1The Word of Jehovah that came unto Jeremiah concerning the droughts. 2Judah mourns, and its gates languish. They mourn for the land, and the cry of Jerusalem has gone up. 3And their nobles have sent their little ones for water; they came to the cisterns, and found no water. They returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads. 4Because the ground is parched, for there was no rain on the earth, the plowmen were ashamed; they covered their heads. 5Yea, the doe also gave birth in the field and abandoned it, because there was no grass. 6And the wild asses stood in the high places; they sniffed at the wind like dragons; their eyes failed because there was no grass. 7O Jehovah, though our iniquities testify against us, work for Your name's sake; for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against You. 8O the Hope of Israel, its Savior in time of trouble, why should You be like a sojourner in the land, and like a traveler who turns aside to lodge for the night? 9Why should You be like a man astonished, as a mighty one who cannot save? Yet You, O Jehovah, are in our midst, and we are called by Your name. Do not leave us! 10Thus says Jehovah to this people: Thus they have loved to wander; they have not restrained their feet; therefore Jehovah does not accept them. He will now remember their iniquity and punish their sins. 11Then Jehovah said to me, Do not pray for this people for their good. 12When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and grain offering, I will not accept them. But I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence. 13Then I said, Ah, O Lord Jehovah! Behold, the prophets are saying to them, You shall not see the sword, nor shall you have famine; but I will give you sure peace in this place. 14And Jehovah said to me, The prophets prophesy lies in My name; I did not send them, nor have I commanded them, nor did I speak to them. They prophesy to you a false vision and a worthless divination, and a thing of no value, and the deceit of their heart. 15Therefore thus says Jehovah concerning the prophets who prophesy in My name, when I did not send them (yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land): by sword and famine those prophets shall be consumed. 16And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have no one to bury them; either them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters. For I will pour their evil upon them. 17Therefore you shall speak this word to them: Let my eyes run down with tears night and day, and do not let them cease. For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great break, with a sickening blow. 18If I go out into the field, then I see those killed with the sword! And if I enter into the city, then, behold, those that are sick from famine! Yes, both the prophet and the priest have gone up into a land that they do not know. 19Have You utterly rejected Judah? Has Your soul loathed Zion? Why have You stricken us such that there is no healing for us? We looked for peace, but no good came; and for the time of healing, and behold, terror! 20We acknowledge, O Jehovah, our wickedness, the iniquity of our fathers; for we have sinned against You. 21Do not abhor us; for Your name's sake do not disgrace the throne of Your glory; remember, do not break Your covenant with us. 22Are there any among the vain idols of the nations who can make it rain? Or can the heavens give showers? Is it not You, O Jehovah our God. Therefore we will wait upon You; for You have made all these things.
Jamieson Fausset Brown Bible Commentary 1 PROPHECIES ON THE OCCASION OF A DROUGHT SENT IN JUDGMENT ON JUDEA. (Jer. 14:1-22)
Literally, "That which was the word of Jehovah to Jeremiah concerning the dearth"
drought--literally, the "withholdings," namely, of rain (
Deut 11:17;
2Chr 7:13). This word should be used especially of the withholding of rain because rain is in those regions of all things the one chiefly needed (
Jer 17:8, Margin).
2 gates--The place of public concourse in each city looks sad, as being no longer frequented (
Isa 3:26;
Isa 24:4).
black--that is, they mourn (blackness being indicative of sorrow), (
Jer 8:21).
unto the ground--bowing towards it.
cry--of distress (
1Sam 5:12;
Isa 24:11).
3 little ones--rather, "their inferiors," that is, domestics.
pits--cisterns for collecting rain water, often met with in the East where there are no springs.
covered . . . heads-- (
2Sam 15:30). A sign of humiliation and mourning.
5 The brute creation is reduced to the utmost extremity for the want of food. The "hind," famed for her affection to her young, abandons them.
