighted Lustre, 109.]
I suppose that the most exalted and least “casual” of worldly joys consists in the
adequate recognition by the world of high achievement by ourselves. Yet it is
notorious that—
It is by God decreed
Fame shall not satisfy the highest need.
It has been my lot to know not a few of the famous men of our generation, and I
have always observed that this is profoundly true. Like all other “moral”
satisfactions, this soon palls by custom, and as soon as one end of distinction is
reached another is pined for. There is no finality to rest in, while disease and death
are always standing in the background. Custom may even blind men to their misery
so far as not to make them realize what is wanting; yet the want is there. I take it,
27

28. then, as unquestionably true that this whole negative side of the subject proves a
vacuum in the soul of man which nothing can fill save faith in God.2 [Note: G. J.
Romanes, Thoughts on Religion.]
In the ancient orderly places, with a blank and orderly mind,
We sit in our green walled gardens and our corn and oil increase;
Sunset nor dawn can wake us, for the face of the heavens is kind;
We light our taper at even and call our comfort peace.
Peaceful our clear horizon, calm as our sheltered days
Are the lilied meadows we dwell in, the decent highways we tread.
Duly we make our offerings, but we know not the God we praise,
For He is the God of the living, but we, His children, are dead.
I will arise and get me beyond this country of dreams,
Where all is ancient and ordered and hoar with the frost of years,
To the land where loftier mountains cradle their wilder streams,
And the fruitful earth is blessed with more bountiful smiles and tears,—
There in the home of the lightnings, where the fear of the Lord is set free,
Where the thunderous midnights fade to the turquoise magic of morn,
The days of man are a vapour, blown from a shoreless sea,
A little cloud before sunrise, a cry in the void forlorn—
I am weary of men and cities and the service of little things,
28

29. Where the flamelike glories of life are shrunk to a candles ray.
Smite me, my God, with Thy presence, blind my eyes with Thy wings,
In the heart of Thy virgin earth show me Thy secret way!1 [Note: John Buchan, A
Lodge in the Wilderness.]
II
The Obligation to Persevere
1. The day came when Jeremiah could gratify his wish. After Jerusalem was taken
and everything was lost, a home in Babylon was offered to him. He could have had
dignified ease. He had friends at court; the Babylonian general was ready to secure
for him all his heart could wish. He could enjoy well-earned repose. Now at the end
of the long day it was fitting that rest be appointed to the labourer. Twenty years
before, the longing had been strong within him for just such an opportunity as this,
and he had resisted it; but now at the long last, the chance has come his way. Will he
put it past him, or will he eagerly seize it? He is dragged along as a prisoner, and
there, while the manacles are struck off his wrists, this tempting future is opened up
before him. And yet the issue is not for a moment in doubt. He cannot even now find
it in his heart to leave his people. The bald narrative cannot hide from us the
heroism and renunciation involved in the act. “Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah
the son of Ahikam to Mizpah, and dwelt with him among the people that were left in
the land.” In a passion of despair he broke out with the cry, “Oh that I might leave
my people!” But he did not leave them. He was too noble and generous at heart to
become a mere looker-on. For this craving is a moral weakness. The heroic natures
in every age are not seated on the balcony; they are down among their fellow-men,
bearing the strain and stress of their position, identifying themselves willingly with
the people among whom it may have pleased God to cast their lot, and brave enough
to meet
The fierce confederate storm
Of sorrow, barricaded evermore
Within the walls of cities.
There is a little childrens hymn which goes like this—
Had I the wings of a dove I would fly,
Far, far away, far away.
If that is the use to which we would put our wings, it is an infinite mercy that they
have never grown. We are here as stewards, and a steward must be faithful. We are
29

30. called to be soldiers, not to be deserters. We are set here by an ordering God not to
fly away, but to hold on and fight on and trust on to the end.1 [Note: G. H.
Morrison, The Unlighted Lustre, 111.]
2. What was it that moored and anchored Jeremiah to his hard life in Jerusalem?
Why could he not tear himself away from it? The whole secret is out when you
emphasize these words “that I might leave my people!” There rested on his spirit a
sense of his oneness with his people far more stringent than ever prophet had felt
before, a sympathy with their sufferings which breaks forth in some of the most
pathetic cries in all literature, a consciousness of their sins which makes him feel
their guilt to the depths of his being.
God had not sent him to earth to be as separate from the life of man as a musing
man is from the river flowing past his feet. God had sent him, not to watch life from
a balcony, but leaping down to share it: not to live in an inn, where a man is not
even responsible for the housekeeping, but has only his way to pay. God had
begotten Jeremiah into a nation. He had made him a citizen. He had given him a
patriots lot, with the patriots conscience and heart. Jeremiah had been forced to
grow familiar with men, to find them out by living on their own level, to see habit
slowly grow and falsehood surely betray itself, and fathers evil descend to children,
and policies reap their fruits, and systems get tried by events, and, moreover, death
come down. This was his destiny through all the mingled sin and pity of the linked
generations—to feel at once his judgment upon men grow keener and more hopeless
and his love for them deeper and more yearning.
Under the power of such a union Jeremiah lived all his days. He acknowledged it; he
sought more and more to feel the force of it. He was an Israelite indeed. Israel in
him struggled against its doom. The dumb, inarticulate mind of the people found a
voice in him. He wept over them; he palliated their offences; he confessed for them
their sins. He overflowed with human sympathies; he had a very rich and tender
heart, and with all the wealth of love with which it was dowered he loved the people.
These dull, impenitent people felt nothing; their sins, which drew hot, scalding tears
from Jeremiah, did not cost them a thought; but the spiritual distress, the keener
conscience, the agony of estrangement from God, the knowledge of His judgment
upon sin—all this was in Jeremiah heavy as lead, and he bore it for the people.
Sir Leslie Stephen contributes some interesting recollections as well as a sympathetic
appreciation of his friend Lowell, whom he knew intimately for many years.
“Lowells patriotism,” he writes, “was not the belief that the country which had
produced him must be the first in the world; or that the opinions which he
happened to have imbibed in his childhood must be obviously true to every one but
fools; or a simple disposition to brag, engendered out of sheer personal vanity by a
thirst for popularity. It was clearly the passion which is developed in a pure and
noble nature with strong domestic affections; which loves all that is best in the little
circle of home and early surroundings; which recognizes spontaneously in later
years the higher elements of the national life; and which, if it lead to some erroneous
30

31. beliefs, never learns to overlook or to estimate too lightly the weaker and baser
tendencies of a people. Most faiths, I fear, are favourable to some illusions, and I
will not suggest that Lowell had none about his countrymen. But such illusions are
at worst the infirmity of a noble mind, and Lowells ardent belief in his nation was,
to an outsider, a revelation of greatness both in the object of his affections and in the
man who could feel them.”1 [Note: Letters of James Russell Lowell, ii. 497.]
It has been said that the Bible, especially the New Testament, does not recognize
patriotism. M. Renan says that Christianity kills patriotism. “Religion,” he says, “is
the organization of self-devotement and renunciation—the State-patriotism is the
organization of egoism.”
One answer to this is by reference to facts. Have the most religious nations and
times been the most unpatriotic? Or the most religious men? On the contrary, the
grandest national movements have had the inspiration of religion. The
Commonwealth and Puritans in England, the Covenanters in Scotland, Cromwell,
Milton, Rutherfurd, James Guthrie, had an intense national feeling. The Cavaliers,
with Church and King, associated the two. Abraham Lincoln was a religious man,
and there was a deep feeling of religion in Stonewall Jackson. How it ranged them
on opposite sides is another question; but that the sentiments can unite, and
generally have done so, is written in all history.
It is quite true that religion gives a man something he cannot sacrifice to what some
call patriotism—meaning by patriotism national pride or material advantage. But
this is not patriotism. Unless a man loves something higher than these he cannot love
his country wisely and worthily. He must do for his country what he would do for
himself, love truth and justice most, seeking these for his country and himself at the
cost of lower and passing interests.2 [Note: John Ker, Thoughts for Heart and Life,
115.]
3. This heroic identification of himself with the interests of a faulty people marks out
Jeremiah as a prototype of Jesus. When our Lord was on earth, some of His
contemporaries were reminded of Jeremiah. “Whom do men say that I am? Some
say, Jeremiah.” Why, we are not told. But for us Jesus resembles Jeremiah in this at
least, that He did identify Himself, though in a far deeper degree, with the interests
of a self-willed and rebellious people. He, too, shared their reproach and put up with
their misunderstandings and ingratitude, in order to carry out Gods purpose. He,
too, had to meet and master the temptation to decline further association with their
unfaithfulness. “O faithless and perverse generation,” He once broke out, “how long
shall I be with you? how long shall I bear with you?” There were moments when the
incredulity and obstinacy of men were almost too much even for His great patience.
But He triumphed over all such inclinations to disavow responsibility for His race.
When Jesus set His face steadfastly to go to Jerusalem, He knew that He was going
to be betrayed and crucified there, and He was speaking to His disciples about it all.
And Peter said to Him, “Be it far from thee, Lord: this shall not be unto thee.” And
31

32. Jesus, in a flash, turned upon Peter—“Get thee behind me, Satan.” Why that
intensity, that burning word as if from a heart stirred to its very centre? Why, but
because Christ had been tempted like Jeremiah to throw the burden down and flee
away: and the intensity and strength of the rebuke, which broke like a sea wave on
Simons heart tells how the temptation to escape was crushed.
But thou wouldst not alone
Be saved, my father! alone
Conquer and come to thy goal,
Therefore to thee it was given
Many to save with thyself;
And, at the end of thy day,
O faithful shepherd! to come,
Bringing thy sheep in thy hand.
3 “They make ready their tongue
like a bow, to shoot lies;
it is not by truth
that they triumph[b] in the land.
They go from one sin to another;
they do not acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
BARNES, "Jer_9:3
Rather, “And they bend their tongue to be their bow of lies, i. e.” just as men before a
32

33. battle get their bows ready, so they of set purpose make ready to do mischief, only their
arrows are lying words: “neither do they rule faithfully in the land, i. e.” Judaea.
CLARKE, "They bend their tongues like their bow for lies - And their lies are
such that they as fully take away life as the keenest arrow shot from the best strung bow.
The false prophets told the people that there was no desolation at hand: the people
believed them; made no preparation for their defense; did not return to the Lord; and
the sword came and destroyed them.
They are not valiant for the truth - They are bold in sin, and courageous to
support their lies; but the truth they neither patronize nor support.
GILL, "And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies,.... Their tongues
were like bows, and their lying words like arrows, which they directed against persons to
their injury; see Psa_11:2, or, "like their deceitful bow" (p); to which the Targum agrees,
"they teach their tongues words of falsehood, they are like to a deceitful bow.''
Most agreeably to the accents the words may be rendered, "they bend their tongues,
their bow is a lie" (q); either deceitful, or carries a lie in it, and shoots one out of it:
but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; which a man should do
everything for, and nothing against; and which he should earnestly contend for, and not
part with or give up at any rate; not only for the truth of doctrine, for faith, as the
Targum; for the doctrine of faith, the truth of the Gospel, and as it is in Christ; but for
truth between man and man, for veracity, rightness, and integrity: for they proceed from
evil to evil; from one sin to another, growing worse and worse, as wicked men and
deceivers usually do. Kimchi observes, it may be interpreted, as of evil works, so of the
evil of punishment, from one evil of the enemy to another; or this year they are smitten
with blasting, another with mildew, or with the locust, and yet they turn not from their
evil ways:
and they know not me, saith the Lord; the God of truth, and without iniquity, and
who will severely punish for it; they did not serve and worship him as the only Lord God.
The Targum is,
"the knowledge of my fear they learned not.''
JAMISON, "bend ... tongues ... for lies — that is, with lies as their arrows; they
direct lies on their tongue as their bow (Psa_64:3, Psa_64:4).
not valiant for ... truth — (Jer_7:28). Maurer translates, “They do not prevail by
truth” or faith (Psa_12:4). Their tongue, not faith, is their weapon.
upon ... earth — rather, “in the land.”
know not me — (Hos_4:1).
CALVIN, "Jeremiah confirms what he had said of the near destruction of the
33

34. people; for, as we have said, the Jews ridiculed threatenings while they thought
themselves far from every danger. But the Prophet shews, from the nature of God
himself, that they must necessarily perish in a short time; for since God is the judge
of the world, and as they were continually advancing in impiety and wickedness,
they could no longer be tolerated. This is the meaning.
He first says, that they stretched their tongues as a bow for falsehoods The verb ‫,דרך‬
darek, means to walk, and often occurs in this sense; but; it means also to stretch, to
bend, and is frequently applied to bows. As it is here in Hiphil, some take it in a
transitive sense. It ought in this case to have ‫י‬ , iod; but such defect is often found in
other places. This sense is the most suitable; that is, that they shot with their tongues
falsehood as with a bow. Others improperly construe ‫,שקר‬ shikor, in the genitive
case, as though he had said, “the bow of falsehood, but this gives no meaning;
and therefore “the bow of falsehood” cannot be admitted here. The sense is,
that they shot falsehood with their tongue as with a bow, or that they made
their tongue to go to falsehood, or that they stretched their tongue like a
bow for falsehood. If the last rendering be approved, — that they stretched
their tongue, etc., then the Prophet compares their tongues to bows and
falsehoods to arrows. As to the subject itself, there is no difference, whether
we read that they shot lies with their tongues, or that they stretched their
tongues for lies: for the Prophet simply means that their tongues, as he will
hereafter tell us, were so pointed that they pierced one another with slanders
and falsehoods, as though one stretched a bow and shot an arrow. He then
intimates, that all their words were deadly, for they were intent on slanders
and falsehoods, so that there was no intercourse without a mortal wound.
He then adds, that they were not strong for the truth Some read, “They have been
strong, but not for the truth;” others, “They have been strong as to the truth,”
or for the truth: but I think that the Prophet’s meaning is different, — that
having checked the truth, they took more liberty for themselves, as though he
had said that they triumphed when all faithfulness and rectitude were
destroyed; for by the word, ‫אמונה‬ amune, the Prophet no doubt means that fidelity
by which men ought to carry on their concerns one with another. Since, then, there
was no uprightness among them, he says, that they marched forth as victorious
when they trod under foot what was just and right. It is indeed a proof of extreme
impiety, when men, trampling upon faithfulness and equity, allow themselves every
kind of licentiousness. Some give this explanation, — that they ruled, not through
their faithfulness or virtues, for they had crept into and obtained honors by
wicked and deceitful arts. And it. is indeed certain that the Prophet directs
34

35. his discourse, not against the common people, but against the chief men, who
had attained their power by frauds. But I am satisfied with the view that I
have already given, — that they had become strong because there was no
truth, as when we say that the blind rule in darkness, when everything is in
confusion. The meaning is, that they were not only given up to their sins, but
that they also triumphed over fidelity and justice, by allowing themselves
every liberty, as there was no one who dared to say a word to restrain them.
He says, that they thus became strong through the whole land; for he sets
forth here the deplorable state of the people in general; as though he had
said, “There is no hope of deliverance left, for truth and faithfulness are
everywhere oppressed.” )237(
An explanation follows, — that they proceeded from evil to evil; that is, they
obstinately went on in their evil doings; for to go forth means the same as to
pass. They then passed from evil to evil; that is, when they had done one
evil, no repentance entered their hearts, so as to turn back; but they
continued their wickedness, and aceunrelated evils on evils. We now then
understand what the Prophet means; for he sets forth their pertinacity in evil
deeds, and at the same time shews that there was no evidence of amendment,
for they passed from one bad deed to another like it.
And me have they not known, saith Jehovah He shews here what is the source of all
evils; they had cast aside every knowledge and every thought of God. We indeed
know that when God is really known, his fear must necessarily influence our hearts;
and the knowledge of God begets reverence and a regard for religion. It is indeed
true, that God is somewhat known by even the ungodly and the wicked, and that
they have some notions respecting him; but it is no more than an empty knowledge.
When indeed we are fully persuaded that God is the judge of the world, and when
we have also a knowledge of his goodness and paternal favor, we necessarily fear
him and spontaneously and willingly worship and serve him. Ignorance of God,
then, is a kind of madness which carries men headlong to every sort of impiety. On
this account, God complains that he was not known by the people, for the fear of
him was not in them. It follows —
And they bend their tongue, their lying bow; And not for truth are they strong in
the land.
“Their lying bow,” or “their bow of falsehood;” it was a bow by which they
shot lies; they employed their tongues for this purpose. — Ed.
35

36. PULPIT, "And they bend their tongues, etc.; rather, and they bend their tongue as
their bow of falsehood, and they use not their valor in (literally, according to) good
faith. There is a sad, stern irony in these words, which remind us of Isaiah’s (Isa_
5:22) "valiant men—for drinking wine" and of our own prophet’s repetition of himself
in Jer_22:10, "Their valor is—untruth." A less pointed form of the same figurative
statement is that of the psalmist in Psa_64:3. Upon the earth; rather, in the land. The
Authorized Version pays very little regard to the context in its rendering of the
ambiguous word erec.
SIMEON, "FORTITUDE RECOMMENDED ON THE SIDE OF TRUTH
Jeremiah 9:3. They are not valiant for the truth upon the earth.
IT is by no means uncommon to see men valiant in their country ’s cause, or
fearless in the commission of iniquity. But courage on the side of religion is
a quality but rarely seen. This virtue attaches not itself to strength of nerves,
nor is it a necessary attendant on constitutional intrepidity. It is a grace,
produced in the heart by the Holy Spirit; and is found equally to adorn the
weaker as the stronger sex. The want of natural courage is a fault in those
only who enter into professions where the exercise of it is essential to a
proper discharge of their duty: but the want of spiritual valour is a crime, for
which we must answer before God: yea, it is a great and heinous crime, for
which we have reason to dread his heaviest judgments. The prophet, when
enumerating the sins which prevailed among the Jews, and which caused him
to weep over them day and night, mentions this as one that called for his
severest reprehension; namely, that when they could “proceed with
undaunted effrontery from evil to evil,” they “were not valiant for the truth
upon the earth.”
In illustrating these words, we propose to shew,
I. That valour is requisite on the side of truth—
Let “truth” be taken in the lowest sense, as meaning nothing more than common
36

37. justice and equity, and there will still be found need of valour for the maintenance
of it in the world. Let a magistrate set himself vigorously to reform abuses, and he
will soon find that vice and profaneness will maintain a violent contest against him,
and that he has need of courage to carry his plans into full effect.
But if we understand “the truth” as comprehending the whole extent of our duty not
only as men but as Christians, our need of valour in maintaining it will be still more
apparent. We stand in need of it,
1. To profess the truth—
[Who does not know that a profession of religion subjects us to contempt? What was
said of the Christians of the first ages, is equally true at this day; “We know that
this sect is everywhere spoken against.” Men will “gaze strangely at us, as soon as
we cease to run with them into their excess of riot [Note: 1 Peter 4:4.].” As soon as
we “depart from evil, we make ourselves a prey [Note: Isaiah 59:15.],” which every
one feels himself at liberty to hunt. What the Gibeonites experienced, when they
made peace with Joshua and with the children of Israel, is a striking emblem of
what must be expected by all who submit to Jesus, and associate themselves with his
people [Note: Joshua 10:3-4.] — — — And does it not require courage to endure
this? — — — Verily, there are many who would find it easier to walk up to the
mouth of a cannon, than to brave the contempt and obloquy to which a profession of
religion would expose them.]
2. To practise it—
[Let a person be solicited by his friends to unite with them in courses which he
disapproves; let him be ridiculed as indulging needless scrupulosity and preciseness,
or perhaps as hypocritically pretending to more sanctity than his neighbours; will
he find it easier to be steadfast in his obedience to God, dissembling no truth,
omitting no duty, conforming to nothing dubious or sinful? Will he need no courage
to stem the torrent, to disregard the appearances of singularity, and to maintain a
conscience void of offence towards God and man? — — —]
3. To recommend and enforce it—
[The Gospel enjoins us, not only to “have no fellowship with the unfruitful works of
darkness, but rather to reprove them.” Now we know what have been the
consequences of such faithfulness in all ages; “I hate Micaiah, because he doth not
speak good concerning me, but evil:” “The world hateth me, because I testify of it,
that the works thereof are evil [Note: John 7:7.].” And is it a light matter to
encounter the hatred of our friends, and relatives, yea, and of the whole world?
When we foresee these consequences, are we in no danger of withholding the
admonitions and instructions which we ought to give? Are we in no danger of
“putting our light under a bushel,” when we know what offence will be taken at us,
if we suffer it to shine forth? Are we under no temptation to indulge that “fear of
37

38. man which bringeth a snare?”]
If we cannot recommend, or practise, or even profess, religion, without valour, we
can have no doubt about,
II. The duty of exercising it—
It is a duty we owe,
1. To God—
[God has not told us to obey his commandments only as far as the world will
approve, but to “follow him fully,” and to love and serve him with our whole hearts,
Will he then be contented to see us “partial in the law?” Will he accept our plea, if
we urge our fear of man as a reason of our not fearing and obeying him? No: he has
bidden us “not to fear man, who can only kill the body; but to fear him, who can
destroy both body and soul in hell [Note: Luke 12:4-5.].”]
2. To our neighbours—
[What will they think of religion, if they see us, who profess it, violating its most
sacred obligations through feat of offending man? Will they not imagine that it is
not worth contending for? Will they not be emboldened to shew the same preference
to the world that we do; and to regard the opinions of men more than the commands
of God? On the contrary, Would not a firm, bold, decided conduct tend to convince
them, that God is worthy to be served, and that “his loving-kindness is better than
life itself?”]
3. To ourselves—
[Our own everlasting welfare depends upon our steadfastness in the ways of God.
“If we are ashamed of him, he will be ashamed of us:” “if we deny him, he will deny
us;” “if we draw back, it will be unto perdition; for his soul can have no pleasure in
us:” “he only that overcometh, shall inherit all things;” and “he only that endureth
unto the end, shall ever be saved.” If then we have any regard for our own souls, we
must be valiant, and “quit ourselves like men:” for if even life itself be suffered to
stand in competition with his will, our souls will be forfeited and lost for ever [Note:
Matthew 10:39.].]
It is not however sufficient to possess valour: we should also understand,
III. In what way it should be exercised—
Here we are very liable to err: true Christian valour should be shewn,
1. In meek and patient sufferings—
38

39. [Passive valour is by far the most valuable. Would we see it illustrated? Let us see
how it operated in the Apostle Paul: “Being defamed,” says he, “we entreat; being
persecuted, we suffer it.” Would we behold the most striking exemplification of it
that ever existed? Let us behold Jesus, who had just before evinced his power over
his enemies by striking them all to the ground with a word, yielding up himself to
them, and led as a sheep to the slaughter. Behold him, “dumb before them, even as a
sheep before her shearers; giving his back to the smiters, and his cheeks to them
that plucked off the hair, and not hiding his face from shame and spitting:” “when
he was reviled, he reviled not again; when he suffered, he threatened not, but
committed himself unto him that judgeth righteously:” yes, here was precisely the
valour which we are called to exercise. We must “possess our souls in patience,” and
“let patience have its perfect work.” If once we recede from this ground, we are
vanquished, If we would “not be overcome of evil, we must overcome evil with
good.”]
2. In firm and steady perseverance—
[Obedience to God is the great point: to that we must adhere at all events. We must
resemble Daniel and the Hebrew youths, and determine to suffer the most cruel
death, rather than violate the dictates of our conscience [Note: Daniel 3:16-18.], or
neglect any known duty whatsoever [Note: Daniel 6:10.]. Next to our blessed Lord,
St. Paul perhaps endured more for the truth’s sake than any of the children of men:
in every place, bonds and afflictions awaited him: but “none of those things could
move him, neither counted he his life dear unto him, so that he might but fulfil the
ministry” committed to him: he was “willing not only to be bound, but also to die,”
at any place, at any time, and in any manner, for his Master’s sake: when he had
been stoned, and left for dead, at Lystra, he returned again speedily to that very
city, regardless of his own life, and intent only on executing the commission which
he had received of the Lord Jesus [Note: Acts 14:8; Acts 14:19; Acts 14:21.]? Thus
must we go on, “steadfast, immoveable, and always abounding in the work of the
Lord:” and in such a course we shall approve ourselves “good soldiers of Jesus
Christ.”]
We would add to what has been said, a word,
1. Of caution—
[Let not any imagine that Christian fortitude at all militates against the duties which
we owe to our parents, or to any that are placed in authority over us. Many are apt
to mistake pertness and forwardness as marks of valour: but “they know not what
spirit they are of;” they are, in fact, displeasing God as much as man, while they
indulge a petulant, froward disposition. We need look well to ourselves in this
particular, and see that we are not gratifying our own self-will, under a pretended
regard for the commands of God. We should never forget the respect due to our
superiors: and when we are forced to act contrary to their commands, we should
39

40. strive as much as possible to conciliate them in our manner of doing it; and shew
them, that our opposition to their will is not a matter of choice, but of necessity.]
2. Of encouragement—
[None need to fear, as though they should not be able to act valiantly in the hour of
trial: for God has promised, that we shall not be tempted above our ability to
withstand, or without a way for us to escape [Note: 1 Corinthians 10:13.]. We are
told of women, who, under the most grievous sufferings for conscience sake, would
not accept deliverance, when it was offered as an inducement to recede from their
principles [Note: Hebrews 11:35.]. We need not fear therefore but that “our
strength also shall be according to our day [Note: Deuteronomy 33:25.].” God will
“strengthen us by his Spirit in our inward man, unto all patience and long-suffering
with joyfulness:” and “his strength shall be perfected in our weakness.” In the
weakest amongst us shall that promise be exemplified, “They that do know their
God, shall be strong, and do exploits [Note: Daniel 11:32.].”]
BI, "They are not valiant for the truth.
Valiant for the truth
I. Inquire what is the truth. It is “the glorious Gospel of the blessed God.” Without a
knowledge of this, oh! how ignorant is the wisest in the things of time!
1. “The truth as it is in Jesus” was at first but obscurely revealed; a veil was cast
over it which prophets and righteous men desired to remove.
2. “The truth as it is in Jesus” is a jewel only to be found in the casket of God’s
Word, not in the traditions of men; and that casket—emphatically called “the Word
of truth”—must be unlocked for us by Him who is “the Spirit of truth.”
II. How we may be valiant for it.
1. A cordial belief in it must be the first step to a valiant defence of it.
2. Love of the truth, an unalterable and unwavering attachment to it, must follow
a firm belief in it. This principle gives courage to the soldier on the battlefield;
patience to the wife amid scenes of sickness and misfortune.
3. Next follows an uncompromising advocacy of it. We fear not to give utterance
to that in which we firmly believe, and which we ardently love.
4. Valour for Christ, who is “the truth” personified, will further display itself by
noble sacrifices for Him, for the dissemination of His truth at home, for its
propagation abroad.
5. Valour for the truth is most signally displayed by a consistent, prayerful, and
40

41. persevering obedience to all its requirements. (J. S. Wilkins.)
Valiant for the truth
I. What is truth, that for it one can be, should be, valiant? Truth is real. Truth is
accessible and may be known. Truth is precious. Truth imposes in every direction
obligations that cannot be met except by the most genuine and resolute valour. The
best philologists of our own generation refer the word to a root meaning “to believe,”
and draw upon the whole group of related languages and dialects to show that truth
is “firm, strong, solid, reliable, anything that will hold.” It should, seem, then, that we
ought not to believe anything but what is firm, established, and that truth is what we
rightly believe. For this our highest powers can be summoned into action, while
nothing but a poor counterfeit of our best activity can be called forth in behalf of that
which is known or seriously suspected to be unreal. The sophist may be adroit,
dexterous in disposition and argument, and selfishly eager for victories. The
pettifogging advocate in any profession may gain brief successes by natural powers
and discipline, aided by sheer audacity. This is a result and proof of the world’s
disorder. Man is for truth and truth for man—both real. And truth is accessible and
may be known. He who gave us reason and nature, Whose they are, and Whom they
should ever serve, has come in pity to the relief of our impotence and bewilderment
by the disclosures that His Spirit makes. In the Gospel “the grace of God that bringeth
salvation hath appeared unto all men.” Here is truth that is real. Here is truth that
may be known. Of all precious truth, truth on which souls can be nourished, truth to
which lives can be safely conformed, here is that which is most precious—truth that
enters most deeply and permanently into character and takes hold of destiny. Of all
truth worthy and suited to stimulate man’s highest powers, to the most sustained, and
most intense sufficiency, here is that which is worthiest and most stated. Of all truth
that is of such kind and in such relations to us that it is not only worth our while, but
in every way incumbent upon us to put forth our highest valour to gain it and to hold
it, here is the most essential. We are bidden, “Buy the truth and sell it not.” And this
is not a mere appeal to our self-interest. Truth, especially this sacred truth,
encompasses us with obligations. For this acquisition we do not merely do well to pay
the price of toil and struggle; we fail grossly and widely in duty if we withhold the
price. And what we have so dearly bought at the price of our humbled pride, at the
price of our falling out with the fashion of this world “which passeth away,” what we
win by the surrender of our self-sufficiency and imaginary independence, by our
resolute self-mastery, our vigorous effort, and whatever besides the attainment may
41

42. cost, we are to hold against all seductions and all assaults, “valiant for the truth.”
II. What is the manly valour that can find any fair and proper field for its exercise—its
fairest and most proper field in connection with truth? It is not mere boldness,
bravery, courage, but moves in a higher plane, and is instinct with a loftier
inspiration. These may have their source chiefly in the physical and animal, that
which we share with the bulldog and the gorilla; while valour is a knightly grace, and
makes account mainly of the ideal. We shall esteem that the truest valour in which
there is me fullest consciousness and manifestation of manhood, with the clearest
conception and the most persistent adherence to worthy ends of manly endeavour.
There can then be nothing forced or unnatural in the phrase of our text, “valiant for
the truth.” For what should a true man be valiant rather than for the acquisition,
maintenance, and service of the truth—truth known as real, judged to be important,
valued as precious? And what estimate must we put upon the manhood that can be
“strong in the land, but not for truth”—energetic, daring, resolved, and persistent for
lower and grosser interests, but not for the truth?
II. By what call from without does truth most authoritatively and effectively summon
valour to its aid? Truth is imperial, not only in the quality of the authority which it
asserts and the richness of the bounty which it dispenses, but also in the breadth of
the dominion to which it lays claim. We have made our first obedience when we have
yielded ourselves to the truth. We are to go on proclaiming truth’s rights, and helping
it to gain rule over others. We vindicate the rights of the truth, while we secure
blessings to our fellow men through truth’s ascendency over them. And this obligation
and opportunity subject our manhood to some of the most searching tests by which
we are ever tried. Are we capable of taking larger views of truth than those which
connect it with some prospect of advantage to ourselves? Do we esteem it for what it
is, and not only for what it brings us? And what is the measure of our discernment of
the rights and needs of others, and what is our response? The manly and Christian
spirit has large conceptions of right and duty. And then truth, while imperial in its
rights, is sometimes imperilled by denial and attack, and that at the hands of the very
men whose allegiance it claims. Its rights are contested; its very credentials are
challenged. It encounters not merely the negative resistance of ignorance and dulness,
of low tastes and sensual and earthly preoccupations; it is met by a more positive
impeachment. He who is valiant for truth will no more suffer it to fight its own
battles than a true knight would have resorted to any such evasion in a cause to
which he was committed. And the response which we make to the summons of
assailed truth gives opportunity to display some of the finest qualities that belonged
to the old knighthood—unswerving loyalty, courage, endurance, self-sacrifice. But
42

43. there is another call for valour in behalf of Christian truth higher than that which
comes from our fellow men and their claims upon it. What Christ is on the one side
to the truth and on the other side to us, and what the truth is to Him, supply a new
inspiration and strength, and add a new quality to Christian endeavour—a personal
quality that was wanting before. He who is valiant for the truth because of what it is
in its reality and reliableness shows his discernment. He who is valiant for the truth
because of what it is to manhood shows a wise self-appreciation. He who is valiant
for the truth because of the claim his fellow men have upon it, and upon him if he
has it in his possession, shows that he knows his place, his obligation, his opportunity
as a man among men. He who is valiant for the truth for Christ’s sake shows that he
knows and honours his Lord, and would make Him indeed Lord of all. Consider what
Christ is to the substance of the truth; what He is to the authority and efficiency of
the truth; and what the truth is to Him in the assertion and manifestation of His
Lordship. The truth is not only Christ’s as its great Revealer; the truth is Christ as its
great Revelation. To him who asks, What is the way? we answer, The way is Christ.
To him who would know, What is the life? we make reply, The life is Christ. And we
proclaim, as that which is of the highest concern to man to know, the truth is Christ.
He is the great embodiment of truth—truth incarnate. What He was, over and above
all that He said, teaches us what we should seek in vain to learn elsewhere. He was
the chief revelation of the nature, the power, the love, the saving grace of God. (C. A.
Aitken, D. D.)
Valour for the truth
I. What is comprehended in this important word, “the truth”? It has been remarked
that “truth is a relative term, expressing a conformity between the object and the
mind, a harmony between the object and the 1des we entertain of it”: thus, truth
becomes one of those terms, the precise meaning of which can only be ascertained by
determining the subject of which it may be predicated. I propose to regard the
scheme of Divine grace, for the recovery of man—the scheme of which we are
ministers,—as that which alone deserves the supreme appellation of “the truth.” I
proceed, then, to consider—
1. Man’s state as a sinner.
(1) What saith the Scripture as to sin in its nature? (1Jn_3:4.)
(2) What saith the Scripture as to sin in its diffusion, its extent? It
everywhere, without the slightest discernible qualification, represents human
43

44. nature as universally and absolutely corrupt (Gen_6:5; Psa_14:2-3; Jer_17:9;
Eph_2:1).
(3) What saith the Scripture as to sin in its consequences? (Rom_6:23; Psa_
9:17; 2Th_1:7-9.)
2. God’s work as a Saviour. Justice, as one of the attributes of God, is as
essentially a part of His nature, so to speak, as His Omnipresence, His
Omniscience, His Truth; and, since there is more than a propriety, even a moral
necessity, that all the proceedings of the Deity should be such as to bring out the
full glory of His entire Name, it is manifest that He can only interpose an arrest of
judgment, confer pardon, renovation, and eternal glory, on atonement being made.
II. What is required to constitute the character described by the expression, “valiant
for the truth”? Valour is, strictly speaking, a martial term. We are made to feel and
deplore that a contrariety of element exists in connection with the spiritual world.
This gives rise to severe conflict. Now to be valiant, even in human estimation,
requires something more than bravery; yea, more than courage. There must be a
combination of both; or, at least, to be valiant, a man must be preeminently
courageous. “Bravery,” says an eminent authority, “is a mere instinct; for it depends
on mere constitutional temperament.” Courage is a virtue, indeed, for it lies in the
mind; it depends on reflection and thought; but he only is valiant, who weighs the
whole enterprise deliberately, lays his plans prudently, and follows them out
systematically; whom defeat may bow, but cannot break; whilst triumph only
stimulates him to renewed effort, inflames him with fresh zeal, and imparts to him a
thirst for new glory—a thirst which nothing can satisfy till the last position is taken
and the last trophy won! To be “valiant for the truth,” then, requires—
1. That there be a serious and habitual contemplation of the truth.
2. That there be a sincere embracing of the truth, and the practical experience of
its power in the heart.
3. That there De active and uniform exertion in our respective spheres, for the
spread of “the truth.”
4. That there be solemn and earnest prayer that the Holy Spirit may accompany,
with His power, all our efforts for the diffusion of “the truth.”
III. What are the considerations, which are calculated to stir up to the holy emotions,
involved in the expression, “valiant for the truth”?
1. Let there be serious reflection as to the value of the soul, and the danger which
44

45. threatens it whilst uninfluenced by the truth.
2. Let us reflect on the awful rapidity with which souls are passing to their eternal
destiny.
3. Let us reflect on the responsibility that attaches to the office to which we have
been called, and the awful doom that awaits unfaithfulness in its discharge.
4. Let us reflect on the transcendent joy with which ministerial faithfulness will
hereafter be crowned. (John Gaskin, M. A.)
Valiant for the truth
I. What is that which peculiarly merits the appellation of “the truth”? The
comprehensive title of “the truth” was applied to revealed religion, alike in its
principles and commandments, in order to furnish a broad and emphatic distinction
between it and those habits of evil thoughts and practices which had been
engendered and fostered by idolatry. By the same appellation of “the truth,” we find
pure religion—whether in Patriarchal, or Levitical, or Christian times—is frequently
designated in Scripture, in order to furnish a special recommendation of its character,
and to illustrate its aspect and intention in the world. It is a communication
respecting the being and character of God, the plan of His government, the authority
and the sanction of His law—a communication with respect to the moral
circumstances and character of man, the tendency by which he is actuated, and the
dangers to which he is exposed—a communication respecting the method of grace,
and the restoration of the favour of the Almighty, by which his apprehended miseries
may be removed—and a communication respecting the high and sublime consecration
of human destiny which is reserved for him in that immortality into which he is to be
ushered when existence in this world is terminated. The verities which are
proclaimed by the Christian system, on topics such as these, plainly possess a value
that is perfectly incalculable, comprehending, as they do, the highest interests of our
species. In making the assertion that Christianity is to be considered, emphatically, as
“the truth,” we must not omit to mention that it is confirmed in a manner that is
perfectly conclusive and convincing.
II. What are the state of mind and course of conduct which the truth, as thus defined,
eminently deserves?
1. To be valiant for the truth involves a firm adherence to the doctrines it
propounds. We well know that many hostile influences are around us, which
45

46. tempt us to the blighting influence of doubt, and even of positive infidelity; such
as the fear of incurring the ridicule and the hatred of others, the personal
suggestions of our own in-dwelling unbelief, and, above all, the mysterious, though
potent, machinations of him who is the arch-enemy of souls. This of course, at
least, requires the exercise of spiritual combat, which must be displayed by a firm
and uncompromising resistance to whatever might lead us to impugn, to doubt,
and to deny.
2. To be valiant for the truth upon the earth involves a holy conformity to the
precepts which it enforces. What holy vigour and boldness are required in order to
resist steadily and successfully the multitudinous abstractions from holiness—the
accumulated adversaries to the purification of the souls—to repudiate and repel
the approaches of Satan—to keep ourselves unspotted from the world, that we may
live soberly, righteously, and godly, according to the commandment we have
received, to crucify the flesh with the affections and lusts—to cultivate, with
devout diligence, the fruits of righteousness which are by Jesus Christ, to the
praise and glory of God; and, with all the surrounding faithful, to exhibit the
power of the truth by the purity of life. This is to be “valiant for the truth”; this is
heroism indeed!
3. To be “valiant for the truth” involves the public advocacy before other men of
the claims which it possesses. How many noble examples of this spiritual valour
have we met with in the annals of the Church! See them in the case of the
prophets who were not afraid, though briars and thorns were with them, and
though they dwelt among scorpions, and who yet spoke the word of God boldly to
the rebellious people, whether they would hear, or whether they would forbear.
See them in the apostles, who “counted not their lives dear,” etc. See those
examples again in the noble army of martyrs, and in the long and triumphant
succession of confessors, and reformers, and teachers, and missionaries, who have
dared ignominy, and contempt, and wrath, and murder, for the sake of the
overthrow of error, and the triumph of the truth as it is in Jesus.
III. What are the considerations by which this state of mind, and course of conduct,
are specially and powerfully commended?
1. A concern for your own personal welfare. “Them that honour Me, I also will
honour.” On the other hand, the want of these elements of the spiritual character,
which we have set before you,—to hate put God away—to be reckless of the claims
of the truth—and to live in a discipleship of falsehood, is, by a necessary
vindication of the Divine equity and justice, to live in an exposure to evils the
46

47. most fearful which man can ever endure.
2. A concern for the welfare and interests of the Church of God. When valour and
boldness among the disciples of the truth is exhibited and augmented, then it is an
axiom, a thing that needs no proof, in religion, that the truth which has that
exercise will grow mightily, and will prevail. (J. Parsons.)
They proceed from evil to evil.
Evil begets evil
One danger of secret sin is that a man cannot commit it without being by and by
betrayed into a public sin. If a man commit one sin, it is like the melting of the lower
glacier upon the Alps, the others must follow in time. As certainly as you heap one
stone upon the cairn today, the next day you will east another, until the heap reared
stone by stone shall become a very pyramid. See the coral insect at work; you cannot
decree where it shall stay its pile. It will not build its rock as high as you please; it
will not stay until an island shall be created. Sin cannot be held in with bit and
bridle; it must be mortified. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Progression in sin
In the Rabbinical books of the Jews they have a curious tradition about the growth of
leprosy, that it began with the walls of a man’s house, then, if he did not repent,
entered his garments, till at last the tatter covered his whole body. And thus it is with
the growth of sin. It begins with the neglect of duty, it may be of prayers; or the
warning voice of conscience is unheeded. Habits of sin are formed; till at last the soul
that lets God alone is let alone by God. (F. G. Pilkington.)
4 “Beware of your friends;
do not trust anyone in your clan.
47

48. For every one of them is a deceiver,[c]
and every friend a slanderer.
BARNES, "Jer_9:4
In a state of such utter lawlessness, the bonds of mutual confidence are relaxed, and
suspicion takes its place.
Utterly supplant - An allusion to the name of Jacob Gen_27:36. It might be
rendered, “every brother is a thorough Jacob.”
Will walk with slanders - Or, slandereth.
GILL, "Take ye heed everyone of his neighbour,.... Take care of being imposed
upon by them, since they are so given to lying and deceit; be not too credulous, or too
easily believe what is said; or keep yourselves from them; have no company or
conversation with them, since evil communications corrupt good manners:
and trust ye not in any brother; whether by blood or by marriage, or by religion,
believe not his words; trust him not, neither with your money, nor with your mind;
commit not your secrets to him, place no confidence in him; a people must be very
corrupt indeed when this is the case: or, "trust ye not in every brother" (r); some may be
trusted, but not all though the following clause seems to contradict this,
for every brother will utterly supplant; or, in supplanting supplant (s); play the
Jacob, do as he did by his brother, who supplanted him twice; first got the birthright
from him, and then the blessing; which was presignified by taking his brother by the
heel in the womb, from whence he had his name; and the same word is here used, which
signifies a secret, clandestine, and insidious way of circumventing another;
and every neighbour will walk with slanders; go about spreading lies and
calumnies, as worshippers, backbiters, and tale bearers do. The word ‫דכיל‬ is used for a
"merchant"; and because such persons went from place to place with their goods, and
made use often times of fraudulent practices to deceive people, it is applied to one that is
guilty of slander and calumny; Son_3:8.
JAMISON, "supplant — literally, “trip up by the heel” (Hos_12:3).
walk with slanders — (Jer_6:28).
PULPIT, "Take ye heed every one of his neighbor. Such was the result of clinging
to an unprogressive religion—one which refused to be spiritualized by the prophets.
Certainly, if the established religion was so inefficacious, it was self-condemned. Hero
48

