3 And Jehovah saith unto me, `What art thou seeing, Jeremiah?' and I say, `Figs, the good figs `are' very good, and the bad `are' very bad, that are not eaten for badness.'
And He saith, `What art thou seeing, Amos?' and I say, `A basket of summer-fruit.' And Jehovah saith unto me: `The end hath come unto My people Israel, I do not add any more to pass over to it.
And there is a word of Jehovah unto me, saying, `What art thou seeing, Jeremiah?' And I say, `A rod of an almond tree I am seeing.' And Jehovah saith unto me, `Thou hast well seen: for I am watching over My word to do it.' And there is a word of Jehovah unto me a second time, saying, `What art thou seeing?' And I say, `A blown pot I am seeing, and its face `is' from the north.' And Jehovah saith unto me, `From the north is the evil loosed against all inhabitants of the land.
and gathered together before him shall be all the nations, and he shall separate them from one another, as the shepherd doth separate the sheep from the goats, and he shall set the sheep indeed on his right hand, and the goats on the left.
Formerly in Israel, thus said the man in his going to seek God, `Come and we go unto the seer,' for the `prophet' of to-day is called formerly `the seer.'
And the messenger who is speaking with me goeth forth, and saith unto me, `Lift up, I pray thee, thine eyes, and see what `is' this that is coming forth?' And I say, `What `is' it?' And he saith, `This -- the ephah that is coming forth.' And he saith, `This `is' their aspect in all the land. And lo, a cake of lead lifted up; and this `is' a woman sitting in the midst of the ephah.' And he saith, `This `is' the wicked woman.' And he casteth her unto the midst of the ephah, and casteth the weight of lead on its mouth. And I lift up mine eyes, and see, and lo, two women are coming forth, and wind in their wings; and they have wings like wings of the stork, and they lift up the ephah between the earth and the heavens. And I say unto the messenger who is speaking with me, `Whither `are' they causing the ephah to go?' And he saith unto me, `To build to it a house in the land of Shinar.' And it hath been prepared and hath been placed there on its base.
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.