1 Go quickly through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and get knowledge, and make a search in her wide places if there is a man, if there is one in her who is upright, who keeps faith; and she will have my forgiveness.
And Abraham came near, and said, Will you let destruction come on the upright with the sinners? If by chance there are fifty upright men in the town, will you give the place to destruction and not have mercy on it because of the fifty upright men? Let such a thing be far from you, to put the upright to death with the sinner: will not the judge of all the earth do right? And the Lord said, If there are fifty upright men in the town, I will have mercy on it because of them. And Abraham answering said, Truly, I who am only dust, have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: If by chance there are five less than fifty upright men, will you give up all the town to destruction because of these five? And he said, I will not give it to destruction if there are forty-five. And again he said to him, By chance there may be forty there. And he said, I will not do it if there are forty. And he said, Let not the Lord be angry with me if I say, What if there are thirty there? And he said, I will not do it if there are thirty. And he said, See now, I have undertaken to put my thoughts before the Lord: what if there are twenty there? And he said, I will have mercy because of the twenty. And he said, O let not the Lord be angry and I will say only one word more: by chance there may be ten there. And he said, I will have mercy because of the ten.
Sorrow is mine! for I am as when they have got in the summer fruits, like the last of the grapes: there is nothing for food, not even an early fig for my desire. The good man is gone from the earth, there is no one upright among men: they are all waiting secretly for blood, every man is going after his brother with a net.
And the right is turned back, and righteousness is far away: for good faith is not to be seen in the public places, and upright behaviour may not come into the town. Yes, faith is gone; and he whose heart is turned from evil comes into the power of the cruel: and the Lord saw it, and he was angry that there was no one to take up their cause.
God was looking down from heaven on the children of men, to see if there were any who had wisdom, searching after God. Every one of them has gone back; they are unclean: there is not one who does good, no, not one. Have the workers of evil no knowledge? they take my people for food, as they would take bread; they make no prayer to God.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 5
Commentary on Jeremiah 5 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 5
Jer 5:1-31. The Cause of the Judgments to Be Inflicted Is the Universal Corruption of the People.
1. a man—As the pious Josiah, Baruch, and Zephaniah lived in Jerusalem at that time, Jeremiah must here mean the mass of the people, the king, his counsellors, the false prophets, and the priests, as distinguished from the faithful few, whom God had openly separated from the reprobate people; among the latter not even one just person was to be found (Isa 9:16) [Calvin]; the godly, moreover, were forbidden to intercede for them (Jer 7:16; compare Ge 18:23, &c.; Ps 12:1; Eze 22:30).
see … know—look … ascertain.
judgment—justice, righteousness.
pardon it—rather, her.
2. (Tit 1:16).
swear falsely—not a judicial oath; but their profession of the worship of Jehovah is insincere (Jer 5:7; Jer 4:2). The reformation under Josiah was merely superficial in the case of the majority.
3. eyes upon the truth—(De 32:4; 2Ch 16:9). "Truth" is in contrast with "swear falsely" (Jer 5:2). The false-professing Jews could expect nothing but judgments from the God of truth.
stricken … not grieved—(Jer 2:30; Isa 1:5; 9:13).
refused … correction—(Jer 7:28; Zep 3:2).
4. poor—rather, "the poor." He supposes for the moment that this utter depravity is confined to the uninstructed poor, and that he would find a different state of things in the higher ranks: but there he finds unbridled profligacy.
5. they have known—rather, "they must know." The prophet supposes it as probable, considering their position.
but these—I found the very reverse to be the case.
burst … bonds—set God's law at defiance (Ps 2:3).
6. lion … wolf … leopard—the strongest, the most ravenous, and the swiftest, respectively, of beasts: illustrating the formidable character of the Babylonians.
of the evenings—Others not so well translate, of the deserts. The plural means that it goes forth every evening to seek its prey (Ps 104:20; Hab 1:8; Zep 3:3).
leopard … watch … cities—(Ho 13:7). It shall lie in wait about their cities.
7. It would not be consistent with God's holiness to let such wickedness pass unpunished.
sworn by—(Jer 5:2; Jer 4:2); that is, worshipped.
no gods—(De 32:21).
fed … to the full—so the Keri (Hebrew Margin) reads. God's bountifulness is contrasted with their apostasy (De 32:15). Prosperity, the gift of God, designed to lead men to Him, often produces the opposite effect. The Hebrew Chetib (text) reads: "I bound them (to Me) by oath," namely, in the marriage covenant, sealed at Sinai between God and Israel; in contrast to which stands their "adultery"; the antithesis favors this.
adultery … harlots' houses—spiritually: idolatry in temples of idols; but literal prostitution is also included, being frequently part of idol-worship: for example, in the worship of the Babylonian Mylitta.
8. in the morning—(Isa 5:11). "Rising early in the morning" is a phrase for unceasing eagerness in any pursuit; such was the Jews' avidity after idol-worship. Maurer translates from a different Hebrew root, "continually wander to and fro," inflamed with lust (Jer 2:23). But English Version is simpler (compare Jer 13:27; Eze 22:11).