49. we find the prophet depicting a state of society in which the elementary bonds are
already dissolved, and suspicion becomes the natural attitude even of a good man. We
find a very similar picture in the last chapter of Micah—a chapter, it is true, which stands
apart from the rest of the book, as it implies a greater development of wickedness than
the rest of Micah and the contemporary prophecies of Isaiah would lead us to expect.
Are these prophetic descriptions just and accurate? We may allow something, no doubt,
for the warmth of feeling natural to every human preacher, even under the influence of
inspiration; but we must not allow ourselves to explain away the obvious meaning of the
prophets. The latter and their disciples were "the salt" of their country; and in
proportion as their influence declined, the natural effects of a non-moral, purely
ritualistic religion showed themselves on a larger scale. Every brother; i.e. every
fellow-tribesman or fellow-citizen. Will utterly supplant. There is nothing in the
context to suggest an allusion to Gen_27:36 (Jacob). The verb has its common sense of
deceiving. The tense should be the present, not the future, both here and in the next
verse. Will walk; rather, goeth about (see Jer_6:28).
CALVIN, "In this verse the Prophet describes the extreme wickedness of the people.
For though sometimes thefts, robberies, frauds, slaughters, perjuries, sorceries
prevail, yet some regard for near relations remains; but it is monstrous when all
relative affections are destroyed. As then, even in the most wicked, there remain
some natural affections, called storgoe by philosophers, it follows, that men depart
wholly from nature and become wild beasts, when these no longer exist. This is the
import of what is here said.
There is a similar passage in Micah 7:5. The idea is there indeed more fully
expanded; for the Prophet adds,
“From her who sleeps in thy bosom guard the doors of thy mouth; for the son lies in
wait for his father, and the daughter delivers up her mother to death; and the chief
enemies of man are his own domestics.”
The prophets then mainly agree in shewing, that there was no humanity left
among flmm; for the son, forgetful of his duty, rose up against his father, and
every one was perfidious towards his own friend, and a brother spared not
his own brother.
Let a man then guard himself This is not an admonition, as though the Prophet
exhorted men to be wary; but he only shews that there was no fidelity; for every one
was perfidious and unfaithful towards his own friend, and even a brother acted
unjustly towards his own brother. It hence follows, that the Jews are charged with
being natural monsters; for they were deservedly objects of detestation, when they
cast aside every care for their own blood, and as far as they could, destroyed
everything like humanity. He says that brothers by supplanting supplanted, that is,
craftily deceived and circumvented their own brothers. The verb ‫עקב‬ okob, is to be
taken mttaphorically; it is derived from the heel of the foot, and means to oppress
49

50. the simple by secret arts. He says also, that all friends acted fraudulently. Of this
kind of speaking we have spoken on Jeremiah 6:28; for we found there the same
complaint; and the Prophet then said the Jews were like iron and brass, because
they had hardened themselves so as to be capable of any cruelty. This sort of
speaking often occurs, when the word ‫,רכיל‬ rekil, is connected with the verb ‫הלך‬
elak; and they who are the most learned in the language say, that this word is never
found in Scripture but in connection with the verb to go or to walk. They hence
conclude that some particular person is meant, that is, one who goes about veiled or
deceitfully, and rambles and runs here and there, that he may find some
opportunity of deceiving and cheating. It cannot be taken here for slandering, as we
have also stated on chapter the sixth: it is too unmeaning. It is found indeed in this
sense in Leviticus 19:16,
“Go not about a slanderer among thy people;”
where some render it a whisperer. But the Prophet no doubt condemns here
the frauds and deceitful crafts, by which they deceived and cheated one
another: for ‫,רכל‬ recal signifies a merchant; and as it is often the case that traders
act cunningly and practice crafty artifices, the Hebrews call that man ‫רכיל‬ racal,
fraudulent and wickedly crafty, whose object is to deceive and cheat. And we see
that this is the meaning in this place, as it designates those who circumvented one
another: for the Prophet says, that they were foolish who trusted in brothers or
friends; and he gives the reason, because brothers supplanted one another, and
friends went about fraudulently. It follows —
COFFMAN, ""Take ye heed everyone of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any
brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go
about with slanders. And they will deceive everyone his neighbor, and will
not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary
themselves to commit iniquity. Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit;
through deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jehovah."
"Trust ye not in any brother ..." (Jeremiah 9:4). Some have been critical of advice
such as this, pointing out such passages as 1 Corinthians 13:7, where the true man of
God is represented as one who "believeth all things!" However, as Haley pointed
out, There is no `command' here regarding the trust of a brother, but `advice,'
equivalent to saying, "Such is the state of public morals that if you trust any man
you shall be deceived and betrayed."[6] The explanation of this advice is given in
Jeremiah 9:6, where the whole society is referred to as "a habitation in the midst of
deceit."
"Every brother will utterly supplant ..." (Jeremiah 9:4). "The Hebrew here is a
50

51. punning reference to Jacob (Genesis 27:36). God had transformed Jacob into Israel;
but his descendants insisted on living the life of the unregenerate."[7] Cheyne did
not accept this interpretation, affirming that, "There is nothing in the context so
suggest an allusion to Genesis 27:36, or to Jacob";[8] but, in our view, the only thing
needed to suggest that connection is the word "supplanter."
"They weary themselves to commit iniquity ..." (Jeremiah 9:5). "Lying, deceit,
treachery, adultery, and idolatry were everyday sins in Judah, and the people had
literally worn themselves out with perversions."[9] The gross indulgence of physical
passions can and does result in the debilitation and weakening of the body.
5 Friend deceives friend,
and no one speaks the truth.
They have taught their tongues to lie;
they weary themselves with sinning.
CLARKE, "And weary themselves to commit iniquity - O, what a drudgery is
sin! and how much labor must a man take in order to get to hell! The tenth part of it, in
working together with God, would bring him to the gate of glory.
GILL, "And they will deceive everyone his neighbour,.... In conversation, with
lying words; and in trade and commerce, by art and tricking:
and will not speak the truth; with respect to facts they report, or goods they sell:
they have taught their tongue to speak lies; and become so accustomed to lying
that they cannot do otherwise; it is as it were natural to them:
and weary themselves to commit iniquity; spared no pains to come at it, nor any
in it, and go on even to weariness; are more laborious and indefatigable in committing
sin than good men are in doing good; which shows great folly and stupidity. The Targum
is,
51

52. "they are become foolish, they have erred.''
JAMISON, "weary themselves — are at laborious pains to act perversely
[Maurer]. Sin is a hard bondage (Hab_2:13).
PULPIT, "They have taught their tongue, etc.; again an intimation of the
unnaturalness (in the higher sense) of vice (comp. on Jer_2:33).
CALVIN, "Jeremiah goes on with the same subject. He says that fidelity had so
disappeared among the Jews, that every one endeavored to deceive his neighbor.
Hence it followed, that they were withhout any shame. Some sense of shame at least
remains among men, when they have to do with their own friends; for though they
may be wholly given to gain, and to indulge in falsehoods, yet when they transact
business with friends, they retain some regard for equity, and shame checks their
wickedness: but when there is no difference made between friends and strangers, it
follows that their character is become altogether brutal. This is what the Prophet
meant.
And he adds, that they spoke not the truth He now says that they were liars, not in
this or that particular business; but that they were perfidious and deceitful in
everything. This clause then is not to be limited to some special acts of fraud; but it
is the same as though he had said, that they knew not what truth was, or what it was
to act with good faith and to speak honestly to their neighhours; for they were
wholly imbued with deceits, and no truth could come out of their mouth.
And for the same purpose he says, that they had taught their tongues to speak
falsehood. The expression in this clause is stronger; for he means that they were
wholly given to deceit, as by long use they had formed their tongues for this work.
The tongue ought to be the representative of the mind, according to the old saying;
for why was the tongue formed, but in order that men may communicate with one
another? For the thoughts are hidden, and they come forth when we speak with
each other. But the Prophet says that the order of nature was by them inverted, for
they had taught their tongues to lie We also hence learn that they had no fidelity
whatever; for their very tongues had been taught to deceive: as when one by
practice has learnt anything, it is what he does readily; so when the tongues are
formed by continual use and inured to lying, they can do nothing else.
He says at last, that they wearied themselves with evil deeds. This is indeed an
hyperbolical language; but yet the Prophet very fitly sets forth the deplorable state
of the people, — that they practiced the doing of evil even to weariness. As
when any one is seized with some foolish lust, he spares no labor and does
himself much harm, but feels not his wearied state as long as he is engaged,
for his ardor dementares him: so he says now, that they were wearied in
52

53. doing evil. When a hunter pursues the game, he undergoes much more labor
than any common workman, or any husbandman. We see that even kings and
courtiers, while hunting, are so blinded, that they see no danger nor feel any
weariness. So we find that men given to pleasure, when lust draws them here
and there, feel no concern for the greatest weariness. According to this sense
then the Prophet says, that they were wearied in doing evil, as though he had
said, that they were so devoted to wickedness, that the pleasure of doing evil
wholly blinded them and made them mad. (238)
We now perceive the Prophet’s meaning: He confirms, as I have said, what he
had stated before. He had threatened the people with utter ruin; they were
secure and heedless, and despised all his denuncitations. He now shews, from
God’s nature and office, that ruin was nigh them, though they feared it not
and thought themselves abundantly safe. But if God be the judge of the
world, as it will be hereafter proved, how is it possible for him to connive
perpetually at so great wickedness? And to shew this he also adds —
And they deceive, every one his neighbor, And the truth they speak not; They have
taught their tongue the word of falsehood; With perverting have they wearied
themselves.
The verb for “deceive” means to mock, to trifle with, to play the fool with.
Their object was to befool their neighbors by cheating and deceiving them.
“The word,” or the matter, “of falsehood,” is falsehood itself, or sheer
falsehood. The Vulgate and the Syriac ’s version is, “They have taught their
tongue to speak falsehood.” To teach the tongue false-hood, was to habituate
it to tell lies. The last line is differently rendered. The Septuagint deviates far
from the original. The version of the Vulgate is, “They have labored to act
unjustly;” and this comes near the meaning; only “to act unjustly” is rather
to act pervertingly: they wrested and turned everything from its right course
and meaning; and they labored in perverting things, until they wearied
themselves. Falsehood requires more labor than truth. — Ed.
BI, "And weary themselves to commit iniquity.
The uneasiness of a sinful life
Though these words were spoken of the Jews more than two thousand years ago, yet I
53

54. shall endeavour to show that it may be said of all wicked men; that a wicked life is
full of weariness and difficulties; that virtue is more easy than vice, and piety than
wickedness.
1. Vice oppresses our nature, and consequently, it must be uneasy: whereas virtue
improves, exalts, and perfects our nature; therefore virtue is a more natural
operation than vice; and that which is most natural must be most easy. Thus,
when we would express anything to be easy to a person or nation, we say it is
natural to them. Moreover, all vices are unreasonable, and what is against reason
must be against nature. And why is it that laws are so severe against vice, but
because it destroys and corrupts the members of the commonwealth? So that the
punishments which public justice in all countries inflicts upon criminals, are a
plain proof how great an enemy vice is to nature, under whose ill conduct, and for
whose errors, it suffers sometimes the most inexpressible torments. Every vice also
has its own peculiar disease, to which it inevitably leads. Envy brings men to
leanness; the envious man, like the viper, is killed by his own offspring. Lust
brings on consuming and painful diseases. Drunkenness, catarrhs and gouts, and
poverty beside. Rage produces fevers and frenzies. It is owned by all, that nature
is satisfied with little, and desires nothing that is superfluous; by this rule all these
vices are unnatural which consist in excess, or stretch themselves to superfluity;
such as oppression, injustice, luxury, drunkenness, gluttony, covetousness, and the
like.
2. Vice is more unpleasant than virtue; and therefore it must be more uneasy and
wearisome; for we soon weary of anything which is not attended with pleasure,
even though it should bring us some advantage. Without pleasure there is no
happiness or ease. There are indeed some vices which promise a great deal of
pleasure in the commission of them, but then at best it is but short-lived and
transient, a sudden flash presently extinguished. It perishes in the very enjoyment,
and quickly passes away like the crackling of thorns under a pot. Thus sinners are
like the troubled sea, tossed to and fro, and yet can find no rest or satisfaction.
They ramble on in one kind of debauchery until they are obliged to try another
for a sort of diversion; they go round from one sin to another, so that their whole
life is a course of uneasiness, and vanity in the strictest sense. Nor is this all, the
pleasure of sin being exhausted in a moment, leaves a sting behind it, that cannot
be so soon plucked out; these pleasures wound the conscience, and occasion
uneasy and painful reflections. A thousand instances of the unpleasantness of vice
are everywhere obvious. Envy is a perfect torment; it cannot fail to make the man
whom it possesses miserable, and fill him with distracting pain and grievous
54

55. vexation. It never leaves off murmuring and fretting, while there is one man
happier, richer, or greater than the envious man himself. It is contrary to all
goodness, and consequently to pleasure. Revenge is most painful and uneasy, both
in persuading us that these are affronts, which of their own nature are none, and
then in involving us in more troubles and dangers than the pleasure of revenge
can compensate. Hatred and malice are the most restless tormenting passions that
can possess the mind of man; they keep men perpetually contriving and studying
how to effect their mischievous purposes; they break their rest, and disturb their
very sleep. Covetousness is a most painful and uneasy vice, it makes the covetous
man sit up late and rise early, and spend all his time and pains in hoarding up
worldly things. Covetousness is unsatiable, the more it gets, the more it craves; it
grows faster than riches can do. From all which it is evident, that all vicious
persons live the most slavish and unpleasant lives in the world, and this every
vicious man acknowledges in another’s case; he thinks the vice he sees another
addicted to, most unpleasant and uneasy.
3. The horror of conscience makes vice uneasy. I might show you that no man
sins deliberately without reluctancy. But though there were no such disadvantage
attending the commission of sin, yet the natural horror which is consequent upon
it, is great enough to render it unaccountable, that any man should he vicious.
Conscience can condemn us without witnesses; and the arm of that executioner
cannot be stopped. And if we consider, that neither the attendance of friends, nor
the enjoyment of all outward pleasures, can comfort those whose conscience is
once awakened, and begins to accuse them, we cannot but conclude, that vice is to
be pitied as well as shunned; and that this alone makes it more uneasy than
virtue, which sweetens the greatest misfortunes. The greatest punishment that a
wicked man can suffer in this world, is to be obliged to converse with himself.
Diversion or non-attention is his only security; he fears nothing so much as
reflection: for if he once begins to reflect, and fix his thoughts to the consideration
of his by-past life and actions, he anticipates hell himself, he needs no infernal
furies to lash him; he becomes his own tormentor.
4. Vicious persons must in many cases dissemble virtue, which is more difficult
than to be really virtuous. All men who design either honour, riches, or to live
happily in the world, do either propose to be virtuous, or at least pretend it. Now
such pretenders and hypocrites have certainly a very difficult part to act; for they
must not only be at all that pains which is requisite in being virtuous, but they
must superadd to these all the troubles that dissimulation requires, which is also a
new and greater task than the other. Not only so, but they must overact virtue,
55

56. with a design to take off that jealousy, which because they are conscious of
deserving, they therefore vex themselves to remove.
5. Vice makes the vicious man fear all men; even as many as he injures, or are
witnesses to his vices. (T. Wetherspoon.)
The sinner’s mental war
This is a suffering world in more senses than one. We are subject to toil and labour in
consequence of the apostasy, and to perpetual vexation of mind, in consequence of
our opposition to the Divine will. The sinner, therefore, is compelled, if he will
continue in sin, to maintain a mental war which devours and exterminates from his
breast all the elements of vital joy.
I. The sinner must sustain morality without piety. Disgrace; loss of property; of all
real friendship; of domestic affection; of the health and life; of self-respect and
elevated companionship; all wait around a course of vice. The vicious man sinks
deeper and deeper in the mire. He must be moral or miserable. It is hard work,
however, to maintain morality without religion. The passions are strong; the world is
full of temptation; the soul is liable to be beat off from its hold on morality, unless
recovered by grace; its course will be tremendous, the progress of its depravity
vehement, and great the fall of it.
II. He must feel secure without a promise. Even the hardest incrustations of sin
cannot prepare the soul to look fully at eternal wailing undaunted. There it stands,
that never ceasing view; that vivid painting of the future; that dark, shadowy, but
distinct, and fearful representation of utter ruin; it is hung out before the soul by the
stem truth of God, from behind every scene of guilt, and along every winding of the
soul’s weary path. How can he feel secure? Yet how can he bear to face that vision? If
he looks to nature, it warns him; to his companions, they are falling into the arms of
the monster.
III. He must hope for heaven, while forming a character for perdition. He must hope,
and will hope, even if he knows his hope will do no good. Heaven is the only place of
final rest; if he miss it he is lost, undone forever. Holy as it is, and much as he hates
holiness, he must enter there, or eternally be an undone man. No man can bear the
idea of confessed, manifest, public, and hopeless, irrecoverable disgrace. Every man,
therefore, clings to the idea of a final heaven, as long as he can. But here the sinner
has a hard task.
56

57. IV. He must resist Christ without a cause. The claims of Christ are not only just, but
compassionate and benevolent. If he will sin, he must contend against the Saviour in
the very interpositions of His astonishing, overwhelming, agonising mercy. This is
hard work for the conscience the wheels of probation drag heavily; their voice grates
fearfully; their cry of retribution waxes loud.
V. He must try to be happy while guilty. This he cannot accomplish, yet he must try.
He will choose a thousand phantoms; he will grasp after every shadow; he will be
stung a thousand times, yet will he renew the toil, till wearied, hopeless, and sullen,
he lies down to die.
VI. He must have enough of the world to supply the place of God in his heart. The
heart must have a supreme object; God is able to fill it. On Him the intellect may
dwell, and around the ever-expanding developments of His character, the affections,
like generous vines, may climb, and gather, and blossom, and hang the ripe cluster of
joy forever; but the sinner shuts out God, every vision of His character is torment, and
he turns away to fill the demands of his heart with the world.
VII. He must arrange matters for deaths while he is afraid to think of dying. He must
work to get property for his children when he is gone. He must put his business in a
train, so that it may be settled advantageously when he is gone. He must do all this
on the strength and under the impulse of an idea at which he trembles.
VIII. He must read the Bible, whilst he is afraid to think or pray. This is especially
true of the worldly-minded professor. If he keeps up the form of family worship, or
attends at the house of God, the Bible, the holy and accusing book, is in his way. Its
truths lie across his path. He cannot turn aside, he must trample over them, while he
beholds them under his feet. He knows that his footsteps are heard around the
retributive throne. If driven to console himself by the promises of error, the sinner has
to pervert and wrestle with the Bible. Its denunciations catch his eye, and burn him
while he tries to explain them away. Concluding thoughts—
1. Have we no compassion for a suffering world?
2. Can we do nothing to relieve this miserable condition of our fellow men? The
time for God’s people to pray, and awake, and endeavour mightily, is now—and
with most of us, now or never. (D. A. Clark.)
57

58. 6 You[d] live in the midst of deception;
in their deceit they refuse to acknowledge me,”
declares the Lord.
BARNES, "Jer_9:6
A continuation of the warning given in Jer_9:4. “Trust no one: for thou dwellest
surrounded by deceit on every side.” Their rejection of God is the result of their want of
honesty in their dealings with one another 1Jo_4:20.
GILL, "Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit,.... In the midst of a people of
deceit, as Kimchi and Ben Molech. These are the words of the Lord to the prophet,
showing what a people he dwelt among, and had to do with; how cautiously and
prudently he should act; how little they were to be trusted to and depended upon; and
what little hope there was of bringing them to true repentance, since there was so much
deceit and hypocrisy among them. The Targum interprets the words not of the
habitation of the prophet, but of the people, thus,
"they sit in the house of their own congregation, and talk of their iniquities deceitfully;''
and so Jarchi,
"while they are sitting they devise deceitful devices.''
Through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord: or, "because of deceit"
(t); hypocrisy being a reigning and governing sin in them; they liked not the true
knowledge of God, and refused to worship him according to the revelation of his will.
JAMISON, "Thine — God addresses Jeremiah, who dwelt in the midst of deceitful
men.
refuse to know me — Their ignorance of God is willful (Jer_9:3; Jer_5:4, Jer_5:5).
K&D, "Jer_9:6
Thine habitation, etc. According to St. Jerome, this is addressed to the prophet; but it
is better to follow the Targum, which makes the clause refer to the Jewish people. The
connection is (as Dr. Payne Smith points out)," Trust no one; for thou dwellest
58

59. surrounded by deceit on every side."
CALVIN, "The Prophet here introduces God as the speaker, that the Jews might
know that they had not to do with mortal man. For they might, according to their
usual perverseness, have raised this objection, “Thou indeed severely condemnest
us, and treatest us reproachfully; but who has made thee our judge? ” Lest
then they should think that the words which he had hitherto declared, were
the words of man, he interposes the authority of God, Thou, he says, dwellest
in the midst of a deceitful people
But we must observe that this admonition to the Prophet was necessary for two
reasons. For when God searches the minds and hearts of men by his word, ministers
of the word are necessary to exercise this jurisdiction, men endued with wisdom,
understanding, and prudence. The word, says the apostle, is like a two — edged
sword, or it is one that cuts on both sides, for it penetrates into the hearts
and thoughts of man and into their very marrow. (Hebrews 4:12.) We also
know what Paul says,
“When an unbeliever comes into your assembly, his conscience is searched; so that
he will be constrained to fall down and to give glory to God.” (1 Corinthians
14:24.)
To the same purpose is this saying of Christ,
“When the Spirit is come, He will judge the world,”
(John 16:8)
for by the Spirit He means the preaching of the Gospel. It is then necessary that the
ministers of the word, in order that they may faithfully and profitably perform their
office, should be taught to understand the deceits and subterfuges by which men are
wont to deceive. As then there are many hidden things in the hearts of men, he who
would effectually teach must know that the innermost recesses of the heart must be
probed and searched. The Prophet had heard from God that the people, over whom
He was appointed, were fallacious and filled with guiles and frauds: Thou, He says,
dwellest in the midst of a deceitful people; as though he had said, “Thou hast to do
with dishonest men, who not only openly betray their wickedness, but also
deceive when they pretend any repentance or profess obedience to God: that
they may not therefore weaken or cajole thy resolution by their deceptions,
settle it in thy mind that thou wilt have to contend with their wiles. ” This is
one reason.
59

60. There is another reason; for as God’s servants ought to know their wiles, which
they are bidden to reprove, so there is need of courage and perseverance, lest
hypocrisy should dishearten them: for such a thought as this may occur to
the minds of God’s servants, “What shall I do? for hidden to me are the
thoughts of men: now the truth ought to penetrate into the whole soul; but I
know not what lies hid within in any one.” Thus pious teachers might be
weakened in their efforts and disheartened, or wholly discouraged, unless
God supported them. It was then for this reason that Jeremiah was expressly
told, that He had to do with a deceitful and false people. (239)
He afterwards adds, Through guile they refuse to know me God had before
complained, that he was not known by the people; but he now exaggerates their
crime by saying, that they craftily evaded every light, as though he had said, that
they could not plead ignorance or any levity; for through guile, says God, they
refuse to know me. As they wholly flattered themselves with deceptions, they
designedly extinguished, as far as they could, the light. By guile then he means that
obstinate craftiness by which the people cast aside every instruction. It afterwards
follows —
Burst forth does robbery upon robbery, deceit, on deceit;
They refuse to know me, saith Jehovah.
Burst forth, or boil — exoestuat , is certainly not the meaning of ‫שב‬ which
signifies to return, to turn, to restore, etc. Then the rendering would be,
Return does guile for guile, deceit for deceit.
The first word is rendered “usury — ‫פ‬ό‫ךןע‬ ” by the Septuagint, but ‫תך‬ means guile
or fraud. See Psalms 10:7; Psalms 55:12; Psalms 72:14. The meaning is, that their
dishonest dealings were reciprocal: the cheats cheated one another.
Our version agrees with the Vulgate and the Syriac, and is adopted by Blayney: and
he concludes from the end of this verse, that the speaker from the 2d verse is not the
Prophet, but God; who, adopting the language of man, intimates his wish to leave a
people so wicked. But this conclusion is not necessary; for the prophets often
introduce sentences of this kind. — Ed.
COKE, "Jeremiah 9:6. Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit— Houbigant
follows the LXX, and renders the verse, They add usury to usury, and deceit
to deceit, they refuse, &c. The experimental knowledge of God, which is true
60

61. religion, is incompatible with the practice of any wickedness; and therefore it
is natural enough for those, who are resolved at all events to abide in their
evil courses, to divest themselves of all religious principles, which if
insufficient to restrain, will be sure at least to be very troublesome to them;
for this cause they are ready to say unto God, Depart from us, for we desire
not the knowledge of thy ways, Job 21:14.
CONSTABLE, ""Deceit" so typified their environment that it prevented them from
having much of a relationship with Yahweh. Note the recurrence of "deceit" and its
synonyms in this pericope. They did not know God ( Jeremiah 9:3), and they
refused to know Him. Even while they devotedly studied deception ( Jeremiah 9:5),
they refused to "know" Him.
"The verb yada", "know," denotes much more than intellectual knowledge but
rather that deep intimate knowledge that follows on the personal commitment of
one life to another, which is at its deepest in the commitment of a man to God [cf.
Amos 3:2]." [Note: Thompson, p310.]
7 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty says:
“See, I will refine and test them,
for what else can I do
because of the sin of my people?
BARNES, "Jer_9:7
I will melt them, and try them - The punishment is corrective rather than
retributive. The terms used are those of the refiner of metals, the first being the smelting
to separate the pure metal from the ore; the second the testing to see whether the metal
is pure, or still mixed with alloy. God will put the nation into the crucible of tribulation,
that whatever is evil being consumed in the fire, all there is in them of good may be
61

62. purified.
For how shall I do ... - Rather, “for how” else could I act with reference to the
“daughter of my people?”
CLARKE, "Behold, I win melt them - I will put them in the furnace of affliction,
and see if this will be a means of purging away their dross. See on Jer_6:27 (note).
GILL, "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Because of this deceit and
hypocrisy, and lying:
behold, I will melt them, and try them: as the refiner does his gold and silver, by
putting them into the fire of afflictions, and thereby remove their dross and corruption
from them. So the Targum,
"behold, I will bring distress upon them, and melt them, and try them.''
For how shall I do for the daughter of my people? the sense is, what could be
done otherwise or better? what was more fit or proper to be done, than to melt and try
them, and purge away their sin, "from the face of the daughter of my people", as the
words may be rendered? The Septuagint version is, "what shall I do from the face of the
wickedness of my people?" and so the Targum,
"what shall I do from before the sins of the congregation of my people?''
that is, by way of resentment of them, and in order to remove them.
JAMISON, "melt ... try them — by sending calamities on them.
for how shall I do — “What else can I do for the sake of the daughter of My people?”
[Maurer], (Isa_1:25; Mal_3:3).
PULPIT, "I will melt them. It is the same word as that used in Mal_3:3 of the
"refiner and purifier of silver." Purification, not destruction, is the object of the
judgment which is threatened! Strange that mercy should find place, after the offence of
the criminal has been found so grievous l But, lest we should expect too favorable an
issue, the prophet adds, in the name of Jehovah, For how shall I do? or rather, How
should I act? How otherwise should I act? The continuation is a little doubtful. The
Hebrew has," by reason of the daughter of my people;" but this can hardly be right. We
naturally expect something to justify the preceding statement. The reading of the
Septuagint answers to our anticipations by rendering ἀπὸ προσώπου πονηρίας
θυγατρὸς λαοῦ μου, and this is confirmed by the parallel passage Jer_7:12 (comp. Jer_
11:17; Jer_32:32).
CALVIN, "Jeremiah, speaking in God’s name, concludes that the chastisement,
of which he had spoken, was necessary; And what I have already said
62

63. appears more clearly from this verse, — that he brings to light their sins, that
they might know that they could not escape God ’s hand, who is a just
avenger of wickedness; for they had extremely provoked him by their
petulance and obstinacy.
I will try or melt them, he says, and I will prove them As they put on a false color, he
says that there was a trial needful, as when any one shews copper or any other metal
for gold, he is disproved by trial. Any impostor might otherwise sell dross for silver:
the spurious metal, that is passed as gold or silver, must be proved; it must be cast
into the fire and melted. As then the Jews thought that they had honest pretences to
cover their baseness, God gives this answer, that he had yet a way to discover their
deceitfulness, and as it were tells them, “The goldsmith, when any one brings
dross for silver, or copper for gold, has a furnace, and he tries it; so will I try
and melt you; for you think that you can dazzle ray eyes by false pretences:
this will avail you nothing.” In short, God intimates that he had means ready
at hand to discover their deceitfulness, and that thus their hypocrisy would
be of no advantage to them, as his judgments would be like a furnace. As
then stubble or wood, cast into the furnace, is immediately burnt, so
hypocrites cannot endure God’s judgment. They indeed at first exhibit some
brightness, until God tries them; but their deceits must eventually be
discovered; and they themselves will be consumed when they come to be
really proved. This is the meaning.
And the reason is added, For how should I do with the daughter of my people? This
may be applied to Jeremiah himself; but it would be a strained meaning. He then
continues, I have no doubt, to speak in God’s name; How then should I do, or
act, with the daughter of my people? God speaks here as one deliberating;
and thus he more fully proves the Jews guilty; for since he admits them as
judges or counsellors, they could give no other reply. We hence see that this
question is very emphatic; for the Prophet intimates, that except the Jews
were beyond measure stupid, they could no longer flatter themselves in their
sins, so as to demand to be otherwise treated by God, as they had in so many
ways and with s.uch perversity procured vengeance for themselves. (240)
But we hence learn that it is right that judgment should begin at the house of God,
as it is elsewhere said. (1 Peter 4:17.) God indeed will not pass by anytliing without
punishing it: hence the heathens must at last stand before his tribunal. But as he is
nearer to his Church, their impiety, who profess themselves to be as it were his
63

64. domestics, is less tolerable, as though he had said, “I have chosen you to be my
peculiar people, and have taken you under my care and protection; when ye
become intractable, what remains for me to do, but to try you, as ye act so
unfaithfully towards me.” It follows —
Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, — Behold I will melt them that I may try
them;
For thus will I do because of the wickedness of my people.
The rendering of the last line, according; to the received text, might be this, which is
nearly the Vulgate, —
For how should I deal otherwise with the daughter of my people?
The passage runs better in this way, than according to the proposed emendation. —
Ed.
COFFMAN, ""Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and
try them; for how else should I do, because of the daughter of my people? Their
tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor,
but in his heart he layeth wait for him. Shall I not visit them for these things? saith
Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?"
"Shall I not ... shall not my soul ..." (Jeremiah 9:9)? The very raising of such
questions, "Points up the legal aspects of breach of covenant."[10] The Jews of that
period were just like the rest of humanity, no better, and no worse. Why, then, was
God so outraged and disgusted with Judah? It all hinged upon the privileges of their
covenant relationship with God! God had given them the Law of Moses; he had
taught them the principles of truth and morality as carefully expounded in that
Law; and God had every right to have expected a far better response to the
privileges and blessings already conferred upon the nation than the indifference and
disobedience which he actually received. It is impossible to understand anything in
this prophecy without the perception of the "breach of the holy covenant" that was
accomplished in the behavior of the Chosen People. Without that conception, God's
severe punishment of Israel amounted to no more than a capricious punishment of
an unfortunate nation that was no worse than a dozen other peoples living in all
directions from Israel!
Back in Jeremiah 9:6, the prophet had revealed that "through deceit, the people
refused to know the Lord"; and as Matthew Henry stated it, "Those who would not
know the Lord as their lawgiver, would be compelled to know him as their
judge!"[11]
64

65. BI, "Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them.
God’s people melted and tried
Observe, here, that God represents Himself as greatly concerned to know what to do
with His people. But notice, next, the Lord is so resolved to save His people, that He will
use the sternest possible means rather than lose any of those whom He loves. Observe,
once more, that God’s concern about His people, and His resolve to use strange ways
with them, spring out of His relationship to them; for He says, “How shall I do for the
daughter of ‘My’ people? My people.” They were His, though they were so far away from
Him through their evil ways. When God has chosen a man from before the foundation of
the world, and when He has given that man over to Christ to be a part of the reward of
His soul’s travail, He will adopt strange means to accomplish His sacred purpose, and
He will carry out that purpose, let it cost Him what it may.
I. First, these principles may be applied to the matter of conversion.
1. There is a very simple way of being saved; it should be, I hope it is, the common
way. It is the simple way of following the call of grace. Without any violence, your
heart is opened, as with the picklock of grace. God puts the latch key into the door,
and steps into your heart without a word.
2. This is the way of salvation, but there are some who will not come this way. There
is the Wicket Gate. They have but to knock, and it will be opened; but they prefer to
go round about through the Slough of Despond, or to get under the care of Mr.
Worldly Wiseman, who leads them round by the house of Mr. Legality, who dwells in
the village of Morality, and there they go with their burdens on their backs, which
they need not carry even for a single hour, for they would roll off directly if they
would but look to Jesus, and believe in Him. But they will not do this. There are
some of whom God has to say, “How shall I do for the daughter of My people?” Why
is this? Well, some of them have a crooked sort of mind, they never can believe
anything straight; they must go round about. But some others are obstinate in sin.
They are not happy in it; but they will not give it up. Some others are unwilling to
confess sin at all. They think themselves wrong; but they try to make excuses. Then
there are some people who are not saved, but who are outwardly very religious. They
have never omitted going to Church; they have been brought up carefully, and they
have said their prayers regularly, and they have had family prayer, too. The robe of
their self-righteousness clings to them, and prevents their coming to rest in Jesus.
There are some others who will not come to Christ because they are so full of levity
and fickleness. They are all froth, all fun. They live like butterflies; they suck in the
juices from the flowers, and only flit from one to the other. They are easily impressed
one way and another; but there is no heart in them. And withal, there is another class
of persons that are insincere. There is no depth of earth about them. They do not
really feel what they think they feel; and when they say that they believe, they do not
really believe in their heart.
3. Now, having brought before you these characters, or held up the looking glass of
God’s Word so that they might see themselves in it, I want you to notice how God
does deal with such people very often. According to my text, they will have to feel the
furnace. I have noticed, during a considerable period of time, some of the self-
righteous and the outwardly-religious put into the fire and melted, by being
permitted to fall into some gross and open sin. I pray God that none of you self-
righteous people may be left to go into an open sin; but it may be that the Lord may
65

66. leave you to yourselves, to let you see what you really are, for you probably have no
idea what you are. Some, again, have been melted down by temporal calamities. Oh
yes, there are some who cannot be saved as long as they have a silver spoon in their
mouths; but when they are brought to poverty, it is the nearest way round to the
Father’s house, round by the far country where they would fain fill their bellies with
the husks that the swine eat. At other times, without any overt sin, without any
temporal trouble, God has ways of taking men apart from their fellows, and
whipping them behind the door. They have told me that their sin haunts them day
and night; they cannot hope for mercy; they cannot think that God will ever blot out
their transgressions. They are ground down, and brought low. This is all meant to
work for their good; they would not come to God any other way. It is by such an
experience “that God is fulfilling His Word, I will melt them, and try them.”
4. In all this God has one great object. It is just this, first, to hide pride from men.
God will not save us, and have us proud. Grace must have the glory of it from first to
last. Beside that, God means to take us out of our sin, and to do that He makes it to
be a bitter and an evil thing to us. Blessed is the blow that almost crushes you if it
breaks off the connection between you and sin.
II. I want to say something to Christians; for, in the matter of Christian life, God seems
to say, “What shall I do for the daughter of My people? I will melt them, and try them.”
1. Some Christians go from joy to joy. Their path, like that of the light, shineth more
and more unto the perfect day. Why should not you and I be like that?
2. There are other Christians who appear to make much progress in Divine things,
but it is not true progress. Whereas they say that they are rich, and increased in
goods, and have need of nothing, they are all the while naked, and blind, and poor,
and miserable. The worst thing about their condition is that some of them do not
want to know their real state. They half suspect that it is not what they say it is; but
they do not like to be told so; in fact, they get very cross when anyone even hints at
the truth. Now, there are such people in all our congregations, of whom God might
well say, “How shall I do for the daughter of My people?”
3. This is what He will do with a great many who are now inflated with a false kind of
grace: “I will melt them, and try them,” says the Lord of hosts. He will put them to a
test. Here is a man who has a quantity of plate, and he does not know the value of it,
so he takes it to a goldsmith, and asks him what it is worth. “Well,” says he, “I cannot
exactly tell you; but if you give me a little time, I will melt it all down, and then I will
let you know its value.” Thus does the Lord deal with many of His people. They have
become very good, and very great, as they fancy, and He says, “I will melt them.” He
that is pure gold will lose nothing in the melting; but he that is somebody in his own
opinion, will have to come down a peg or two before long.
4. Now, the result of melting is truth and humility. The result of melting is that we
arrive at a true valuation of things. The result of melting is that we are poured out
into a new and better fashion. And, oh, we may almost wish for the melting-pot if we
may but get rid of the dross, if we may but be pure, if we may but be fashioned more
completely like unto our Lord! (C. H. Spurgeon.)
66

67. 8 Their tongue is a deadly arrow;
it speaks deceitfully.
With their mouths they all speak cordially to their
neighbors,
but in their hearts they set traps for them.
BARNES, "Jer_9:8
An arrow shot out - Rather, “a murderous arrow.”
In heart he layeth his wait - Rather, “inwardly he layeth his ambush.”
GILL, "Their tongue is as an arrow shot out,.... As an arrow out of a bow, which
moves swiftly, and comes with great force; or, "drawn out" (u); as out of a quiver. The
word is used of gold, and rendered "beaten gold", 1Ki_10:16, gold drawn out into plates;
and here of an arrow drawn out of a quiver; and so it is interpreted in the Talmud (w); or
is "wounding", as the Septuagint, or "slaying" (x); denoting the mischief and injury done
to the characters of men, by a deceitful, detracting, and calumniating tongue. The
Targum is, "as a sharp arrow their tongue"; which pierces deep, and is deadly; See Gill
on Jer_9:3,
it speaketh deceit; deceitful words, by which men are imposed upon, and are led into
wrong ways of thinking and acting:
one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth; salutes him in a
friendly manner; wishes him all health, peace, and prosperity; professes a sincere and
cordial friendship for him, and pretends a strong affection to him:
but in his heart he layeth wait; to draw him into snares, and circumvent, trick, and
defraud him.
JAMISON, "tongue ... arrow shot out — rather, “a murdering arrow” [Maurer]
(Jer_9:3).
speaketh peaceably ... in heart ... layeth ... wait — layeth his ambush
[Henderson], (Psa_55:21).
PULPIT, "Jer_9:8
67

68. (Comp. Psa_55:21.) As an arrow shot out; rather, as a sharpened arrow; but this is
based on the marginal reading, and is itself a slightly forced rendering. The Hebrew text
(i.e. the consonants), and also the Septuagint and Vulgate, have "as a murderous arrow."
CALVIN, "The Prophet again complains of the deceitfulness of their tongues; and
he compares them to deadly, or drawn out arrows. Gold is said to be drawn out,
when refined by repeated meltings; so also arrows, when sharpened, are more
piercing. The Prophet then says, that their tongues were like deadly or sharpened
arrows: how so? because they ever spoke guile, by either slandering or
circumventing others. But the expression is general; and the Prophet no doubt
meant to include all modes of deceiving.
For it afterwards follows, With the mouth they speak peace; that is, every one
professed friendship, and his words were honey; and yet within he did set up, or
concealed intrigues. Here in other words he sets forth their perfidy; for the tongue
and the heart differed. They shewed by the tongue what was different from the
sentiment of the heart. Hence he says, that they set up treacheries in the midst of
them, or in their hearts, while they spoke peace with the mouth, that is, pretended
brotherly kindness. (241) At last he repeats again what he had said before,
(Jeremiah 5:9) —
A killing arrow is their tongue; Deceit it speaks; With his mouth does one
speak peace to his neighbor, But in his heart he sets an ambush for him.
Literally, “his ambush,” that is, the ambush of which he is the object. This
form of speech is often in Hebrew. See Job 28:10. “Penit ei insidias “ is the
Vulgate. Blayney gives a paraphrase, not a version, —
But inwardly will he resolve to fall upon him by surprise.
The future tense here, as in many other instances, is used as a present tense, and
designed to shew the habitual practice of the people. The same is done in the Welsh
language: the future tense is continually used to express a present action. — Ed.
68

69. 9 Should I not punish them for this?”
declares the Lord.
“Should I not avenge myself
on such a nation as this?”
GILL, "Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord ,.... The Targum adds,
"to bring evil upon them.''
Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? the Targum is,
"or of a people whose works are such, shall I not take vengeance according to my
pleasure?''
HENRY, "The rest shall be ruined (Jer_9:9): Shall I not visit for these things? Fraud
and falsehood are sins which God hates and which he will reckon for. “Shall not my soul
be avenged on such a nation as this, that is so universally corrupt, and, by its impudence
in sin, even dares and defies divine vengeance? The sentence is passed, the decree has
gone forth (Jer_9:11): I will make Jerusalem heaps of rubbish, and lay it in such ruins
that it shall be fit for nothing but to be a den of dragons; and the cities of Judah shall be
a desolation.” God makes them so, for he gives the enemy warrant and power to do it:
but why is the holy city made a heap? The answer is ready, Because it has become an
unholy one?
JAMISON, "(Jer_5:9, Jer_5:29).
K&D, "The land laid waste, and the people scattered amongst the heathen. - Jer_
9:9. "For the mountains I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the
wilderness a lament; for they are burnt up so that no man passeth over them, neither
hear they the voice of the flock; the fowls of the heavens and the cattle are fled, are
gone. Jer_9:10. And I make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling of jackals; and the cities of
Judah I make a desolation, without an inhabitant. Jer_9:11. Who is the wise man, that
he may understand this? and to whom the mouth of Jahveh hath spoken, that he may
declare it? Wherefore doth the land come to ruin, is it burnt up like the wilderness, that
69

70. none passeth through? Jer_9:12. Jahveh said: Because they forsake my law which I set
before them, and have not hearkened unto my voice, neither walked therein, Jer_9:13.
But went after the stubbornness of their heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers
have taught them. Jer_9:14. Therefore thus hath Jahveh of hosts spoken, the God of
Israel: Behold, I feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink,
Jer_9:15. And scatter them among the nations which they knew not, neither they nor
their fathers, and send the sword after them, until I have consumed them."
Already in spirit Jeremiah sees God's visitation come upon the land, and in Jer_9:9
and Jer_9:10 he raises a bitter lamentation for the desolation of the country. The
mountains and meadows of the steppes or prairies are made so desolate, that neither
men nor beasts are to be found there. Mountains and meadows or pastures of the
steppes, as contrasted with the cities (Jer_9:10), represent the remoter parts of the
country. ‫ל‬ַ‫ע‬ is here not local: upon, but causal, concerning = because of, cf. Jer_4:24., as
is usual with (‫א‬ָ‫ָשׂ‬‫נ‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫ה‬ְ‫נ‬ )‫ָה‬‫נ‬‫י‬ ִ‫;ק‬ cf. 2Sa_1:17; Amo_5:1; Eze_26:17, etc. ‫תוּ‬ ְ‫צּ‬ִ‫,נ‬ kindled, burnt
up, usually of cities (cf. Jer_2:15), here of a tract of country with the sig. be parched by
the glowing heat of the sun, as a result of the interruption of agriculture. ‫ר‬ ָ‫בּ‬ ְ‫ד‬ ִ‫מ‬ is steppe,
prairie, not suitable for tillage, but well fitted for pasturing cattle, as e.g., the wilderness
of Judah; cf. 1Sa_17:28. With ‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫בּ‬ ִ‫,מ‬ Jer_9:11, cf. Eze_33:28. Not only have the herds
disappeared that used to feed there, but the very birds have flown away, because the
parched land no longer furnishes food for them; cf. Jer_4:25. To "are fled," which is
used most properly of birds, is added: are gone away, departed, in reference to the cattle.
Jer_9:10-13
Jerusalem is to become stone-heaps, where only jackals dwell. ‫ים‬ִ‫נּ‬ ַ‫תּ‬ is jackals (canis
aureus), in Isa_13:22 called ‫ים‬ִ‫יּ‬ ִ‫א‬ from their cry; see on Isa. l.c., and Gesen. thes. s. v.
‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫בּ‬ ִ‫מ‬ ‫ב‬ֵ‫שׁ‬ ‫י‬ as in Jer_2:15; Jer_4:7. - That such a judgment will pass over Judah every
wise man must see well, and every one enlightened by God is to declare it; for universal
apostasy from God and His law cannot but bring down punishment. But such wisdom
and such spiritual enlightenment is not found in the infatuated people. This is the idea of
Jer_9:11-13. The question: Who is the wise man? etc., reminds us of Hos_14:9, and is
used with a negative force: unhappily there is none so wise as to see this. "This" is
explained by the clause, Wherefore doth the land, etc.: this, i.e., the reason why the land
is going to destruction. The second clause, "and to whom," etc., is dependent on the ‫י‬ ִ‫,מ‬
which is to be repeated in thought: and who is he that, etc. Jeremiah has the false
prophets here in view, who, if they were really illumined by God, if they had the word of
God, could not but declare to the people their corruptness, and the consequences which
must flow from it. But since none is so wise...Jeremiah proposes to them the question in
Jer_9:11, and in Jer_9:12 tells the answer as given by God Himself. Because they have
forsaken my law, etc. ‫ן‬ ַ‫ָת‬‫נ‬ ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫פ‬ ִ‫,ל‬ to set before; as in Deu_4:8, so here, of the oral
inculcation of the law by the prophets. "Walketh therein" refers to the law. The
stubbornness of their heart, as in Jer_3:17; Jer_7:24. After the Baals, Jer_2:23. The
relative clause, "which their fathers," etc., refers to both clauses of the verse; ‫ר‬ֶ‫ֲשׁ‬‫א‬ with a
neuter sense: which their fathers have taught them.
CALVIN, "We have already met with this verse; it will therefore be enough briefly
70

