15 Thus says Yahweh of Hosts, the God of Israel, Behold, I will bring on this city and on all its towns all the evil that I have pronounced against it; because they have made their neck stiff, that they may not hear my words.
yet they didn't listen to me, nor inclined their ear, but made their neck stiff: they did worse than their fathers.
But they didn't listen, neither turn their ear, but made their neck stiff, that they might not hear, and might not receive instruction.
and testified against them, that you might bring them again to your law. Yet they dealt proudly, and didn't listen to your commandments, but sinned against your ordinances, (which if a man do, he shall live in them), and withdrew the shoulder, and hardened their neck, and would not hear.
but they mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, and scoffed at his prophets, until the wrath of Yahweh arose against his people, until there was no remedy. Therefore he brought on them the king of the Chaldeans, who killed their young men with the sword in the house of their sanctuary, and had no compassion on young man or virgin, old man or gray-headed: he gave them all into his hand.
and refused to obey, neither were mindful of your wonders that you did among them, but hardened their neck, and in their rebellion appointed a captain to return to their bondage. But you are a God ready to pardon, gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abundant in loving kindness, and didn't forsake them.
I have sent also to you all my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending them, saying, Return you now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and don't go after other gods to serve them, and you shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: but you have not inclined your ear, nor listened to me. Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab have performed the commandment of their father which he commanded them, but this people has not listened to me; therefore thus says Yahweh, the God of hosts, the God of Israel: Behold, I will bring on Judah and on all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have pronounced against them; because I have spoken to them, but they have not heard; and I have called to them, but they have not answered.
No, in your heart you plot injustice. You measure out the violence of your hands in the earth. The wicked go astray from the womb. They are wayward as soon as they are born, speaking lies. Their poison is like the poison of a snake; Like a deaf cobra that stops its ear, Which doesn't listen to the voice of charmers, No matter how skillful the charmer may be.
But they refused to listen, and turned their backs, and stopped their ears, that they might not hear. Yes, they made their hearts as hard as flint, lest they might hear the law, and the words which Yahweh of Hosts had sent by his Spirit by the former prophets. Therefore great wrath came from Yahweh of Hosts. It has come to pass that, as he called, and they refused to listen, so they will call, and I will not listen," said Yahweh of Hosts; "but I will scatter them with a whirlwind among all the nations which they have not known. Thus the land was desolate after them, so that no man passed through nor returned: for they made the pleasant land desolate."
"You stiff-necked and uncircumcised in heart and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit! As your fathers did, so you do. Which of the prophets didn't your fathers persecute? They killed those who foretold the coming of the Righteous One, of whom you have now become betrayers and murderers.
Worthy.Bible » Commentaries » Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible » Commentary on Jeremiah 19
Commentary on Jeremiah 19 Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible
CHAPTER 19
Jer 19:1-15. The Desolation of the Jews for Their Sins Foretold in the Valley of Hinnom; the Symbol of Breaking a Bottle.
Referred by Maurer, &c., to the beginning of Zedekiah's reign.
1. bottle—Hebrew, bakuk, so called from the gurgling sound which it makes when being emptied.
ancients—elders. As witnesses of the symbolic action (Jer 19:10; Isa 8:1, 2), that the Jews might not afterwards plead ignorance of the prophecy. The seventy-two elders, composing the Sanhedrim, or Great Council, were taken partly from "the priests," partly from the other tribes, that is, "the people," the former presiding over spiritual matters, the latter over civil; the seventy-two represented the whole people.
2. valley of the son of Hinnom—or Tophet, south of Jerusalem, where human victims were offered, and children made to pass through the fire, in honor of Molech.
east gate—Margin, "sun gate," sunrise being in the east. Maurer translates, the "potter's gate." Through it lay the road to the valley of Hinnom (Jos 15:8). The potters there formed vessels for the use of the temple, which was close by (compare Jer 19:10, 14; Jer 18:2; Zec 11:13). The same as "the water gate toward the east" (Ne 3:26; 12:37); so called from the brook Kedron. Calvin translates, as English Version and Margin. "It was monstrous perversity to tread the law under foot in so conspicuous a place, over which the sun daily rising reminded them of the light of God's law."
3. The scene of their guilt is chosen as the scene of the denunciation against them.
kings—the king and queen (Jer 13:18); or including the king's counsellors and governors under him.
tingle—as if struck by a thunder peal (1Sa 3:11; 2Ki 21:12).
4. (Isa 65:11).
estranged this place—devoted it to the worship of strange gods: alienating a portion of the sacred city from God, the rightful Lord of the temple, city, and whole land.
nor their fathers—namely, the godly among them; their ungodly fathers God makes no account of.
blood of innocents—slain in honor of Molech (Jer 7:31; Ps 106:37).
5. commanded not—nay, more, I commanded the opposite (Le 18:21; see Jer 7:31, 32).
6. no more … Tophet—from Hebrew, toph, "drum"; for in sacrificing children to Molech drums were beaten to drown their cries. Thus the name indicated the joy of the people at the fancied propitiation of the god by this sacrifice; in antithesis to its joyless name subsequently.
valley of slaughter—It should be the scene of slaughter, no longer of children, but of men; not of "innocents" (Jer 19:4), but of those who richly deserved their fate. The city could not be assailed without first occupying the valley of Hinnom, in which was the only fountain: hence arose the violent battle there.
7. make void the counsel—defeat their plans for repelling the enemy (2Ch 32:1-4; Isa 19:3; 22:9, 11). Or their schemes of getting help by having recourse to idols [Calvin].
in this place—The valley of Hinnom was to be the place of the Chaldean encampment; the very place where they looked for help from idols was to be the scene of their own slaughter.
8. (See on Jer 18:16).
9. (De 28:53; La 4:10).
10. break … bottle—a symbolical action, explained in Jer 19:11.
the men—the elders of the people and of the priests (Jer 19:1; compare Jer 51:63, 64).
11. as one breaketh a potter's vessel—expressing God's absolute sovereignty (Jer 18:6; Ps 2:9; Isa 30:14, Margin; La 4:2; Ro 9:20, 21).
cannot be made whole again—A broken potter's vessel cannot be restored, but a new one may be made of the same material. So God raised a new Jewish seed, not identical with the destroyed rebels, but by substituting another generation in their stead [Grotius].
no place to bury—(Jer 7:32).
12. make this city as Tophet—that is, as defiled with dead bodies as Tophet.
13. shall be defiled—with dead bodies (Jer 19:12; 2Ki 23:10).
because of all the houses—Rather, (explanatory of the previous "the houses … and … houses"), "even all the houses," &c. [Calvin].
roofs—being flat, they were used as high places for sacrifices to the sun and planets (Jer 32:29; 2Ki 23:11, 12; Zep 1:5). The Nabateans, south and east of the Dead Sea, a nation most friendly to the Jews, according to Strabo, had the same usage.
14. court of the Lord's house—near Tophet; the largest court, under the open air, where was the greatest crowd (2Ch 20:5).
15. her towns—the suburban villages and towns near Jerusalem, such as Bethany.