9. (Jer 5:29; Jer 9:9; 44:22).
10. Abrupt apostrophe to the Babylonians, to take Jerusalem, but not to destroy the nation utterly (see on Jer 4:27).
battlements—rather, tendrils [Maurer]: the state being compared to a vine (Jer 12:10), the stem of which was to be spared, while the tendrils (the chief men) were to be removed.
11. (Jer 3:20).
12. belied—denied.
It is not he—rather, "(Jehovah) is not He," that is, the true and only God (Jer 14:22; De 32:39; Isa 43:10, 13). By their idolatry they virtually denied Him. Or, referring to what follows, and to Jer 5:9, "(Jehovah) is not," namely, about to be the punisher of our sins (Jer 14:13; Isa 28:15).
13. Continuation of the unbelieving language of the Jews.
the prophets—who prophesy punishment coming on us.
the word—the Holy Spirit, who speaks through true prophets, is not in them [Maurer]. Or else, "There is no word (divine communication) in them" (Ho 1:2) [Rosenmuller].
thus, &c.—Their ill-omened prophecies shall fall on themselves.
14. ye … thy … this people—He turns away from addressing the people to the prophet; implying that He puts them to a distance from Him, and only communicates with them through His prophet (Jer 5:19).
fire … wood—Thy denunciations of judgments shall be fulfilled and shall consume them as fire does wood. In Jer 23:29 it is the penetrating energy of fire which is the point of comparison.
15. (Jer 1:15; 6:22). Alluding to De 28:49, &c.
Israel—that is, Judah.
mighty—from an Arabic root, "enduring." The fourfold repetition of "nation" heightens the force.
ancient—The Chaldeans came originally from the Carduchian and Armenian mountains north of Mesopotamia, whence they immigrated into Babylonia; like all mountaineers, they were brave and hardy (see on Isa 23:13).
language … knowest not—Isa 36:11 shows that Aramaic was not understood by the "multitude," but only by the educated classes [Maurer]. Henderson refers it to the original language of the Babylonians, which, he thinks, they brought with them from their native hills, akin to the Persic, not to the Aramaic, or any other Semitic tongue, the parent of the modern Kurd.
16. open sepulchre—(Compare Ps 5:9). Their quiver is all-devouring, as the grave opened to receive the dead: as many as are the arrows, so many are the deaths.
17. (Le 26:16).
18. Not even in those days of judgments, will God utterly exterminate His people.
I will not make a full end with you—(Jer 5:10; Jer 4:27).
19. Retribution in kind. As ye have forsaken Me (Jer 2:13), so shall ye be forsaken by Me. As ye have served strange (foreign) gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers (foreigners) in a land not yours. Compare the similar retribution in De 28:47, 48.
21. eyes … ears, and—Translate, "and yet" (compare De 29:4; Isa 6:9). Having powers of perception, they did not use them: still they were responsible for the exercise of them.
22. sand—Though made up of particles easily shifting about, I render it sufficient to curb the violence of the sea. Such is your monstrous perversity, that the raging, senseless sea sooner obeys Me, than ye do who profess to be intelligent [Calvin], (Job 26:10; 38:10, 11; Pr 8:29; Re 15:4).
23. (Jer 6:28).
24. rain … former … latter—The "former" falls from the middle of October to the beginning of December. The "latter," or spring rain in Palestine, falls before harvest in March and April, and is essential for ripening the crops (De 11:14; Joe 2:23).
weeks of … harvest—the seven weeks between passover and pentecost, beginning on the sixteenth of Nisan (De 16:9). By God's special providence no rain fell in Palestine during the harvest weeks, so that harvest work went on without interruption (see Ge 8:22).
25. National guilt had caused the suspension of these national mercies mentioned in Jer 5:24 (compare Jer 3:3).
26. (Pr 1:11, 17, 18; Hab 1:15).
as he that setteth snares—rather, "as fowlers crouch" [Maurer].
trap—literally, "destruction": the instrument of destruction.
catch men—not as Peter, to save (Lu 5:10), but to destroy men.
27. full of deceit—full of treasures got by deceit.
rich—(Ps 73:12, 18-20).
28. shine—the effect of fatness on the skin (De 32:15). They live a life of self-indulgence.
overpass … the wicked—exceed even the Gentiles in wickedness (Jer 2:33; Eze 5:6, 7).
judge not … fatherless—(Isa 1:23).
yet … prosper—(Jer 12:1).
29. (Jer 5:9; Mal 3:5).
30. (Jer 23:14; Ho 6:10).
31. bear rule by their means—literally, "according to their hands," that is, under their guidance (1Ch 25:3). As a sample of the priests lending themselves to the deceits of the false prophets, to gain influence over the people, see Jer 29:24-32.
love to have it so—(Mic 2:11).
end thereof—the fatal issue of this sinful course when divine judgments shall come.