71. to refer to what it contains. God shews here, that except he denied himself he must
necessarily punish the Jews. How so? He takes it as granted that he is the judge of
the world: he had said that the Jews were not only become wicked in one thing, but
were so given up to all kinds of wickedness, that they wearied themselves; what then
was to be done? God would not have acted in a manner worthy of himself, nor
preserved consistency, had he not punished such men; for he must have changed his
nature, had he not hated such a perverse nation. But he speaks after the manner of
men when he mentions vengeance; for we know that no passions belong to God, as it
has been often stated: but as he hates wickedness, so he is said to execute vengeance,
when he appears as a judge and chastises those by whom he has been provoked to
wrath.
CONSTABLE, "Yahweh asked, rhetorically, if He should not punish such a nation
for their deceits. His nation had become like all the other nations (cf. Jeremiah
9:24-25). Should He not avenge Himself by punishing Judah for violating His
covenant commands?
"The grief of God is caused not only by what the people have done to him but more
especially by what they have done to each other." [Note: Kelley, p145.]
10 I will weep and wail for the mountains
and take up a lament concerning the wilderness
grasslands.
They are desolate and untraveled,
and the lowing of cattle is not heard.
The birds have all fled
and the animals are gone.
BARNES, "Jer_9:10
The habitations i. e - the temporary encampments of the shepherds (see Jer_6:3).
71

72. So that none can ... - Or, “They are parched up, with no man to pass through them;
neither do they hear the voice of cattle; from the birds of the heaven even to the beasts
they “are fled, they are gone.”
CLAKE, "Both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled - The land shall
be so utterly devastated, that neither beast nor bird shall be able to live in it.
GILL, "For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing,.... Because of
the desolation of them; because no pasture upon them, nor flocks feeding there; or
"concerning" them, as the Arabic version; or "upon" them (y), in order to cause the
lamentation to be heard the further; but the former sense seems best, as appears by what
follows. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic versions, read it as an exhortation to others,
"take up a weeping": but they are the words of the prophet, declaring what he would do.
And for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation; for the cottages of the
shepherds, erected for their convenience, to look after their flocks, feeding on the
mountains, and in the valleys; for the wilderness does not denote barren places, but
pastures:
because they are burnt up; by the fire of the Chaldeans, who burnt the cottages, and
drove off the cattle:
so that none can pass through them; or there is none that passes through; as no
inhabitant there, so no passenger that way; which shows how very desolate these places
were:
neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; the lowing of the oxen, or the
bleating of the sheep, there being none to be heard, being all carried off; and indeed no
men to hear them, had there been any:
both the fowl of the heavens and the beasts are fled, they are gone; or, "from
the fowl of the heavens to the beasts", &c. (z), the places lying waste and uncultivated;
there were no seed for the fowls to pick up, which generally frequent places where there
is sowing, and where fruit is brought to perfection; and no pasture for the beasts to feed
upon. Kimchi says these words are an hyperbole. The word ‫,בהמה‬ "beast", being by
geometry, or numerically, fifty two, the Jews (a) gather from hence, that for the space of
fifty two years no man passed through the land of Judah; which they reckon from the
time that Zedekiah was carried captive, to the commandment of Cyrus.
JAMISON, "Jeremiah breaks in upon Jehovah’s threats of wrath with lamentation
for his desolated country.
mountains — once cultivated and fruitful: the hillsides were cultivated in terraces
between the rocks.
habitations of ... wilderness — rather, “the pleasant herbage (literally, ‘the choice
parts’ of any thing) of the pasture plain.” The Hebrew for “wilderness” expresses not a
barren desert, but an untilled plain, fit for pasture.
72

73. burned up — because no one waters them, the inhabitants being all gone.
none can pass through them — much less inhabit them.
fowl — (Jer_4:25).
K&D 10-13, "Jer_9:10-13
Jerusalem is to become stone-heaps, where only jackals dwell. ‫ים‬ִ‫נּ‬ ַ‫תּ‬ is jackals (canis
aureus), in Isa_13:22 called ‫ים‬ִ‫יּ‬ ִ‫א‬ from their cry; see on Isa. l.c., and Gesen. thes. s. v.
‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫בּ‬ ִ‫מ‬ ‫ב‬ֵ‫שׁ‬ ‫י‬ as in Jer_2:15; Jer_4:7. - That such a judgment will pass over Judah every
wise man must see well, and every one enlightened by God is to declare it; for universal
apostasy from God and His law cannot but bring down punishment. But such wisdom
and such spiritual enlightenment is not found in the infatuated people. This is the idea of
Jer_9:11-13. The question: Who is the wise man? etc., reminds us of Hos_14:9, and is
used with a negative force: unhappily there is none so wise as to see this. "This" is
explained by the clause, Wherefore doth the land, etc.: this, i.e., the reason why the land
is going to destruction. The second clause, "and to whom," etc., is dependent on the ‫י‬ ִ‫,מ‬
which is to be repeated in thought: and who is he that, etc. Jeremiah has the false
prophets here in view, who, if they were really illumined by God, if they had the word of
God, could not but declare to the people their corruptness, and the consequences which
must flow from it. But since none is so wise...Jeremiah proposes to them the question in
Jer_9:11, and in Jer_9:12 tells the answer as given by God Himself. Because they have
forsaken my law, etc. ‫ן‬ ַ‫ָת‬‫נ‬ ‫ֵי‬‫נ‬ ְ‫פ‬ ִ‫,ל‬ to set before; as in Deu_4:8, so here, of the oral
inculcation of the law by the prophets. "Walketh therein" refers to the law. The
stubbornness of their heart, as in Jer_3:17; Jer_7:24. After the Baals, Jer_2:23. The
relative clause, "which their fathers," etc., refers to both clauses of the verse; ‫ר‬ֶ‫ֲשׁ‬‫א‬ with a
neuter sense: which their fathers have taught them.
CALVIN, "The Prophet had exhorted others to lament and to bewail. He now comes
forth as though none had ears to attend to his admonition. As then he himself
undertakes to mourn and to lament, he no doubt indirectly condemns the
insensibility of the whole people. He saw by the spirit of prophecy, that all the rest
thought what he said incredible and therefore fabulous. For though the kingdom of
Judah was at that time much wasted, and the kingdom of Israel wholly fallen, they
yet continued secure and heedless when they ought to have expected God’s
vengeance every day, and even every hour. Since then there was such
insensibility in the people, the Prophet here prepares himself for lamentation
and mourning.
I will take up, he says, mourning and lamentation for the mountains The words may
be explained, “I will take up mourning, which shall ascend as far as the
mountains;” but the cause of mourning seems rather to be intended; for it
immediately follows, and weeping for the pastures of the desert Had not this
clause been added, the former meaning might be taken, that is, that
73

74. mourning would be so loud as to penetrate into the mountains or ascend into
the highest parts. But as Jeremiah connects the two clauses, for the
mountains, and for the pastures of the desert, the other meaning is much
more appropriate, — that the confidence of the people was very absurd, as
they thougilt themselves beyond danger, dwelling as they did on the plains;
for the enemies, he says, shall leave nothing untouched; they shall come to
the mountains and to the pastures of the desert. It hence follows, that they
were foolish who promised themselves quietness on the plains, where the
enemy could easily come.
We now then understand the Prophet’s meaning: he sets here his own fear and
solicitude in contrast with the stupor of the whole people. I will raise, he
says, weeping and lamentation for the mountains: but others remained secure
and thoughtless in their pleasures. He then shews, that while they were blind,
his eyes were open, and he saw the coming ruin which was now at hand.
And he sets the mountains and pastures of the desert in opposition to the
level country. For when a country is laid waste, we know that still a retreat
is sought on mountains; for enemies dread ambushes there, and access is not
easy where the roads are narrow. Then the Prophet says, that even the
mountains would not be beyond the reach of danger, for the enemies would
march there: he says the same of the pastures of the desert. We hence learn
how absurd was their confidence who thought themselves safe because they
inhabited the plain country, which was the most accessible.
As to the word ‫נאות‬ naut, it comes from ‫נוה‬ hue, which means to dwell. (242) He then
takes ‫נאות‬ haut, as signifying pleasant places, or pastures. Some render it sheds or
cottages. David uses the same word in Psalms 23:2, in speaking of God’s favor to
him, who was pleased to become his shepherd:
“He makes me to lie down,” he says, “in pleasant places.”
But the Prophet no doubt means pastures here. And he calls them the
pastures of the desert. The word ‫מדבר‬ midbar, we know, is taken to designate not
only waste and sterile places, but also a mountainous country. Though then the
richest pastures were on mountains, yet the Jews were wont to call them deserts:
there is therefore nothing absurd in saying, the pleasant places or pastures of the
desert. But we must bear in mind the contrast, of which I have reminded you: for he
74

75. intended to condemn the foolish confidence of the people, who thought that they
were dwelling in safety, when yet they were exposed to enemies, and had no means
to repel or retard their progress.
Because they are laid waste, He says. This word may be taken in another sense,
“burnt up;” but it is not suitable here. He says then that these places arelaid
waste, so that no one passed through. He means that mountains would not
only be without inhabitants, but would be so deserted and solitary that there
would be none passing over them. There would then be none to frequent
them. It hence follows, that there would be no inhabitants, He then adds, that
no voice of cattle was heard; as though he had said, that their enemies would
take away as their spoil whatever should be found there: for the wealth of
mountains consists in cattle; for there is neither sowing nor reaping there;
but inhabitants of mountains get their living and whatever is necessary to
support life, from flesh and skin and milk and cheese. When therefore the
Prophet declares that there would be no voice of cattle, it is the same as
though he had said, that the mountains would become altogether
uninhabited, for their enemies would take away all the cattle found there.
He then adds, From the bird of the heavens to the earthly beast they shall migrate
and depart (243) Here he seems again indirectly to reprove the insensibility of the
people, as though he had said, that the birds would feel it to be the judgment of God,
while yet men were wholly insensible; and that there would be a similar feeling in
brute animals; as though he had said, that there would be more understanding in
birds and animals than in the Jews, who had not only been created in the image of
God, but had also been enlightened as to the truth of salvation; for shine among
them did the truth of God in the law. Hence the Prophet shews that this stupidity
was most shameful; for they were as stupid as if they had no thought and no
understanding, while yet birds acknowledged the vengeance of God, and brute
animals were terrified by it. We now perceive the meaning of the Prophet. It
follows —
10.For the mountains will I raise weeping and wailing, And for the pleasant
places of the desert, a lamentation; For they are desolate, without any one
passing through, And they hear not the voice of cattle; From the bird of
heaven even to the beast, They have migrated, they have gone away.
The “pleasant places” were “desolate;” and “in the mountains” no “voice of
cattle” was heard. No one “passing through” explains the desolation. The
75

76. word is improperly rendered, “burnt up,” in our version and by Blayney. It
was used before in the sense of desolation, Jeremiah 4:7; and it ought to be
so rendered in Jeremiah 2:15. In the last line, the migration refers to birds,
and the going away to the beasts. In none of the ancient versions is this
distinction intimated. — Ed.
COFFMAN, ""For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the
pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none
passeth through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the birds of the
heavens and the beasts are fled, they are gone. And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a
dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without
inhabitant."
The weeping and the wailing here are because of the forthcoming desolation upon
Jerusalem and Judaea. The mountains, which once teemed with life, and the pasture
lands (here called `wilderness') which once supported numerous herds of sheep and
cattle, all of this is to be destroyed; even the Holy City itself shall be without
inhabitant, deserted, a den of jackals! The answer as to why it is necessary for God
to bring such destruction against the land of his people is in the following verses.
COKE, "Jeremiah 9:10. For the mountains, &c.— These words, says Houbigant,
as they now lie, must belong either to Jeremiah, or the daughter of Zion; and
yet it follows in the next verse, And I will make; which are the words of God:
therefore this verse should be rendered, Take ye up a weeping and wailing
on the mountains; a lamentation in the dwellings of the wilderness; for they
are desolate, because there is no travellers; nor is the voice of cattle heard in
them: both the fowl, &c. The prophet here describes the total desolation of
the country. The remark which St. Jerome makes on Hosea 4:3 is suitable to
this place: "He who thinks that this has not happened to the people of Israel,
let him behold Illyricum, let him behold Thrace, Macedonia, and Pannonia,
and all that tract of land from Propontis and Bosphorus to the Alps; and he
will then confess that not only men, but likewise every animal which was
formed for the use of men, are extinct and swept away by the before of
destruction."
11 “I will make Jerusalem a heap of ruins,
76

77. a haunt of jackals;
and I will lay waste the towns of Judah
so no one can live there.”
BARNES, "Jer_9:11
Dragons - Rather, jackals.
CLARKE, "A den of dragons - ‫תנים‬ tannim is supposed to mean here jackals; the
chakal is a beast frequent in the east, an attendant on the lion, the refuse of whose prey
he devours. It is an animal that seems to have been bred originally between the wolf and
the dog. The original is sometimes interpreted, dragons, whales, etc.
GILL, "And I will make Jerusalem heaps,.... That is, the walls and houses of it
shall be thrown down, and become heaps of stones and rubbish:
and a den of dragons; only inhabited by wild beasts:
and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without inhabitant; so that the
calamity would be universal; not only Jerusalem, but all the cities of the land, would be
destroyed, forsaken, and uninhabited.
HENRY, "(Jer_9:11): I will make Jerusalem heaps of rubbish, and lay it in such
ruins that it shall be fit for nothing but to be a den of dragons; and the cities of Judah
shall be a desolation.” God makes them so, for he gives the enemy warrant and power to
do it: but why is the holy city made a heap? The answer is ready, Because it has become
an unholy one?
JAMISON, "And — omit “And.” Jehovah here resumes His speech from Jer_9:9.
heaps — (see on Isa_25:2).
dragons — jackals.
PULPIT, "Jer_9:11
I will make, etc. Notice how the utterances of the prophets stand side by side with
those of Jehovah. A true prophet has no personal views; so that whether his revelations
are expressed in the one form or the other makes no difference. Dragons; rather,
jackals.
77

78. CALVIN, "The Prophet comes now toJerusalem and the neighhouring cities. He
said before, that ruin would reach the mountains and the farthest recesses; but he
says now, I will turn Jerusalem into heaps This seemed incredible, for it was a well
fortified city, and also full of inhabitants to defend it: we know besides that the Jews
were in confederacy with the kingdom of Egypt. This denunciation then was
extremely unwelcome to the Jews. But though they thought themselves hitherto safe,
yet the Prophet set before their eyes their final destruction. They indeed regarded it
as a fable; but they found too late, that the despisers of God gain no advantage in
hardening· themselves against his threatenings. We shall meet with this verse again;
I shall therefore now pass over it lightly.
He says, that it would be hereafter a place for dragons; as though he had said, that it
would be no longer inhabited. He declares the same respecting the cities of
Judah, — that they would all be a waste. We hence see how courageous and
persevering a mind was Jeremiah endued with, that he dared to preach thus
in the midst of the city, and to set himself in opposition to the king and his
counsellors, and to the whole people, who wished to be soothed with
flatteries, and who had been thus treated by the false prophets. As then
Jeremiah was thus bold, as a celestial herald, to denounce on them this
dreadful calamity, we hence learn that he was endued with the power of God,
and that he did not speak as one commissioned by men; for had he not been
sustained by God’s power, he must have been a hundred times disheartened,
nor would he have dared to speak a word. This invincible courage seals his
doctrine; ibr we hence with certainty learn, that it proceeded from God,
because the wonderful power of the ttoly Spirit was evident. He afterwards
adds —
12 Who is wise enough to understand this?
Who has been instructed by the Lord and can
explain it? Why has the land been ruined and
78

79. laid waste like a desert that no one can cross?
BARNES, "Jer_9:12
For what the land perisheth ... - This is the question proposed for consideration.
The prophet calls upon the wise man to explain his question; that question being,
Wherefore did the land perish? He follows it by the assertion of a fact: “It is parched like
the wilderness with no man to pass through.”
CLARKE, "Who is the wise man - To whom has God revealed these things? He is
the truly wise man. But it is to his prophet alone that God has revealed these things, and
the speedy fulfillment of the predictions will show that the prophet has not spoken of
himself.
GILL, "Who is the wise man that may understand this?.... Not the calamity, but
the cause of it; a man of wisdom would inquire into it, find it out, and understand it; but
the intimation is, that there was not a wise man among them, at least very few; there
were scarce any that took any notice of these things, or were concerned about them:
and who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken; and foretold this
desolation and destruction; meaning a prophet:
that he may declare it; as from the Lord, namely, what follows:
for what the land perisheth, and is burnt like a wilderness, that none
passeth through? that is, what were the sins of the inhabitants of the land, which
brought such distress upon it, and for which it became such a ruinous heap, and like the
heath in the wilderness, so that it had no inhabitant, nor even a passenger: they must be
some very great and abominable iniquities that were the cause of all this.
HENRY, "Two things the prophet designs, in these verses, with reference to the
approaching destruction of Judah and Jerusalem: - 1. To convince people of the justice
of God in it, that they had by sin brought it upon themselves and that therefore they had
no reason to quarrel with God, who did them no wrong at all, but a great deal of reason
to fall out with their sins, which did them all this mischief. 2. To affect people with the
greatness of the desolation that was coming, and the miserable effects of it, that by a
terrible prospect of it they might be awakened to repentance and reformation, which was
the only way to prevent it, or, at least, mitigate their own share in it. This being designed,
I. He calls for the thinking men, by them to show people the equity of God's
proceedings, though they seemed harsh and severe (Jer_9:12): “Who, where, is the wise
79

80. man, or the prophet, to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken? You boast of your
wisdom, and of the prophets you have among you; produce me any one that has but the
free use of human reason or any acquaintance with divine revelation, and he will soon
understand this himself, and it will be so clear to him that he will be ready to declare it to
others, that there is a just ground of God's controversy with this people.” Do these wise
men enquire, For what does the land perish? What is the matter, that such a change is
made with this land? It used to be a land that God cared for, and he had his eyes upon it
for good (Deu_11:12), but it is now a land that he has forsaken and that his face is
against. It used to flourish as the garden of the Lord and to be replenished with
inhabitants; but now it is burnt up like a wilderness, that none passeth through it, much
less cares to settle in it. It was supposed, long ago, that it would be asked, when it came
to this, Wherefore has the Lord done thus unto this land? What means the heat of this
great anger? (Deu_29:24), to which question God here gives a full answer, before which
all flesh must be silent. He produces out of the record,
JAMISON, "Rather, “Who is a wise man? (that is, Whosoever has inspired wisdom,
2Pe_3:15); let him understand this (weigh well the evils impending, and the causes of
their being sent); and he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath spoken (that is,
whosoever is prophetically inspired), let him declare it to his fellow countrymen,” if
haply they may be roused to repentance, the only hope of safety.
PULPIT, "For what the land perisheth. A closer rendering would be more forcible:
Wherefore hath the land perished, is it burned up like the wilderness with none that
passeth through
CALVIN, "Here the Prophet reproves more sharply the insensibility of the people,
because none attended to the judgments of God; for though they were apparent, no
one considered them. The question arose from astonishment; for it was like
something dreadfully monstrous, that so few among the people knew that God
would be the punisher of crimes so apparent to all. Had they a particle of
understanding, they must have known that a dreadful calamity was nigh at hand,
since they continued in so many ways to provoke God. And now that the labor of the
Prophet, after having said what ought to have roused them all, had been all in vain;
was not this doubly monstrous? For he had spent a long time, and had never ceased
to cry; and yet all were deaf, nay, his teaching was treated with contempt.
Hence is his astonishment, when he says, Who is a wise man? he intimates that there
was hardly one in a hundred whom the fear of God influenced. It must then be
remembered, that the Prophet complains of the few number of those who
perceived:, that it could not be but that God would shortly put forth his hand to
punish the wickedness which then everywhere prevailed. But yet he exhorts all the
faithful children of God to disregard the nmltitude, and to gather courage, and to
make more account of God’s word than of the contumacy of them all. There
are then two things in this sentence; for the question means, that few could
be found among the people who were wise, and who applied their minds and
80

81. thoughts to consider the miserable state of the people; but, on the other
hand, he intimates that it is true wisdom in God ’s faithful servants, not to
despond, and not to follow the nmltitude. He then intimates that they are
alone truly wise who consider God’s judgments before He openly executes
them. There is a similar sentence in Psalms 107:0 : 43; for the Prophet, after
having spoken of God’s judgments, which are visible through the whole
world, exclaims,
“Who is a wise man, that he may understand these things?”
as though he had said, that though the works of God, which evidence both
his goodness and his judgment, might indeed be observed in every part of
the world, yet that all were blind. The Prophet then by this exclamation
reprobates the insensibility of men, who overlook God’s judgments, though
they are apparent before their eyes. So also the same thing is meant in this
place, Who is a wise man? But we must further notice the second thing, to
which I have referred, namely, that all the faithful are here encouraged, as
the Prophet teaches us, that this is the rule of wisdom, — to open our eyes to
see God’s judgments, which are hid from the world: while others are drawn
away by their lusts or sunk in their stupor, the Prophet teaches us, that we
are wise, when we duly consider, as I have already said, what the Lord has
made known to us in his word. Hence it follows, that all the wise men of this
world are foolish, who so harden themselves, that they do not perceive in
God’s word what is yet open to their eyes. Who then is a wise man, and he
will understand these things?
He afterwards adds, To whom has the mouth of Jehovah spoken to declare this? He
complains here that there were no prophets. He said, at the beginning of the verse,
that there were none wise, because all heedlessly despised the threatenings and
judgments of God: now in the second place he adds, there were none to arouse the
careless people who were asleep in their sins. But by this sentence he claims
authority for himself; for though he was without associates and assistants, he yet
intimates that his teaching was not, on that account of less value: “Beit,” he says,
(for he speaks by way of concession,) “beit, that there is no prophet to recall
the people from their sins, to exhort them to repent, to terrify the ungodly:
however this may be, yet the Lord has appointed me to teach and to exhort
the people.” We hence see that the Prophet claims for himself full and
81

82. complete authority, though he alone denounced God’s vengeance. Many
indeed then boasted that they were prophets; but they were only false
flatterers. When the Prophet saw that many abused the name, and did not
perform the office faithfully and sincerely, he set himself in opposition to
them all; as though he had said, “It is enough that the Lord has commanded
me to do this; I therefore denounce on you this calamity, which ye heedlessly
disregard, because false teachers deeeive you by their mischievous
adulations.”
Who will declare, he says, why the land is to perish, and to be laid waste like the
desert, so that there should be no inhabitant? We may apply this to two periods. For
when Jeremiah spoke, the kingdom was yet standing, and, as I have said, the Jews
were not so subdued as to humble themselves before God: they were therefore still
indulging themselves in their sins. Now whence did this indulgence proceed, except
from their prosperous condition? Yet the Prophet says that the land had perished,
and justly so; but he says this, because he did not judge of the people’s state
according to what it appeared then to be, but according to the judgment
which he saw by the prophetic spirit was impending over them. And we may
extend this farther; as though Jeremiah had said, “When God shall have so
chastised this people, that there may be as it were a visible monument of
celestial wrath; there shall yet be then no prophets to remind them whence
these evils have proceeded.” This indeed we know was the case, when the
city was partly burnt and partly demolished, and the temple pulled down: the
contumacy of the people was so great, that their hearts were stone, and their
minds iron. There was then a monstrous hardness in that calamity. They
indeed cried for their evils; but no one perceived that God was executing
what he had denounced for so many years. For Jeremiah, as we have said,
exercised his office of teaching for a long time: but before he began, Isaiah
had already been were out; and before Isaiah, Micah had prophesied. Though,
however, threatenings had been renewed daily for a hundred years, and
terrors had been announced, yet there was no one who attended. (244)
This passage, then, may be thus explained, — That when threatenings should
appear by the effect not to have been announced in vain, yet the people
would even then be insensible, for no one would attend to nor consider
God’s judgment: they would all indeed feel their evils, but no one would
regard the hand of him who smote them, as it is said in another place.
82

83. (Isaiah 9:13.) Either meaning may be allowed; but, as I think, the Prophet
here deplores the hardness and contumacy of the people at that time; as
though he had said, that there were none who considered God ’s judgments,
and that there was no prophet to rouse those who were torpid. But yet, as it
has been stated, he thus intimates, that he had sufficient authority, though he
had no associate or assistant; for he had been chosen by God, and had been
sent to carry this message. It follows —
Who is the man that is wise, And he will understand this, — And to whom the
mouth of Jehovah has spoken, And he will declare it, — Even why destroyed
is the land, Made waste like the desert, without a traveler.
The wise man is the same with him to whom God had spoken: and what he had to
understand and to declare was the reason why the land was destroyed. Then in the
next verse God himself, by the mouth of his prophet, makes this known. “Made
waste” is rendered “burnt up” by theSeptuagint and the Vulgate, but
desolated, or desolate, by the Targum, Syriac, and Arabic; and no doubt
rightly, as “without a traveler,” or one passing through, explains what is
meant: in like manner, “without an inhabitant,” in the preceding verse, is an
explanation of “the cities of Judah” being made “desolate,” or rather, entirely
desolate. — Ed.
COFFMAN, ""Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to
whom the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the
land perished and burned up like a wilderness? And Jehovah saith, because they
have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice,
neither walked therein, but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart,
and after the Baalim which their fathers taught them; therefore thus saith Jehovah
of hosts, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them
water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they
nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have
consumed them."
These verses "are often referred to as the work of Deuteronomic editors";[12] but
this critical fembu is unworthy of any attention. All of the redactors and editors of
the radical critics are shadowy creatures of imagination, for whom there exists no
dependable evidence whatever. They are the self-made crutches upon which
unbelievers lean in their vain efforts to cast doubt upon the Word of God.
The purpose of this paragraph is clearly that of giving God's reasons that required
83

84. his severe punitive action against the remainder of Israel. The answer is specific and
sufficient: (1) they had revolted against their legitimate sovereign, a great truth that
denies the non-existence of the Mosaic Law at that time; (2) they had not only
withdrawn their obedience from God, but they had also taken up arms against him;
(3) they were worshipping the idols which their own hands had manufactured; (4)
they were worshipping the fertility cults of the various Baalim, wallowing in the
vulgar, sensuous rites of that orgiastic religion. It was for all of these things that
God would destroy the nation and send the remnant of it into captivity, from which
the vast majority would never return.
"The King of Kings never made war against his own subjects except when they had
treacherously rebelled against him and had made such punishment necessary."[13]
"Who is the wise man, that may understand this ..." (Jeremiah 9:12)? Keil tells us
that this question is given in the negative form, indicating that "There is no wise
man"[14] who was either able or willing to tell them the Word of God; and that the
word `wherefore' in this same verse makes that the fundamental reason behind
God's punishment of his people.
"They have forsaken my law which I set before them ..." (Jeremiah 9:13). The law
mentioned here is the complete Law of Moses, not some small fragment of it found
in the temple. Note also that God had set this law before the people, not Hilkiah who
found that copy of it. It was the basic constitution of the nation of Israel; and their
rebellion against the Covenant of God which was built into and around that law was
the reason for the punishment coming upon them.
"Ye have ... walked after the Baalim ..." (Jeremiah 9:14). "Many of the Ugaritic
texts regarded the fertility god Baal as the actual head of the Canaanite
pantheon,"[15] and so is he regarded in this commentary. There is absolutely
nothing in the Holy Bible that supports the notion advocated by some that a certain
"[~'El]" was that head. It was Baal. This is proved by the fact that Baal's name is
linked with dozens of lesser gods, often associated with various local areas as in,
"Baal-hazor, Baal-peor, Baal-sidon, Baal-lebanon, Baal-haram, Baal-berith; it is
clear from the Ugaritic texts that many of the cultic practices associated with the
Baal fertility cults were heavily oriented toward sexual immorality."[16] This
shameful worship was exceedingly attractive to the Jewish people, beginning with
the tragic conduct of the whole nation at Baal-peor (Numbers 24-26).
"Wormwood... water of gall ..." (Jeremiah 9:15). "Wormwood is a plant having a
very bitter juice, and gall was a poisonous bitter herb. The terms were often used
together to indicate bitter afflictions."[17]
"I will scatter them also among the nations ..." (Jeremiah 9:16). "This verse comes
from Leviticus 26:33."[18] If, as some critics assert, the Pentateuch as we know it
did not then exist, where on earth does one suppose that Jeremiah came up with
this? Remember that our chapter here has already stated that God had given Israel
84

85. his Law (the whole Pentateuch), a fact proved by this verse.
The Dean of Canterbury's comment on this is, "The captivity of Israel and the
scattering of them among the heathen (the nations) was a fulfillment of this passage
in Leviticus as the appointed determinate penalty for the violation of God's
covenant; and this is one of the most remarkable facts in proof that prophecy was
something more than human foresight."[19]
PETT, "Verses 12-26
Those Who Are Truly Wise Will Know The Truth About God And Will Thus
Understand Why He Acts Like He Does In Bringing Final Judgment On Judah
(Jeremiah 9:12-26).
The passage commences by asking who the true wise man is, the one who will
understand why YHWH will do what He is about to do in devastating the land and
sending His people into exile where they will be pursued by the sword until they are
consumed. And the question is answered as it being the one who understands and
knows YHWH for What He is, the One Who practises covenant love, justice and
righteousness throughout the earth. Once that is understood all else falls into place.
Meanwhile YHWH calls on the mourning women to lament in unison with Zion
over their ruin, and ends with the warning that His judgment will not only be visited
on Judah but on all the nations round about (something expanded on in chapters
46-49).
There is a clear chiastic pattern to this part of the narrative, as follows:
a The call to the wise man and the prophet to explain YHWH’s actions and
YHWH’s response to their silence (Jeremiah 9:12-14).
b The warning of what will happen to Judah as a result (Jeremiah 9:15-16).
c YHWH’s call to the mourning women to raise up a lament over Judah (Jeremiah
9:17-18).
d The people as a whole mourn because of their desolation and ruin (Jeremiah
9:19).
c YHWH’s further call to the women to raise up a lament over Judah (Jeremiah
9:20-21).
b A further warning of what will happen to Judah (Jeremiah 9:22).
a The call to the wise and the mighty and the wealthy calling on them to recognise
What YHWH is, and what He will do to the nations (Jeremiah 9:23-26).
85

86. Jeremiah 9:12
‘Who is the wise man who may understand this?
And he to whom the mouth of YHWH has spoken, that he may declare it?
Why is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness,
So that no one passes through?’
Jeremiah turns in his questioning to the two kinds of people who strictly speaking
should be able to understand and declare the truth, the wise man who claims
understanding and the prophet who claims that YHWH has spoken through him.
But the clear implication is that both are lacking, and that, despite what they may
claim about themselves, there are no wise men or prophets in Jerusalem who can
cope with his query. We will learn later that this is because they do not have true
understanding, that is, they do not truly know YHWH for What He is (Jeremiah
9:24). And the question now put to them is this, “Why is the land perished and
burned up like a wilderness, so that no one passes through?”
Jeremiah 9:13-14
‘And YHWH says,
“Because they have forsaken my law,
Which I set before them,
And have not obeyed my voice,
Nor walked in it,
But have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart,
And after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them,”
Because they can give no answer to the question YHWH Himself provides the
answer. It is because they have forsaken His Instruction (Torah, Law) which He had
set before them, and because they have not obeyed His voice or walked in
accordance with it. Rather they have walked in accordance with the stubbornness of
their own hearts, and after the Baalim (‘lords’, indicating all false gods and
especially those involved in Baal and Asherah worship) concerning which their
fathers taught them. Thus they have listened to their own stubborn hearts rather
than obeying the voice of YHWH, and they have followed after their false gods,
listening to their fathers, rather than following after and listening to YHWH.
86

87. Jeremiah 9:15-16
“Therefore thus says YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel,
Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood,
And give them water of gall to drink.”
“I will scatter them also among the nations,
Whom neither they nor their fathers have known,
And I will send the sword after them,
Until I have consumed them.”
And the consequence of their failure will be that ‘YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel’
will feed them with wormwood and give them gall to drink. Both wormwood and
gall have the same characteristic, that they are very bitter, and even poisonous, and
both regularly symbolise awful judgment (see for the wormwood varieties of plant
Amos 5:7; Amos 6:12; Proverbs 5:4; Lamentation Jeremiah 3:15. For the gall plant
see Jeremiah 8:14; Hosea 10:14; Deuteronomy 29:18; Amos 6:12; Lamentations
3:19. Drinking gall probably has in mind an extract from the colocynth gourd fruit).
The awful judgment is then spelled out, He will scatter them among the nations
(Leviticus 26:33; Deuteronomy 28:64) who were unknown to either them or their
fathers (compare Deuteronomy 28:49), and He will send a sword after them in order
to further consume them (compare Leviticus 26:36-37). Their cosy life in Canaan is
over. There will be no rest from their troubles, and it will be away from the
promised land. Compare the very descriptive words in Deuteronomy 28:65-67. In
other words they will be subjected to the curses of the covenant.
There is an interesting contrast here with Jeremiah’s desire to leave the land for a
khan in the wilderness. He wanted to get away from their corruption. They will be
removed because they have made the land corrupt.
‘YHWH of hosts, the God of Israel.’ This is a title found regularly throughout
Jeremiah. It occurred previously in Jeremiah 7:3 where YHWH had said, “Amend
your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in this place, ” thus
associating it with the offered continuation of the covenant. And it occurred in
Jeremiah 7:21 where YHWH said, “Add your burnt offerings to your sacrifices, and
eat flesh” thereby indicating that He no longer saw their sacrifices as being the ones
that He had ordained (of which the burnt offering could not be eaten), and thus
indicating that He no longer saw them as within the covenant. There could,
however, be no greater evidence of their ceasing to be within the covenant than that
of being expelled from the land and scattered among the nations as here (compare
Leviticus 18:28-29).
87

88. 13 The Lord said, “It is because they have
forsaken my law, which I set before them;
they have not obeyed me or followed my law.
BARNES, "Jer_9:13
The cause of the chastisement about to fall upon Jerusalem, was their desertion of the
divine Law.
GILL, "And the Lord saith,.... The Septuagint version adds, "to me"; there being no
wise and understanding man, nor prophet (b), to take up this affair, and open the cause
of it, therefore the Lord undertakes it himself: the question was put to them, but they not
answering it, the Lord does it,
because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them; in a plain and
easy manner, so as to be readily understood; yet this they attended not unto, but forsook
it, neglected it, and cast it behind their backs. Kimchi's note on the phrase, "before
them", is,
"not in heaven is it, nor beyond the sea is it;''
see Deu_30:11,
and have not obeyed my voice; in the law, and by the prophets:
neither walked therein: according to it, as the Lord directed; they neither hearkened
to the voice of the Lord, nor did as they were instructed by it.
HENRY 13-14, " The indictment preferred and proved against them, upon which
they had been found guilty, Jer_9:13, Jer_9:14. It is charged upon them, and it cannot
be denied, (1.) That they have revolted from their allegiance to their rightful Sovereign.
Therefore. God has forsaken their land, and justly, because they have forsaken his law,
which he had so plainly, so fully, so frequently set before them, and had not observed his
88

89. orders, not obeyed his voice, nor walked in the ways that he had appointed. Here their
wickedness began, in the omission of their duty to their God and a contempt of his
authority. But it did not end here. It is further charged upon them, (2.) That they have
entered themselves into the service of pretenders and usurpers, have not only withdrawn
themselves from their obedience to their prince, but have taken up arms against him.
For, [1.] They have acted according to the dictates of their own lusts, have set up their
own will, the wills of the flesh, and the carnal mind, in competition with, and
contradiction to the will of God: They have walked after the imagination of their own
hearts; they would do as they pleased, whatever God and conscience said to the
contrary. [2.] They have worshipped the creatures of their own fancy, the work of their
own hands, according to the tradition received from their fathers: They have walked
after Baalim: the word is plural; they had many Baals, Baal-peor and Baal-berith, the
Baal of this place and the Baal of the other place; for they had lords many, which their
fathers taught them to worship, but which the God of their fathers had again and again
forbidden. This was it for which the land perished. The King of kings never makes war
thus upon his own subjects but when they treacherously depart from him and rebel
against him, and it has become necessary by this means to chastise their rebellion and
reduce them to their allegiance; and they themselves shall at length acknowledge that he
is just in all that is brought upon them.
JAMISON, "Answer to the “for what the land perisheth” (Jer_9:12).
PULPIT."There is no answer, for the wise men are ashamed (Jer_8:9); so Jehovah
himself takes up his speech. My law which I set before them; not in reference to the
publication of the Law on Sinai, but, as Keil rightly points out, to the oral exhibition of
the Torah by the prophets. Neither walked therein; viz. in the Law. (On the precise
contents of the term here rendered "Law," see note on Jer_8:8.)
CALVIN, "Jeremiah now confirms what I have stated, and more fully explains it, —
that though no teacher or a disciple was found in the land, yet there was
sufficient power in God’s word alone, and that his judgment depended not on
the will or the perceptions of men. After having then complained that all
were foolish, and that there were no prophets to reprove their security and
indifference, he adds, Thus saith Jehovah Here he sets God in opposition to
all men, to the king and his courtiers, as well as to the common people. Who
then is a wise man? as though He looked around him; and there was no man
who considered. he was then in suspense; and afterwards he said, “There is
no prophet to rouse them from their usual stupor.” He remained still in
suspense; and then he turned to God and said, “But Jehovah has spoken;”
that is, “Be it, that they are like brute beasts, though they arrogate to
themselves great wisdom; nevertheless God speaks, and we ought to be
satisfied. We ought then to be silent, and to make no stir; though no one
89

90. approves, though no one attends to God speaking, there is yet sufficient
authority and power in his voice alone.” We now then more fully understand
the Prophet’s design: He had said that all men were stupid, and that there
was no prophet; and now, on the other hand, he shews that God was not
silent nor asleep.
Thus saith Jehovah, Because this people have forsaken my law, etc. He shews that
the cause of all evils was a departure from God’s law. No one was willing to
confess this, and all the prophets were silent; yet Jeremiah says here, that the
cause was to be asked of God why he so grievously afflicted the people. But
he takes as granted what was most true, that God was not without reason
displeased with the chosen people. It hence then follows, that they were
apost, ates, and had forsaken the law: God would not have otherwise so
severely punished them. Though then no one perceived the cause of their
evils, though no one shewed it, yet God himself ought to have been attended
to, who said, that they had forsaken the law
He then adds, Which l have set before their face. Here he takes away every pretense
for ignorance; for they might have objected and said, that the doctrine of the law
was obscure, and that they were deceived through want of knowledge. The Prophet
anticipates this objection by saying, that the law was set before them; that is, that
they were abundantly taught what was right, what pleased God; so that they now in
vain and even falsely pleaded ignorance; for they went astray wilfully by closing
their eyes against clear light., For this is what he means by saying that the law was
set before their face: and it is what Moses often repeats,
“Behold, I have set before thee,”
(Deuteronomy 11:32, and elsewhere:)
and this he said, that the people might not seek for themselves vain excuses for
ignorance, as they were wont to do.
But while we are not to overlook this circumstance, we may yet hence learn this
general truth, — that the law of God is not so obscure but that we may learn
from it what is right. When, therefore, Moses is quoted, and the prophets are
added as interpreters, there is no ground for us to evade, or to make the
excuse, that the truth is too hidden or profound; for the law is set before our
face, that, the will of God may be made known to us. Whosoever then can
read and hear what God has revealed once to the world by Moses and the
90

91. prophets is inexcusable; for we are taught here, and in other places, that it is
a mere perverseness in all who hear the law, when they do not obey: I have
set the law, he says, before their face
And he adds, And they have not hearkened to my voice, and have not walked in it
He defines what it is not to hearken to his voice: for even hypocrites pretend to hear,
and nod with their ears like asses; but as they obey not God when he speaks, it is
evident that they are deaf. Hence He says that they walked not in his voice, (245)
that is, that they obeyed not his voice. He hence concludes that they were deaf; for
their life ought to have testified that they had heard the voice of God speaking to
them.
BI 13-16, "Because they have forsaken My law . . . give them water of gall to drink.
The wages of sin
A quaint preacher, addressing miners, drew a picture of two mines. He represented
payday at one of the mines, and described the long line of men coming to the cashier’s
desk to receive their wages. Presently some men came up whom the cashier did not
know. “Where have you been working?” he asked. “We were working in the other pit,”
they answered. “Then that is the place to go for your money.” “No,” they said, “we like
your pay best; we are tired, and we want rest, and we want peace and plenty. At the pit
where we have been working they are treating us cruelly, and we get no pay, but blows
and hard words. Won’t you pay us?” But the cashier says, “No; you chose to work in the
other pit, and you must take the wages they pay; you cannot work for one employer and
get your wages from another.” “That was fair, was it not?” the preacher asked. His
hearers answered that it was. “Then,” said he, “don’t you serve the devil unless you want
his wages.”
14 Instead, they have followed the stubbornness of
their hearts; they have followed the Baals, as their
ancestors taught them.”
BARNES, "Jer_9:14
Imagination - Or, as in the margin.
91

