3 Then the Lord said to me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs are very good, and the bad very bad, and of no use for food, they are so bad.
Again the word of the Lord came to me, saying, Jeremiah, what do you see? And I said, I see a branch of an almond-tree. Then the Lord said to me, You have seen well: for I keep watch over my word to give effect to it. And the word of the Lord came to me a second time, saying, What do you see? And I said, I see a boiling pot, and its face is from the north. Then the Lord said to me, Out of the north evil will come, bursting out on all the people of the land.
And before him all the nations will come together; and they will be parted one from another, as the sheep are parted from the goats by the keeper. And he will put the sheep on his right, but the goats on the left.
And the angel who was talking to me went out and said to me, Let your eyes be lifted up now, and see the ephah which is going out. And I said, What is it? And he said, This is an ephah which is going out. And he said further, This is their evil-doing in all the land. And I saw a round cover of lead lifted up; and a woman was seated in the middle of the ephah. And he said, This is Sin; and pushing her down into the ephah, he put the weight of lead on the mouth of it. And lifting up my eyes I saw two women coming out, and the wind was in their wings; and they had wings like the wings of a stork: and they took the ephah, lifting it up between earth and heaven. And I said to the angel who was talking to me, Where are they taking the ephah? And he said to me, To make a house for her in the land of Shinar: and they will make a place ready, and put her there in the place which is hers.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 24
Commentary on Jeremiah 24 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 24
Jer 24:1-10. The Restoration of the Captives in Babylon and the Destruction of the Refractory Party in Judea and in Egypt, Represented under the Type of a Basket of Good, and One of Bad, Figs.
1. Lord showed me—Am 7:1, 4, 7; 8:1, contains the same formula, with the addition of "thus" prefixed.
carried … captive Jeconiah—(Jer 22:24; 2Ki 24:12, &c.; 2Ch 36:10).
carpenters, &c.—One thousand artisans were carried to Babylon, both to work for the king there, and to deprive Jerusalem of their services in the event of a future siege (2Ki 24:16).
2. figs … first ripe—the "boccora," or early fig (see on Isa 28:4). Baskets of figs used to be offered as first-fruits in the temple. The good figs represent Jeconiah and the exiles in Babylon; the bad, Zedekiah and the obstinate Jews in Judea. They are called good and bad respectively, not in an absolute, but a comparative sense, and in reference to the punishment of the latter. This prophecy was designed to encourage the despairing exiles, and to reprove the people at home, who prided themselves as superior to those in Babylon and abused the forbearance of God (compare Jer 52:31-34).
5. acknowledge—regard with favor, like as thou lookest on the good figs favorably.
for their good—Their removal to Babylon saved them from the calamities which befell the rest of the nation and led them to repentance there: so God bettered their condition (2Ki 25:27-30). Daniel and Ezekiel were among these captives.
6. (Jer 12:15).
not pull … down … not pluck … up—only partially fulfilled in the restoration from Babylon; antitypically and fully to be fulfilled hereafter (Jer 32:41; 33:7).
7. (Jer 30:22; 31:33; 32:38). Their conversion from idolatry to the one true God, through the chastening effect of the Babylonish captivity, is here expressed in language which, in its fulness, applies to the more complete conversion hereafter of the Jews, "with their whole heart" (Jer 29:13), through the painful discipline of their present dispersion. The source of their conversion is here stated to be God's prevenient grace.
for they shall return—Repentance, though not the cause of pardon, is its invariable accompaniment: it is the effect of God's giving a heart to know Him.
8. in … Egypt—Many Jews had fled for refuge to Egypt, which was leagued with Judea against Babylon.
9. removed, &c.—(Jer 15:4). Calvin translates, "I will give them up to agitation, in all," &c.; This verse quotes the curse (De 28:25, 37). Compare Jer 29:18, 22; Ps 44:13, 14.