92. Which their fathers taught them - It was not the sin of one generation that
brought upon them chastisement: it was a sin, which had been handed down from father
to son.
GILL, "But have walked after the imagination of their own heart,.... What
their own hearts devised, chose, and were best pleased with; See Gill on Jer_7:24,
and after Baalim; the idols of the Gentiles; these they served and worshipped, and not
the true God:
which their fathers taught them; which was so far from excusing them, that it was
an aggravation of their sin, that they had continued in their wicked ways and idolatrous
practices, from age to age, from one generation to another. This then was the cause of
their calamity and destruction; they had forsaken the law of the Lord, and had broken
that; they had chose their own ways, and had been guilty of idolatrous practices time out
of mind; wherefore the Lord had shown much longsuffering and patience with them,
and would now no longer forbear he was just and righteous in his doings.
JAMISON, "(Jer_7:24).
Baalim — plural of Baal, to express his supposed manifold powers.
fathers taught them — (Gal_1:14; 1Pe_1:18). We are not to follow the errors of the
fathers, but the authority of Scripture and of God [Jerome].
PULPIT, "Imagination; rather, stubbornness (see on Jer_3:17). Baalim. The
Hebrew has "the Baalim;" practically equivalent to "the idol-gods" (see on Jer_2:8).
Which their fathers taught them. "Which" refers to both clauses, i.e. to the
obstinacy and the Baal-worship.
K&D, "Jer_9:14-15
The description of the offence is again followed by the threatening of judgment. To
feed with wormwood and give gall to drink is a figure for sore and bitter suffering at the
overthrow of the kingdom and in exile. The meaning of the suffix in ‫ם‬ ָ‫יל‬ ִ‫ֲכ‬‫א‬ ַ‫מ‬ is shown by
the apposition: this people. On water of gall see Jer_8:14, and for the use of ‫ָה‬‫נ‬ֲ‫ע‬ַ‫ל‬ and
‫ֹאשׁ‬ ‫ר‬ together see Deu_29:17. - '‫ים‬ ִ‫ת‬ ‫יצ‬ ִ‫פ‬ֲ‫ה‬ ‫וגו‬ implies a verbal allusion to the words of
Deu_28:64 and Deu_28:36, cf. Lev_26:33. With this latter passage the second clause: I
send the sword after them, has a close affinity. The purport of it is: I send the sword after
the fugitives, to pursue them into foreign lands and slay them; cf. Jer_42:16; Jer_44:27.
Thus it is indicated that those who fled into Egypt would be reached by the sword there
and slain. This does not stand in contradiction to what is said in Jer_4:27; Jer_5:18,
etc., to the effect that God will not make an utter end of them (Graf's opinion). This
appears from Jer_44:27, where those that flee to Egypt are threatened with destruction
by famine and sword ‫ד‬ַ‫ע‬ ‫י‬ ִ‫ת‬ ‫לּ‬ַ‫כּ‬ ‫,א‬ while Jer_44:28 continues: but they that have
escaped the sword shall return. Hence we see that the terms of the threatening do not
imply the extirpation of the people to the last man, but only the extirpation of all the
godless, of this wicked people.
92

93. CALVIN, "He then adds,And they have walked after the hardiness, or obstinacy, or
imaginations, of their own heart (246) He opposes the imaginations, or hardness of
the heart, to the voice of God, as we find in other places, where contrary things are
stilted, that is, what men’s minds devise, and what God shews by his word to
be right; for there is no less contrariety between the rule of right living and
the imaginations of men, than there is between fire and water. Let us
therefore know, that our life cannot be rightly formed except we renounce
our own imaginations, and simply obey the voice of God: for as soon as we
yield the least to our own imaginations, we necessarily turn aside from the
right way, which God has made known to us in his word. This contrast, then,
between the law of God and the imaginations or the obduracy of men ought
to be carefully noticed.
He then more clearly explains how they had sinned, and after Baalim (247) The
Prophet here adds nothing new; but by specifying one thing he shews how the Jews
followed their own imaginations, by giving themselves up to profane superstitions.
What indeed must happen to men, when they forsake God, and allow themselves to
follow their own thoughts? what but error and superstition, yea, the abyss of all
errors? In short, the Prophet in this clause intended to cut off every occasion for
subterfuges; for the Jews, like hypocrites, who sophistically deal with God, might
have made this evasion, and said, “Why dost thou object to us our
imaginations? what are these imaginations?” Baalim, he says, “Ye have
devised idols far yourselves in addition to the only true God; it is hence quite
evident, that having forsaken God’s word, ye have followed your own
imaginations.” He adds to Baalim, as their fathers have taught them: the
relative ‫,אשר‬ asher, is to be taken for ‫כ‬ caph, as. (248) I shall speak of this clause
tomorrow.
Which their fathers have taught them.
The verb “to teach,” in Hebrew as well as in some other languages, admits of
two objective cases. — Ed.
CONSTABLE, "Instead the people had followed their own desires and the Baals,
just like their ancestors. "Stubbornness" was one of their chief sins (cf.
Deuteronomy 29:18; Psalm 81:13).
"The threat of "stubbornness" still exists today. It has been described as "atrophy
93

94. of the will." When people stubbornly refuse to do right, the time comes when they
cannot do right. Judgment then comes in the form of living in the prison you have
erected for yourself." [Note: Ibid, p148.]
15 Therefore this is what the Lord Almighty, the
God of Israel, says: “See, I will make this
people eat bitter food and drink poisoned
water.
BARNES, "Jer_9:15
I will feed them ... - Rather, I am feeding them. The present participle used here,
followed by three verbs in the future, shows that the judgment has beam, of which the
successive stages are given in the next clause.
Wormwood - See Deu_29:18, note, and for “water of gall,” Jer_8:14, note.
CLARKE, "I will feed them - with wormwood - They shall have the deepest
sorrow and heaviest affliction. They shall have poison instead of meat and drink.
GILL, "Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,.... He
calls himself "the Lord God of hosts", of armies above and below, in heaven and in earth,
in opposition to Baalim, the idols of the Gentiles; which word signifies "lords"; which,
though there be many who are called so, there is but one God, and one Lord, who is God
over all, and "the God of Israel"; who had chosen them, and distinguished them by the
blessings of his goodness; and yet they had forsaken him, and followed after other gods;
by which the eyes of his glory were provoked, and he was determined to chastise them
for it:
behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood; that is, with straits
or difficulties, as the Septuagint version; with bitter afflictions; such are not joyous, but
grievous; which are irksome and disagreeable, as bitter things, and particularly
wormwood, are to the taste. The Targum is,
94

95. "I will bring tribulation upon them, bitter as wormwood:''
and give them water of gall to drink; meaning either of the entrails of a beast so
called, or of the juice of the herb hemlock, as the word is rendered in Hos_10:4, as
Kimchi; or of the poison of a serpent, as Jarchi; and so the Targum,
"and I will give them the cup of cursing to drink as the heads of serpents:''
signifying that their punishment would be very severe, though just.
HENRY 15-16, "The judgment given upon this indictment, the sentence upon the
convicted rebels, which must now be executed, for it was righteous and nothing could be
moved in arrest of it: The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, hath said it (Jer_9:15, Jer_
9:16), and who can reverse it? (1.) That all their comforts at home shall be poisoned and
embittered to them: I will feed this people with wormwood (or rather with wolf's-bane,
for it signifies a herb that is not wholesome, as wormwood is though it be bitter, but
some herb that is both nauseous and noxious), and I will give them water of gall (or
juice of hemlock or some other herb that is poisonous) to drink. Every thing about them,
till it comes to their very meat and drink, shall be a terror and torment to them. God will
curse their blessings, Mal_2:2. (2.) That their dispersion abroad shall be their
destruction (Jer_9:16): I will scatter them among the heathen. They were corrupted and
debauched by their intimacy with the heathen, with whom they mingled and learned
their works; and now they shall lose themselves, where they lost their virtue, among the
heathen. They set up gods which neither they nor their fathers had known, strange
gods, new gods (Deu_32:17); and now God will put them among neighbours whom
neither they nor their fathers have known, whom they can claim no acquaintance with,
and therefore can expect no favour from. And yet, though they are scattered so as that
they will not know where to find one another. God will know where to find them all out
(Psa_21:8) with that evil which still pursues impenitent sinners: I will send a sword
after them, some killing judgment or other, till I have consumed them; for when God
judges he will overcome, when he pursues he will overtake. And now we see for what the
land perishes; all this desolation is the desert of their deeds and the performance of
God's words.
JAMISON, "ed — (Jer_8:14; Jer_23:15; Psa_80:5).
PULPIT, "Jer_9:15
I will feed them … with wormwood. A figure for the bitter privations of captivity
(comp. Lam_3:15, "He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me drunken with
wormwood"). Wormwood and gall—i.e; the poppy (Tristram)—are combined again in
Deu_29:17.
CALVIN, "He at length concludes that God would take vengeance, but speaks in a
figurativle language, I will feed them with bitterness The word ‫לענה‬ lone, is rendered
“wormwood;” but as this is a wholesome herb, I prefer to render it
95

96. “bitterness.” )249 ) It is never found in a good sense, and therefore unsuitable to the
nature of wormwood, which is often mentioned by Moses: and the other prophets
(Deuteronomy 19:18; Deuteronomy 32:32; Hebrews 2:15.) Hence I am inclined to
adopt a general term, “bitterness.” He then adds, I will give them poisonous
waters to drink; (250) as though God had said that he would execute a
dreadful vengeance, so that it would appear in the meat and drink given
them, which yet were remarkable testimonies of his paternal kindness
towards them: for we cannot eat a crumb of bread nor drink a drop of water,
except God’s goodness, and the care which he takes for our safety, shines
upon us. Hence is that awful imprecation in Psalms 69:22,
“Turned let their table be into an offense.”
David also complained, when describing the barbarous cruelty of his enemies,
that they gave him gall to drink: and we shall hereafter see what Jeremiah
says; for in speaking. of his enemies, he says that they had conspired to put
him to death, and said,
“Let us set wood for his bread.” (Jeremiah 11:19)
By these words then Jeremiah intended to express the dreadful vengeance of
God; for he would not onty deprive the Jews of his benefits, but also turn
their bread into poison, and their water into bitterness.
We now then perceive the Prophet’s meaning; and at the same time we must
observe the expression, the God of Israel The foolish boasting, that they were
the descendants of Abraham, and that they were a holy people, chosen by
God, always deluded the Jews. In order then to check their glorying, the
Prophet says, float the God who spoke to them was the God whose name
they falsely professed, and that he was the God who had chosen the children
of Abraham as his peculiar people. It follows —
96

97. 16 I will scatter them among nations that
neither they nor their ancestors have known,
and I will pursue them with the sword until I
have made an end of them.”
BARNES, "Jer_9:16
This verse is taken from Lev_26:33. The fulfillment of what had been so long before
appointed as the penalty for the violation of Yahweh’s covenant is one of the most
remarkable proofs that prophecy was something more than human foresight.
Till I have consumed them - See Jer_4:27 note. How is this “consuming”
consistent he promise to the contrary there given? Because it is limited by the
terms of Jer_9:7. Previously to Nebuchadnezzars destruction of Jerusalem God removed
into safety those in whom the nation should revive.
GILL, "I will scatter them also among the Heathen,.... Besides the bitter
judgments of famine and pestilence during the siege, what remained of them should be
carried captive out of their own land into foreign countries, than which nothing could be
more distressing:
whom neither they or their fathers have known; a circumstance greatly
aggravating their captivity:
and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them; or men that kill
with the sword, as the Targum: it chiefly regards such of them as were scattered among
the Moabites and Ammonites, and especially that went into Egypt; see Jer_44:27.
HENRY, "That their dispersion abroad shall be their destruction (Jer_9:16): I will
scatter them among the heathen. They were corrupted and debauched by their intimacy
with the heathen, with whom they mingled and learned their works; and now they shall
lose themselves, where they lost their virtue, among the heathen. They set up gods
which neither they nor their fathers had known, strange gods, new gods (Deu_32:17);
and now God will put them among neighbours whom neither they nor their fathers have
known, whom they can claim no acquaintance with, and therefore can expect no favour
from. And yet, though they are scattered so as that they will not know where to find one
another. God will know where to find them all out (Psa_21:8) with that evil which still
pursues impenitent sinners: I will send a sword after them, some killing judgment or
97

98. other, till I have consumed them; for when God judges he will overcome, when he
pursues he will overtake. And now we see for what the land perishes; all this desolation
is the desert of their deeds and the performance of God's words.
JAMISON, "nor their fathers have known — alluding to Jer_9:14, “Their fathers
taught them” idolatry; therefore the children shall be scattered to a land which neither
their fathers nor they have known.
send a sword after them — Not even in flight shall they be safe.
K&D 16-17, "Zion laid waste. - Jer_9:16. "Thus hath Jahveh of hosts said: Give heed
and call for mourning women, that they may come, and send to the wise women, that
they may come, Jer_9:17. And may make haste and strike up a lamentation for us, that
our eyes may run down with tears and our eyelids gush out with water. Jer_9:18. For
loud lamentation is heard out of Zion: How are we spoiled, sore put to shame! because
we have left the land, because they have thrown down our dwellings. Jer_9:19. For
year, ye women, the word of Jahve, and let your ear receive the word of His mouth,
and teach your daughters lamentation, and let one teach the other the song of
mourning! Jer_9:20. For death cometh up by our windows, he entereth into our
palaces, to cut off the children from the streets, the young men from the thoroughfares.
Jer_9:21. Speak: Thus runs the saying of Jahve: And the carcases of men shall fall as
dung upon the field, and as a sheaf behind the shearer, which none gathereth."
In this strophe we have a further account of the execution of the judgment, and a
poetical description of the vast harvest death is to have in Zion. The citizens of Zion are
called upon to give heed to the state of affairs now in prospect, i.e., the judgment
preparing, and are to assemble mourning women that they may strike up a dirge for the
dead. ‫ֵן‬‫נ‬ ‫בּ‬ ְ‫ת‬ ִ‫,ה‬ to be attentive, give heed to a thing; cf. Jer_2:10. Women cunning in song
are to come with speed (‫ָה‬‫נ‬ ְ‫ר‬ ֵ‫ה‬ ַ‫מ‬ ְ‫תּ‬ takes the place of an adverb). The form ‫ָה‬‫נ‬‫י‬ ֶ‫א‬ ‫ב‬ ְ‫תּ‬ (Psa_
45:16; 1Sa_10:7) alternates with ‫ָהּ‬‫נ‬‫א‬ ‫ב‬ ָ‫,תּ‬ the usual form in this verb, e.g., Gen_30:38;
1Ki_3:16, etc., in order to produce an alternating form of expression . "For us" Näg.
understands of those who call the mourning women, and in it he finds "something
unusual," because ordinarily mourners are summoned to lament for those already dead,
i.e., others than those who summon them. "But here they are to raise their laments for
the very persons who summon them, and for the death of these same, which has yet to
happen." There is a misunderstanding at the bottom of this remark. The "for us" is not
said of the callers; for these are addressed in the second person. If Näg.'s view were
right, it must be "for you," not "for us." True, the lxx has εφ ̓ ὑμᾶς; but Hitz. has rejected
this reading as a simplification and weakening expression, and as disturbing the plan.
"For us" is used by the people taken collectively, the nation as such, which is to be so
sorely afflicted and chastised by death that it is time for the mourning women to raise
their dirge, that so the nation may give vent to its grief in tears. We must also take into
account, that even although the lamentations were for the dead, they yet chiefly
concerned the living, who had been deeply afflicted by the loss of beloved relations; it
would not be the dead merely that were mourned for, but the living too, because of their
loss. It is this reference that stands here in the foreground, since the purpose of the
chanting of dirges is that our eyes may flow with tears, etc. Zion will lament the slain of
her people (Jer_8:22), and so the mourning women are to strike up dirges. ‫ָה‬‫נ‬ֶ‫שּׂ‬ ִ‫תּ‬ for
98

99. ‫ָה‬‫נ‬‫א‬ֶ‫שּׂ‬ ִ‫,תּ‬ as in Rth_1:14; cf. Ew. §198, b. On the use of ‫ד‬ ַ‫ַר‬‫י‬ and ‫ַל‬‫ז‬ָ‫נ‬ with the accus.: flow
down in tears, cf. Gesen. §138, 1, Rem. 2, Ew. §281, b.
PULPIT, "Jer_9:16
I will scatter them also, etc. (comp. Deu_28:64; Le 26:33). I will send a [the]
sword after them. Even in the land of their captivity they shall have no rest. A special
prophecy to the same effect was addressed to the Jewish fugitives in Egypt (Jer_44:27).
In both cases it is the unbelievers who are referred to; the nation as such was, through
its Divine calling, indestructible.
CALVIN, "As he had said that the Jews were following what theyhad received from
their fathers,so he says now that God would scatter them among nations, which had
been unknown to them and to their fathers. He then alludes to their mischievous
tradition; for the fathers had imbued their children with ungodly errors, and had
withdrawn them from God, that their doctrine might become altogether familiar to
them. There is then a contrast to be noticed between the knowledge with which the
fathers had inebriated their children, and their ignorance of the language of the
nations.
And then as he had said, that they were walking after the hardness of their own
heart and after Baalim, he says, I will send a sword after them We hence see that the
Prophet in both clauses alludes to the defection of which he had spoken. And he
adds, Until I shall have consumed them; and this is added, that they might not
promise themselves a temporary or a moderate chastisement. Jeremiah then
declares, that as they had abused God’s forbearance, destruction was nigh them,
and that God would contimle to consume them, until he had wholly
destroyed them. It follows —
17 This is what the Lord Almighty says:
“Consider now! Call for the wailing women to
come;
send for the most skillful of them.
99

100. BARNES, "Jer_9:17
The mourning women - Hired to attend at funerals, and by their skilled wailings
aid the real mourners in giving vent to their grief. Hence, they are called “cunning,”
literally “wise” women, wisdom being constantly used in Scripture for anything in which
people are trained.
CLARKE, "Call for the mourning women - Those whose office it was to make
lamentations at funerals, and to bewail the dead, for which they received pay. This
custom continues to the present in Asiatic countries. In Ireland this custom also
prevails, which no doubt their ancestors brought from the east. I have often witnessed it,
and have given a specimen of this elsewhere. See the note on Mat_9:23. The first
lamentations for the dead consisted only in the sudden bursts of inexpressible grief, like
that of David over his son Absalom, 2Sa_19:4. But as men grew refined, it was not
deemed sufficient for the surviving relatives to vent their sorrows in these natural,
artless expressions of wo, but they endeavored to join others as partners in their
sorrows. This gave rise to the custom of hiring persons to weep at funerals, which the
Phrygians and Greeks borrowed from the Hebrews. Women were generally employed on
these occasions, because the tender passions being predominant in this sex, they
succeeded better in their parts; and there were never wanting persons who would let out
their services to hire on such occasions. Their lamentations were sung to the pipe as we
learn from Mat_9:23. See the funeral ceremonies practiced at the burial of Hector, as
described by Homer: -
Οἱ δ’ επει εισαγαγον κλυτα δωματα, τον μεν επειτα
Τρητοις εν λεχεεσσι θεσαν, παρα δ’ εἱσαν αοιδους,
Θρηνων εξαρχους, οἱ τε στονοεσσαν αοιδην
Οἱ μεν αρ’ εθρηνεον, επι δε στεναχοντο γυναικες.
Il. lib. 24., ver. 719.
“Arrived within the royal house, they stretched
The breathless Hector on a sumptuous bed,
And singers placed beside him, who should chant
The strain funereal; they with many a groan
The dirge began; and still at every close
The female train with many a groan replied.”
Cowper.
St. Jerome tells us that even to his time this custom continued in Judea; that women
at funerals, with dishevelled hair and naked breasts, endeavored in a modulated voice to
invite others to lament with them. The poem before us, from the seventeenth to the
twenty-second verse, is both an illustration and confirmation of what has been delivered
100

101. on this subject, and worthy of the reader’s frequent perusal, on account of its affecting
pathos, moral sentiments, and fine images, particularly in the twenty-first verse, where
death is described in as animated a prosopopoeia as can be conceived. See Lototh’s
twenty-second Prelection, and Dodd. The nineteenth verse is supposed to be the funeral
song of the women.
“How are we spoiled!
We are greatly confounded!
For we have forsaken the land;
Because they have destroyed our dwellings.”
GILL, "Thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider ye,.... The punishment that was
just coming upon them, as Kimchi; or the words that the Lord was about to say unto
them; as follows:
and call for the mourning women, that they may come; the same with the
"praeficae" among the Romans; persons that were sent for, and hired by, the relations of
the dead, to raise up their mourning; and who, by their dishevelled hair, naked breasts,
and beatings thereon, and mournful voice, and what they said in their doleful ditties in
praise of the dead, greatly moved upon the affections of the surviving relatives, and
produced tears from them. This was a custom that early prevailed among the Jews, and
long continued with them; and was so common, that, according to the Misnic doctors
(c), the poorest man in Israel, when his wife died, never had less than two pipes, and one
mourning woman; See Gill on Mat_9:23. Now, in order to show what a calamity was
coming on them, and what mourning there would be, and what occasion for it; the Lord
by the prophet, not as approving, but deriding the practice, bids them call for the
mourning women to assist them in their lamentations:
and send for cunning women, that they may come; such as were expert in this
business, and could mimic mourning well, and had the art of moving the affections with
their voice and gestures.
HENRY 17-22, "He calls for the mourning women, and engages them, with the arts
they practise to affect people and move their passions, to lament these sad calamities
that had come or were coming upon them, that the nation might be alarmed to prepare
for them: The Lord of hosts himself says, Call for the mourning women, that they may
come, Jer_9:17. the scope of this is to show how very woeful and lamentable the
condition of this people was likely to be. 1. Here is work for the counterfeit mourners:
Send for cunning women, that know how to compose mournful ditties, or at least to sing
them in mournful tunes and accents, and therefore are made use of at funerals to supply
the want of true mourners. Let these take up a wailing for us, Jer_9:18. The deaths and
funerals were so many that people wept for them till they had no power to weep, as
those, 1Sa_30:4. Let those therefore do it now whose trade it is. Or, rather, it intimates
the extreme sottishness and stupidity of the people, that laid not to heart the judgments
they were under, nor, even when there was so much blood shed, could find in their
hearts to shed a tear. They cry not when God binds them, Job_36:13. God sent his
101

102. mourning prophets to them, to call them to weeping and mourning, but his word in their
mouths did not work upon their faith; rather therefore than they shall go laughing to
their ruin, let the mourning women come, and try to work upon their fancy, that their
eyes may at length run down with tears, and their eyelids gush out with waters. First
or last, sinners must be weepers. 2. Here is work for the real mourners. (1.) There is that
which is a lamentation. The present scene is very tragical (Jer_9:19): A voice of wailing
is heard out of Zion. Some make this to be the song of the mourning women: it is rather
an echo to it, returned by those whose affections were moved by their wailings. In Zion
the voice of joy and praise used to be heard, while the people kept closely to God. But sin
has altered the note; it is now the voice of lamentation. It should seem to be the voice of
those who fled from all parts of the country to the castle of Zion for protection. Instead
of rejoicing that they had got safely thither, they lamented that they were forced to seek
for shelter there: “How are we spoiled! How are we stripped of all our possessions! We
are greatly confounded, ashamed of ourselves and our poverty;” for that is it that they
complain of, that is it that they blush at the thoughts of, rather than of their sin: We are
confounded because we have forsaken the land (forced so to do by the enemy), not
because we have forsaken the Lord, being drawn aside of our own lust and enticed -
because our dwellings have cast us out, not because our God has cast us off. Thus
unhumbled hearts lament their calamity, but not their iniquity, the procuring cause of it.
(2.) There is more still to come which shall be for a lamentation. Things are bad, but they
are likely to be worse. Those whose land has spued them out (as it did their predecessors
the Canaanites, and justly, because they trod in their steps, Lev_18:28) complain that
they are driven into the city, but, after a while, those of the city, and they with them,
shall be forced thence too: Yet hear the word of the Lord; he has something more to say
to you (Jer_9:20); let the women hear it, whose tender spirits are apt to receive the
impressions of grief and fear, for the men will not heed it, will not give it a patient
hearing. The prophets will be glad to preach to a congregation of women that tremble at
God's word. Let your ear receive the word of God's mouth, and bid it welcome, though it
be a word of terror. Let the women teach their daughters wailing; this intimates that
the trouble shall last long, grief shall be entailed upon the generation to come. Young
people are apt to love mirth, and expect mirth, and are disposed to be gay and airy; but
let the elder women teach the younger to be serious, tell them what a vale of tears they
must expect to find this world, and train them up among the mourners in Zion, Tit_2:4,
Tit_2:5. Let every one teach her neighbour lamentation; this intimates that the trouble
shall spread far, shall go from house to house. People shall not need to sympathize with
their friends; they shall all have cause enough to mourn for themselves. Note, Those that
are themselves affected with the terrors of the Lord should endeavour to affect others
with them. The judgment here threatened is made to look terrible. [1.] Multitudes shall
be slain, Jer_9:21. Death shall ride in triumph, and there shall be no escaping his arrests
when he comes with commission, neither within doors nor without. Not within doors,
for let the doors be shut ever so fast, let them be ever so firmly locked and bolted, death
comes up into our windows, like a thief in the night; it steals upon us ere we are aware.
Nor does it thus boldly attack the cottages only, but it has entered into our palaces, the
palaces of our princes and great men, though ever so stately, ever so strongly built and
guarded. Note, No palaces can keep out death. Nor are those more safe that are abroad;
death cuts off even the children from without and the young men from the streets. The
children who might have been spared by the enemy in pity, because they had never been
hurtful to them, and the young men who might have been spared in policy, because
capable of being serviceable to them, shall fall together by the sword. It is usual now,
102

103. even in the severest military executions, to put none to the sword. It is usual now, even
in the severest military executions, to put none to the sword but those that are found in
arms; but then even the boys and girls playing in the streets were sacrificed to the fury of
the conqueror. [2.] Those that are slain shall be left unburied (Jer_9:22): Speak, Thus
saith the Lord (for the confirmation and aggravation of what was before said), Even the
carcases of men shall fall as dung, neglected, and left to be offensive to the smell, as
dung is. Common humanity obliges the survivors to bury the dead, even for their own
sake; but here such numbers shall be slain, and those so dispersed all the country over,
that it shall be an endless thing to bury them all, nor shall there be hands enough to do
it, nor shall the conquerors permit it, and those that should do it shall be overwhelmed
with grief, so that they shall have no heart to do it. The dead bodies even of the fairest
and strongest, when they have lain awhile, become dung, such vile bodies have we. And
here such multitudes shall fall that their bodies shall lie as thick as heaps of dung in the
furrows of the field, and no more notice shall be taken of them than of the handfuls
which the harvestman drops for the gleaners, for none shall gather them, but they shall
remain in sight, monuments of divine vengeance, that the eye of the impenitent
survivors may affect their heart. Slay them not, bury them not, lest my people forget,
Psa_59:11.
JAMISON, "mourning women — hired to heighten lamentation by plaintive cries
baring the breast, beating the arms, and suffering the hair to flow disheveled (2Ch_
35:25; Ecc_12:5; Mat_9:23).
cunning — skilled in wailing.
PULPIT, "Jer_9:17-22
A new scene is introduced. To give an idea of the greatness of the impending blow, all the
skilled mourners are sent for to raise the cry of lamentation. But no, this is not enough.
So large will be the number of the dead that all the women must take their part in the
doleful office. The description of the mourning women is as true to modem as to ancient
life in the East. "And, indeed," says Dr. Shaw, a thoughtful traveler and an ornament of
Oxford in the dark eighteenth century, "they perform their parts with such proper
sounds, gestures, and commotions, that they rarely fail to work up the assembly into
some extraordinary pitch of thoughtfulness and sorrow".
CALVIN, "In this passage, as in many others, the Prophet endeavors by a striking
representation really to touch the hearts of his people, for he saw that they were
extremely refractory, insensible, and secure. Since then the threatenings of God
were either wholly despised, or had not sufficiently moved the hearts of the people,
it was necessary to set forth God’s judgments as present. Therefore the Prophet
gives a striking description of what takes place in times of mourning. At the
same time he seems to condemn indirectly the Jews for not knowing,
through God’s word, that there was a calamity at hand: for God ’s word ought
indeed to be like a mirror, by which men ought to see God ’s goodness in his
103

104. promises and also his judgment in his threatenings. As then all prophecies
were deemed as fables by the people, it was not without some degree of
derision that he addressed them in this manner, —
Hearken ye, and call for mourners, that they may come An absurd and a
foolish custom has prevailed almost in all ages to hire women as mourners,
whom they called proeficoe; they were employed to mourn for others. Heirs
no doubt hired these foolish women, in order to shew their reigned piety;
they spoke in praise of the dead, and shewed how great a loss was their
death. The Prophet does not commend this custom; and we ought to know
that Scripture often takes similes from the vices of men, as from filth and
dirt. If then any one concludes from these winds of Jeremiah, that
lamentations at funerals are not to be condemned, this would be foolish and
puerile. The Prophet, on the contrary, does here reprove the Jews, because
they heedlessly disregarded all God’s threatenings, and were at the same
time soft and tender at those foolish exhibitions, and all mourned at the sight
of those women who were hired to lament; as the case is at this time, when a
faithful teacher reprobates the prevailing folly of the Papists. For when the
unprincipled men, who occupy the pulpits under the Papacy, speak with
weeping, though they produce not a syllable from God ’s word, but add some
spectacle or phantom, by producing the image of the Cross or some like
thing, they touch the feelings of the vulgar and cause weeping, according to
what actors do on the stage. As then the Papists are seized as it were with an
insane feeling, when their deceivers thus gesticulate, so a faithful teacher
may say to them, “Let any one come and set before your eyes the image of a
dead man, or say, that you must all shortly die and be like the earcase shewn
to you, and ye will cry and weep; and yet ye will sot consider how dreadful
God’s judgment is, which I declare to you: I shew to you faithfully from the
law, from the prophets, and from the Gospel; how dreadful is God ’s
vengeance, and set before you what ye deserve; yet none of you are moved;
but my doctrine is a mockery to you, and also my reproofs and threatenings:
go then to your prophets, who shew you pictures and the like trumperies. ” So
the Prophet says now, “I see that I can do you no good; the Lord will
therefore give you no teachers but women.” Of what sort? Even such, he
says, as lament, or are hired to mourn.
104

105. We now then perceive why the Prophet speaks of hired women. Attend ye, he says;
and why? They ought indeed to have been attentive to or to understand (for ‫בן‬ ben,
means properly to understand, and in Hithpael it signifies to consider) his words;
but as he saw that he was ridiculed or despised, and that all the threatenings which
proceeded from God were esteemed as fables, he now says, “Consider ye and call
for your lamenters: — as I see such perverseness in you, be taught at least by
those women who are commonly invited to lament, and who sell their tears! ”
Send, he says, for the skilfu1, that they may come By these words he
intended more clearly to express, that the calamity which the people feared
not was not far distant.
COFFMAN, ""Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning
women, that they may come; and send for the skillful women, that they may come:
and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eye may run down
with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out
of Zion, How are we ruined! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken
the land, because they have cast down our dwellings. Yet hear the word of Jehovah,
O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your
daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation."
This is a dramatic picture of the horrible destruction coming upon Jerusalem at the
hands of the invaders. It is represented to readers of the Holy Bible as a destruction
yet future at the time Jeremiah penned this prophecy; and we have no respect at all
for the "scholars" who would like to make it a description " after the event." Like
many another prophecy, this one carries its own imprimature of truth. The thought
here is that the people should enlist the aid of the weeping women, not just any
weeping women, but "the skilled women," that is, the women who were experts in
providing the type of weeping and wailing which the Jews customarily employed
upon the occasion of funerals. This custom prevailed down until the times of Christ,
as indicated by the hired mourners who were bewailing the death of the daughter of
Jairus (Luke 8:40-56). The thought in this paragraph is (1) that a terrible calamity
of death and destruction is approaching for Israel, and (2) that the supply of skilled
mourners will be insufficient properly to bewail the tragedy; therefore, enlist the
skilled mourners and let everyone teach her neighbor in order to help supply the
mourners that would be needed!
Now was this an event that had already happened, or was it something Jeremiah
prophesied for the future? Suppose, as some of the critics would have us believe,
that he was talking about an event that had already happened. Can any intelligent
person believe for a moment that, if it had already happened, God's prophet would
have been crying so vehemently for the people to train mourners to mourn it? To
ask that question is to know the answer! We learned in the minor prophets,
especially in Micah, that these great predictive prophecies of the Old Testament
105

106. carry their own built-in proof of authenticity; and this is another example of the
same thing.
Green, quoting Skinner, in the Broadman Commentary, identified this passage as,
"Perhaps the most brilliant example of a prophetic elegy which the Old Testament
contains!"[20]
COKE, "Jeremiah 9:17. Consider ye, &c.— The first lamentations for the dead
consisted only in the sudden bursts of insuppressible grief, like that of David
over his son Absalom, 2 Samuel 19:4. But, as men grew refined, it was not
deemed sufficient for the surviving relation to vent his sorrows in these
natural and artless expressions of woe; but, unsatisfied with the genuine
language of sighs and tears, he endeavoured not only to vent his sorrow by
terms of grief, but likewise joined others as partners in his sorrow, and strove
to extort tears from the surrounding crowd. This was practised by David in
his lamentation for Abner, 2 Samuel 3:32-34. This ostentation of grief gave
rise to the custom of hiring persons to weep at funerals, which the Phrygians
and Greeks borrowed from the Hebrews. Women were generally employed
on these occasions, either because it was an office more suitable to the
softness of a female mind, or because, the tenderer passions being
predominant in that sex, they succeeded better in their parts; nor were there
ever wanting artists well instructed in the discipline of mourning, and ready
to hire out their lamentations and tears on any emergency. It is the chief
excellence of other arts to imitate nature; it was likewise esteemed so in this.
Their funeral dirges, therefore, were composed in imitation of those which
had been poured forth by genuine and sincere grief. Their sentences were
short, querulous, pathetic, simple, and unadorned; somewhat laboured indeed,
because they were composed in metre, and to be sung to the pipe, as we
learn from Matthew 9:23 and from Homer, where, speaking of Hector's
funeral, he says,
A melancholy choir attend around, With plaintive sighs, and music's solemn sound:
Alternately they sing, alternate flow Th' obedient tears, melodious in their woe. See
POPE'S ILIAD, Book 24. ver. 900 and the Note.
St. Jerome tells us, that even to his time this custom continued in Judaea; that
women at funerals, with dishevelled hair and naked breasts, endeavoured in a
modulated voice to unite others in lamentation with them. There are several traces
106

107. of this custom to be met with among the prophets, who frequently delivered their
predictions of approaching calamities, not without a singular elegance, in the form
of funeral dirges. The poem before us, from this to the 22nd verse, is both an
illustration and confirmation of what has been delivered upon this subject, and
worthy of the reader's frequent perusal, on account of its affecting pathos, moral
sentiments, and fine images; particularly in the 21st verse, where death is described
in as animated a prosopopoeia as can be conceived. See Lowth's 22nd Prelection,
and Calmet.
CONSTABLE, "The Lord instructed Jeremiah to summon the professional
mourners (Heb. meqonenoth) to come forward.
"In the Middle East even today, on the occasion of deaths or calamities, mourning is
carried out by professional women who follow the funeral bier uttering a high-
pitched shriek. Some of the Egyptian tomb paintings depict boatloads of
professional mourners with their hair and garments disheveled accompanying a
corpse on its way to a burial." [Note: Thompson, p316.]
PETT, "Jeremiah 9:17-18
‘Thus says YHWH of hosts,
“Consider you, and call for the mourning women,
That they may come,
And send for the skilful (wise) women,
That they may come,”
‘And let them make haste,
And take up a wailing for us,
That our eyes may run down with tears,
And our eyelids gush out with waters.’
YHWH now calls on the nation to in turn call on the mourning women and the
skilful singing women to come in haste and take up a wailing and lamentation for
the people so that they may learn how to weep more profusely. Judah’s funeral is at
hand and it is a time for deep mourning, with the result that the women who are
skilled in the art are called on to lead it with a view to all then partaking in it. This
practise of using professional mourners recognised that those most deeply affected
often did not always feel like expressing themselves fully or might be somewhat shy
of calling attention to themselves. Thus the presence of professionals enable them to
107

108. express their grief more fully. (In Judah, as elsewhere, mourning was a skilled art
exercised by professionals who were called on at funerals and times of dire need. See
Jeremiah 22:18; Ecclesiastes 12:5; Amos 5:16; Ezekiel 27:32; Mark 5:38. Certain
Egyptian tomb paintings also depict boatloads of professional mourners, with their
hair and clothing suitably dishevelled, accompanying a dead body on its way to
burial).
A deliberate play on ‘wise’ may be intended in comparison with Jeremiah 9:12 with
the idea being that ‘the truly wise who understand’ will be weeping and wailing at
what is coming..
18 Let them come quickly
and wail over us
till our eyes overflow with tears
and water streams from our eyelids.
BARNES, "Jer_9:18
Take up a wailing for us - i. e., for the nation once God’s chosen people, but long
spiritually dead.
GILL, "And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us,.... Deliver out a
mournful song, as the Arabic version; setting forth their miseries and distresses, and
affecting their minds with them. The prophet puts himself among the people, as being a
party concealed in their sufferings, and sympathizing with them, as well as to show the
certainty of then and how soon they would be involved in them:
that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with
waters; or balls of the eye, as the Targum and Kimchi; these hyperbolical expressions
are used to express the greatness of the calamity, and that no mourning was equal to it;
see Jer_9:1.
108

109. K&D, "Jer_9:18 gives the reason why the mourning women are to be called: Loud
lamentation is heard out of Zion. Ew. takes "out of Zion" of the Israelites carried away
from their country - a view arbitrary in itself, and incompatible with Jer_9:20. "How are
we spoiled!" cf. Jer_4:13; brought utterly to shame, because we have left the land, i.e.,
have been forced to leave it, and because they (the enemies) have thrown down our
dwellings! ‫י‬ ִ‫ל‬ ְ‫שׁ‬ ִ‫,ה‬ cast down, overthrow, Job_18:7, cf. Eze_19:12, and of buildings,
Dan_8:11. Kimchi and Hitz., again, take "our dwellings" as subject: our dwellings have
cast us out, and appeal to Lev_18:25 : The land vomited out its inhabitants. But the
figurative style in this passage does not justify us in adopting so unnatural a figure as
this, that the dwellings cast out their occupants. Nor could the object be omitted in such
a case. The passages, Isa_33:9; Mic_2:4, to which Hitz. appeals, are not analogous to the
present one. The subject, not expressed, acc. to our view of the passage, is readily
suggested by the context and the nature of the case. The "for" in Jer_9:19 gives a second
reason for calling the mourning women together. They are to come not only to chant
laments for the spoiling of Zion, but that they may train their daughters and other
women in the art of dirge-singing, because the number of deaths will be so great that the
existing number of mourning women will not be sufficient for the task about to fall on
them. This thought is introduced by a command of God, in order to certify that this great
harvest of death will without fail be gathered. ‫ם‬ ֶ‫כ‬ ְ‫נ‬ְ‫ז‬ ָ‫א‬ and ‫ם‬ ֶ‫יכ‬ ֵ‫נת‬ ְֹ‫בּ‬ have masc. suffixes
instead of feminine, the masc. being often thus used as the more general form; cf. Ew. §
184, c. In the last clause the verb "teach" is to be supplied from the preceding context.
PULPIT, "Jer_9:18
That our eyes may run down, etc.; a justification of this artificial system-The
piercing notes of the hired mourners are to relieve the sorrow of the afflicted by forcing
for it a vent.
CALVIN, "Let them, he says, take up for us a wailing, and let our eyes come down
to tears, and let our eyelids flow down into waters These are hyperbolical words,
and yet they do not exceed the intensehess of the coming vengeance: for it was not in
vain that he said at the begSnning of the chapter, “Who will make my head
waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears?” As then the greatness of the
calamity could be expressed by no words, the Prophet was constrained to
adopt these hyperbolical expressions: Let them then take up for us a wailing,
that our eyes may come down to tears: and this he said, because he saw that
he was heard with dry eyes, and that the people disregarded what had been
denounced:, when yet all ought to have been smitten with fear, from the
least to the greatest. As then the Prophet saw that their contempt was so
brutal, he says, that when lainenters came, there would then be the time for
109

110. wailing, not indeed the seasonable time; but it is the same as though he had
said, that the Jews would then find out how insensible they had been, in not
having in due time considered the judgment of God. (251) It follows —
17.Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, bethink yourselves; And call for mourning
women, that they may come; Yea, for the skillful send, that they may come,
18.And hasten, and raise for us a wailing, That our eyes may pour forth tears, And
our eyelids drop down waters.
— Ed.
19 The sound of wailing is heard from Zion:
‘How ruined we are!
How great is our shame!
We must leave our land
because our houses are in ruins.’”
BARNES, "Forsaken - Or, left: forced to abandon the land.
Because our dwellings ... - Rather, “because they have east down our dwellings.”
The whole verse is a description of their sufferings. See 2Ki_25:1-12.
GILL, "For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,.... Out of the fortress of Zion,
out of the city of Jerusalem, which was thought to be inexpugnable, and could never be
taken; but now a voice is heard out of that, deploring the desolation of it:
how are we spoiled? our houses destroyed, and we plundered of our substance:
we are greatly confounded: filled with shame, on account of their vain confidence;
110

111. thinking their city would never be taken, and they were safe in it:
because we have forsaken the land; the land of Judea, being obliged
JAMISON, "The cry of “the mourning women.”
spoiled — laid waste.
dwellings cast us out — fulfilling Lev_18:28; Lev_20:22. Calvin translates, “The
enemy have cast down our habitations.”
PULPIT, "Forsaken; rather, left. Our dwellings have cast us out; rather, they
hare cast down our dwellings.
CALVIN, "We have said before, that when Jeremiah addressed the people in these
words, they were still in a tolerably good condition, so that the king had confidence
in his own resources; and his counsellors also thought that some aid would come to
them from Egypt, and the people were likewise deceived. But the Prophet speaks of
future events and points out as by the finger the evils which were as yet concealed
from the view; for he could not otherwise teach with any authority, as he had to do
with men of iron hearts. As then he saw that his teaching had no effect, and was
wholly disregarded by men so slothful, he felt it necessary to form his style so as to
touch their feelings.
On this account he says, that a voice was heard, a voice of wailing from Sion; where
yet all exulted with joy. Then he adds, How have we been destroyed! and made
greatly ashamed! The Jews thought this a fable, until they found by experience that
they had been extremely hard and obstinate: but this really happened. Though they
were then indulging in their pleasures, he yet proclaims lamentations to them, as
though they were already destroyed: A voice, he says, has been heard, as though the
Jews were bewailing the calamity, respecting which they thought the Prophet was
fabling, for no danger was yet apparent.
But in order, as I have said, to condemn the hardness of their hearts, he represents
them in another character, as bewailing their ruinous condition, and saying, We
have left the land; in which however they thought their dwelling would be
perpetual; for they boasted that they could never be excluded, as it had been
declared,
“This is my rest for ever, here will I dwell, for I have chosen it.”
(Psalms 132:14.)
As then God had testified that it would be a quiet habitation to his people, they
thought that they were fortified by a triple wall and rampart, and that the city was
altogether unassailable. But Jeremiah represents them as saying, that they had left
111

112. their own land, that is, that they had been drawn and driven into exile. Then he
adds, because they have cast us out This seems to refer to their enemies who had
cast them out, that is, pulled down their dwellings. Some take dwellings to be the
nominative case to the verb, “Our dwellings have cast us out. ” (252) But the
first meaning reads better: I therefore consider the sense to be simply this, —
that they were cast out and that their houses were destroyed by their
enemies. It follows —
Because they have thrown down our habitations.
The ancient versions differ, but none give the meaning of our version, which is that
of Junius and Tremelius. The whole verse is in the past tense: things are represented
as having already taken place: —
For the voice of wailing has been heard from Sion, -- “How have we been
plundered! We have been put to great shame; For we have left the land, For
they have thrown down our habitations.”
The people are set forth as assembled in Jerusalem, having been made to quit the
land, their dwellings having been pulled down. — Ed.
PETT, "Jeremiah 9:19
‘For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion,
How we are ruined! we are greatly confounded,
Because we have had to leave the land,
Because they have cast down our dwellings.’
And the reason for the call is because a wailing is coming out of Zion, which
needs supplementing by others because of the dire situation. It is the cry of
those who have been cast out of the land and whose dwellings have been
destroyed. Thus they see themselves as ruined, and as greatly confounded. It
is a prophetic foretaste of the coming judgment, and is the central theme of
the passage.
112

113. 20 Now, you women, hear the word of the
Lord;
open your ears to the words of his mouth.
Teach your daughters how to wail;
teach one another a lament.
BARNES, "Jer_9:20
The command is addressed to the women because it was more especially their part to
express the general feelings of the nation. See 1Sa_18:6; 2Sa_1:24. The women utter now
the death-wail over the perishing nation. They are to teach their daughters and
neighbors the “lamentation, i. e., dirge,” because the harvest of death would be so large
that the number of trained women would not suffice.
CLARKE, "Teach your daughters - This is not a common dirge that shall last only
till the body is consigned to the earth; it must last longer; teach it to your children, that it
may be continued through every generation, till God turn again your captivity.
GILL, "Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women,.... Not the mourning women,
but others who had lost their husbands and their children, and had just reason for real
mourning; and therefore they are called upon to it, not only because they were more
tenderhearted than men, as Kimchi observes; or because they were more attentive to the
hearing of the word of God than men; but because of the paucity of men, such numbers
being slain in the siege, and by the sword; and of the loss the women had sustained, see
Jer_9:22,
and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; by his prophets; so the Targum,
"let your ear hearken to the words of his prophets:''
113

114. and teach your daughters wailing. The Arabic version, "a mournful song"; but not
the daughters of the mourning women are meant; but the real daughters of those who
had lost their husbands or children; since it follows:
and everyone her neighbour lamentation; signifying that the mortality among
them would be very universal, not a family escaping; which is described in the next
verses. This wailing and lamentation was made by responses, according to the Jews; for
they say (d),
"what is lamentation? when one speaks, and all the rest answer after her, as it is written
in Jer_9:20.''
JAMISON, "Yet — rather, “Only” [Henderson]. This particle calls attention to what
follows.
teach ... daughters wailing — The deaths will be so many that there will be a lack
of mourning women to bewail them. The mothers, therefore, must teach their daughters
the science to supply the want.
K&D, "Death comes in through (in at) the windows, not because the doors are to be
thought of as barricaded (Hitz.), but as a thief in the night, i.e., suddenly, in an
unexpected way. Perhaps Jeremiah was here thinking of Joe_2:9. And comes into the
palaces, i.e., spares no house, but carries off high and low. The second clause is not to be
very closely joined with the first, thus: Death comes into the houses and palaces, to
sweep the children from off the streets; this would be self-contradictory. We must rather
repeat "comes" from the first clause: He comes to sweep off the streets the child at play.
That is: In the houses and palaces, as upon the streets and highways, he will seize his
prey.
CALVIN, "He proceeds with the same subject, but adopts another figure. He then
somewhat changes the comparison; for he had bidden them before to hire women to
excite to mourning by fictitious tears, but he now addresses women in general; as
though he had said, that such would be the mourning, that hired lamentations
would not be sufficient, for the calamity would touch all hearts, and that mercenary
wailing would not be real. Hear, he says, ye women
Why he addresses women may be accounted for in two ways: the softness of women
more easily leads them to weep; there may be also here an indirect condemnation of
the men, that they were deaf and so hardened that no threatenings terrified them.
But the first seems to be the most suitable reason here, provided we still understand
that real mourning is opposed to reigned mourning. Then Jeremiah passes from the
particular to the general; that is, after having spoken of hired women, he now
includes all women; for lamentation would prevail in every city, and also in every
house: Hear then, ye women, the word of Jehovah
And he adds, and let your ears receive the word of his mouth He mentions on the
114

115. one hand the mouth of God, and on the other the ears of women. It seems indeed a
redundancy, but the repetition is not superfluous. Had he said only, “Let your ears
hear the word of his mouth,” there would have been a redundancy; but he
spoke before only of the word of God, and hear ye; now he adds, the mouth
of God, and the ears of women. The Prophet no doubt intended to rebuke
that hardness which we have often noticed. The word of God was deemed of
no moment; hence he says, the mouth of God: as though he had said, “God
speaks with you as it were from mouth to mouth: for though he employs my
labor, I am yet but his instrument; so that you may easily find out that I
declare nothing presumptuously, but faithfully deliver what I have received
from him.” We hence see how emphatical is this repetition, which may seem
at first sight to be superfluous. The same emphasis belongs to the ears of
women; it is as though he had said, that they had been hitherto extremely
indifferent, and that it was time for their ears to be attentive.
He adds, And teach your daughters; as though he had said, that such would be the
wailing, that it would reach not only the old and the middle-aged, but even young
girls, as yet rude and ignorant. And let every one, he says, teach her neighbor
lamentation In short, the meaning is, that no women, old or young, would be exempt
from this mourning, as all would be implicated in a common sorrow; for God’s
judgment would reach every age, sex, and order of men, and would also
penetrate into every house.
PETT, "Jeremiah 9:20
‘Yet hear the word of YHWH, O you women,
And let your ear receive the word of his mouth,
And teach your daughters wailing,
And every one her neighbour lamentation.’
YHWH’s call is now expanded from the professional women mourners to all
the women of Judah. They are to hear what He is saying and to teach their
daughters how to wail, and their neighbours how to lament. For the whole
115

116. land is to be filled with mourning.
21 Death has climbed in through our windows
and has entered our fortresses;
it has removed the children from the streets
and the young men from the public squares.
BARNES, "Jer_9:21
Death is come up ... - i. e., death steals silently like a thief upon his victims, and
makes such havoc that there are no children left to go “without,” nor young men to
frequent the open spaces in the city.
CLARKE, "For death is come up into our windows - Here Death is
personified, and represented as scaling their wall; and after having slain the playful
children without, and the vigorous youth employed in the labors of the field, he is now
come into the private houses, to destroy the aged and infirm; and into the palaces, to
destroy the king and the princes.
GILL, "For death is come up into our windows,.... Their doors being shut, bolted,
and barred, they thought themselves safe, but were not; the Chaldeans scaled their walls,
broke in at the tops of their houses, or at their windows, and destroyed them: for the
invasion of the enemy, and the manner of their entrance into them, seem to be
described. Death is here represented as a person, as it sometimes is in Scripture; see
Rev_6:8 and as coming suddenly and unawares upon men, and from whom there is no
escape, or any way and method of keeping him out; bolts and bars will not do; he can
climb up, and go in at the window:
and is entered into our palaces; the houses of their principal men, which were well
built, and most strongly fortified, these could not keep out the enemy: and death spares
none, high nor low, rich nor poor; it enters the palaces of great men, as well as the
cottages of the poor. The Septuagint version is, "it is entered into our land"; and so the
Arabic version; only it places the phrase, "into our land", in the preceding clause; and
116

117. that of "into", or "through our windows", in this:
to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets;
these words are not strictly to be connected with the preceding, as though they pressed
the end of death, ascending up to the windows, and entering palaces, to cut off such as
were in the streets; but the words are a proposition of themselves, as the distinctive
accent "athnach" shows; and must be supplied after this manner, and passing through
them it goes on, "to cut off", &c. and so aptly describes the invading enemy climbing the
walls of the city, entering at windows, or tops of houses, upon or near the walls; and,
having destroyed all within, goes forth into the streets, where children were at play, and
slays them and into courts or markets, where young men were employed in business,
and destroys them. The Jews (e) interpret it of famine.
JAMISON, "death ... windows — The death-inflicting soldiery, finding the doors
closed, burst in by the windows.
to cut off ... children from ... streets — Death cannot be said to enter the
windows to cut off the children in the streets, but to cut them off, so as no more to play
in the streets without (Zec_8:5).
K&D, "The numbers of the dead will be so great, that the bodies will be left lying
unburied. The concluding touch to this awful picture is introduced by the formula,
"Speak: Thus saith the Lord," as a distinct word from God to banish all doubt of the
truth of the statement. This formula is interposed parenthetically, so that the main idea
of the clause is joined by ְ‫ו‬ cop. to Jer_9:20. This ְ‫ו‬ is not to be deleted as a gloss, as it is
by Ew. and others, because it is not found in the lxx. With "as dung," cf. Jer_8:2; Jer_
16:4. ‫יר‬ ִ‫מ‬ָ‫,ע‬ prop. a bundle of stalks, grasped by the hand and cut, then = ‫ר‬ ֶ‫מ‬ֹ‫,ע‬ sheaf. As
a sheaf behind the reaper, which nobody gathers, i.e., which is left to lie unheeded, is not
brought by the reaper into the barn. The point of the simile is in the lying unheeded.
Strange to say, Graf and Näg. propose to refer the "none gathereth" not to the sheaf of
the shearer, but to the dead bodies: whereas the reaper piles the sheaves upon the
waggon ad brings them to the threshing-floor, the corpses are left ungathered.
PULPIT, "Jer_9:21
Death is come up, etc. "Death," equivalent to "pestilence" (as Jer_15:2), the most
dreaded foe of a besieged population. (For the figure, comp. Joe_2:9.) The children
from without. The ideal of Zechariah is that "the streets of the city should be full of
boys and girls playing in the streets thereof" (Zec_8:5). But the pitiless reaper, Death,
shall cut off even "the playful child from the street" (so we might render more literally).
Streets, in the parallel clause, means the "broad places" where men congregate to toll the
news.
CALVIN, "And by way of explanation he adds, For death has ascended into our
windows There is here a kind of derision; for the Jews, as it has been said, had
falsely promised to themselves a perpetual impunity; and therefore the Prophet
117

118. adopts here a most suitable comparison. For as they sleep securely, who with closed
doors seem to themselves to be beyond the reach of danger; so the Jews at that time
despised God and all his judgments, as though the doors of their houses were closed.
Hence the Prophet says, that death had entered in through the windows; and he
thus derides their folly for thinking that they could escape the hand of God, because
their gates were shut, as though. God’s power could not ascend above the
clouds nor enter through their windows, when the doors were closed. In
short, he intimates that the doors would not be opened by God; for though
he might not be disposed to break them, he could yet immediately ascend
into the windows. We now apprehend the Prophet ’s design in saying, that
death had entered through the windows.
And what he adds respecting palaces bears the same import; as though he had said,
“Were our houses even fortified, and were they not. only commodious
habitations, but made like citadels, yet God could not be excluded; for his
power can penetrate through the highest and the thickest walls, so that a
palace is to him like the weakest and frailest cottage. ” We hence see that by
this comparison he checks that foolisll confidence by which the Jews had
deceived themselves, and by which they were as yet inebriated. Death then
has ascended into our windows, etc.
He then adds,To cut off the young, or children, from the public ways, and the
youths from the streets (253) By these words he sets forth the dreadfulness of the
calamity; for the youths would not be able to defend themselves by their own
strength; for by ‫,בחורים‬ bechurim, he means the most robust. Even these would not
be able to repel the onset of their enemies; though in the flower of their age, yet their
rigor, however strong, would not protect them, nor would children and infants be
spared. We see that two things are here set forth by the Prophet, — that the
assaults of their enemies would be so violent, that young men would in vain
resist them, as their vigor would avail them nothing, — and then that such
would be the cruelty of their enemies, that no regard would be shewn for
age, for they would put to death even infants newly born. It follows —
For climbed has death through our windows, It has come through our towers,
To cut off the child from the street, The young men from the broad streets.
Though the gates were closed, yet death came in, not only through windows, or any
openings there might have been, but also through strong towers. — Ed.
COFFMAN, ""For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our
118

119. palaces; to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets.
Speak, thus saith Jehovah, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung upon the open
field, and as the handful after the harvestman; and none shall gather them."
This is a continuation of the prophetic elegy, the saddest element of it being the
wanton destruction of the children. This was the usual thing to be expected in the
ancient conquest of a city as indicated in Nahum 3:10; Luke 19:44, etc. There also
seems to be an echo here of Eve's acceptance of Satan's lie that, "Ye shall not surely
die!" Death comes inexorably upon old men, young men, all men, little children,
cities, cultures, generations and races of men. Men may bar their doors, but it comes
in the windows; none can escape it. What a block-buster of a lie Satan persuaded
Eve to believe!
This tragic truth of the ravages of death upon the entire race of Adam seems to have
triggered the next paragraph in which the sacred author attempted to turn men's
thoughts to eternal values instead of trusting in the things men generally love to
trust.
CONSTABLE, "Death had invaded the city like a plague. It had entered homes and
palaces, and it was cutting off children and youths from the public places. It is
possible that Jeremiah borrowed the figure of Death entering through a window,
from Canaanite or Babylonian mythology, but this is impossible to prove. [Note: See
J. B. Pritchard, Ancient Near Eastern Texts, pp134-35 , for the Canaanite use of the
figure, and S. M. Paul, "Cuneiform Light on Jeremiah 9 , 20 ," Biblica49
(1968):373-76 , for discussion of the Babylonian use. ] One commentator believed
Jeremiah viewed Death as a thief in the night, coming suddenly and in an
unexpected way (cf. Joel 2:9). [Note: Keil, 1:190.]
PETT, "Jeremiah 9:21
‘For death is come up into our windows,
It is entered into our palaces,
To cut off the children from outdoors,
The young men from the streets.’
The reason for the mourning is made clear. Death has taken over the whole of their
society. It has come through their windows (like paid assassins), and entered their
palaces (like ravagers in search of spoil), and it has cut off the children playing in
the streets, and the young men gathered there (compare Jeremiah 6:11). All are
involved. This can only be either pestilence, which can spread and strike anywhere,
or invaders who are irresistible once the city has fallen. This is presumably the
slaughter over which the prophet (or YHWH) had wept in Jeremiah 9:1.
119

120. Some see the idea of death (maweth) coming in through the window as rooted in
Canaanite and Babylonian mythology. In the Baal myths we find Baal refusing to
have windows in his palace lest Moth (death) climb in and seize members of his
family
22 Say, “This is what the Lord declares:
“‘Dead bodies will lie
like dung on the open field,
like cut grain behind the reaper,
with no one to gather them.’”
BARNES, "Jer_9:22
The “handful” means the little bundle of grain which the reaper gathers on his arm
with three or four strokes of his sickle, and then lays down. Behind the reaper came one
whose business it was to gather several of these bundles, and bind them into a sheaf.
Thus, death strews the ground with corpses as thickly as these handfuls lie upon the
reaped land, but the corpses lie there unheeded.
CLARKE, "And as the handful after the harvestman - The reapers, after
having cut enough to fill their hand, threw it down; and the binders, following after,
collected those handfuls, and bound them in sheaves. Death is represented as having cut
down the inhabitants of the land, as the reapers do the corn; but so general was the
slaughter, that there was none to bury the dead, to gather up these handfuls; so that they
lay in a state of putrescence, as dung upon the open field.
GILL, "Speak, thus saith the Lord,.... These are the words of the Lord to Jeremiah,
to go on with his prophecy in his name; so the Targum,
"prophesy, thus saith the Lord:''
120

121. even the carcasses of men shall fall as dung upon the open field; or, "upon the
face of the field" (f); this shows the reason why the women are called to mourning,
because the men would fall by the sword in the open field, and there lie and rot, and
become dung upon it. The Targum is,
"as dung spread upon the face of the field;''
which denotes the great number that should fall, which would cover the face of the field;
the condition they should be in; and the contempt and neglect they should be had in:
and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them; as a
handful of corn that is forgot, and left by the harvestman; or as ears of corn which are
dropped by the reaper, or binder, and are usually gleaned or gathered up by the poor
that follow; but in the case referred to, or supposed, are not gathered; so it would be with
these people; they should be left upon the ground, like a handful forgot, or like ears of
corn dropped, and not gathered up, and there they should lie, and none should bury
them.
JAMISON, "saith the Lord — continuing the thread of discourse from Jer_9:20.
dung — (Jer_8:2).
handful ... none ... gather them — implying that the handful has been so trodden
as to be not worth even the poor gleaner’s effort to gather it. Or the Eastern custom may
be referred to: the reaper cuts the grain and is followed by another who gathers it. This
grain shall not be worth gathering. How galling to the pride of the Jews to hear that so
shall their carcasses be trodden contemptuously under foot!
PULPIT, "Speak, Thus saith the Lord. These words are in three important respects
contrary to the style of Jeremiah:
(1) such a prefix as "speak" is unique;
(2). such a phrase as ‫כה‬ ‫נאם‬ is also unique m Jeremiah;
(3) when our prophet does use the formula ‫נאם‬ it is not at the beginning of a verse.
They are omitted by the Septuagint translator, who presumably did not find them in his
copy of the Hebrew, and the text gains greatly by their removal. The following words are
mistranslated in the Authorized Version, and should run, not even, but and, the
carcasses of men shall fall; etc. It is most improbable, however, that a fresh Divine
revelation should begin with "and." With other points, the word rendered "speak" would
mean "pestilence." Possibly the word fell out of verse 21, where it would find an excellent
place in the second clause (as an explanatory parallel to "death," as in Psa_78:50), which
would thus obtain greater roundness and symmetry. As the handful; i.e. as thickly as
one heap of corn succeeds another under the deft hand of the leaper.
121

122. CALVIN, "Though Jeremiah continues the same subject, he yet introduces a
preface, — that he had been commanded to declare what he says here; for on
account of the strangeness of the event, the prophecy seemed incredible. He
might, indeed, have proceeded with the subject, and omitted the words,
“Thus saith Jehovah,” and have begun thus: “Fall shall the carcase of man,”
etc. But, as I have said, this prophecy seemed to the greatest part as
worthless, as though it was a fable: it was therefore necessary to introduce
these words, — that he came forth furnished with God ’s command; and he at
the same time shews that he introduced nothing of his own, but that God
himself spoke. We now perceive why these few words were introduced.
(254)
He afterwards says, that the carcases of men would be cast forth as dung He speaks
by way of reproach, as though he had said, that all would without honor be laid
prostrate by their enemies. And he adds a similitude, They shall fall, he says, on the
face of the field, that is, everywhere through all the fields shall they fall as dung,
which is cast forth, and which excites nausea by its sight and by its odor. Thus the
Prophet here denotes foetor and a deformed sight by the comparison of dung: yet
we know with what pride were they then filled. This threatening then was to them
very disagreeable; but as they flattered themselves in their vices, it was the more
necessary to treat them roughly; for thus ought hypocrites to be dealt with, who
indulge their own delusions: the more boldly they rise up against God, the more
violently ought they to be east down, so that they may at length humble themselves
under the mighty hand of God.
He adds another comparison, As a handful, etc. Jerome renders it “hay.” If ‫עמיד‬
omid, were found elsewhere in this sense, I would willingly adopt this meaning; but
I rather think that it means those ears of corn which are not gathered while the
reapers collect their handfuls. They do not, indeed, leave complete handfuls, nor
east them away; but it happens, through carelessness, that a few ears escape them.
Then the Prophet says, that the Jews would be like those ears of corn which the
reapers pass by and leave behind; and there is no one afterwards to gather them:
and those ears of corn which thus remain in the field either rot of themselves, or are
devoured by cattle or wild beasts. He then means, that there would be no residue of
the people, for all, from the least to the greatest, would be given up to destruction.
This is the meaning; and at the same time he expresses contempt; for when reapers
do not collect the whole produce of the field, there are still the poor, who gather the
ears of corn; but when they are trodden under foot, and when there is no one to
gather them, it betokens contempt; and this is what the Prophet intended to express.
It now follows —
122

123. 22.Speak, Thus saith Jehovah, Fall also shall the carcase of man, Like dung
on the face of the field, Or like an handful of corn after the reaper, And
without any to gather it.
This would be the fate of such as remained in the country, whilst the greatest part
had fled into Jerusalem. It is by keeping this distinction in view that the whole
passage, from verse the seventeenth, may be rightly understood. — Ed.
COKE, "Jeremiah 9:22. Speak, Thus, &c.— For it shall come to pass, saith the
Lord, that the carcases, &c. Houb.
And as the handful after the harvest-man— Behind the reaper. This alludes to
the manner of reaping corn in the field, where the reaper, as soon as he has
cut what he can hold in his hand, lets it fall, and passes on; but is usually
followed by another, who gathers what is cut, and binds it into sheaves. But
here it is said, that there would be none to gather; and consequently the
corn, after being cut, would lie neglected and rot on the ground, which
renders the simile a very apt one.
CONSTABLE, "Men too would die, in the open fields, and lie there uncared for,
like dung or like scraps of wheat left after a harvest.
"Here we see Death as the Grim Reaper. The custom was for a reaper to hold in his
arm what a few strokes of his sickle had cut. Then he put it down, and behind him
another laborer then gathered it into bundles and bound it into a sheaf. So death
was to cover the ground with corpses, but the carcasses would lie there unburied
because of the paucity of survivors and the great number of dead." [Note: Feinberg,
p444. Cf. Romans 6:23.]
PETT, "Jeremiah 9:22
“Speak!” the word of YHWH, “The dead bodies of men will fall as dung on the open
field, and as the handful after the harvester, and none will gather them.”
YHWH then abruptly calls on Jeremiah to ‘speak out’ because ‘His word’ is
concerning the dead bodies which will fall on the open fields, lying there rotting
until they become dung, and deserted there like the gleanings which lie in the fields
once the harvesters have passed by. And there will be none to gather the gleanings
for those who normally did so (the body gatherers in the case of the dead) would all
themselves be dead. For this picture of many left unburied compare Jeremiah 7:33.
All present would have seen dung covered fields as farmers flung dung on them as
123

124. they sought to renew their small patches of land, and would bring to mind the fields
temporarily filled with small sheaves of grain cast aside by the reaper as he emptied
his hand so that he could begin again to fashion another sheaf, with the intention of
collecting up all the small sheaves when he had finished. In the same way would
dead bodies be scattered over the fields, but with none to gather them.
23 This is what the Lord says:
“Let not the wise boast of their wisdom
or the strong boast of their strength
or the rich boast of their riches,
BARNES, "To the end of Jer. 10 the prophet urges upon the people the practical
conclusion to be drawn from God’s righteous dealings with them. The three things on
which men most pride themselves are shown in this verse to have proved vain.
CLARKE, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom - Because God is the
Fountain of all good, neither wisdom, nor might, nor riches, nor prosperity can come but
from or through him. Nothing can be more rational than that the Source of all our
blessings should be acknowledged. Riches cannot deliver in the day of death; strength
cannot avail against him; and as a shield against him, our wisdom is foolishness.
GILL, "Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,.... Not
in his natural wisdom, or knowledge of natural things: this is often but an appearance of
wisdom, and is science falsely so called; and whatever is real of this kind is of God; and
the best falls short of leading men to a true and saving knowledge of God; the foolishness
of God is wiser than it; and it is made foolish, destroyed, and brought to nought by him:
nor in evangelical wisdom and knowledge; not in that which is less common, or what fits
men for public usefulness, as ministerial gifts; for such are received from above; are
124

125. more for the use of others than a man's self; there is something better than these, which
a man may not have, and yet have these, which is grace; those may fade, or be taken
away; and a man have them, and be lost eternally: nor in that which is more general,
speculative knowledge of Gospel truths; for if it is attended with conceit, it is little or
nothing that a man knows; if he is proud of it, his knowledge is not sanctified; and it is
no other than what the devils themselves have: nor in that which is more special;
wisdom in the inward part, or a spiritual and saving knowledge of God in Christ; this a
man has wholly of free grace, and should give the praise and glory of it to God, and not
attribute it to himself:
neither let the mighty man glory in his might; not in his natural might or
strength; this is of God, and is greater in some of the brutes than in men; and is what
God can take away, and does often weaken it in the way by diseases, and at last destroys
it by death; nor in moral strength, or in the power of free will; which is very weak and
insufficient to do anything that is spiritually good: nor even in spiritual strength; this is
from Christ; it is only through him strengthening his people that they do what they do;
and all supplies and increase of it are from him; and therefore no room for glorying:
let not the rich man glory in his riches; these come of the hand of God, and are
what he can take away at pleasure; they are very uncertain and precarious things; there
is a better and more enduring substance; these cannot profit in a day of wrath, nor
deliver from death, corporeal, spiritual, or eternal. And the intention of the words here is
to show, that neither the wise man with all his art and cunning, nor the mighty man by
his strength, nor the rich man through his riches, could save themselves from the
destruction before prophesied of. The Targum paraphrases them thus,
"thus saith the Lord, let not Solomon the son of David the wise man praise (or please
himself) in his wisdom; nor let Samson the son of Manoah the mighty man please
himself in his might; nor let Ahab the son of Omri the rich man please himself in his
riches.''
HENRY 23-26, "The prophet had been endeavouring to possess this people with a
holy fear of God and his judgments, to convince them both of sin and wrath; but still
they had recourse to some sorry subterfuge or other, under which to shelter themselves
from the conviction and with which to excuse themselves in the obstinacy and
carelessness. He therefore sets himself here to drive them from these refuges of lies and
to show them the insufficiency of them.
I. When they were told how inevitable the judgment would be they pleaded the
defence of their politics and powers, which, with the help of their wealth and treasure,
they thought made their city impregnable. In answer to this he shows them the folly of
trusting to and boasting of all these stays, while they have not a God in covenant to stay
themselves upon, Jer_9:23, Jer_9:24. Here he shows, 1. What we may not depend upon
in a day of distress: Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, as if with the help of that
he could outwit or countermine the enemy, or in the greatest extremity find out some
evasion or other; for a man's wisdom may fail him when he needs it most, and he may
fail him when he needs it most, and he may be taken in his own craftiness. Ahithophel
was befooled, and counsellors are often led away spoiled. But, if a man's policies fail
him, yet surely he may gain his point by might and dint of courage. No: Let not the
strong man glory in his strength, for the battle is not always to the strong. David the
125

126. stripling proves too hard for Goliath the giant. All human force is nothing without God,
worse than nothing against him. But may not the rich man's wealth be his strong city?
(money answers all things) No: Let not the rich man glory in his riches, for they may
prove so far from sheltering him that they may expose him and make him the fairer
mark. Let not the people boast of the wise men, and mighty men, and rich men that they
have among them, as if they could make their part good against the Chaldeans because
they have wise men to advise concerning the war, mighty men to fight their battles, and
rich men to bear the charges of the war. Let not particular persons think to escape the
common calamity by their wisdom, might, or money; for all these will prove but vain
things for safety. 2. He shows what we may depend upon in a day of distress. (1.) Our
only comfort in trouble will be that we have done our duty. Those that refused to know
God (Jer_9:6) will boast in vain of their wisdom and wealth; but those that know God,
intelligently, that understand aright that he is the Lord, that have not only right
apprehensions concerning his nature, and attributes, and relations to man, but receive
and retain the impressions of them, may glory in this it will be their rejoicing in the day
of evil. (2.) Our only confidence in trouble will be that, having through grace in some
measure done our duty, we shall find God a God all-sufficient to us. We may glory in
this, that, wherever we are, we have an acquaintance with an interest in a God that
exercises lovingkindness, and judgment, and righteousness in the earth, that is not only
just to all his creatures and will do no wrong to any of them, but kind to all his children
and will protect them and provide for them. For in these things I delight. God delights to
show kindness and to execute judgment himself, and is pleased with those who herein
are followers of him as dear children. Those that have such knowledge of the glory of
God as to be changed into the same image, and to partake of his holiness, find it to be
their perfection and glory; and the God they thus faithfully conform to they may
cheerfully confide in, in their greatest straits. But the prophet intimates that the
generality of this people took no care about this. Their wisdom, and might, and riches,
were their joy and hope, which would end in grief and despair. But those few among
them that had the knowledge of God might please themselves with it, and boast
themselves of it; it would stand them in better stead than thousands of gold and silver.
II. When they were told how provoking their sins were to God they vainly pleaded the
covenant of their circumcision. They were undoubtedly the people of God; as they had
the temple of the Lord in their city, so they had the mark of his children in their flesh. “It
is true that Chaldean army has laid such and such nations waste, because they were
uncircumcised, and therefore not under the protection of the divine providence, as we
are.” To this the prophet answers, That the days of visitation were now at hand, in which
God would punish all wicked people, without making any distinction between the
circumcised and uncircumcised, Jer_9:25, Jer_9:26. They had by sin profaned the
crown of their peculiarity, and lived in common with the uncircumcised nations, and so
had forfeited the benefit of that peculiarity and must expect to fare never the better for
it. God will punish the circumcised with the uncircumcised. As the ignorance of the
uncircumcised shall not excuse their wickedness, so neither shall the privileges of the
circumcised excuse theirs, but they shall be punished together. Note, The Judge of all the
earth is impartial, and none shall fare the better at his bar for any external advantages,
but he will render to every man, circumcised or uncircumcised, according to his works.
The condemnation of impenitent sinners that are baptized will be as sure as, nay, and
more severe than, that of impenitent sinners that are unbaptized. It would affect one to
find here Judah industriously put between Egypt and Edom, as standing upon a level
with them and under the same doom, Jer_9:26. These nations were forbidden a share in
126

127. the Jews' privileges (Deu_23:3); but the Jews are here told that they shall share in their
punishments. Those in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness, are supposed to
be the Kedarenes and those of the kingdoms of Hazor, as appears by comparing Jer_
49:28-32. Some think they are so called because they dwelt as it were in a corner of the
world, others because they had the hair of their head polled into corners. However that
was, they were of those nations that were uncircumcised in flesh, and the Jews are
ranked with them and are as near to ruin for their sins as they; for all the house of Israel
are uncircumcised in the heart: they have the sign, but not the thing signified, Jer_4:4.
They are heathens in their hearts, strangers to God, and enemies in their minds by
wicked works. Their hearts are disposed to idols, as the hearts of the uncircumcised
Gentiles are. Note, The seals of the covenant, though they dignify us, and lay us under
obligations, will not save us, unless the temper of our minds and the tenour of our lives
agree with the covenant. That only is circumcision, and that baptism, which is of the
heart, Rom_2:28, Rom_2:29.
JAMISON, "wisdom — political sagacity; as if it could rescue from the impending
calamities.
might — military prowess.
K&D 23-25, "(9:22-23)
The True Wisdom. - It is not a reliance on one's own wisdom and strength that brings
well-being, but the knowledge of the Lord and of His dealings in grace and justice (Jer_
9:22-25). Idolatry is folly, for the idols are the mere work of men's hands; whereas
Jahveh, the Almighty God, is ruler of the world (10:1-16). Israel will be made to
understand this by the coming judgment (Jer_9:17-25).
Jer_9:22-25
The way of safety. - Jer_9:22. "Thus hath Jahveh said: Let not the wise man glory in
his wisdom, and let not the strong man glory in his strength; let not the rich man glory
in his riches: Jer_9:23. But let him that glorieth glory in this, in having understanding,
and in knowing me, that I am Jahveh, dealing grace, right, and justice upon earth; for
therein have I pleasure, saith Jahveh. Jer_9:24. Behold, days come, saith Jahveh, that I
punish all the circumcised (who are) with foreskin, Jer_9:25. Egypt, and Judah, and
Edom, and the sons of Ammon, Moab and them that have their hair-corners polled,
that dwell in the wilderness; for all the heathen are uncircumcised, and the whole
house of Israel is uncircumcised in heart."
After having overturned the foundations of the people's false reliance on the temple,
or the sacrifices, and in the wisdom of its leaders, Jeremiah finally points out the way
that leads to safety. This consists solely in the true knowledge of the Lord who doth
grace, right, and justice, and therein hath pleasure. In Jer_9:23 he mentions the delusive
objects of confidence on which the children of this world are wont to pride themselves:
their own wisdom, strength, and riches. These things do not save from ruin. Safety is
secured only by "having understanding and knowing me." These two ideas are so closely
connected, that the second may be looked on as giving the nearer definition of the first.
The having of understanding must manifest itself in the knowing of the Lord. The two
verbs are in the infin. abs., because all that was necessary was to suggest the idea
127

128. expressed by the verb; cf. Ew. §328, b. The knowledge of God consists in knowing Him
as Him who doth grace, right, and justice upon earth. ‫ד‬ ֶ‫ס‬ ֶ‫,ח‬ grace, favour, is the
foundation on which right and justice are based; cf. Jer_32:18; Psa_33:5; Psa_99:4;
Psa_103:6. He who has attained to this knowledge will seek to practise these virtues
towards his fellow-men, because only therein has God pleasure (‫ה‬ֶ‫לּ‬ ֵ‫א‬ pointing back to
the objects before mentioned); cf. Jer_22:3; Psa_11:7; Psa_37:28. But because the Lord
has pleasure in right and justice, He will punish all peoples that do not practise justice.
PULPIT, "Jer_9:23, Jer_9:24
These two verses were hardly composed for their present position, though a connection
may, of course, be thought out for them. Perhaps a comparison of Hab_3:17, Hab_3:18
, may help us. There the prophet looks forward to a complete desolation resulting from
the Chaldean invasion, and yet declares that he can even exult in his God. So here. All
subjects of boasting have been proved untrustworthy; but one remains—not wisdom, not
valor, not riches, but the knowledge of the revealed God.
SBC 23-24, "Jer_9:23, Jer_9:24
These two verses were hardly composed for their present position, though a connection
may, of course, be thought out for them. Perhaps a comparison of Hab_3:17, Hab_3:18
, may help us. There the prophet looks forward to a complete desolation resulting from
the Chaldean invasion, and yet declares that he can even exult in his God. So here. All
subjects of boasting have been proved untrustworthy; but one remains—not wisdom, not
valor, not riches, but the knowledge of the revealed God.
CALVIN, "This is a remarkable passage, and often found in the mouth of men, as
other notable sentences, which are known as proverbial sayings: but yet few rightly
consider how these words are connected with the previous context. Hence there are
many who are satisfied with a simple explanation, as though it were a subject
abruptly introduced, and as though the Prophet commenced something new; and
they confine themselves to those words: and thus they misrepresent the meaning of
the Prophet, or at least diminish much of the force of what is taught.
The Prophet no doubt has a regard to what has gone before. He saw, as I have often
said, that he addressed the deaf; for the Jews were so swollen with false confidence,
that the word of God was regarded worthless by them. As then some were proud for
their riches, and others thought themselves more prudent than that they could by
any means be taken, and others thought themselves so fortified by wealth and
power, that they could easily resist any evil, — as then the minds of all were
possessed with so much pride, the Prophet, in order to confirm what he had
said, declares here that men foolishly gloried, while they set up their riches,
or their strength, or their wisdom, in opposition to God; for all these things
would vanish away like smoke.
128

129. We now then perceive why the Prophet forbids here any to glory except in God
alone, and how the passage ought not to be deemed as abrupt, but connected with
what he said, when he denounced destruction on the Jews, which yet they dreaded
not, because they were filled with this ungodly and foolish conceit, — that they had
more than a sufficient protection in their own strength, or riches, or wisdom.
The rest to-morrow.
COFFMAN, ""Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man . glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his
riches; But let him glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I
am Jehovah who exerciseth loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth:
for in those things I delight, saith Jehovah."
The knowledge of God and his way of salvation is greatly to be preferred above all
the honors, power, riches, and achievements of mankind.
"Loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness ..." (Jeremiah 9:24). As Green noted,
"These are covenant words." As we have repeatedly emphasized, it is impossible to
understand God's punishment of the Jews apart from its relation to the Mosaic
covenant which the Jews had possessed for many generations, and which they had
so wantonly violated.
The only proper ground for anyone's glorying is in the right relationship with God;
this is the thing that supremely matters.
COKE, "Jeremiah 9:23-24. Let not the wise man glory, &c.— "Unless this wisdom
hath for its object God himself, and teaches us to despise ourselves, to be
humbled beneath the mighty hand of God, and to glory in him alone. All
other wisdom is vain and dangerous." Phocylides has said excellently,
If wisdom, strength, or riches be thy lot; Boast not, but rather think thou hast them
not: One God alone, from whom these gifts proceed, Is wise, is mighty, and is rich
indeed.
CONSTABLE, "The Lord commanded that the wise and strong and rich should not
take pride in their wisdom and strength and wealth. One writer argued that
Jeremiah ministered at a time when conventional wisdom was being challenged, and
that this fact accounts for much of the opposition that he faced. [Note: Walter A.
Brueggemann, "The Epistemological Crisis of Israel"s Two Histories ( Jeremiah
9:22-23)," in Israelite Wisdom: Theological and Literary Essays in Honor of Samuel
Terrien, pp85-105.]
129

130. PETT, "Jeremiah 9:23
‘Thus says YHWH, “Let not the wise glory in his wisdom, nor let the mighty glory
in his might, let not the rich glory in his riches, but let him who glories glory in this,
that he has understanding, and knows me, that I am YHWH who exercises covenant
love, justice, and righteousness in the earth, for in these things I delight, the word of
YHWH.”
Reflecting back on Jeremiah 9:12 where the wise man and the prophet failed to be
able to discern why YHWH did what He did, and on Jeremiah 9:17 where the wise
were mourners, YHWH now tells us what ‘the wise --- the mighty -- and the
wealthy’ are not to glory in, (their own wisdom, their own might and their own
riches), and what they are to glory in, (‘having understanding and knowing
YHWH’). Whilst Jeremiah 9:12 had concentrated on supposedly ‘illuminated’ men,
(the ‘wise man’ (Ha ish hechacam) and the prophet), this verse extends the idea to
all who saw themselves as ‘wise (chacam) and great’. And it underlines that what is
of vital importance to all is to have true understanding and to truly know YHWH in
all that He essentially is. It is being emphasised that that was what men should
‘glory’ in, not the failing attainments of this world. And ‘What He is’ is then
summed up in terms of the exercise of three attributes, covenant love, justice and
righteousness throughout the whole earth, which are the things in which YHWH
delights as confirmed by His sure word. ‘What does YHWH require of you but to
fulfil justice, to show covenant love and to walk humbly with your God?’ (Micah
6:8).
Indeed had they understood and known YHWH they would not have been puzzled
as to why He was about to do what He was about to do (Jeremiah 9:12-14). They
would have recognised that it was perfectly in accordance with what He was
revealed to be. He was strong on covenant love, but they had broken the covenant,
had tossed it away and had failed to love YHWH. He was strong on justice, but they
had made a mockery of justice. He was strong on righteousness, but they were
totally unrighteous (not walking in His righteous ways as laid out in His
Instruction). The contrasts are also interesting. Covenant love, involving close
association with God’s wisdom, contrasts with men being ‘wise’ in their own eyes.
True justice contrasts with ‘the mighty’, who all too often sought to override justice
for its own ends. Righteousness contrasts with ‘the rich’ and with wealth, which
tends to divert men from the way of righteousness (compare Proverbs 30:8-9;
Matthew 19:23).
It was because of the essential nature of God in contrast with Judah’s dependence
on earthly wisdom, might and wealth, that judgment was coming on Judah. They
had followed their own ways, ignoring the covenant, they had looked to their own
might, ignoring justice for the helpless and needy, and they had gloried in their own
wealth, spurning righteousness and the need to hear the cry of the poor. All these
things revealed a lack of understanding, and of ‘knowing YHWH’ essentially,
something which was a mark of true believers. No wonder then that YHWH had
130

131. had to act.
This is a remarkable equivalent to ‘flesh and blood has not revealed this to you, but
My Father in Heaven’ (Matthew 16:17), and ‘You have hidden these things from the
wise and understanding and have revealed them to babes’ (Matthew 11:25), for the
only ones here who can be seen as having understanding and glorying in what
YHWH is are Jeremiah’s adherents.
It is a salutary thought that today men and women certainly boast in how clever
they are, how strong they are, and how wealthy they are. It is such people who are
feted. But those who reveal ‘covenant love’ (a true and humble following of Jesus
Christ), true concern for the rights of others, and true righteousness as they walk in
the ways of God are often thrust into the background and even vilified.
SIMEON, "Verse 23-24
THE ONLY TRUE AND SUFFICIENT GROUNDS OF GLORYING
Jeremiah 9:23-24. Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his
riches; but let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and Knoweth
me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and
righteousness, in the earth. [Note: The Author’s first Sermon before the University,
preached in 1785, now above forty-six years ago, and never before published.] TO
know the Creator is the supreme excellence and chief good of man. The Jews
enjoyed greater opportunities of obtaining this knowledge than any people upon
earth: yet they neglected to improve their advantages; and, like the nations around
them, sought their happiness in the creature, and confided in it for their security;
having forsaken him who was their Rock of Defence. They treated Jeremiah’s
predictions of their captivity in Babylon with contempt. This the prophet saw and
bitterly lamented: and hoping still if possible to reclaim them and thereby to prevent
their calamity, and to secure to them a permanent enjoyment of their privileges, he
exhorted them in the name of God himself to renounce all dependence on their own
wisdom, might, or riches; and to glory rather in the knowledge of their God, and an
acquaintance with him as their Protector and Deliverer. To us who have a much
clearer revelation of God’s nature and perfections, the exhortation may be applied
with still more propriety and stronger energy.
Let us then (as the text requires) first remove the false and insufficient grounds of
glorying, and then propose such as are true and sufficient.
The usual grounds of glorying the prophet here proscribes:
“Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his
might, let not the rich man glory in his riches.”
131

132. It is by no means to be imagined that earthly things are to be utterly disregarded,
and that Christians in these days are to expect those miraculous gifts of wisdom and
power which were bestowed in the days of the Apostles, or that we are now called to
forsake our several occupations as they were: this would be enthusiasm indeed. At
the first promulgation of Christianity, it was necessary that the instruments used for
that purpose should be both weak and illiterate, that the excellency of the power
might more evidently appear to be of God: but the person who should now hope to
speak by inspiration, to work miracles, or live like the birds of the air, without any
thought for the morrow, would grossly misunderstand the Scriptures, and become
an object of ridicule or pity to all rational and sober-minded. Christians.
Wisdom is highly necessary in religious concerns and in every department of social
life; it capacitates us for instructing others; it enables us to make improvements in
arts and sciences; it qualifies us for superior usefulness at the bar and in the senate:
nor less in religious exercises; it gives a deserved pre-eminence to all who possess it;
and a want of it (especially in a seat of learning) is deservedly attended with
proportionable ignominy.
Power also is desirable; inasmuch as it may be used for the preservation of due
order in society and most beneficially employed in punishing vice and rewarding
virtue. Nor are riches to be disregarded, for they afford us many opportunities as
well of encouraging industry, as of relieving the necessitous; and they give full scope
for the exercise of our most benevolent affections. Each of them has its peculiar
uses; and each is a precious talent capable of the highest improvement. Yet however
they lay no solid foundation for glorying: and the prophet’s injunction is that we
should not glory in them; by which he means, that we are not to esteem them too
highly, nor to regard them as the principal objects of our pursuit, nor to place our
chief happiness in them, nor to make them our trust and confidence.
And indeed what is there in our wisdom wherein to glory? The more knowledge we
possess, we are only more fully convinced that we know nothing in comparison of
what is yet veiled from our eyes: besides, the wisest counsels are often frustrated for
want of power to carry them into execution; and though we excelled even Solomon
himself, disease or accident may reduce us in a moment to a level with the brutes.
What is there in power? To have it is no little temptation to exercise it in an
unbecoming manner and for selfish ends: it universally stirs up opposition in those
who are subjected to our authority, and creates much trouble and anxiety to
ourselves in the dispensing of it.
And what is there in riches? They often generate in our hearts covetous and sordid
tempers (for it is seldom that our “riches increase, but we immediately set our hearts
upon them”), they make us proud, overbearing, and oppressive: yet all the wealth of
the Indies can furnish us with very little more than food and raiment: and there are
so many thousand ways in which we may be impoverished, that Solomon observes of
riches, “they make themselves wings and fly away.”
132

133. What ground then is there for glorying in any, or all, of these? There is not any in
wisdom; for it is limited in its extent, defective in its operations, and uncertain in its
continuance. There is not in might; for the very possession of it is dangerous, and
the exercise of it vexatious to ourselves and others. There is not in riches; for they
are defiling in their influence, contracted in their uses, and precarious in their
tenure.
Besides all which in the hour of death all our thoughts perish, our rank and dignity
are annihilated, and our wealth is transferred to another owner. And in the day of
judgment, not all the wisdom, might, or riches, that ever were possessed by man will
be sufficient to bribe our Judge, withstand his power, or elude his search.
Let us proceed then to consider what is the true and sufficient ground of glorying:
“Let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I
am the Lord who exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the
earth.”
The knowledge of God as far excels all other attainments, as God, the object of that
knowledge, surpasses all created excellencies. But it is not every knowledge of God
that lays a foundation for glorying. It is not the knowledge that there is a God; for
that is common to the evil angels as well as the good. It is not the knowledge of God
from the works of creation; for that comes as much under the observation of
heathens as of Christians. But it is a knowledge of God as revealed in the inspired
writings. This is strongly intimated in those two expressions in my text,
“understandeth” and “knoweth,” which are designed to teach us, that it is only in a
practical and experimental knowledge of God that we are to glory; or in other
words, such knowledge as makes us stand in awe of his majesty, tremble at his
threatenings, and seek an interest in his love and favour. Several reasons might be
offered for glorying in this rather than in the forementioned possessions or
attainments. I will assign three which will comprehend them all: First, because the
knowledge of God is not subject to any of those defects, which are almost
inseparable from wisdom, might, and riches. They are above the reach of far the
greater part of mankind; this is equally attainable by all: they too often debase the
mind; this invariably elevates and ennobles it: they leave us still longing for
something unpossessed; this supplies all the wants, satisfies all the desires, and fills
all the capacities of our immortal souls: they, through the depravity of our nature,
often become means and instruments of pride, oppression, and avarice; this changes
the proud, tyrannical and avaricious man into the image of God in righteousness
and true holiness: they are destroyed at death; but this is perfected.
Again we may glory in this knowledge of God, because it transcends all their
excellencies. Human wisdom may enable us to discharge the duties of civil life with
advantage; but the knowledge of God rectifies our judgments about things of far
greater moment; it makes us both see and feel the evil of sin, the beauty of holiness,
the vanity of time, and the importance of eternity. It teaches us (which is indeed the
133

134. very essence of wisdom) to pursue the best ends by the fittest means; to seek a crown
of glory by a renunciation and abhorrence of every known sin, a firm reliance on
the Saviour’s merits, and an uniform obedience to his commands. Power also may
be improved for the good of the community; but the knowledge of God endues us
with might for better purposes; it renders us mighty to resist temptations, mighty to
subdue our evil tempers, mighty to mortify our lusts and passions, mighty to endure
the bitterest afflictions, and mighty to vanquish the united forces of the world, the
flesh, and the devil. Riches, too, it is granted, are highly beneficial; but the
knowledge of God imparts more profitable riches: through it we are rich in
possession, and in reversion too; it brings into our souls a sense of pardon, it fills us
with a peace which passeth all understanding, and entitles us to all the blessings
which God himself can bestow: for Solomon, on making this very comparison,
observes that “wisdom is a defence, and money a defence, but the excellency of
knowledge (i.e. of spiritual knowledge) is, that wisdom giveth life to them that have
it.” And a greater than Solomon still more plainly affirms, that “to know God, and
Jesus Christ whom he hath sent, is eternal life;” i.e. is the way to it, and the very
beginning and earnest of it.
Once more. We may glory in this knowledge of God, because it comprehends and
unfolds to our view wisdom, power, and riches that are indeed infinite. The text
particularly directs us to consider God as exercising loving-kindness (to his friends),
judgment (to his enemies), and righteousness or justice (in the distribution both of
his rewards and punishments). Now this is a view of God which we have not any
where, but in the Gospel of Christ. In his dealings towards the fallen angels we
behold only his judgments; but in his dealings with man we behold the exercise of
mercy and loving-kindness, because he accepted the mediation of his Son on our
behalf. The Apostle directs us therefore to look for the glory of God in the face of
Jesus Christ. The intent of the types and prophecies in the Old Testament, as well as
the historical and epistolary writings in the New, is to hold forth Jesus Christ as that
illustrious person in whom the Father would be glorified: He therefore, as being
“the brightness of his Father’s glory, and the express image of his person,” is the
proper object of our glorying: and so inestimable is the knowledge of Him, that Paul
(the most learned and powerful, if not the richest of the Apostles) counted all things
as dung and loss in comparison of it. Now the knowledge of this our incarnate God
comprehends, I say, and unfold to our view, wisdom, might, and riches that are
indeed infinite. Infinite wisdom—In the person, work, and offices of our Lord, are
contained mysteries, which, though hid from all eternity in the bosom of the Father,
were displayed with the fullest evidence upon the cross. It is true that the doctrine of
a crucified Saviour was “to the Jews a stumbling block, and to the Greeks
foolishness; but,” says the Apostle, “to them that are called, it is the wisdom of
God;” or, as he elsewhere terms it, “the wisdom of God in a mystery:” and so indeed
it is; for it reconciles things which, to unhumbled, unenlightened persons, would
appear contradictory and absurd. It shews us how sin may be punished, and yet the
sinner saved: and this too not only without countenancing sin or dishonouring the
law, but in such a manner as to bring more honour to the law, than if it never had
been broken, and to manifest more indignation against sin, than if the offender had
134

135. endured its deserved penalty. It shews us also how the divine perfections unite and
harmonize in the great work of redemption; how God may pardon those whom he
had threatened to destroy, without any violation of his word; and how he may
restore rebels to peace, without any infringement of the demands of justice; or, as
the Psalmist beautifully expresses it, how “mercy and truth may meet together, and
righteousness and peace kiss each other.” It shews us further (which is wonderful
indeed) mercy displayed in a way of punishing sin, and justice in a way of
pardoning it; yea, more mercy than if the whole world had been pardoned without
any such atonement, and more justice than if the whole human race had been, like
their predecessors in iniquity, cast into the depths of hell. In God, as shining forth in
the person of his Son, we behold also infinite might. Jesus Christ is called by the
Apostle “the Wisdom of God and the Power of God,” because that, when mankind
had destroyed themselves, and not a combination of all created powers could effect
their deliverance, his own arm brought salvation. He sustained the dreadful weight
of their iniquities in his own body on the tree, and ransomed an apostate world by
his own most precious blood. To all appearance indeed he “was crucified through
weakness:” he fell a sacrifice to the envy of the priests, the treachery of Judas, the
cowardice of Pilate, and the rage of an incensed populace: yet by that very fall he
bruised the serpent’s head and triumphed over principalities and powers. He
submitted also to an imprisonment within the bowels of the earth; yet soon burst the
gates of death, by which it was not possible he should be detained, and shewed
himself to be “the Son of God with power by his resurrection from the dead.”
Infinite riches also are manifested in this our adorable Redeemer. How glorious,
how unsearchable were the riches of the Father’s love, which rather than we should
perish, bestowed, not an angel or archangel, but his only-begotten Son, yea, gave
him up for rebels, to the most bitter, ignominious, and accursed death of the cross!
How rich was the Son’s compassion, to obey that law which we had broken, to
humble himself that we might be exalted, to endure the penalties which we had
incurred, and to die that we might live for ever! What unbounded mercy! Inasmuch
then as this knowledge of God is not subject to the defects that are in wisdom,
power, and riches, but transcends their excellencies, and comprehends them all in
the highest degree; we may, we ought to glory in it: we cannot value it too highly, we
cannot seek it too earnestly, we cannot contemplate it with too exalted joy, or trust
in it with too confident assurance: this was evidently the sentiment of the Apostle
when he said, “I am determined to know nothing but Jesus Christ and him
crucified.” And again, “God forbid that I should glory save in the cross of our Lord
Jesus Christ.”
Here it will be proper to observe the manner in which the inspired writer prefaces
his exhortation in the text; “Thus saith the Lord.” The voice of the world is quite
different; even they who are esteemed the wisest in the world hold up wisdom,
power, and riches as the grand, if not the only, objects worthy of our pursuit: the
whole multitude are following these with unabated ardour: all their affections are
set upon them: their hopes and fears, their joys and sorrows, are excited alternately
by these, as the loss or acquisition of them shall give occasion: these are the things
135

136. most envied and admired: and, when obtained, are ever made the ground of
glorying. But the knowledge of God and of his glory in the face of Jesus Christ is
deemed scarce worthy our attention. If it were at our option to be the wisest,
greatest, and richest person upon earth, but at the same time destitute of this
knowledge; or to be endued with it, but at the same time live in a state of poverty,
meanness, and ignorance, how few would shew themselves like-minded with God in
this matter! Indeed, how few seek this knowledge at all, or even give it the least
place in their thoughts! On the contrary, the generality treat it with contempt; and
too many seem to apprehend, that we cannot glory in our God, but we must
presently be beside ourselves: but (as says the Apostle) “let God be true, and every
man a liar;” let the whole universe combine to extenuate the guilt of neglecting God,
and to exalt wisdom, power, and riches, as the chief good of man; their opinions are
of no avail: for “thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom,
neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in his
riches; but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth
me, that I am the Lord, who exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness
in the earth;” that I am He, who will amply and eternally reward those who glory in
me, and will assuredly execute judgment upon those who idolize the world. While
therefore we pay a just attention to those things which God allows, and the interests
of society require us to pursue, let us take shame to ourselves for having preferred
the perishing things of time and sense, to an acquaintance with our God; let us fear
lest we be left to take the fruit of our choice, and to have our portion only in this life;
let us receive the united testimonies of reason and revelation; and, in compliance
with their dictates, let us prize above all things, follow with unwearied assiduity,
and supremely delight ourselves in, the knowledge of this Saviour; that through him
we may be mighty in subduing our evil habits, rich in faith and good works, and
wise unto salvation; so shall we have cause to glory here, and be partakers of
everlasting felicity in the world to come. Now to God, &c. [Note: The analysis of this
is added, to shew how easily the short skeletons may be formed into entire
sermons.], Jeremiah 9:23-24. Thus saith the Lord, Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might; let not the rich man glory in
his riches; but let him that glorieth, glory in this, that he understandeth and
knoweth me, that I am the Lord, which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and
righteousness, in the earth.
WE need no other introduction to our subject than that of the prophet [Note: Isaiah
1:2.]—
Bearing in mind therefore the Saviour’s repeated admonitions [Note: Mark 4:9;
Mark 4:23.], we shall
I. Remove the false and insufficient grounds of glorying—
Wisdom, Power, and Riches, are highly esteemed amongst men—
And, if rightly improved, they certainly are valuable talents
136

137. [Wisdom enables a man to conduct his own affairs with discretion—
It qualifies him also for instructing his fellow-creatures—
It may lead a person to make many valuable discoveries—
Thus it may profit individuals and the community at large—
Might also is useful for the preserving of order in society—
And it may be improved to suppress vice, and encourage virtue—
Riches too may serve for the rewarding of industry—
Or they may be employed in relieving the necessitous—
None of these things therefore ought to be depreciated—]
But they are by no means proper objects of glorying—
To glory in any thing, is, to value it highly, pursue it eagerly, and seek our happiness
in it—
But we must not thus glory in Wisdom—
[The wisest know that they know but little—
Their best concerted plans they often want power to accomplish—
Disease or accident may soon reduce them to a level with the beasts—]
Nor should we glory thus in Might—
[Power is a source of temptation to those who are invested with it—
It indisposes a man to comply with reasonable restraints—
It generally excites opposition in those who are subjected to it—]
Nor are Riches at all more worthy objects of our glorying—
[Wealth is very apt to produce covetous and sordid tempers—
It frequently renders its possessors proud and oppressive—
137

138. At best it can furnish us with little more than food and raiment—
And we are liable to be deprived of it in a thousand ways [Note: Proverbs 23:5.]—]
To glory therefore in any of these things would be absurd [Note: Who that considers
what Wisdom is, would ever glory in it; so limited as it is in its extent—so defective
in its operations—and so uncertain in its continuance? Or who in Might, the
possession of which is so dangerous—and the exercise of which is so vexatious to
themselves and others? Or who in Riches, which are so defiling in their influence—
so contracted in their benefits—and so precarious in their tenure? If to this we add,
that all these things perish and depart at death, and are utterly useless in the day of
judgment, we can have no doubt but that the prohibition in the text is as reasonable
as it is decisive.]—
Having removed these common but insufficient grounds of glorying, we shall,
II. Propose such as are true and sufficient—
The knowledge of God in Christ Jesus is the only object of glorying—
[The knowledge that there is a God is not the knowledge here spoken of—
Nor is it the knowledge of God as He is seen in the works of creation—
But the knowledge spoken of in the text is a view of him in redemption—
It is in the Gospel only that God’s loving-kindness to his friends appears—
In that too especially He denounces his judgments on his enemies [Note: Mark
16:16.]—
And in both He displays equally his unspotted righteousness [Note: Psalms 85:10.]—
Not that a speculative knowledge even of this will suffice—
The words “understand and know” imply a practical knowledge—]
This is a just ground of glorying to all who possess it—
1. It is free from all the defects which are found in the foregoing grounds—
[They render the mind low and groveling; This elevates and ennobles it—
They never satisfy the soul; This affords it perfect satisfaction [Note: Isaiah 55:2.]—
They may become sources of craft, tyranny, and avarice; This always changes us
138

139. into God’s image [Note: 2 Corinthians 3:18.]—
They end with our present existence; This is perfected at death—]
2. It transcends all the excellencies that are in the foregoing grounds—
It imparts more excellent wisdom—
[It rectifies our judgments about more important objects—It teaches us to seek the
best ends by the fittest means—]
It endues us with more excellent might—
[It renders us mighty to mortify our lusts and passions [Note: 2 Corinthians
10:3-5.]—
It qualifies us to conflict with all the powers of darkness [Note: Ephesians
6:11-12.]—]
It conveys to us more excellent riches—
[It puts into our hands “the unsearchable riches of Christ”—
It makes us rich in possession, and in reversion too [Note: Ecclesiastes 7:12.]—]
3. It comprehends all the foregoing grounds in the highest degree:
Wisdom—
[This knowledge of God unfolds the deepest mysteries [Note: Colossians 2:2-3.]—
It shews how sin may be punished, and yet the sinner saved—
It shews how mercy is exalted in punishing, and justice in rewarding—]
Might—
[The salvation of a ruined world is a marvellous display of power—
Hence Christ is called “the Wisdom of God, and the Power of God”—
We have no idea of almighty power, till we know a redeeming God—]
Riches—
[Infinite are the riches of divine grace—
139

140. In the glorious mystery of redemption they are all contained—
The knowledge of God exhibits them all to our view [Note: Ephesians 2:7.]—]
In this we cannot possibly glory too much—
[We cannot possibly set too high a value on this knowledge [Note: 1 Corinthians
2:2.]—
We cannot pursue it with too much earnestness—
We cannot delight in it with too exalted joy—
Let us therefore seek to know God as He is revealed in the Gospel—
Let us take encouragement from that declaration of our Lord [Note: John 17:3.]—
Let the fixed purpose of our hearts resemble that of the Apostle [Note: Galatians
6:14.]—]
BI 23-24, "Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.
Glorying
An idea in this text to which we assign special prominence is this—There is at least so
much similarity between the nature of God and the nature of man, that both can take
delight in the same thing. The spirit of the text is saying, Take delight in loving kindness,
judgment, and righteousness, because I take delight in them; learn the Divinity of your
origin, and the possible splendour of your destiny, from the fact that you have it in your
power to join Me in loving mercy, righteousness, and judgment. God addresses three
divisions of the human family—the wise, the powerful, the wealthy. And is there any
other class which may not be placed in one of these categories? Each class is sitting at
the feet of its chosen idol—science, arms, wealth; all clad in robes of royalty, if not of
godhead. In the hand of each idol is the sceptre of a venerated mastery, and the temple
of each shakes with the thunder of heathenish worship. Such is the picture. Now to these
temples God comes, and, with the majesty of omnipotence, the authority of infinite
wisdom, and the benignity of all-sustaining fatherhood, says, “Let not the wise man
glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man
glory in his riches.” “Glory!” That is a word which is pregnant with meaning; and it can
be better explained by paraphrase than by etymology. Let not man “glory” in wisdom,
might, and wealth, so as to be absorbed in their pursuit, so as to make a god of either of
them, so as to regard them as the ultimate good, so as to commit to either his present
happiness and endless destiny. “Wisdom!” That, too, is a word fraught with large
significance. The “wisdom” referred to is not that which cometh from above—beautiful
with celestial hues, and instinct with celestial life: it is a “wisdom” which is destitute of
the moral element; the “wisdom” of an inquisitive, prying, restless intellect; that eyeless
and nerveless “wisdom” by which the world “knew not God,” and which, when looked at
from above, is “foolishness”; the “wisdom” which is all brain and no heart; the “wisdom”
140

141. of knowledge, not of character; the “wisdom” which dazzles man, but which, when alone,
is offensive to God. One substantial reason for not glorying in the kind of wisdom which
we have attempted to depict, is the necessary littleness of man’s vastest acquisitions.
Science is a race after God; but can the Infinite ever be overtaken? Science, perhaps,
never got so close to God as when she bound the capitals of the world together with
bands of lightning, and flashed the wisdom and eloquence of parliaments from continent
to continent. High day of triumph that; she was within hand reach of the veiled
Potentate—one step more, and she would be face to face with the King—was it not so?
What was there between science and God in that moment of sublimest victory? Nothing,
nothing, but—Infinity! “There is no searching of His understanding.” Another point will
show the folly of glorying in the kind of wisdom we have delineated, namely, the widest
knowledge involves but partial rulership. You say you have found a law operating in the
universe. Be it so: can you suspend or reverse the Divine appointment? Have you an arm
like God? or can you thunder with a voice like Him? The argument is this,—however
extensive may be our knowledge, knowledge can only help us to obey; it never can confer
aught but the most limited rulership; and even that sovereignty is the dominion not of
lord, but of servant, the rulership which is founded in humility and obedience—the
rulership whose seat is beneath the shadow of the Great Throne. Is man, then, without
an object in which to glory? It is as natural for man to glory as it is natural for him to
breathe; and God, who so ordered his nature, has indicated the true theme of glorying:
“But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me.” Here let
us rejoin the earnest student of science, supposing now that, in addition to his being
ardently scientific, he is intelligently devout. He goes to work as before; the flame of his
enthusiasm is not diminished by a single spark; his hammer and his telescope are still
precious to him, but now, instead of being in pursuit of cold, abstract, inexorable laws,
he is in search of the wise and mighty and benevolent Lawgiver; in legislation he finds a
Legislator, and in the Legislator he finds a Father. What we want, then, is personal
knowledge of a Person: we would know not only the works, but the Author, for they are
mutually explanatory. Know the man if you would understand his actions; know God if
you would comprehend nature, providence, or grace. The devout student says he finds
God’s footprints everywhere; he says they are on the rocks, across the heavens, on the
heaving wave, and on the flying wind; to him, therefore, keeping company with science is
only another way of “walking with God.” The text, however, goes still farther; it relates
not only to personality, but to character: the Deist pauses at the former, the Christian
advances to the latter. “Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and
knoweth Me, that I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness, judgment, and
righteousness in the earth.” The idea would admit of some such expression as this: Any
knowledge of God, the Creator and Legislator of the physical creation, should be
regarded as merely preparatory, or subordinate to an apprehension of God as the Moral
Governor: that if you know God as Creator only, you can hardly be said to know Him at
all; that if you tremble at His power without knowing His mercy, you are a pagan; if you
seek to please Him as a God of intelligence, without recognising Him as a God of purity
and justice and love, you are ignorant of Him, and your ignorance is crime. Let him that
glorieth, even glorieth in God, glory in knowing God as a moral Being, as the righteous
Judge, as the loving Father. There must not be adoration of mere power; we must not be
satisfied with utterances of amazement at His majesty, wisdom, and dominion; we must
go farther, get nearer, see deeper; we must know God morally, we must feel the
pulsations of His heart—His heart!—that dread sanctuary of righteousness, that semi-
eternal fount of love. The whole subject, then, may be comprehended in four points.
141

142. 1. God brands all false glorying. Upon the head of wisdom, power, and wealth, He
writes, “Let no man glory in these.” There is a wisdom which is folly; there is a power
which is helplessness; there is a wealth which is poverty. God warns us of these
things, so that if our boasted wisdom answer us not when we are on the Carmel of
solemn encounter between light and darkness, we may not have God to blame.
2. God has revealed the proper ground of glorying. That ground is knowledge of God,
not only as Creator and Monarch, but as Judge and Saviour and Father. Reason,
groping her way through the thickening mysteries of creation, may exclaim, “There is
a God”; but faith alone can see the Father smiling through the King. It will be in vain
to say, “Lord, Lord,” if we cannot add, “Saviour-Friend”
3. God, having declared moral excellence to be the true object of glorying, has
revealed how moral excellence may be attained. Is it objected that there is no
mention of Jesus Christ in the text? We answer, that loving kindness, righteousness,
and judgment are impossibilities apart from Christ; they are only so many names to
us, until Jesus exemplifies them in His life, and makes them accessible to us by His
death and resurrection. Do we require the sun to be labelled ere we confess that he
shines in the heavens?
4. God has revealed the objects in which He glories Himself. “For in these things I
delight, saith the Lord.” Let it be propounded as a problem, “In what will the
Supreme Mind most delight?” and let it be supposed that an answer is possible, it
might be concluded that the attainment of that answer would forever determine the
aspirations, the resolutions, and the ambition of the world. We might consider that
every other object would be infinitely beneath the pursuits, and infinitely unworthy
of the affections of man. At all events, this must be true, that they who glory in the
objects which delight Jehovah must be drinking at pure and perennial streams. (J.
Parker, D. D.)
What do I glory in
What does a man glory in? At what point does his life leave the plane of indifference and
rise into a boast? What is it that provides for him the river of his most exquisite delights?
The answer to these questions is fruitfully significant. If we catch a man in his gloryings
we take him at his height. Some men’s gloryings are to be found on a purely carnal level;
they are sought and proclaimed on the plane of the brute. Other men’s gloryings are
found in spiritual realities, among the things of the Eternal. Unworthy glorying is the
minister of stagnancy, paralysis, and death. Worthy glorying is the minister of progress,
liberty, and life. Let us look at the unworthy gloryings. “Let not the wise man glory in his
wisdom.” That is a very surprising negative. I did not expect that “wisdom” would be
banned from the circle of a legitimate boast. Is there not an apparent contradiction
between the counsel of the prophet and other counsellors of the Old Testament
Scriptures? “Get wisdom.” “Fools despise wisdom.” “A wise son maketh a glad father.”
We know, too, how our poets have spoken of the beautiful thing called wisdom.
“Knowledge comes, but wisdom lingers”; blossom comes, but the fruitage lingers! The
wisdom here admired is a ripe and matured product, the ultimate issue of a prolonged
process. It is not in this sense that the prophet uses the word; he employs it with quite
another content. It is the wisdom of the mere philosopher; the product of speculation
and theory; a wisdom devoid of reverence, and detached from practical life. Life can be
142

143. divided into watertight compartments, having no relationship one with the other. We
can separate our opinions from our principles, our theories from our practice. Love of
the fine arts can be divorced from the practice of a pure life. Our artistic wisdom can be
imprisoned as it were in an iron-bound division, and separated from our moral
activities. The musically wise can be the morally discordant. The possession of musical
technique does not necessarily make an agreeable man. The wisdom of music can be
divorced from the other parts of a man’s life just as the music room in a hydropathic
establishment is shut off from the kitchen. A man can be skilled in the decrees of counsel
and in traditional lore, and yet he may be morally and spiritually corrupt. The wisdom of
a theologian can be a wisdom without influence upon morals. A man may preach like a
seraph and live like a brute. “Let not the mighty man glory in his might.” This is a
reference to mere animal strength. It includes a bald athleticism in the individual, and a
bald materialism in the State. But surely strength is good? Athletic strength and skill are
very admirable. But here, again, the prophet is referring to strength which is devoid of
reverence, and therefore strength which is detached from service. All right use of
strength begins with a deep reverence for it. So it is also with the material might of the
State. A sword may be good if it be reverently regarded. “The sword of Gideon”; that is
always a curse! “The sword of the Lord and Gideon”; that is an instrument of
benediction! “Let not the rich man glory in his riches.” Do not let us relegate this
warning to a few millionaires. A man with a small income may regard his money as
irreverently as the man with an overflowing abundance. The prophet refers to the spirit
in which possessions are esteemed. He refers to riches held without reverence, and
therefore not exercised in wise philanthropy. Possessions used irreverently are used
blindly, and therefore without a true humanity. But how people do glory in bare and
graceless wealth! It is a false confidence. “But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he
understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the Lord.” How far are we away from the
brutal, the material, and the merely opinionative! Here is glorying which centres itself in
the unseen, and fixes itself upon the Lord. “Understandeth.” The relationship is
reasonable and intelligent. God wants no blind discipleship. We are to be all alert in our
fellowship with the Almighty. We are to worship Him with all our “mind.” “In malice be
ye children, but in understanding be men.” “Understandeth and knoweth Me.” That is a
profound term, suggestive of certainty and assurance. It has about it the flavour of the
familiar friend. We are to intelligently use our minds to discover the thought and will of
God, then we are to act upon the will, and in our obedience a deep communion will be
established. This, then, is the line of individual progress. We begin in exploration; we
use our understanding in discerning the mind of God. Then we pass to experiment, and
we put to the proof the findings of the mind. From experiment we shall attain unto
experience; our findings will be revealed as truth; our knowledge will mature unto
wisdom. “Then shall we know if we follow on to know the Lord.” What does God want us
to know about Him? “That I am the Lord which exercise loving kindness.” We
sometimes say concerning a distinguished man whose presence we have met, “I rather
feared him, but his first words made me feel at home.” And here is the first word of the
Almighty, and the word is not “law” or “statute,” but “loving kindness”! Not only
kindness, for kindness may be mechanical and devoid of feeling, but “loving kindness”! A
dainty dish is served by affection. What else does He want me to be sure about? “That I
am the Lord that exercise loving kindness and judgment.” Do not let us interpret
judgment as doom. Judgment is vindication; it is suggestive of sure sequence. When I
plant mignonette, and mignonette comes in its season, the sequence is indicative of
judgment. Judgment is the opposite of caprice and chance. The Lord is a God of
143

144. judgment, and all my sowings will be vindicated. All these deeper issues are in the hands
of God. The Lord is a God of judgment, and of righteousness. This word is only
confirmatory of the preceding word. Judgment is proceeding and the Vindicator is
righteous. He cannot be bribed, He is not of uncertain temper. “He changeth not.” (J. H.
Jowett, M. A.)
On the unreasonableness and folly of glorying in the possession of external
privileges and advantages
I. The unreasonableness and folly both of individuals and of communities glorying in the
possession of external privileges and advantages. In fact, there is no passion in our
nature which so effectually defeats its own end, or so completely mars the
accomplishment of its object, as that of pride. Wherever respect is impudently claimed,
even where there is real merit at the bottom, it is always reluctantly conferred. Our pride
and self-love in turn take the alarm, and are hurt by the boldness of the claim.
Competitors and rivals, envious of the merit, feel a malignant pleasure in disappointing
the expectations of such candidates for fame. And as most men have a tincture of envy in
their composition, it commonly happens that very few regret the disappointment. To
obtain real, and, in general, unenvied praise, merit, however transcendent, must not be
glaringly displayed, but in some measure exhibited under a veil; at least, it must be so
judiciously and delicately shaded, as to moderate its lustre.
II. The knowledge and practice of the duties of religion and virtue, while they are the
only true foundation of self-esteem and real glory, are likewise, considered in a national
view, the only just objects of public respect and confidence. Great intellectual
endowments, and the performances to which they give birth, can only be regarded, when
abstractly considered without respect to their application, as splendid monuments of
human genius; when applied to bad purposes, they justly become the objects of our
detestation; but the qualities of the heart, incorruptible integrity, for instance,
disinterested benevolence, exalted generosity, and tender pity, irresistibly command the
esteem, and conciliate the affection of all who have either seen or heard of such virtues
being exemplified. (W. Duff, M. A.)
Aims of life
Men think too much of themselves on one account or another—either on account of
some external condition, or on account of some internal traits and qualities. Now, it is
not to be understood from this declaration of the prophet, that a man shall take no
thought of, and have no pleasure in, external relations. There is pleasure to be derived
from them but there are a thousand secondary things in this life which we are very glad
to have, and which we are glad to be known to have, though we do not put our heart
chiefly on them. It is a pleasant thing for an artist to have vigorous health; but that is not
his power. It is a pleasant thing for a poet to be a musician; but that is not what he
glories in. It is a pleasant thing to an orator that he is rich; but there is something that he
glories in besides riches. Wealth alone affords a very small compensation of glory.
Knowledge is often regarded as the chief and characteristic reason why a man should
think much of himself; but here we are commanded not to glory in “knowledge.” There is
great excellence in knowledge; but knowledge is relative. Mathematics will exist after we
144

145. are dead and gone; but knowledge of spiritual elements, knowledge of the highest realm,
knowledge of right and wrong, knowledge of character, knowledge of truth—these are all
related to our present condition, and are so far affected by our limitations that the
apostle explicitly declares that the time will come when the universe will be revealed to
us, and when our notions in respect to it will have to be changed as much as the notions
of a child have to be changed when he comes to manhood. Our wisdom in this world is
so partial that we cannot afford to stand on that. And when you consider what have been
regarded as the treasures of knowledge, the folly of it is still greater. Many a man might
just as well have been a grammar or a lexicon, dry and dusty, as the man of knowledge
that he is, so useless is he. And yet men are oftentimes proud that they know so many
things, without any consideration of their use. Go out and see what men know who know
something. Men that have useful knowledge, and the most of it, are the men that usually
are the most humble, and are conscious of the mere segment of the vast circle of the
knowledge of the universe that they possess. Knowledge is a good thing; but a man is a
better thing. A man in his essential nature and destiny is larger than any special element
or development in this life. Therefore, let not a man glory in his “knowledge.” Especially
let him not glory in it in such a way as to separate himself from his fellows, and look
down upon them. While it may be supposed that these views, derived from the face of
Scripture, are applicable to our modern condition, it is very probable that the glorying
spoken of by the prophet was that which constituted a peculiarity in the East. In Egypt,
and afterwards in many Oriental kingdoms, knowledge was the prerogative of the
priesthood. Those who had knowledge became a privileged class, and received honour
and respect; and naturally they plumed themselves on it, as men plume themselves on
titles today. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.” In other words, let not a man
because he belongs to the learned class have contempt for those who have not the
privileges that he has. There are multitudes of men who have not very much to boast of
in the way of kindness and humility and gentleness, but who are proud of their culture.
“Neither let the mighty man glory in his might.” That is, let no man glory in the
attributes of strength. In the time of the athlete; in the time of the warrior; in the time
when men, being head and shoulders in their stature above all others, as Saul was,
gloried in their stature; in the time when men boasted, as David did, of running through
a troop, and leaping over a wall; in the time when expertness and skill were in the
ascendant; in the time when men were trained to all forms of physical strength and
prowess—in such a time men would naturally come to make their reputation stand on
these things; and the tendency to do so has not perished yet. Men glory in the fact that
they are tall and symmetrical. They glory in their personal beauty. They glory in their
grace. They glory in their walking and their dancing. They glory in their riding. These
things are not absolutely foolish, although the men who engage in them may be. It is not
to be denied that they may be useful, and that they may reflect some credit upon those
who practise them. But what if nothing else can be said of a man except that he rides
well? The horse is better than he! Low down, indeed, is the man who pivots himself on
these inferior and often contemptible qualities. “Let not the rich man glory in his riches.”
We may as well shut up the Bible, then. That is too much! Yet a man has a right to glory
in his riches, provided the way of his glorying is through his own integrity as well as skill.
Such are the competitions of business, such are the difficulties of developing, amassing,
maintaining and rightly using wealth, that a man who organises it organises a campaign,
and is a general; and when a man of simplicity and honesty has come out from the
haunts of poverty, and has, by his own indomitable purpose, and industry, and
honourable dealing, and truthfulness, accumulated property, about no dollar of which
145

146. you can say to him, “You stole it”; when a man by integrity has built up a fortune, it is a
testimony better than any diploma. It tells what he has been. The true grounds of
glorying are given in the next clause of the text: “Let him that glorieth glory in this, that
he understandeth and knoweth Me.” The knowledge of God—a knowledge of those
supreme qualities or attributes which belong to the higher nature, a knowledge of the
great elements which constitute God—this may be gloried in; but men have gloried in
their knowledge of gods that were contemptible. There was not a decent god in all
antiquity, such that if a man were like it he could respect himself. The passions of men
were the basis of their character. Therefore it is not enough that you glory in a god. “Let
him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me, that I am the
Lord which exercise loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth; for in
these things I delight, saith the Lord.” It is as if He had said, I am the Lord that
exerciseth loving kindness without any regard to return, and without any limitation. I
am continually developing, through the ages, the good and the bad, the just and the
unjust. I am a God of lenity, of goodness, of kindness; but the kindness is not merely
superficial—it is kindness springing out from the heart of God” That is the glory of God:
and who would not-be-known as glorying in it? Now, knowing this, being penetrated
with a sense of having such a God, of living in communion with Him, of beholding Him
by the inward sight—having this ideal of life constitutes a knowledge that exalts,
strengthens, and purifies men. But take the qualities that make the true man, as set forth
in Scripture—the man in Christ Jesus. How many men can glory in themselves because
they have conformed their lives to these qualities? If a man, being a mineralogist, has a
finer crystal than anybody else, he rather glories in it, and says, “You ought to see mine.”
If a man is a gardener, and has finer roses than anybody else, he glories in them. He may
go to his neighbour’s garden, and praise the flowers that he sees there; but he says, “I
should like to have you come over and see my roses”; and he shows them with pride.
Nobody shuts his own garden gate when he goes to see his neighbour’s garden. He
carries his own with him. Men glory in such outward things; but how many glory in
those diamonds, those sapphires, those precious stones which all the world recognise as
the finest graces of the soul? How many men glory because they have the true, universal,
Christian benevolence of love? Have you in yourself any ideal? Are you aiming for
character, for condition, or for reputation—which is the poorest of them all? It is worth a
man’s while to be able to answer to himself the question, “What am I living for?” What is
it that incites me? Is it vanity? Is it the animal instincts? Is it the external conditions of
life? Or, is it the internal elements of manhood, that take hold upon God and heaven?
(H. W. Beecher.)
On the insufficiency of human wisdom, power, and riches
I. The prohibitions contained in the text.
1. “Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.” Men may be wise in their own
conceit,—they may be wise and prudent in the opinion of others,—their measures
and counsels may be, apparently, wisely devised; yet God can and frequently does
frustrate their counsels, and turn the wisdom of man into foolishness.
2. “Neither let the mighty man glory in his might.” What is man, the strongest man,
but dust, turned into dust, crushed by the mighty power of God, as a moth is crushed
between the fingers? Just consider upon how little the life of the strongest man
depends,—on so trifling a thing as the respiration of a little air; that being stopped,
146

147. he dies. Nor is the combined power of the many, able to stand at all against the will
and the power of God.
3. “Let not the rich man glory in his riches.” To hear men talk of their thousands,
and to observe them pursuing wealth, one might suppose that riches bestowed every
happiness and produced every safety. Yet ask the rich man if he is happy; and he will
answer, if he honestly answer, “No.” Is he free from the fear of evil? can he bribe
death and prolong his short life? can he redeem his soul from hell?
4. It is not only folly to glory in or boast of wisdom, strength, and riches; but it is
also sinful; it is idolatry; it is setting aside the Lord God as our strength and our
portion.
II. The command in the text. “But let him that glorieth, glory in this,” etc. That man
alone is truly wise in whose heart the knowledge of the Lord is treasured up; and who
reduces that knowledge to practice; and that man alone is truly blessed who so far
understands and knows the Lord, as to put his trust at all times in the Lord God of
Israel. This knowledge and understanding of the Lord God in all His adorable
perfections, as revealed in His holy Word, and as He is reconciled in Christ Jesus, are of
immensely greater value than all the wisdom, and all the power, and all the riches which
this world can bestow.
1. The Lord exerciseth loving kindness in the earth. They who through faith in Christ
have Jehovah for their Father,—their portion,—have all that can satisfy an immortal
soul throughout eternity. Of His loving kindness they have experience; and their
experience teaches them that God’s “loving kindness is better than life,” and
therefore their lips praise Him.
2. The Lord also exerciseth judgment in the earth. While He delights in visiting the
humble soul, and the penitent soul, and the believing soul, with tokens of His loving
kindness, He also visits the impenitent, the unbelieving, the proud, with His sore
judgments: and sometimes in this world He makes them lasting monuments of His
awful justice.
3. The Lord also exerciseth righteousness in the earth. For the exercise of
righteousness, the Lord’s omniscience, hatred of sin, love of holiness, power, and
faithfulness, fully qualify Him.
Conclusion—
1. To those who trust and glory in human wisdom, strength, and riches. Know we not
that “the wisdom of this world is foolishness with God”? and “that power belongeth
unto God”?
2. To those who in some measure know the Lord and glory in Him. Your knowledge
is still but small and imperfect: for, “how little a portion is heard of Him! but the
thunder of His power who can understand?” Still, enough of Him and of His ways
may be known here for every necessary purpose. Walk “as children of light.” Seek
also an increase of light by studying the Word of God; by earnest and diligent prayer,
that the Spirit of truth may open your mind to behold, to comprehend more and
more, the truths which are revealed in that Word. (E. Edwards.)
147

148. On the grounds of pride
I. The various forms of pride.
1. High birth is one of those external circumstances which give rise to pride. Ever
since civil society has existed, a certain respect for antiquity of descent has been
maintained. But if we reflect on the origin of this deference we shall find that, so far
from affording a foundation for pride, it suggests many reasons for its exclusion. Do
you, proud man! look back with complacency on the illustrious merits of your
ancestors? Show yourself worthy of them, by imitating their virtues, and disgrace not
the name you bear by a conduct unbecoming a man. Nothing can be conceived more
inconsistent than to exult in illustrious ancestry, and to do what must disgrace it;
than to mention, with ostentation, the distinguished merits of progenitors, and to
exhibit a melancholy contrast to them in character. After all, what is high birth? Does
it bestow a nature different from that of the rest of mankind? Has not the man of
ancient line human blood in his veins? Does he not experience hunger and thirst? Is
he not subject to disease, to accidents, and to death; and must not his body moulder
in the grave, as well as that of the beggar?
2. Perhaps the proud man is invested with a title. Remember, however, that this is
an appellation of honour, and not of disgrace, and the greatest disgrace any person
can incur, is the assumption of sentiments unworthy of human nature. Have you
obtained your distinction by your own merit? Continue to deserve and adorn it by
your exertions for the common welfare, and by a behaviour which indicates that you
consider yourself as a member of society. Has your title been transmitted to you from
your ancestors? I say to you, as I said to the man proud of his birth: beware lest their
honours be tarnished by your contemptible enjoyment of them!
3. Some are proud of office. Were offices instituted for the general benefit, or for the
private gratification of the individuals to whom they are severally assigned? This
question the proud man himself will not venture to decide in favour of his own
pretensions. With what appearance of justice, then, can the man, who is intrusted
with the common interest, pretend to look, with a contemptuous eye, on any honest
member of the community?
4. Riches, affording a more substantial and productive possession than either birth,
titles, or public office, may seem to lay a better foundation for pride. The man who
enjoys them is in some measure independent of others, and may command their
services when he pleases. He may, therefore, have some ground for treating them
with disdain. I must confess that persons who possess an opulent fortune, as well as
those who are placed in the higher stations of society, have many opportunities of
observing the servile obsequiousness of mankind, and may, therefore, be tempted to
despise them. But this is not, in strict propriety of speech, that contempt of others
which arises from external circumstances alone. It is a contempt of contemptible
qualities. Are you, in reality, proud of your wealth? Show me what title that wealth
gives you to deprive your fellow men of their just portion of respect!
5. Corporeal advantages constitute the subjects of that pride with which many are
infected. They value themselves on their strength, or on their beauty. Let the
strongest man consider that the horse or the ox is still his superior in point of
corporeal vigour; that his individual power is of little avail against the united force of
his fellow men, whom he affects to brave; and that a fever will make him weaker than
the child in the nurse’s arms. When a man exults in the elegance of his person,
148

149. although this folly be not uncommon, especially in youth, nothing can be conceived
more ridiculous. But this source of pride is more frequent among the daughters of
Eve, who seem sometimes to consider personal attractions as the chief distinction of
character. Let her, whose pride centres in her beauty, consider what her figure will
be in the grave!
6. Sensible of the utter insignificance of external advantages of any kind, as a ground
of exultation, there are Who value themselves exclusively on their genius, their
erudition, their wit, or even on their religion. Such persons are most ready to laugh
at the fool who is proud of anything but mind. The prophet, however, was of opinion,
that even wisdom itself is no subject of glory. By the term wisdom, in the text, he
understands those mental qualities which attract the admiration of the world. By
converting thy abilities into sources of vain-glory, thou displayest thy ignorance of
their end, contractest their utility, by limiting them to thy own narrow sphere instead
of diffusing their salutary influence through the wide circle of humanity, and
subvertest thy own importance by relinquishing the honourable distinction of a
necessary part of the great community of mankind. Dost thou boast of thy genius and
thy knowledge, abstracted from mildness and benevolence? Reflect that the most
miserable and odious being in the universe is also possessed of abilities infinitely
superior to those of the most sagacious of the sons of men!
7. Religious pride is, if possible, still more odious and absurd than that just now
mentioned. It is a combination of shocking inconsistencies. It unites confession of
sin with self-righteousness, humility before God with insolence towards men,
supplication for mercy with the assumption of merit, the prospect of heaven with the
temper of hell.
II. The only solid foundation of self-esteem. He who understandeth God has his soul
impressed with all that is grand and sublime, is capable of contemplating Deity, and
beholds every terrestrial object sink in comparison. He that “knoweth” God is
acquainted with infinite perfection, and has acquired the conception, though still
obscure and faint, of unerring wisdom, of consummate rectitude, of inexhaustible
beneficence, of irresistible power, of all that can exalt, astonish, and delight the soul
These attributes, brought to his view by frequent adoration, he must admire, and love,
and imitate. This is the true dignity of human nature, restored, by grace, to that state
from which it had been degraded by sin, nay, raised to higher capacities and
expectations than were granted to primitive innocence. The more we aspire after this
excellence, the more ambitious of this exaltation we become, the more is our nature
improved and our happiness increased and extended. This is the glory of a Christian, of
an immortal soul, of an expectant of heaven, of a blessed spirit! (W. L. Brown, D. D.)
Of false glorying
Such is the weakness of our nature, that if Providence hath conferred upon us any
remarkable quality, either of body or mind, we are apt to boast ourselves because of it. In
our more serious moments we must condemn such vanity; but pride is so natural to
man, that we find it difficult to subdue.
I. The natural or acquired endowments of the mind. A great genius, fine parts, and
shining talents, are strong temptations to glorying. When a man is conscious that his
understanding is more enlightened, his judgment sounder, his invention finer, his
149

150. knowledge more extensive than that of the rest of mankind, he is in great danger of
indulging a little vanity. Yet, still, there is no foundation for boasting. If those
accomplishments are natural they are the gift of God, and call Him their Author. If they
are acquired we owe them in a great measure to the attention and labour of others, who
have contributed to improve them. What a poor figure would the greatest genius have
made without books and a master! Like the diamond in the mine, it must have remained
in its natural state, rough and unpolished. It is education and letters which enable men
to make a figure in life. Besides, is it not Providence which places us in superior
circumstances, and enables us to prosecute sciences and arts? After all, what is the so-
much-boasted wisdom of the wise? Is it not at best, only a less degree of folly? How
shallow is their understanding and how circumscribed their knowledge! Let me add,
how liable is the greatest genius and the finest scholar to have his faculties deranged! A
fall from a horse, a tile from a house, a fever in the brain, will impair the judgment and
disturb the reason of the greatest philosopher.
II. The superior qualities of the body. A fine face and an elegant figure are engaging
things, and mankind have held them in a certain degree of admiration. Hence the
possessors of those properties have sometimes become proud and vain. But what is
beauty? A piece of polished earth, a finer species of clay, regularly adjusted by the great
Creator! Those upon whom He hath bestowed it had no hand in the workmanship, and
contributed nothing to finish it. Instead of being puffed up more than others, they
should be more humble, because they are greater debtors to Providence. How little
reason such have to be vain, we have many striking examples; an inveterate jaundice, a
malignant fever, a rapid consumption, will spoil the finest complexion and impair the
stoutest constitution. It were well if the fairest of this world’s children would aspire after
something more durable than looks and dress; even to have the image of God drawn
upon the heart, and the life of Christ formed within them.
III. The more elevated circumstances of our lot. It is no doubt natural to prefer
independence and ease, to straits and toil. Who does not wish to live in plenty, rather
than in penury? Yet what is an immense quantity of gold and silver? It is no better than
dust, a little more refined, upon which men have agreed to put a certain value. If it is
hoarded up it is no better than stone or sand. If it is wasted and spent it is no longer
ours, but the property of another; and how quickly riches change masters, we have every
day striking examples. Riches are intrusted to men as stewards, and they are accountable
for the use which they make of them. If they employ them for the honour of God and for
the benefit of their fellow creatures, they are a valuable talent, and shall receive an ample
recompense; but if they minister to pride and vanity, to profusion and luxury, to avarice
and oppression, they are to be accounted a curse. Honours and titles are no better
foundation for glory than opulence. If they have been transmitted by our ancestors, we
have derived them from them; if they have been conferred, directly, by the king, we are
indebted to him; and we are under greater obligations for such an act of favour. At best,
what are they but an empty name? They may procure a person precedence, and a little
more respect; but they can contribute nothing to his dignity of character. Again, the
voice of fame is a bewitching thing, and numbers have been strangely captivated with it.
Hence they have courted it with the greatest servility, and by the lowest means. There is
nothing so humbling to which they have not submitted, to gain this empty sound. Have
not some sacrificed the principles of honour, of conscience, of integrity, to obtain
applause? And what is so precarious and uncertain as the breath of a multitude? It is
fickle as the wind, and variable as the weather.
150

151. IV. The religious acquirements which we may have attained. It is the voice of reason,
and the language of Scripture, “that every good and perfect gift cometh down from
above, from the Father of lights.” “In us dwelleth no good thing!” On the contrary, “we
are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags.” If then a good
work has been begun in us, it hath been imparted to us by the Spirit of God, “the fruit of
which is love, joy, peace, long-suffering, gentleness, goodness, faith, meekness,
temperance.” Are your understandings more enlightened, your wills more submissive,
your affections more spiritual, your morals more pure, you owe it to a Divine influence.
There cannot be a stronger evidence that we are entire strangers to grace, than that of
thinking of ourselves above what we ought to think. The very nature of grace is to give all
the glory to God. The more of it we receive, the more self-denied will we become. The
obvious conclusion from this subject is, “that pride was never made for man.” It
originated in hell, and is the offspring of guilt. Let us tear it from our bosoms as the most
unwarrantable and unchristian disposition which we can possibly cherish. (David
Johnston, D. D.)
Human glorying corrected
I. The things in which not to glory.
1. Those which to the natural man seem most desirable—wisdom, strength, riches.
2. Those in which these Jews inclined presumptuously to boast—external, carnal
advantages.
II. Every man must have something in which to glory.
1. That which he esteems as his highest blessing and honour.
2. God sets before us the best objects of glorying.
(1) “Me”; both “understood” and “known.”
(2) The qualities in which God delights.
Mercy, or loving kindness, as opposed to their vaunted strength. Judgment, and
righteousness, as opposed to their oppression of the weak and distressed. (J. P. Lange.)
A prohibited and a sanctioned glory
I. The glorying which is prohibited by God.
1. Glorying in wisdom is the glorification of self; therefore forbidden. The mind that
knows and the subjects known are both from God.
2. Glorying in strength is forbidden as self-glorification. History shows God’s
repudiation of this boast: in destruction of Sennacherib’s army, decline and fall of
empires founded on mere force, etc.
3. Glorying in wealth is forbidden as self-glorification. Sad to behold a spirit
entombed in a mausoleum of gold and silver.
II. The glorying which is Divinely sanctioned. To glory is an instinct in man; is right,
therefore, where the object is worthy of him. God here presents Himself. There is a
151

152. gradation set before us:
1. Understanding God. Early education calls this into exercise; events of life afford it
discipline; profound, spiritual verities may be by it examined.
2. Knowing God. This is more than “understanding” Him. Eternity will reveal new
deeps of God’s eternal love and being.
3. In the understanding and knowledge of God, the spirit of man glories, and may
glory forever. God glories in our glorying in Him. (W. R. Percival.)
False and true glory
I. What we are not to glory in.
1. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom. Neither in the largeness and compass of
his knowledge and understanding, nor in his skill and dexterity in the contrivance
and conduct of human affairs.
(1) Because the highest pitch of human knowledge and wisdom is very imperfect.
(2) Because when knowledge and wisdom are with much difficulty in any
competent measure attained, how easily are they lost.
2. Neither let the mighty man glory in his might.
(1) If we understand it of the natural strength of men’s bodies, how little reason
is there to glory in that, in which so many of the creatures below us do by so
many degrees excel us!
(2) Or, if by might we understand military force and power, how little likewise is
that to be gloried in, considering the uncertain events of war, and how very often
and remarkably the providence of God doth interpose to cast the victory on the
unlikely side!
3. Let not the rich man glory in his riches.
(1) Riches are things without us—the accidental ornaments of our fortune.
(2) At the best, they are uncertain.
(3) Many men have an evil eye upon a good estate; so that instead of being the
means of our happiness, it may prove the occasion of our ruin.
II. What it is that is matter of true glory.
1. The wisest and surest reasonings in religion are grounded upon the
unquestionable perfections of the Divine nature. Divine revelation itself does
suppose these for its foundation, and can signify nothing to us unless these be first
known and believed: for unless we be first firmly persuaded of the providence of
God, and of His particular care of mankind, why should we suppose that He makes
any revelation of His will to us? Unless it be first naturally known that God is a God
of truth, what ground is there for the belief of His Word?
2. The nature of God is the true idea and pattern of perfection and happiness; and
therefore nothing but our conformity to it can make us happy. He who is the Author
and fountain of happiness cannot convey it to us by any other way than by planting
152

153. in us such dispositions of mind as are in truth a kind of participation of the Divine
nature; and by enduing us with such qualities as are the necessary materials of
happiness: and a man may as soon be well without health as happy without
goodness. (J. Tillotson, D. D.)
False and true grounds of glorying
I. False grounds of confidence.
1. The wisdom here meant is not heavenly, but earthly wisdom; that penetration and
sagacity which many naturally possess, and some to a considerable degree; or that
knowledge of various kinds about the things of this world, which they acquire by
study and experience. Why should not the man who has wisdom, glory in it? Because
all such glorying is vain; because he has at last no real foundation for glorying;
because, after all, his wisdom cannot secure success, and may prove in the end, and if
gloried in certainly will prove, to have been foolishness. It is the Lord who gives
success, and whose counsel alone will stand.
2. By might we may understand either strength or power; strength of body, or the
power of rank, station, or influence. There is no real ground for confidence in these
things. As “there is no king saved by the multitude of his host”; so “a mighty man is
not delivered by much strength.” The mightiest empires have been suddenly
overthrown, and the most powerful monarchs destroyed in a moment.
3. How continually do we see people trusting in their wealth, and boasting
themselves in the multitude of their riches! But how vain is such confidence! It is like
leaning on a broken reed.
II. Thy true ground of glorying.
1. The knowledge of God, here meant, is a knowledge of Him in His true character
and perfections. It is a knowledge of Him as being at once a merciful Father and a
righteous Judge; a just God, and yet a Saviour; abounding in mercy, love, and truth;
and at the same time hating iniquity, and who will by no means clear the guilty. The
knowledge spoken of in the text is an inward, heartfelt, experimental knowledge of
Him. It is such a belief of Him in our hearts, as leads us to fear and love Him, to rely
on and confide in Him. It is a knowledge founded on trial and experience.
2. They who know the Lord, in the manner that has been described, have a sure
ground of glorying. They glory in that which will never fail, deceive, or disappoint
them. (E. Cooper, M. A.)
False and true glorying
I. There is a disposition in men to glory and self-confidence on account of the personal
accomplishments which distinguish them in the eyes of their fellow creatures.
1. Bodily strength inspires the idea of great actions in its possessors, and frequently
makes them arrogant and proud. It induces them to assume what does not belong to
them, to violate the properties of life, and to carry about with them a spirit of
defiance and insult in their intercourse with their fellow creatures.
153

154. 2. Worldly wisdom inspires confidence more than that which is attached to the
grosser qualities of the human frame; and no men are more in danger of being wise
in their own eyes than those who possess this quality.
3. Nothing is so calculated to fill men with insufferable pride as the possession of
extraordinary riches. It produces a semblance of homage or respect—it commands
the services of mankind—it levies a contribution on all nature and society, and gives
to those who possess it a sort of universal empire; and it is not at all to be wondered
at that these minds are more tempted by pride and glory than those who seek to be
distinguished by worldly wisdom.
II. The false and erroneous basis on which these sentiments of glory and self-confidence
are founded.
1. Neither separately taken, nor in their combined form, will they ever teach their
possessors their true use; but they frequently turn to hurt, not only to society at
large, but to their own possessors.
2. These things are utterly incapable, either separately or combined, of supplying
some of the most pressing wants, and avoiding some of the most obvious evils to
which our nature is exposed.
3. They are of a very transient duration and possession.
III. There is an object which is of such a nature that it will justify the glory, the
confidence, the self-satisfaction, which it is declared ought not for a moment to be
connected with those which are before enumerated.
1. True religion will teach us the proper regulation and employment of all these
endowments.
2. There is a perpetuity and pledge of future and eternal felicity in the religion of
Jesus Christ; not only that which produces present tranquillity and peace, but that
which furnishes the pledge of an enduring and eternal happiness. (R. Hall, M. A.)
The Gospel the only security for eminent and abiding national prosperity
The Jewish nation had come to rely on their wealth, power, and political wisdom.
I. The inefficacy of the common grounds of confidence.
1. Reason has been appealed to, but its impotence in the conflict with passion,
ignorance, and irreligion is demonstrated on every page of history.
2. Education has been relied upon, but knowledge and virtue are not inseparable.
Philosophy, culture, the arts, did not save Rome or Greece from ruin.
3. The efforts of philosophy to reform and elevate mankind have proved signal
failures in the past.
4. National wealth is thought to be the perfection of prosperity. But in all ages and
lands it has proved the most active and powerful cause of national corruption.
5. Nor is military genius and prowess any safer ground of confidence than wealth, as
the history of nations illustrates with solemn and awful significance.
154

155. 6. Political wisdom, statesmanship, the boast and confidence of nations, is
inadequate to secure and perpetuate national prosperity.
7. Our boasted free institutions, bought and maintained at immense sacrifices, and
the envy of the nations, are not a guarantee of the future.
II. There is efficacy in the Gospel of the grace of God, and nowhere else, to secure
eminent and abiding national prosperity. It was devised and bestowed upon mankind for
this purpose; and in its principles, provisions, institutions, and moral tendencies, it is
eminently adapted to elevate, purify, and bless nations as well as individual man. The
proofs of its power to do this are not wanting. See the effect of Christianity on the laws
and institutions of the old Roman Empire—on the social and political life of Germany at
the Reformation—on our own history and destiny as a nation by means of our Pilgrim
Fathers—on the condition of the Sandwich Islands, and in South Africa among the
Hottentots. Hence patriotism demands of the Christian Church today earnest prayer and
the faithful application of the Gospel. (Homiletic monthly.)
False and true grounds of glorying
I. The reasons why the wise man should not “glory in his wisdom, nor the mighty in his
might, nor the rich man in his riches.”
1. All these things are the gifts of God, and have neither power nor potency without
Him.
2. They are all of uncertain continuance. As no man can call them into existence, so
no man can command their stay.
3. It ought to moderate our tendency to glory in riches, to remember by what
huckstering practices, by what base, material means they are usually got.
4. Further, wisdom, power, and riches are all things which we must leave at death,
even if they do not before leave us.
II. In what we may safely glory.
1. The knowledge of God affords a just ground for glorying, first, because God
Himself, the object of it, surpasses all created excellencies. He combines in Himself
in a transcendent degree whatever is deep in wisdom, whatever is majestic in might,
whatever is rich in goodness.
2. This knowledge of God as being actually all that to His believing people which
they can need is worthy of being gloried in, as distinguished from human wisdom,
might, or riches, because it places man’s confidence on an unshaken basis; and
because, moreover, it is a kind of knowledge which elevates while it humbles the
mind, satisfies its desires while it invites the exercise of all its powers; fills it with
pure, noble, enduring excellence, expires not, but only becomes perfected at death,
and fits the soul for the permanent occupations and enjoyments of the eternal state.
(Stephen Jenner, M. A.)
True and false complacencies
155

156. I. False sources of human complacency.
1. It is a false complacency when men prefer a lower to a higher species of good,
when they prefer the material to the moral, the external to the internal possessions.
If a man makes the culture of his soul the supreme concern of life, a due regard to
riches will not injure him, because they become, in that case, a means to a worthy
end. But if, ignoring his inward life, he fixes all his trust, and finds his treasure in
something external, the passion for riches must lead in the end to the corruption of
his character.
2. There is the preference of the physical or natural to the spiritual attributes of
being. What is force without conscience? What is will without righteousness? What
is might without mercy? It is like the blind fury of the earthquake, the hurricane, or
the avalanche, inspiring terror, wonder, and pity, but no true joy to the rational part
of the man.
3. There is the preference of the intellectual to the spiritual. While the pursuit of
wisdom is of all the noblest to which we can devote ourselves, provided it be inspired
by religion, it is, perhaps, of all the most disappointing if that inspiration be wanting.
Of what profit this weariness of the flesh, this aching brow, these nightly vigils, this
impaired health? How bitterly have such men, from Ecclesiastes downwards, turned
in satire upon the wisdom they had spent a lifetime in acquiring. But it is not
wisdom, it is the untrue spirit in which wisdom has been pursued, that deserves the
satire. Had they from the first yielded up their souls to intercourse with the Father of
Lights, had they cultivated wisdom as a gift and emanation from Himself, to be used
in the service of His creatures, these disappointments might have been avoided.
II. What, then, is the true source of the soul’s complacency? It is to be found in the
knowledge of the eternal God.
1. We believe in His just and merciful administration of the world’s affairs. He
exercises loving kindness, justice, and right in the earth.
2. We believe in the essential goodness of God. “In these things I delight,” saith
Jehovah. He governs the world in right and in love, because He is in Himself a
righteous and a loving Being. Nowhere does the righteousness of God more impress
the conscience, fill the soul with a deeper awe, than at the foot of that cross, where
He was made sin for us Who knew no sin, that we might be made the righteousness
of God in Him. And nowhere do the beams of the eternal mercy break forth more
brightly from the parting sky than above that cross. There the grace that pardons sin,
that justifies the sinner, that plucks up the love of sin by the roots, that pours the
balm of celestial hope and peace into our wounds, the grace that deeply humbles, yet
nobly exalts us, is ever revealed. (E. Johnson, M. A.)
Duty of a prosperous nation
I. What it is for a prosperous nation to rejoice in themselves.
1. It is to rejoice in their own national prosperity because it is their own, and
superior to that of other nations.
2. A people rejoice in themselves when they ascribe their national prosperity to their
156

157. own self-sufficiency.
II. What it is for nation in prosperity to rejoice in God.
1. It is to understand and know that God is the Governor of the world.
2. For a nation in prosperity to rejoice in God implies rejoicing, not only that He
governs the world, but that He displays His great and amiable perfections in
governing it.
(1) There is reason to rejoice in the judgment or wisdom God displays in the
government of the world.
(2) There is reason to rejoice in the moral rectitude and perfect righteousness
which God displays in the government of the world.
(3) There is reason to rejoice in the perfect benevolence which God displays in
the government of the world. He is continually doing as much good as His
wisdom, His justice, His power, and His goodness enable Him to do.
III. This is the duty of all mankind, especially of every nation in the day of prosperity.
1. Because God has given them all their national prosperity.
2. Because He only, in His governing goodness, can promote and preserve their
prosperity.
Application—
1. We have seen what it is for a people, in prosperity, to rejoice in themselves, and to
rejoice in God, and that these two kinds of rejoicing are entirely opposite to each
other. The one is right and the other is wrong; the one is pleasing and the other
displeasing to God.
2. Have we not reason to fear that our national prosperity will be followed with
national calamities and desolating judgments? (N. Emmons, D. D.)
Pride of worldly greatness
As that is a rebellious heart in which sin is allowed to reign, so that is not a very enlarged
heart which the world can fill. Alas, what will it profit us to sail before the pleasing gales
of prosperity, if we be afterwards overset by the gusts of vanity? Your bags of gold should
be ballast in your vessel to keep her always steady, instead of being topsails to your
masts to make your vessel giddy. Give me that distinguished person, who is rather
pressed down under the weight of all his honours, than puffed up with the blast thereof.
It has been observed by those who are experienced in the sport of angling, that the
smallest fishes bite the fastest. Oh, how few great men do we find so much as nibbling at
the Gospel hook! (T. Seeker.)
Baseless pride
Many a man is proud of his estate or business—of the economy, order, and exact
adjustment of part to part, which mark its management, who ought, to be very much
ashamed of the neglected state of his conscience and heart. Many a woman is proud of
157

158. her diamonds, who cares little for the ornament of a meek and quiet spirit. It is his
conscience and heart, not his estate or business, it is her spirit, not her diamonds, which
he and she will carry into the eternal world with them; and if God will only induce them
to cultivate spirit, and conscience, and heart, by taking their diamonds and possessions
away from them, is it not most merciful of Him to take these away, and so quicken them
unto life eternal?
The true ground of glorying
The passage assumes that it is right to glory, and the tendency of our nature is to glory in
one thing or another. The heart of man cannot remain empty. If you don’t fill it with one
thing, it will fill itself with another. If you don’t tell man of the true God to worship, he
will worship a false one.
I. A solemn prohibition.
1. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.
(1) Primarily, the reference is to the wisdom of statesmen, to political sagacity,
and forethought. These are not to be gloried in, as the only way of escaping from
political difficulties, or averting impending disaster and coming judgments.
Political sagacity is not a thing always to be trusted. It does not always bring
peace with honour. It may be another name for ambition—for the power of
outwitting your neighbour, and, under some pretence or other, invading
another’s country, and destroying his liberty. It may have its root near low
cunning, cheating, and chicanery. Let us rest assured that in all schemes of
political sagacity, whatever their seeming success for a while, unless they are
founded on principles of justice and righteousness, disaster and ruin will ensue.
For God—who ruleth all the worlds—will do right; and He has said that, while
righteousness alone exalteth a nation, sin is the reproach of any people.
(2) The text refers, secondarily, to glorying in wisdom of all kinds—the wisdom
of the student, the scholar, the philosopher. Men are more apt to be proud of
mental gifts and intellectual acquirements than of any other thing. There is an
innate splendour, an imperial dignity, about them which does not attach to such
worldly possessions as riches, gold, silver, jewellery. The man of great wisdom
and intellectual gifts may be inclined from his elevated place, from his eyrie
heights, to look with pity, with contempt, on the traffickers in small things—the
trader, the handler of tools—while he himself is occupied with thoughts big as the
infinite, vast as immensity, and long as the ages. And yet his pride may be
checked by the thought of his utter dependence for his thinking power on the
Divine hand. No gift comes more directly from the hand of God than mental
power. A little clot of blood will paralyse the active brain, and fling reason from
its throne. Then, how small after all is the sum of his knowledge and his vaunted
wisdom. How men now laugh at the astrology, the chemistry, and the physical
theories of other days! And so, as truth is infinite and knowledge advancing, the
thought that the time will come when our philosophies shall have passed, when
succeeding generations will wonder that we ever believed them, when they shall
look on our advances in knowledge and wisdom as the groping of children in the
darkness, and estimate our present savants and scientific men as the merest
sciolists and drivellers, this thought may well clothe us with humility. Besides,
unaided human wisdom could not find out God. Men tried the problem long, but
it became the darker and deeper. Didn’t Paul find the ignorance of the most
158

159. enlightened nation on earth registered in the public square when he said—
“Whom, therefore, you ignorantly worship, Him declare I unto you”?
2. Glorying in might is prohibited.
(1) Military prowess. Other nations might, if they pleased, glory in their vast
armaments, but Israel was not allowed to do so. Her strength was in the Lord.
Their armaments didn’t preserve those nations. Assyria is overthrown, her glory
is gone, and Egypt is this day in the hands of strangers. Have the nations of
Europe nothing to learn here? Napoleon I, at the head of his legions, made the
world stand in awe of him. He overthrew Austria at Austerlitz, and then sprang
upon the Prussian army, and smashed its power at Jena. But he in turn is
worsted at Waterloo, and we see him gnawing his heart on a rock at the equator.
Napoleon III, little more than twenty years ago, considered himself the arbiter of
the peace of Europe. He gloried in his might. In overweening pride he attacked
Germany. She turned upon him in righteous indignation, pulled the imperial
crown from his head, and sent him an exile to another land. Our military prowess
and scientific frontiers, our naval strength and greatness, will do little for us, if
God’s arm be lifted up in anger against us. Why, not long ago, the storm seized
our guard ship Ajax, one of our most powerful ironclads, and made a play thing
of her at the Mull of Cantyre; and more recently the Bay of Biscay grew angry
with the Serpent warship, and flung her a shipwrecked thing on the Spanish
shore.
(2) The prohibition refers also to the individual. How apt are we, in days of
health and strength, when life is a joy, and the movement of our limbs a music, to
put the day of sickness far from us, to fancy that the clear eye will never be
dimmed, the strong arm never be palsied, and the heart, now so warm, will
continue to beat and throb with unfailing vigour. We may see the sick, the frail,
and the weak around, but we are inclined to look upon them as a class different
from ourselves. Is there not a secret glorying in all this? How foolish is this! For
who can do battle with the King of terrors?
3. Then you are not to glory in riches. Nothing is more contemptible than that a man
should be proud simply because he happens to have a good account at his banker’s,
or a great deal of money in his purse. Why, any man, however worthless, who makes
a happy hit may have that—a gambler on the Stock Exchange or a pawnbroker. How
uncertain are riches as a possession! How many homes have we seen made desolate!
How many households broken up and families scattered during recent years! I am
not insisting on the uselessness of money. I am not inveighing against the possession
of wealth. I am only cautioning you against making it the source of your happiness,
or the ground of your glorying; for it cannot satisfy the deepest needs of the human
heart. Didn’t Queen Elizabeth, on her deathbed, say—“I would give ten thousand
pounds for an hour of life”? Let not the rich man glory in his riches.
II. An exact direction. “Let him that glorieth,” etc. Here is the subject of glorying.
Understanding God, and knowing Him practically, so as to love Him and walk in His
ways. To understand Him is now possible, for He has made known His ways to men. His
whole dealings with His people are a revelation of Himself. To know God is now
possible; for He hath revealed Himself in the person of His own dear Son, who is the
brightness of the Father’s glory, and the express image of His person. We may
understand and know Him as thus revealed; and if we do, we may glory. If you rejoice in
159

160. any other, after kindling a few sparks, you will lie down in sorrow; but if you glory in
knowing God, that is a thing which, stretching into eternity, casts a shadow over the
brightest sublunary splendours, and remains an everlasting possession. (J. Macgregor,
M. A.)
He that glorieth, let him glory in the Lord
There is a French proverb to the effect that to do sway with one thing you must put
another in its place. Men must glory in one thing or other, and so it is not enough that
we be told what not to glory in, but we must also be told what we are to glory in. We need
a word, “Thou shalt not”; but to give that word force, and make it last, we need another
word, “Thou shalt do this.”
I. The false glorying which we are warned against. Glorying here means far more than
mere coarse, outward strut and brag. We are all ready enough to blame that, if not to
laugh at it. There may be a far deeper, stronger pride, and glorying, which is quiet and
calm and hidden. Indeed, if you think of it, the worst sort of pride is not what is shown
by outward braveries. The man who parades his finery, and is so anxious to strike us
with astonishment and awe, shows so much concern for our opinion, and is so set upon
making an impression on us, that we cannot help feeling flattered: his huge effort to
stand high in our eyes, and stir our astonishment, must be complimentary. And even
when he walks with his chin in the air, or prances proudly past us, or looks down loftily
from a great height, we must see in all that proof that he thinks a good deal about us, and
is by no means indifferent to the impression he is making. Whereas, a really prouder
man, haughtier and more scornful, might be far too careless of us, or our judgment, to
take any trouble about us: might scorn to make us feel how high he was, and care
nothing whether we appreciated his greatness or no: heeds us no more than he does the
birds that fly over his head, or peer at him from the hedges, and would as soon think of
showing off before them as of standing on his dignity before common folk like you and
me.
1. Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom.
(1) No doubt the chief thought in Jeremiah’s mind is political wisdom, cunning
devices of the statesman. At first sight it seems a cheap bargain to snatch the
near profit and risk the anger of God. But in the end such wisdom turns to folly.
God’s wisdom will last longest. The wisest thing in the end is always found to be
the right, duty, obedience. And here is something which puts all men on a level;
makes the simple equal to the genius. The differences between mere human
smartness and sagacity only reach a very little way. It is so very little of the future
that the best can foresee: and how precarious it all is! Whereas, righteousness
and duty never change and never fail, and the wisdom of doing God’s will must
show itself sooner or later.
(2) Pride of intellect. This is the most tempting of all kinds of pride, and the most
stubborn. Often you could pay no greater compliment, and give no greater
pleasure to a talented, clever, wise thinker, than to warn him against glorying too
much in his intellectual superiority. There is no reaching these men. Raised aloft
on a high pillar of self-sufficiency and self-satisfaction, happy and snug in the
consciousness of their culture, cleverness, criticalness, they look down on all the
160

161. world at their feet. In God’s sight what a farce this must be!
2. “Might.” “Some trust in horses and some in chariots.” The might of Israel was the
presence and protection of God. What a shame for them to sink into dependence on
arms and armies! Here, again, we must seek to apply the warning to our individual
case. The apostle John speaks of the “pride of life” as one of the lusts of the world to
be overcome. And, perhaps, there is nothing in which men more readily glory than in
this hold of life. You may be too superstitious, actually, to boast about it, and may
remember dimly the terrible suddenness of change, the chances of death, the risks of
sickness, too much for you positively to glory aloud. But yet it is amazing how
complacently, when we are in health and strength, we can look on the feeble and
ailing, as if they belonged to a set apart from us; as if there was a class of people who
were to be sickly and fragile whom we might pity, but to which we did not belong.
This quiet, complacent self-satisfaction is really glorying in our strength. And the
foolishness of this is seen herein, that there cannot in all the world be anything so
certain to happen as the utter collapse of that glory in the case of every man and
woman alive.
3. “Riches.” “Money answereth all things,” and is a very likely thing to glory in. It is
the readiest power and easiest to enjoy, and therefore handiest for use. And though
there is scarcely anything more senseless than purse pride, or haughtiness of heart
on account of wealth, still nothing is more natural than trust in the power of the
purse. Against this danger comes the prophet’s warning, calling us to remember how
insecure is all wealth, and, therefore, all glory in wealth. How precarious our peace if
wealth be its basis. Is not the history of our day full of desolate stories of swift and
sudden disasters? But, besides, even though no such chance befall, how helpless
riches are to heal the wounds and woes of life!
II. Right glorying. The cure of the false is by putting the true in its place. We have good
news—a glory to tell of as blissful as the world’s fairy tale, and with this charm of
charms, that it is all true, and sure, and everlasting,
1. “Knoweth Me.” How it leaps to the highest height at once! We have been too long
lingering about the cisterns, the broken cisterns. And now, in a bound, we go to the
wellspring of living waters, God Himself. There is no rest for you till you get there,
till God is your portion. What a glad thing it is we can get that I that we all are
offered it!
2. But observe what it is that is known about God particularly. The historical
meaning, the thought in Jeremiah’s mind, is this—that, instead of fretting, and
fighting, and scheming, and sinning to hold their own among the rival nations, they
should rather fall back on God the Ruler of all things, comfort themselves in calling
on Him, glory in this that they know He is the Ruler among the nations, and will
guide for good those who seek and serve Him. “This is life eternal to know Thee.” As
a man seeking goodly pearls, sells all to get the one; as a man finding the treasure in
the field, sells all else to get that field; so, having got this knowledge, the charm is
gone from all else. The bare knowledge of the fact at once disenchants of all else.
Think of a poor beggar begging alms, and, gathering them carefully in a wallet,
keeping them safe, suddenly told of plenty and wealth come home I How the news,
once known and believed, would make him fling away his wretched scraps, secure
now of abundance of comforts.
3. “Let him glory.” It is not a mere saying, that it is a blessed thing should a man
161

162. chance to do it, or be able to do it, but it is a counsel and command to do it. Do not
keep propping up your peace with false trusts and props, but cast yourself on God.
(R. Macellar.)
The pride of knowledge
Have you ever seen a boy blow up a bladder? It has not grown—it is puffed up! It has
become big, but it is filled with wind, as a pin will demonstrate. Now, the apostle says,
knowledge blows a man up, and makes him look big, so he seems to himself to be large.
Love is the only thing that builds him up. The one swells him out, so that he appears
greater than he really is. The other develops him by actual increase. The one bloats and
the other builds him. The apostle’s declaration is, that the mere realm of ideas, the
simple sphere of knowledge, tends to produce among men immense flabation, and a
sense of importance, while love, the Spirit of Christ, is the thing which augments men,
enlarges them, strengthens them, with foundations downward and a superstructure
upward. (H. W. Beecher.)
Rich in grace rather than in goods
I have read of one who did not fear what he did, nor what he suffered, so that he might
get riches; “For,” said he, “men do not ask how good one is, or how gracious one is, but
how rich one is.” Oh, sirs, the day is coming, when God will ask how rich your souls are;
not how rich you are in money, or in jewels, or in land, or in goods, but how rich you are
in grace; which should provoke your souls to strive, in face of all discouragements, to be
spiritually rich. (Thomas Brooks.)
Earthly riches unavailing
There are three things that earthly riches can never do; they can never satisfy Divine
justice, they can never pacify Divine wrath, nor can they ever quiet a guilty conscience.
And till these things are done man is undone. (Thomas Brooks.)
Knowing God-the greatest good
Twelve days before his death, little thinking it to be so near, Coleridge wrote to his
godchild a remarkable letter, in which the following sentences occur—“I declare unto
you, with the experience that more than threescore years can give, that health is a great
blessing, competence obtained by industry is a great blessing, and to have kind, faithful,
loving friends and relatives is a great blessing; but that the greatest of all blessings, as it
is the ennobling of all privileges, is to be indeed a Christian.”
Let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth Me.
The knowledge of God
So much emphasis is laid upon knowledge by the writers of Scripture, from its earliest to
its latest books, that we might almost say that knowledge is religion. Indeed, the Master
162

163. Himself did say as much (Joh_17:3). Yet religious knowledge is not religion. That may
be possessed by him who is ignorant of God, and lives without Him. Nevertheless,
religious knowledge may be the foundation of religion—the material from which the
Spirit draws the living fire of faith and love. A knowledge of the facts of the Gospel
history is of infinite moment, because they so clearly, so impressively, so attractively
show forth the hidden nature and unspeakable name of the Eternal. Their importance is
evidenced by the fact that the whole of the epistles are devoted to an exposition of the
purposes and meanings which are infolded in them. Yet we may master all these things
intellectually, and not possess the knowledge of God—the knowledge to which the
Scriptures attach such great importance, the knowledge which is eternal life. Clearly
there is a knowledge within knowledge. So vitally necessary is the inner illumination,
that one man may possess but little knowledge of the facts through which God has
revealed Himself, and yet may know Him; and another may have an exhaustive
knowledge of the facts, and not know Him at all. It is not religious knowledge that saves,
but knowledge of God—knowledge of His mind, which is deeper than anything coming
from His mind; knowledge of His heart, as heart only can know heart, by an instinct, a
sympathy, an appreciation. Here we see the infinite worth of the life of Christ as
manifesting God; because the Spirit that was in Him appeared in forms which we can
best appreciate, and which are best adapted to impress our minds and hearts. We show
ourselves to each other in a thousand ways, consciously and unconsciously, in the tone
and manner in which we speak to a child, or give instructions to a servant, or address
our equals; in the way in which we cherish or sacrifice our comforts; in the presence or
absence of proofs of loving thoughtfulness. So read, the life of our blessed Lord and
Master was continually giving some evidence of what God is, and was shedding light all
along the pathway of men; into every dark valley and gloomy forest; upon every mystery
and sorrow and care. We have “the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face
of Jesus Christ.” But let us try and still further unfold the method by which men come to
the knowledge of God. The beloved disciple says: “The Son of God is come, and hath
given us an understanding that we may know Him that is true, and we are in Him that is
true, even in His Son Jesus Christ. This is the true God, and eternal life.” Now, in what
way is that understanding given? Partly by the historic Christ, partly by the Christ
within. The one operation or manifestation of Christ must never exclude the other. To be
with Christ is to acquire the power to know Him. To live in the Gospels is to understand
Him who is their central figure, their Divine glory. Christ is the Light without; He also
opens the eyes to see. He is the supreme revelation of God given for us to know; He also
creates the spiritual understanding which apprehends the truth and glory and divinity of
the revelation. Not by logic, then, do we attain to the knowledge of God, but by spiritual
perception, by faith. And this knowledge of God is not a comprehension, but an
apprehension, of Him, a seizing hold of Him by our spiritual sense, in response to the
hold with which He has seized us. (J. P. Gledstone.)
How to learn about God
The knowledge of God is not a thing which can be fixed in the beginning, except in
words; in its very nature, the knowledge of God among men must, to a large extent, be
progressive; and it must follow the development of the race itself. There has been, and
there is recognised in the Word of God from beginning to end, a steady progress in the
disclosure of the Divine nature; and we see that in the thoughts respecting God among
men there has been a gradual augmentation of the conception of the Divine character,
163

164. arising from the process which I have already delineated. It is true that in the Bible there
is much sublime portraiture representing the character of God; but, after all, no man
knows God until he has personally found Him out in such a way as that he feels that God
has touched him. No man can say, “I know God as a living God.” except so far as he has
interpreted Him out of his own living consciousness. Now, suppose you say of God, “He
is just, true, righteous, pure, benevolent, lovely.” Those qualities being enumerated,
there will probably be a thousand different conceptions of the personality which they go
to make up. What are the circumstances which will make this difference in your
conceptions of the Divine nature? I will explain. Some there are who are far more
sensible to physical qualities than others. The sublimity of power is to their thought one
of the chief Divine attributes. God is omnipotent. That idea touches them. He is
omniscient. Their eyes sparkle when they think of that. He is omnipresent. They have a
sense of that. He is majestic. He has wondrous power. According to their conception He
is God of all the earth. None can resist His might. That is your sense of God. If you only
have such a God, you are satisfied. Another person wants a scientific God. He says, “I
perceive that there is a law of light, a law of heat, a law of electricity; I see that everything
is fashioned by law; and my idea of God is that He must be supreme in science; that
there are to be found in Him all those qualities which science is interpreting to me.” His
God will be just, generous, faithful; but He will be just, generous, faithful after the
fashion of some Agassiz, or some Cuvier, or some Faraday. Another man conceives of
God from the domestic side, It is the mother nature that he thinks of—the nature that is
full of gentleness; full of kindness; full of sympathy; full of sweetness; full of elevated
tastes and relishes; full of songs; full of all manner of joy-producing qualities. Another,
who is an artist, will feel after the God of the rainbow—a God of beauty. So every person
will be dependent upon the most sensitive parts of his own soul for his interpretation of
God. What is it that makes one flower blue and another scarlet? No flower reflects all the
light. If a flower is purple it absorbs a part and reflects the rest. If it is blue it absorbs
some of the parts and reflects others. The same is true if it is red. And as it is with the
colours of flowers, so it is with our conception of God. What you are susceptible of, and
what you are sensitive to, in the Divine nature, largely determines what your conception
of God is. Each individual puts emphasis on that part of the character of God which his
own mind is best fitted to grasp. For instance, God is said to be a God of justice, of truth,
and of benevolence. Now, which of those elements is first? Which governs the others? If
God is first sternly just, and then suffers and is kind, that is one sort of God. If He is first
loving, and then in the service of love is stern, and severe even, that is another kind of
God. I hold that the emphasis which you put upon the Divine attributes determines the
character of God in your mind; and when you say, “I hold that God is omniscient,
omnipotent, omnipresent, just, good, true, faithful, benevolent,” you have said what this
man says, what that man says, and what I say. We are all agreed, then, are we? Oh, no! If
I could take a Daguerrean picture of the conception which each one forms of God, it
would be found that one puts more emphasis on justice than love, and that another puts
more emphasis on love than on justice. It would be found that one emphasises one
attribute, and another its opposite; and that the conception which each one forms of the
Divine character depends upon the quality which he emphasises most. The next question
which you would naturally propound to me is, “Since these are the ways in which God is
conceived of by men, how shall each fashion in himself the living God?” I call the Bible a
picture gallery. It is an historical record which is open to all; but it behoves us each to
have some conception which we call our God, our Father’s God, the living God. I know of
no other way than that which has been practised by the race from the beginning. I know
164

165. of no other way than for you, in filling out the catalogue which the Word of God gives
you of the elements of the Divine nature, to employ the actual perceptions and
experiences of this life, in order to kindle before your mind those qualities which
otherwise would be abstract to you. Suppose, then, that you have built up in your mind,
by some such process as this, a personal God—a God of your own—who fills the heaven
with the best things you can conceive of, to which you are perpetually adding from the
stores of your daily experience? for it seems to me that God is a name which becomes
more and more by reason of the things which you add to it. Every element, every
combination of elements, every development which carries with it a sweeter inspiration
than it has been your wont to experience, you put inside of that name and you call it
God. You are forever gathering up the choicest and most beautiful phases of human life;
and with these you build your God. And then you have a living God adapted to your
consciousness and personality. Now, let me ask you—for I come back to my text,
whether it is not a good text to stand on? “Thus saith the Lord, let not the wise man glory
in his wisdom.” Why, he is a savant! He is a philosopher! He is world-renowned. He is
bathed in people’s observation. Does not a man rejoice in that? A great many do. Neither
let the mighty man glory in his might.” A great many men do rejoice in their might. “Let
not the rich man glory in his riches.” If that were obeyed it would upset New York in
twenty-four hours. Now and then we are brought to the edge of the great invisible realm,
and then we are made to feel that we need something besides wisdom, something
besides might, and something besides riches. When a man lies sick in his house, feeling
that all the world is going away from him, what can riches do for him? It can be of but
little service to him then. When a man is fifty years of age, and he has large estates, and a
high reputation as a citizen, if he is going to leave the world, what can his wealth do for
him? If he knows that he is going fast toward the great invisible sphere, does he not need
something to hold him up when the visible shall have broken down in this life? The great
emergencies of your life make it needful that you should have something stronger than
wealth, wiser than philosophy, sweeter than human love, mightier than time and nature:
you need God. For when flesh and heart fail, then He is the strength of our soul, and our
salvation forever. (H. W. Beecher.)
24 but let the one who boasts boast about this:
that they have the understanding to know me,
that I am the Lord, who exercises kindness,
justice and righteousness on earth,
for in these I delight,”
declares the Lord.
165

166. BARNES, "This is the prophet’s remedy for the healing of the nation. It is the true
understanding and knowledge of God, of which the first means the spiritual
enlightenment of the mind 1Co_2:13-14, the other the training of the heart unto
obedience Joh_8:31-32. This knowledge of God is further said to find in Him three chief
attributes,
(1) “lovingkindness,” i. e., readiness to show grace and mercy;
(2) “judgment,” a belief in which is declared in Heb_11:6 to be essential to faith;
(3) “righteousness,” which is essential to religion absolutely.
Unless men believe that God’s dealings with them in life and death are right and just,
they can neither love nor reverence him.
CLARKE, "But let him that glorieth - To glory in a thing is to depend on it as the
means or cause of procuring happiness. But there can be no happiness but in being
experimentally acquainted with that God who exercises loving-kindness, judgment, and
righteousness in the earth. He who has God’s mercy for his portion may well exult; for
he need not fear the power of any adversary.
Sometimes the ancient heathen poets uttered sentiments of morality far beyond their
dispensation. Witness Phocylides on this subject: -
Μη γαυρου σοφιῃ, μητ’ αλκῃ, μητ’ ενι πλουτῳ·
Εις Θεος εστι σοφος, δυνατος θ’ ἁμα, και τολυολβος.
“If wisdom, strength, or riches be thy lot,
Boast not; but rather think thou hast them not.
One God alone from whom those gifts proceed
Is wise, is mighty, and is rich indeed.”
GILL, "But let him that glorieth glory in this,.... In the Lord alone, as it is
interpreted by the apostle, 1Co_1:31,
that he understandeth and knoweth me; or, "in understanding and knowing me"
(g); or, "he understanding and knowing me"; for this clause is descriptive of the person
that is to glory in the Lord, and not of the thing in which he is to glory; for it is not even
in the knowledge of God that men are to glory, but in the Lord himself; and he that
understands himself as a creature dependent on God, and especially as a fallen sinful
creature; and still more as one regenerated by the grace of God; he will never glory in
himself, but in the Lord; and so, if he understands divine things, and the scheme of
166

167. salvation by the grace of God, and not by the works of men; and if he knows the Lord, he
will never glory in his own wisdom, nor in his own strength, nor in his riches, nor in his
righteousness, nor in any man or creature, but in the Lord only; and particularly in what
follows:
that I am the Lord, which exercise lovingkindness; in such various instances; in
election, redemption, effectual calling, the pardon of sin, justification, adoption, and
eternal life; and towards persons so very undeserving of any favour; and to have an
interest in this exceeds all things else; it is better than life, and all the enjoyments of it:
judgment; exercising it on Christ, sin being laid, found, and condemned on him; and
through Christ protecting and defending his people; and by Christ at the last day:
and righteousness in the earth; wrought by Christ here on earth in our nature, and
imputed to his people in their present state, whereby they have a right to eternal glory:
for in these things I delight, saith the Lord; in showing mercy, grace, and favour,
to miserable and undeserving men; in making his Son an offering for sin, and bruising
him; and in his righteousness, whereby the law is magnified and made honourable.
JAMISON, "Nothing but an experimental knowledge of God will save the nation.
understandeth — theoretically; in the intellect.
knoweth — practically: so as to walk in My ways (Jer_22:16; Job_22:21; 1Co_1:31).
loving kindness — God’s mercy is put in the first and highest place, because without
it we should flee from God in fear and despair.
judgment ... righteousness — loving-kindness towards the godly; judgment
towards the ungodly; righteousness the most perfect fairness in all cases [Grotius].
Faithfulness to His promises to preserve the godly, as well as stern execution of
judgment on the ungodly, is included in “righteousness.”
in the earth — contrary to the dogma of some philosophers, that God does not
interfere in terrestrial concerns (Psa_58:11).
in these ... I delight — as well in doing them as in seeing them done by others (Mic_
6:8; Mic_7:18).
PULPIT, "The knowledge of God relates to three leading attributes, the combination of
which is very instructive. First, loving-kindness. This is not to be understood in a
vague and general sense of the love of God to all mankind; the term has a special
connotation with regard to the Israelitish people. God shows loving-kindness to those
with whom he is in covenant; hence the combination "loving-kindness and faithfulness"
(Psa_85:10, corrected version), and as here (comp. Psa_5:7, Psa_5:8; Psa_36:5, Psa_
36:6), "mercy and righteousness." Israel is weak and erring, and needs mercies of all
sorts, which Jehovah, in his "loving-kindness," vouchsafes. Next, judgment, or
justice. Jehovah is a King, helps the poor and weak to their right, and punishes the
wrong-doer (comp. Jer_21:12). Then, righteousness—a similar but wider term. This is
the quality which leads its subject to adhere to a fixed rule of conduct. God’s rule is his
covenant; hence "righteousness" shows itself in all such acts as tend to the full realizing
167

168. of the covenant with Israel, including the "plan of salvation." It is by no means to be
confined to exacting penalties and conferring rewards.
CALVIN, "Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise glory, etc (255) By way of
concession he calls those wise who were without the fear of God, which yet we know
is the beginning of wisdom. (Psalms 111:10; Proverbs 1:7.) But the Prophet speaks
according to the common opinion; and the meaning may be thus given, “Let; not
him who seenas wise to himself glory in his own wisdom: ” and so the other
words may be understood. It is then added, But let him who glories, glory in
this, etc. It appears from the second verse, that men are not so stripped of all
glory, that they may be down in disgrace; but that they may seek a better
glory, for God detights not in the degradation of men. But as they arrogate to
themselves more than what is right, and even inebriate themselves with
delusions, he strips them naked, that after having known that all they think
they have, either from nature, or from themselves, or from other creatures, is
a mere phantom, they may seek true glory.
He afterwards adds, In understanding and knowing me Though by these two word
the Prophet means the same thing, yet they are not used without a design; for as
men despised the knowledge of God, it was necessary to remind them, that to know
God is the chief part of perfect wisdom. He therefore intended to correct the
mischievous error under which almost the whole world labors; for while all attend
to wxrious pursuits, the knowledge of God is neglected. We see with what ardor
every one pursues his own fancies, while hardly one in a hundred deigns to spend
half an hour in the day in seeking the knowledge of God. And there is also another
evil, a false opinion, which proceeds from pride, — that to know God is a
common thing. We hence perceive why the Prophet has employed these two
words to designate the same thing; it was to rouse more fully the attention of
men; for he saw that almost all were torpid and indifferent on a subject
which is justly entitled to the labor of a whole life; nay, were a hundred lives
given us, this one thing would be sufficient to engage our attention. But, as it
has been said, what ought to be preferred to all other things is despised and
neglected.
He afterwards adds, That I am Jehovah, who doeth judgment. By calling himself
Jehovah, he doubtless excludes all those devices which then engaged the attention of
the Jews; for the whole land was corrupted by so many superstitions, that the name
of the only true God was unknown. They all, indeed, professed to worship the God
of Abraham, who had delivered to them his law by the hand of Moses; but as many
168

169. errors were mingled with the true doctrine, God was deprived of his own honor. It
was, then, God’s will that he should be so known as to appear alone supreme,
and to be alone as it were kept in view. But the explanation which follows
ought to be carefully observed; for had he said only, “Let every one who
glories, glory in the knowledge of me, that I am Jehovah,” it would, indeed,
have been a plain truth, but not sufficiently persplcuous or evident; for the
minds of men might have been in suspense, and they might have said, “What
does this mean? or, why is it, that God regards the knowledge of himself to
be so important? They might also have supposed that it was quite enough to
confess him to be the only true God. Hence God here reminds the Jews of his
own divine perfections, that they might really know that he is God, and that
they might not ascribe to him an empty name. It was for this reason that I
have said, that these words, who doeth mercy and judgement and justice,
ought to be carefully observed.
We see at this day, under the Papacy, that the name of God is presumptuously
gloried in: there is no one who is not ready boldly to declare that he worships the
one true God, and yet they profane his name; for they afterwards rob God, and
bestow the spoils on the dead. This passage then teaches us, that the name of God of
itself would be of no importance, if stripped of his power and perfections. Hence we
have then only the true knowledge of God, when we not only acknowledge him to be
the creator of the world, but when we also fully believe that the world is governed
by him, and when we further understand the way in which he governs it, that is, by
doing mercy and judgment and justice
Now, the first thing respecting God is, that we should acknowledge him to be
beneficient and bountiful; for what would become of us without the mercy of God?
Therefore the true and right knowledge of God begins here, that is, when we know
him to be merciful towards us. For what would it avail us to know that God is just,
except we had a previous knowledge of his mercy and gratuitous goodness? We
cannot know God without knowing ourselves. These two things are connected. Now,
if any examines himself, what will he find but what will make him to despair? Thus,
whenever God is thought of, we feel a dread, and despair in a manner swallows us
up. In short, all avoid God, except the sweetness of his grace allures them. Why?
Because, as I have said, there is nothing but what brings misery to us, and a cause of
dread. Hence Jeremiah, while bidding men to glory in the knowledge of God, has
not in vain given the first and the highest place to his mercy.
He afterwards adds, Judegement and justice When these two words are joined
together, they denote perfect government; that is, that God defends his faithful
people, aids the miserable, and delivers them when unjustly oppressed; and also
that he restrains the wicked, and suffers them not to injure the innocent at their
169

170. pleasure. These then are the things which the Scripture everywhere means by the
two words, judgment and justice. The justice of God is not to be taken according to
what is commonly understood by it; and they speak incorrectly who represent
God’s justice as in opposition to his mercy: hence the common proverb, “I
appeal from justice to mercy.” The Scripture speaks otherwise; for justice is
to be taken for that faithful protection of God, by which he defends and
preserves his own people; and judgment, for the rigor which he exercises
against the transgressors of his law.
But, as I have already said, judgment and justice, when found together, are to be
taken for that legitimate government, by which God so regulates the affairs of the
world, that there is nothing but what is just and right: and hence is confirmed more
fully what I have already stated, that he not only speaks generally, but intends also
to remove the evils which then stood in the way, and prevented the Jews from
rightly receiving either promises or threatenings; for a false glory inebriated them
all, inasmuch as one thought his riches to be like an invincible fortress; another, his
wisdom; and the third, his strength. As then they were full of vain pride, and thus
despised God and his heavenly truth, it was necessary to bring them to order, and
even wholly to strip them, that they might know that they were not to glory in
anything but in the knowledge of God.
Now, the knowledge mentioned here produces two fruits, even faith and fear; for if
we are fully, persuaded that there is propitiation with God, as it is said in Psalms
130:4 we recumb on him, and hesitate not to flee to him, and to place our salvation
in his hand. This is one thing. Then faith brings fear, as it is said in the psalm
referred to,
“There is propitiation with thee, that thou mayest be feared.”
But the Prophet here distinctly refers to these two things; for God, by expressing his
will to be known as being merciful, doubtless encourages us to exercise faith, so that
we may call on him witIx tranquil minds, and not doubt but he is propitious to us;
for he looks not on what we are, in order to repay to us wlmt we deserve, but deals
graciously with us according to his mercy: and by saying that he doeth judgment
and justice, he intimates, that these two things ought to dispose and turn our hearts
to fear and reverence. At the same time, when God declares that he doeth justice, He
supplies us with a reason for confidence; for he thus promises to be the guardian of
our salvation: for, as I have said, his justice is not to render to every one his just
reward, but is to be extended further, and is to be taken for his faithfulness. As then
God never forsakes his own people, but aids them in due time, and restrains the
wicked, he is on this account called just: we hence can then more securely, and with
quieter minds, recumb on him, when we know that his justice is such, that he will
never leave us destitute of help whenever necessary.
170

171. He afterwards adds, For in these I delight, saith Jehovah This refers to men; as
though God had said, that he hated all who pass by the knowledge of his mercy,
judgment, and justice, and become ferocious and elated with a vain hope on account
of riches, or of strength, or of wisdom, according to what is said in Psalms 147:10,
“The strength of a horse pleases not God, nor is he delighted with the legs of a
man;”
as though he had said, that God hates that confidence by which men
presumptuously extol themselves, while they think their life and their safety to be in
their own hand. So also, in this passage, there is a contrast to be understood between
the knowledge of God’s mercy, judgment, and justice, and the wisdom,
strength, riches, and the foolish glorying, by which men are inflated, when
they seek in these their happiness. (256)
We now also more clearly see what I have before said, — that not only
condemned in these words is the boasting of human power, and the glowing
in wisdom and in wealth, but that men are wholly stripped of all the
confidence they place in themselves, or seek from the world, in order that
the knowledge of God alone may be deemed enough for obtaining perfect
happiness. For the Prophet shews, with sufficient clearness, that all men
without God are miserable: it hence follows, that they are not otherwise
happy but in him. Then the way and manner is to be added. How are we
made happy in God? Even by knowing his mercy towards us, and then by
delivering up ourselves to his defense and protection, and by suffering
ourselves to be ruled by him, and by obeying also his law, because we fear
his judgment. This passage might indeed be more fully handled; but it is
enough for me, according to my custom, to point out the main things. It now
follows —
But in this let him glory who glories, That he understands, and that he knows me, —
That I am Jehovah, Who doeth mercy, judgment, and justice in the land; For
in these have I delighted, saith Jehovah.
“Me” is left out in the Septuagint, the Syriac, and the Arabic. “That he knows
me” is only a more clear enunciation of the previous words, “that he
understands:” what he understands or knows is then stated, “That I am,” etc.
“Judgment,” when connected with justice, seems to refer to what the law
171

172. forbids; and “justice,” to what the law enjoins. See Isaiah 56:1, where the
command is, to “keep” or observe “judgment,” and to “do” or execute
“justice.” God doeth judgment in that he doeth nothing wrong, contrary to
what is right and just; and he doeth justice in the defence of what is right
and just, and in making good what he hath promised. Judgment regards the
negative part of the law, and justice the active part. In Jeremiah 22:3, we
find both words, “judgment and justice,” or righteousness. Then, as it is usual
with the prophets, the last is described first, “delivered is the spoiled:”
afterwards judgment is set forth, it does “no wrong,” etc. But it is only when
the two words occur together that they have these specific meanings; for
both, occurring separately, have a much wider import. They are used
together more than twenty times. — Ed.
CONSTABLE, "Instead, the person who felt satisfied should "boast" because he or
she understood and knew Yahweh as a God who loves and practices loyal love
(loyalty, lovingkindness, steadfast love, unfailing devotion, merciful love, Heb.
hesed), justice (Heb. mishpat), and righteousness (right, integrity, deliverance,
salvation, Heb. sedaqa) on the earth. Truly knowing the Lord in this way implies
participating with Him in valuing and practicing these essential covenant virtues.
The standard is not social custom or community consensus, but the character and
will of Yahweh (cf. 1 Corinthians 1:31; 2 Corinthians 10:17; James 1:9).
". . . true religion consists in a personal and existential knowledge of God, and in a
commitment to those qualities displayed by Yahweh himself-unfailing loyalty,
justice, and right dealing." [Note: Thompson, p318.]
This verse is a concise summary of Israel"s religion at its highest (cf. Micah 6:8).
For Israel, true religion consisted of acknowledging the sovereignty of God over all
of life, and allowing Him to produce the qualities that distinguish Him in the lives of
all His people.
"It is not reliance on one"s own wisdom and strength that brings well-being, but the
knowledge of the Lord and of His dealings in grace and justice (ix22-25)." [Note:
Keil, 1:190.]
172

173. 25 “The days are coming,” declares the Lord,
“when I will punish all who are circumcised
only in the flesh—
BARNES, "All them which are circumcised ... - Rather, “all circumcised in
uncircumcision,” i. e., all who though outwardly circumcised have no corresponding
inward purity.
CLARKE, "I will punish all them which are circumcised with the
uncircumcised - Do not imagine that you, because of your crimes, are the only objects
of my displeasure; the circumcised and the uncircumcised, the Jew and the Gentile, shall
equally feel the stroke of my justice, their transgressions being alike, after their
advantages and disadvantages are duly compared. In like manner, other nations also
were delivered into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, these he immediately enumerates:
Egypt and Edom, and the Moabites and the Ammonites, and the Arabians of the desert.
All these nations were uncircumcised in that way which God required that rite to be
practiced as a sign of his covenant; and the Israelites, that did practice it as a sign of that
covenant, did not attend to its spiritual meaning, for they were all uncircumcised in
heart. And it may be remarked, that these people were in general confederated against
the Chaldeans.
GILL, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... Or, "are coming" (h); it seems to
respect the time after the Babylonish captivity, when the punishment after threatened
took place, and not before:
that I will punish all them that are circumcised with the uncircumcised; Jews
and Gentiles together. The circumcised. Jews trusting in their circumcision, and being,
as is said in the next verse, uncircumcised in heart, were no better than the
uncircumcised Gentiles; wherefore both being transgressors of the law, and despisers of
the Gospel of Christ, are threatened with destruction; see Rom_2:12.
JAMISON, "with the uncircumcised — rather, “all that are circumcised in
uncircumcision” [Henderson]. The Hebrew is an abstract term, not a concrete, as
English Version translates, and as the pious “circumcised” is. The nations specified,
Egypt, Judah, etc., were outwardly “circumcised,” but in heart were “uncircumcised.”
173

174. The heathen nations were defiled, in spite of their literal circumcision, by idolatry. The
Jews, with all their glorying in their spiritual privileges, were no better (Jer_4:4; Deu_
10:16; Deu_30:6; Rom_2:28, Rom_2:29; Col_2:11). However, Eze_31:18; Eze_32:19,
may imply that the Egyptians were uncircumcised; and it is uncertain as to the other
nations specified whether they were at that early time circumcised. Herodotus says the
Egyptians were so; but others think this applies only to the priests and others having a
sacred character, not to the mass of the nation; so English Version may be right (Rom_
2:28, Rom_2:29).
PULPIT, "Jer_9:25
All them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; rather, all the
circumcised in uncircumcision, or, as Ewald turns it, "all the uncircumcised-
circumcised." But what does this enigmatical expression signify? Hitzig, Graf, and
apparently Dr. Payne Smith, think that it has a twofold meaning: that, as applied to the
Jews, it means circumcised in the flesh, but not in heart, and, as applied to the heathen,
simply uncircumcised (the one-half of the phrase neutralizing the other, like "a knife
without the blade," "angels with horns and hoofs," etc.). The latter meaning, however, is
surely very improbable, and it would only become necessary if it were proved that
circumcision was practiced by none of the nations mentioned but the Jews. This is not
the case. There is no doubt that the Egyptians were circumcised in very early times (see
the drawing of a bas-relief in the Temple of Chunsu at Karnak, given by Dr. Ebers in his
’Egypten und die Bucher Meets’). The assertion that only the priests underwent the
operation has no older evidence than that of Origen (edit. Lommatzsch, 4.138), "in
whose time it is quite possible that the Egyptians, like the later Jews, sought to evade a
peculiarity which exposed them to ridicule and contempt." As to the Ammonites and
Moabites, we have, unfortunately, no information. With regard to the Edomites, it is true
that, according to Josephus (’Antiq.,’ 13.9, 1), they were compelled to accept
circumcision by John Hyrcanus. But it is still quite possible that, at an earlier period, the
rite was practiced, just as it was among the ancient Arabs, the evidence for which is
beyond question (see the writer’s article, "Circumcision," in Encyclopaedia Britannica,
9th edit.). (On the statement that "all these [the] nations are uncircumcised," see below.)
CALVIN, "The Prophet, after having removed the obstacle which he saw hindered
the Jews from reverently receiving the truth of God, now speaks more sharply, and
performs the office of a herald in denouncing the vengeance which was at hand:
Behold, he says, come shall the days, in which I will visit all the uncircumcised in
uncircumcision
This passage admits of two meanings. Some interpreters take as distinct these two
words, ‫מול‬ mul, the circumcised, ‫,בערלה‬ beorle, in uncircumcision; as though
Jeremiah had said, “I will visit the Jews, who are circumcised, as well as the
heathen nations, who are uncircumcised,” Others read them jointly, — that
God threatens vengeance on the Jews and Gentiles, because they were
circumcised, and still retained uncircumcision. The passage may however be
thus suitably explained, — that there was a mixture, which corrupted the
174

175. sacredness of circumcision, and made it like the uncircumcision of the
Gentiles; as though it were thus expressed, “I will visit the circumcised with
the uncircumcision,” that is, promiscuously and without any difference, as we
say in our language, Pele mele. For it follows afterwards, that all were
uncircumcised in heart; that is, all the Jews. We hence see that the Prophet
makes circumcision and uncireumcision the same, and that he intended to
render profane the sacred symbol of adoption;but he had reference to the
Jews, who, being degenerated, thus adulterated God ’s covenant, and at the
same time violated circumcision, so that in differed nothing from
uncircumcision. I therefore think, that the Jews are classed with the Gentiles,
so that he ascribes even to them uncircumcision: I will then visit all the
circumcised with the uncircumcision; that is, the circumcision of each is vain,
and is like uncircumcision.
COFFMAN, ""Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will punish all them
that are circumcised in their uncircumcision: Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the
children of Ammon and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off,
that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house
of Israel are uncircumcised in heart."
Due to certain ambiguities in the Hebrew text, some have challenged the implication
here that all of the nations mentioned actually practiced circumcision. "The KJV
asserts that circumcision was not practiced by any of these nations; whereas, all we
can affirm is, that, except for a small class (of priests) in Egypt, there is no proof of
the general acceptance of circumcision by the list of nations mentioned here."[21]
We prefer the KJV rendition, because, generally, the translators who gave us that
version of the scriptures believed they were translating the "Word of God,"
whereas, it is evident that some more recent translators prefer to give us what they
believe the prophet meant, or what they think he should have said, instead of what
is written. With this view of the text, we agree with Robinson that, "Israel is here
degraded to the level of other uncircumcised nations."[22] "The passage also
teaches the glory of Israel's religion, and the futility of physical without spiritual
circumcision."[23]
"Uncircumcised in heart ..." (Jeremiah 9:26). This meant that physical circumcision
alone, without the devoted and obedient heart that was supposed to accompany such
a sign of the covenant, was worthless.
CONSTABLE, "The worthlessness of circumcision9:25-26
Trust in religious ritual ( Jeremiah 9:25-26) is just as wrong as trust in human
achievements ( Jeremiah 9:23-24).
175

176. "Just as the knowledge of God is more important than Wisdom of Solomon , power,
or might, even so faith that springs from the heart is more important than any
outward show of religion." [Note: Kelley, p154.]
PETT, "Jeremiah 9:25-26
“Behold, the days come,” says YHWH, “that I will punish all those who are
circumcised in their uncircumcision, Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children
of Ammon, and Moab, and all who have the corners of their hair cut off, who dwell
in the wilderness, for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel
are uncircumcised in heart.”
And it is because He is Lord of the whole earth that He now calls all nations into
account for how they have responded to His covenant love (a covenant love openly
offered to all men - Exodus 12:48), to His demand for true justice, and to His
righteousness. The nations described are those who practised circumcision in one
way or another, in contrast with ‘the uncircumcised Philistines’ (e.g. Judges 14:3; 1
Samuel 17:26), whose description as ‘uncircumcised’ indicates that they were seen
as ‘the odd man out’ in the area, although it would appear that the Midianites
connected with Moses in the Sinai peninsula also did not practise it, unless they did
it at puberty (Exodus 4:24-26), which is when the Egyptians appear to have
practised it. But the Midianites were desert tribesmen, and may, of course, have
been among those who ‘had the corners of their hair cut off’. The omission of the
Philistines here (they are included in 45-51) confirms that here God is dealing with
nations which practised circumcision or the equivalent, something which, even if
unintentionally, was seen as bringing them into responsibility towards the covenant.
But like Judah, because of their failure to respond to the covenant all these nations
were ‘circumcised in their uncircumcision’, that is, were physically circumcised
while being uncircumcised in heart (see Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 6:10; Leviticus
26:41; Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6; Romans 2:25-29).
Included in the condemnation were those who ‘have the corners of their hair cut off
who dwell in the wilderness’. This was a practise known among certain Arab tribes
in the desert (compare Jeremiah 25:23; Jeremiah 49:28; Jeremiah 49:32) and was
seemingly seen by God as similar to circumcision, because it indicated a parallel
kind of commitment. It was a practise forbidden to Israel (Leviticus 19:27).
“For all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised
in heart.” In these words YHWH was now considering the wider aspect of nations.
‘All nations were uncircumcised’ because even those already mentioned which
practised circumcision in one way or another were seen by Him as uncircumcised
because of their behaviour and attitude, something which was now seen as also true
of ‘the whole house of Israel’.
This indicated two important lessons. The first was that Judah’s circumcision meant
176

177. nothing more than that of other nations unless it was accompanied by covenant
obedience, and secondly that YHWH did see the other nations as having a duty
towards Him, because He was Lord of the whole earth. True circumcision had
always been seen as given only to those who ‘walked before Him and were
blameless’ (Genesis 17:1).
Egypt is mentioned first as being the foremost nation in the area, but it does serve to
emphasise that because of their sinfulness Judah were being seen as one among
many.
26 Egypt, Judah, Edom, Ammon, Moab and all
who live in the wilderness in distant places.[e] For
all these nations are really uncircumcised, and
even the whole house of Israel is uncircumcised in
heart.”
BARNES, "All that are in the utmost corners - Really, all who have the corners of
their hair shorn. The people meant are those Arabs who cut the hair close upon the
forehead and temples, but let it grow long behind. See Lev_19:27.
For all these nations are uncircumcised - Or, “for all the pagan are
uncircumcised.” circumcision probably prevailed partially in the pagan mysteries as a
sign of special sanctity, but to the Jews alone it represented their covenant-relation to
God.
CLARKE, "All that are in the utmost corners - ‫פאה‬ ‫קצוצי‬ ‫כל‬ col ketsutsey
pheah. These words have been variously understood. The Vulgate translates: Omnes qui
attonsi sunt in comam; “All who have their hair cut short.” The Targum, Septuagint,
Syriac, and Arabic have understood it nearly in the same way; and so our margin. Others
think that the insular or peninsular situation of the people is referred to. Dr. Blayney
thinks the Arabians are meant, who dwelt in the great desert, between Mesopotamia and
Palestine. I really think our marginal reading should be preferred, as expressing the
sense of all the ancient Versions.
177

178. GILL, "Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and
Moab,.... Places and people among which the Jews were dispersed, and whose
punishment is predicted in Jeremiah chapters forty six through forty nine, and whose
countries are now under the dominion of the Turks: (h).
and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness; who dwelt
in the desert of Arabia; these, according to Kimchi, were the Kedarenes, and the
kingdoms of Hazor, a people that dwelt in the utmost corners, whom Nebuchadnezzar
smote, as Jeremiah foretold, Jer_49:28. Jarchi's note is,
"them that are cut off in a corner of the wilderness;''
that live by themselves, and have no communication with other people; were at the
greatest distance, and secure; dwelt alone, and had neither gates nor bars, as is said of
the same people, Jer_49:31. The Septuagint version is, "upon everyone that shaves what
is about his face, that dwells in the wilderness"; and so the Syriac and Arabic versions; to
which agrees the Targum,
"upon all that round the corners of the head, that dwell in habitations in the wilderness,''
The Arabians used to shave the extreme hairs of the head round about, as the forehead,
temples, and behind the ears, which are the corners of the head; so Herodotus (i) reports
of them, who seem to be meant here; though some think the Jews are intended, to whom
this was forbidden, Lev_19:27,
for all these nations are uncircumcised; in the flesh; though they were not
punished on this account, because it was not commanded them, as Kimchi observes; but
is mentioned to show that the Jews were no better than they, though circumcised, and
that they should be punished together:
and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart; had not the
circumcision made without hands; or were not circumcised in heart, to love the Lord,
fear and serve him; the foreskin of their flesh taken off availed not so long as that on
their heart remained, and they were stupid, impenitent, and disobedient.
JAMISON, "Egypt — put first to degrade Judah, who, though in privileges above the
Gentiles, by unfaithfulness sank below them. Egypt, too, was the power in which the
Jews were so prone to trust, and by whose instigation they, as well as the other peoples
specified, revolted from Babylon.
in the utmost corners — rather, “having the hair shaven (or clipped) in angles,”
that is, having the beard on the cheek narrowed or cut: a Canaanitish custom, forbidden
to the Israelites (Lev_19:27; Lev_21:5). The Arabs are hereby referred to (compare Jer_
25:23; Jer_49:32), as the words in apposition show, “that dwell in the wilderness.”
uncircumcised ... uncircumcised in the heart — The addition of “in the heart”
in Israel’s case marks its greater guilt in proportion to its greater privileges, as compared
with the rest.
178

179. PULPIT, "All that are in the utmost corners; rather, all that are corner-clipped;
i.e. that have the hair cut off about the ears and temples. Herodotus tells us, speaking of
the Arabs, "Their practice is to cut the hair in a ring, away from the temples" (3.8); and
among the representatives of various nations, colored figures of whom are given in the
tomb of Rameses III; we find some with a square place shaved just above the temples.
The hair below this shaven place was allowed to grow long, and then plaited into a leek.
It is to such customs that Jeremiah alludes here and in Jer_25:23; Jer_49:32. A
prohibition is directed against them in the Levitical Law (Le 19:27; Jer_21:5). For all
these nations are uncircumcised; rather, all the nations, etc. Another obscure
expression. Does it mean (taken together with the following clause), "The Gentile
peoples are uncircumcised in the flesh, and the people of Israel is equally so in heart?"
But this does not agree with facts (see above, on Jer_49:25). It is safer, therefore, to
assume that "uncircumcised" is equivalent to "circumcised in uncircumcision" (Jer_
49:25). The next clause will then simply give the most conspicuous instance of this
unspiritual obedience to a mere form.
CALVIN, "However this may be, the Prophet here denounces ruin, not only on the
Jews, but also on the Egyptians and on other neighboring nations; but he yet speaks
to his own people, for his word was not destined for the Egyptians, nor for the
Idumeans and the Moabites. But as the Jews were wont to have recourse to the
Egyptians, when any danger arose from the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the Prophet
here connects the Egyptians with the Jews, and for the same reason, the other
nations. We indeed know that the Idumeans and the Moabites were most hostile
enemies to the Jews; but as the state of things changed, they were at one time their
enemies, at another their friends; and when they saw that the Chaldeans extended
their power, they saw also that they were exposed to plunder, and hence it happened
that they willingly helped the Jews. Since then the Hebrews hoped that their
neighbors on every side would aid them, the Prophet says that a visitation was nigh
them all: and hence is confirmed what I have already said; for he distinguishes not
the Jews from the Egyptians and other nations; but, on the contrary, as they had
made alliances with them, he intends to unite them in one body: I will visit, he says,
the circumcised with the uncircumcision For the Jews did not bear in mind that God
was the protector of their safety, and that they had been set apart by him from other
nations. He names the circumcised together with the uncircumcision, because the
Egyptians, the Idumeans, the Ammonites, and the Moabites, were deemed
circumcised on account of the covenant they had made with the Jews; and the Jews
were deemed uncircumcised, because they had forsaken God, and thus profarted
themselves.
It is indeed true that the Idumeans were circumcised, for they were the descendants
of Esau, and had no doubt retained this external symbol; but their circumcision was
altogether a mockery, as Esau had departed from the Church of God. The
circumcision of the elect people was in itself efficacious; but as they had alike fallen
into superstitions, they were like the uncircumcised, according to what Paul says, —
that the letter of the circumcision, that is, the external rite, was nothing. We
179

180. hence see that there is no common propriety in the Prophet ’s words, when
he denounces vengeance on the Jews as well as on the Egyptians, and names
the circumcised with the uneircumcision; for the latter had uncircumcision,
the former circumcision, and thus they had blended profane and sacred
things together, so that there was nothing pure or uncorrupted: and hence he
mentions Egypt, Judah, Edom, the children of Ammon, and Moab We have
before stated why he enumerated all these nations; he did so, because they
expected help from one another, so that they all despised God.
He afterwards adds, And all the extreme ones in a corner The word ‫,קף‬ kots, means
the end; hence they take ‫,קצוצים‬ kotsutsim, here for extremities: and ‫פאה‬ pae,
signifies a corner, and an end. We might then, if propriety of language would bear
it, render the words thus, “the cornered in the corner.” But the meaning is by
no means ambiguous, which is, that though the Moabites and others had
hidden recesses, they could not be exempt from the calamity. God ’s
vengeance shall come, says Jeremiah, into their farthest corners, where they
think that they dwell in safety. And what follows is explanatory, the
inhabitants of the wilderness, or, those who dwell in the wilderness. He thus
shews what he meant by ‫פאה‬ ‫קצוצי‬ kotsutsi pae, the extremities, of the corner. For
when people inhabit remote places, they regard themselves on that account safer,
being secure in their hiding — places: this confidence the Prophet derides; and
he says that punishment would reach them also. (257)
He then adds, For all the nations are uncircumcised, and the whole house of Israel is
uncircumcised in heart By saying, that all nations were uncircumcised, he doubtless
includes the Israelites, and thus by way of reproach he takes away from the chosen
people their peculiar distinction; as though he had said, that Israel was so mixed
with the nations, that they only made a part of them: the Jews would have otherwise
denied, that they deserved to be classed with the Gentiles; but the Prophet deprives
them of every excuse, and says that they were but one nation, having no difference:
All these nations then are uncircumcised And so ‫ה‬ He, before ‫גוים‬ guim, nations,
may be taken as a demonstrative pronoun, and not a relative, “All these nations.”
He had spoken not only of the Egyptians and the Idumeans and of other
neighboring nations, but had also mentioned Judah. He then says, “All these
nations are uncircumcised:” and as I have already said, he condemns Israel,
because they differed nothing from the nations, though God had consecrated
them to himself; for there was an entire mingling, which made them all
equal.
180

181. But as some objection might still be alleged, he says, the Jews are uncircumcised in
heart He had indeed already included them in the nations; but it was necessary to
insist more on this point, for circumcision might have been pleaded by them. Hence
the Prophet says, that though they had the visible symbol in the flesh, they were yet
uncircumcised in heart, and ought therefore to be classed with the nations. We see
how sharply he reproves them: though he separates them from other nations, he yet
shews that they justly deserved to be numbered with them; for God cares not for the
external symbol, but regards the chief thing, the circumcision of the heart.
It is a common thing with Moses and the Prophets to call an unrenewed heart,
uncircumcision, and to say that the people are uncircumcised in heart: for
circumcision, while an evidence of free salvation in Christ, at the same time initiated
the Jews into the worship and service of God, and proved the necessity of a new life;
it was in short a sign both of repentance and of faith. When, therefore, the Jews
presented only the sign, they were justly derided by Moses and the prophets; for
they seemed as though they sought to pacify God by a thing of nought, without
regarding the end. The same is the case now when we boast of baptism alone, and
are at the same time destitute of repentance and faith: our boasting is absurd and
ridiculous. And hence Paul calls the external rite, when the sign is separated from its
reality and substance, the letter of the circumcision; and on the other hand he calls
that the true circumcision, which is in secret and in the spirit. We may also say the
same of baptism, — that the literal baptism avails hypocrites nothing, for they
receive only the naked sign: and therefore we must come to the spirit of
baptism, to the thing itself; for the interior power is renovation, when our
old man is crucified in us, and when we rise again with Christ into newness
of life.
25.Behold the days are coming, saith Jehovah, That I will visit every one
circumcised, Who is in uncircumcision, —
26.The Egyptians and Judah, Edom also and the children of Ammon and Moab,
And all the shawn on the side of the head, Who dwell in the desert; For all these
nations are uncircumcised; And all the house of Israel, — They are uncircumcised
in heart.
It is justly remarked by Horsley that the nations here mentioned practiced
circumcision. They were hence circumcised, and yet in uncircumcision; and the
Jews were like them: and the last line explains this apparent contradiction: they had
the outward but not the inward circumcision. — Ed.
CONSTABLE, "This would include the Gentile nations that practiced circumcision
as well as Israel. There was no essential difference between these nations and Israel,
181

182. since they all practiced the superficial requirement of the Mosaic Law, but had not
really devoted themselves to the Lord wholeheartedly (cf. Genesis 17:9-14). They
were the circumcised of body but not of heart (cf. Jeremiah 4:4; Jeremiah 6:10;
Leviticus 26:41; Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6; Romans 2:25-29). It was
only what circumcision symbolized that Yahweh accepted, not just the practice of
the rite by itself. Certain Arab tribes trimmed their hair away from their temples
(cf. Jeremiah 25:23; Jeremiah 49:32), which the Law prohibited the Israelites from
doing ( Leviticus 19:27), but they did practice circumcision. Thus, Judah was no
better than her neighbors, and could expect punishment, just as the pagan nations
could.
COKE, "Jeremiah 9:26. And all that are in the utmost corners— All having the
angular tonsure, or, having the corners of their hair polled. The reader will
find a more particular account of these nations, who drank of the cup of the
Lord's fury after Jerusalem had drunk it, in ch. Jeremiah 25:17, &c. They
used circumcision as well as the Jews; but are here called uncircumcised, as
being in the same state with Israel; that is to say, uncircumcised in heart.
Respecting the tonsure of the Arabs, see the note on Leviticus 19:27.
REFLECTIONS.—1st, With bitter grief the prophet beheld the sins of his
people, and the ruin which they provoked.
1. He wishes that his head were waters, and his eyes a fountain of tears, that streams
incessant might run down his cheeks for the miseries that he foresaw. Weary of
dwelling amid so polluted a people, and that he might give full vent to his sorrows,
or be removed from the dreadful spectacle before him, he wishes for some desert,
some lonely cave; preferring the company of the savages of the wood to so wicked a
nation; and safer amid the lions of the forest, than his own treacherous and cruel
countrymen. Note; (1.) A good man must be a patriot, and cannot, unmoved, behold
the ruin of his country. (2.) They who suffer nothing to interrupt their carnal joy,
must never hope to receive the blessedness promised to those that mourn. (3.) It is a
dreadful symptom of the wickedness, and a sign of the approaching ruin of a people,
when the souls of God's prophets, like Lot, are vexed with their abominations, and
weary of dwelling in the midst of them. 2. The causes of these complaints are,
[1.] The sins of his people. They were all adulterers, corporally and spiritually; an
assembly of treacherous men, apostates from God and his worship, and false and
faithless one to another; bending their tongues like their bow for lies; destitute of all
zeal for truth, yea, rather opposing it with all their power; proceeding from evil to
worse, instead of repenting and reforming; ignorant of God, and desiring to remain
so. Not a neighbour, no, not a brother could be trusted, so selfish and perfidious
were they grown. Lies were become familiar to their tongue, and slander the
constant topic of their conversation; and no truth was to be expected from them.
182

183. They spared no pains to compass their ends; they weary themselves to commit
iniquity, so eagerly were they bent on it. In the midst of such a people the prophet
dwelt, and therefore had need be on his guard against them; nor wonder if they
acted deceitfully with him, when they acted hypocritically towards God, as the latter
clause of Jeremiah 9:6 may be interpreted. Through the delusions of their false
prophets they refused to receive the knowledge of God: no arrow was sharper than
their bitter and lying words: and while the guise of friendship and peace seemed to
breathe in all their discourse, mischief was in their hearts, and they lay in wait to
make a prey of those whom they had deluded. Note; (1.) Lewdness and lying are
among the most deadly and prevailing iniquities. (2.) To be silent, and refuse to
espouse the suffering cause of God and truth, is highly criminal. (3.) They who have
accustomed themselves to a habit of lying, will not speak truth, even when they have
no purpose or design to serve, but lie for lying's sake. (4.) The service of sin is
usually a wearisome task; and yet so enslaved are sinners to the love of it, that,
though the pain exceeds the pleasure, they pursue it yet again, and take more pains
to go to hell, than was requisite to carry them to heaven. (5.) There is no stopping in
the way of wickedness; every sin indulged opens a way for a greater. (6.) In a wicked
and deceitful world we need be ever on our guard.
[2.] The sufferings of his people. They shall be put into the hottest furnace of
affliction, to melt and try them, since all other methods have proved ineffectual. The
sword shall be bathed in blood, the country wasted, the villages burnt, the lowing
herds and bleating sheep no more be heard on the mountains, plundered and
carried off by the Chaldean army; not a living creature seen passing through the
desolate land; even the wild beasts and the fowls of heaven shall desert it, unable to
find food for their hunger, except the dragons, who take up their abode in the
ruined palaces of Jerusalem; and so utter will be the overthrow, that not an
inhabitant shall remain in all the cities of Judah. Thus will God visit for their
iniquities, and his soul be avenged on such a people as this. Note; (1.) In the severest
of the afflictions that God lays upon any land, he intends to make the same fire
which consumes the wicked, a means of purifying the remaining faithful, and
separating them as silver from the dross. (2.) The iniquities of the people have often
turned a fruitful land into barrenness. (3.) The prophet who beholds these
desolations cannot withhold the tear of pity; yea, his eyes are fountains to bewail
them: and when we look round upon the world which lieth in wickedness, and see
that great day of the perdition of ungodly men approach, ought we not to be more
affected at a sight so unspeakably more terrible?
2nd, If the people perish, it is not for want of awful and repeated warnings.
1. A summons is given to the wise men among them, to understand and declare the
cause of these calamities; but, as no such are found, the prophet himself is
commissioned to proclaim both the reason of God's judgments and the terribleness
of the vengeance which he is about to execute. Their sin is, apostacy from the
worship and service of God commanded in the law, and disobedience against all the
warnings and notices that he had sent unto them; in direct opposition to which, they
183

184. followed the imaginations of their own wicked hearts, and served Baalim, a
multitude of false gods, plunging into idolatry after their fathers' example, and
filling up the measure of their iniquities. Most righteous therefore, and just as
fearful, are God's judgments upon them. They shall be fed with bread of
wormwood, and water of gall, the bitterest afflictions. The sword and the famine
shall devour them, and their carcases lie unburied on the plain as dung, or as a
handful dropped after the harvest-man, which is not regarded or gathered up; and
if a few escape the general massacre, they shall be scattered in heathen lands, which
their fathers never knew, and even there shall find no rest, the sword of vengeance
still pursuing them till they are consumed. Note; (1.) Every step of departure from
God tends only to misery. (2.) Wherever the sinner flies, or is driven, the curse of
God follows him closer than his shadow.
2. A summons is sent to the mourning women. It was customary among the Jews, as
well as other nations, to hire such on the decease of their relations, who, by their
cries, their doleful plaints, and melancholy ditties, awakened afresh the sorrows of
the survivors. There would now be abundant occasion for them, when the multitude
of deaths by famine and the sword should fill every house with lamentation, and
cause not merely fictitious, but real anguish; when out of Zion the voice of wailing is
heard, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, at seeing their city stormed
and taken, themselves captives, driven from their dwellings, and forced from their
own, are led into a strange land. Under such a dire calamity God calls on them, as
most befitting their circumstances, to weep and wail. The word is addressed to the
women, whose husbands probably had fallen in the siege; and, the men being chiefly
slain, scarcely any but they remained to lament the desolations. They are enjoined to
teach their daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. So
universal would be the misery, that none would be exempted from feeling it, and
therefore all are called to bewail it. For death is come up into our windows, like an
enemy that scales the walls, though the gates are shut; and is entered into our
palaces: the king on the throne, as well as the beggar on the dunghill, is exposed to
the famine and the sword; and even the children in the streets are murdered; and
the young men, unable to make resistance, are slain by their cruel enemies, who
have stormed the city. Note; (1.) This is a vale of tears, where death continually
spreads his ravages, and wakens up our sorrows. (2.) No palaces can keep out this
invader: kings and princes are dying worms. (3.) To grieve for the dead is natural,
humane, pious; only let us not be swallowed up with immoderate sorrow. (4.) Many
lament their losses and crosses bitterly, who never lament their sins, which are the
occasion of them; and this is the sorrow of the world which worketh death.
3rdly, Having foretold their impending calamities, the prophet concludes with a
warning to them, not to have recourse to those vain confidences which would prove
a refuge of lies; but to take that only method which remained of preventing their
ruin, returning to the knowledge of God, and obedience to his will.
1. He warns them against depending on their own wisdom, power, and wealth, to
protect them; and directs them to the only sure refuge. Let not the wise man glory in
184

185. his wisdom; as if by his politics he could avert the storm: neither let the mighty man
glory in his might, which would afford no safety when fighting against God. Let not
the rich man glory in his riches; as if these could bribe the invaders, or hire
auxiliaries to defend them; for vain would these things prove. If therefore any man
would have solid grounds for glorying, it must be in this, that he understandeth, and
knoweth me, the only object in whom a sinner can glory; that I am the Lord, the
only hope, help, and Saviour of the guilty; which exercise loving-kindness,
judgment, and righteousness in the earth; shewing mercy to the miserable,
pardoning the sinful, strengthening the weak, just in all his providences, and
righteous in all his ways; for in these things I delight, saith the Lord. Note; (1.)
Worldly supports are often a dangerous snare. Wisdom, strength, and riches, are
apt to swell the heart with pride and self-importance, and then they prove our ruin.
(2.) Christ is our only glory. Without him we have nothing but what we had need to
be ashamed of, and renounce; in him there is all fulness. (3.) What is God's delight,
should be ours; and to be partakers of his compassions, to walk in his judgments,
and be found in the practice of righteousness and true holiness, will be infinitely
more profitable than the higher attainment of worldly wisdom, or the greater
possessions of worldly wealth.
2. He warns them against trusting in their peculiar privileges; as promising
themselves, because of the covenant of circumcision, that they should be preserved
from evil; for this would stand them in no stead while their hearts were
uncircumcised, and they continued devoted to the service, not of the Lord, but of
their lusts; therefore they would share with Egypt and Edom, and the neighbouring
uncircumcised nations, in their punishment, and find no distinction in the day when
God arose to judgment. Note; Our partaking of the outward privileges and seals of
the covenant will stand us in no stead, if we are destitute of the inward and spiritual
grace; yea, will rather aggravate our guilt. The baptized, unconverted, and
unhumbled sinner, will meet even a heavier doom than the unbaptized unconverted
heathen.
185