6 wild asses--They repair to "the high places" most exposed to the winds, which they "snuff in" to relieve their thirst.
dragons--jackals [HENDERSON].
eyes--which are usually most keen in detecting grass or water from the "heights," so much so that the traveller guesses from their presence that there must be herbage and water near; but now "their eyes fail." Rather the reference is to the great boas and python serpents which raise a large portion of their body up in a vertical column ten or twelve feet high, to survey the neighborhood above the surrounding bushes, while with open jaws they drink in the air. These giant serpents originated the widely spread notions which typified the deluge and all destructive agents under the form of a dragon or monster serpent; hence, the dragon temples always near water, in Asia, Africa, and Britain; for example, at Abury, in Wiltshire; a symbol of the ark is often associated with the dragon as the preserver from the waters [KITTO, Biblical Cyclopćdia].
7 do thou it--what we beg of Thee; interpose to remove the drought. Jeremiah pleads in the name of his nation (
Ps 109:21). So "work for us," absolutely used (
1Sam 14:6).
for thy name's sake--"for our backslidings are so many" that we cannot urge Thee for the sake of our doings, but for the glory of Thy name; lest, if Thou give us not aid, it should be said it was owing to Thy want of power (
Josh 7:9;
Ps 79:9;
Ps 106:8;
Isa 48:9;
Ezek 20:44). The same appeal to God's mercy, "for His name's sake," as our only hope, since our sin precludes trust in ourselves, occurs in
Ps 25:11.
8 The reference is, not to the faith of Israel which had almost ceased, but to the promise and everlasting covenant of God. None but the true Israel make God their "hope." (
Jer 17:13).
turneth aside to tarry--The traveller cares little for the land he tarries but a night in; but Thou hast promised to dwell always in the midst of Thy people (
2Chr 33:7-8). MAURER translates, "spreadeth," namely, his tent.
9 astonied--like a "mighty man," at other times able to help (
Isa 59:1), but now stunned by a sudden calamity so as to disappoint the hopes drawn from him.
art in the midst of us-- (
Exod 29:45-
Exod 29:46;
Lev 26:11-
Lev 26:12).
called by thy name-- (
Dan 9:18-
Dan 9:19) as Thine own peculiar people (
Deut 9:29).
10 Jehovah's reply to the prayer (
Jer 14:7-
Jer 14:9;
Jer 2:23-
Jer 2:25).
Thus--So greatly.
loved-- (
Jer 5:31).
not refrained . . . feet--They did not obey God's command; "withhold thy foot" (
Jer 2:25), namely, from following after idols.
remember . . . iniquity-- (
Hos 8:13;
Hos 9:9). Their sin is so great, God must punish them.
11 (
Jer 7:16;
Exod 32:10).
12 not hear--because their prayers are hypocritical: their hearts are still idolatrous. God never refuses to hear real prayer (
Jer 7:21-
Jer 7:22;
Pro 1:28;
Isa 1:15;
Isa 58:3).
sword . . . famine . . . pestilence--the three sorest judgments at once; any one of which would be enough for their ruin (
2Sam 24:12-13).
13 Jeremiah urges that much of the guilt of the people is due to the false prophets' influence.
assured peace--solid and lasting peace. Literally, "peace of truth" (
Isa 39:8).
14 (
Jer 23:21).
15 (
Jer 5:12-
Jer 5:13).
By sword and famine . . . consumed--retribution in kind both to the false prophets and to their hearers (
Jer 14:16).
16 none to bury-- (
Ps 79:3).
pour their wickedness--that is, the punishment incurred by their wickedness (
Jer 2:19).
17 (
Jer 9:1;
Lam 1:16). Jeremiah is desired to weep ceaselessly for the calamities coming on his nation (called a "virgin," as being heretofore never under foreign yoke), (
Isa 23:4).
18 go about--that is, shall have to migrate into a land of exile. HORSLEY translates, "go trafficking about the land (see
Jer 5:31, Margin;
2Cor 4:2;
2Pet 2:3), and take no knowledge" (that is, pay no regard to the miseries before their eyes) (
Isa 1:3;
Isa 58:3). If the sense of the Hebrew verb be retained, I would with English Version understand the words as referring to the exile to Babylon; thus, "the prophet and the priest shall have to go to a strange land to practise their religious traffic (
Isa 56:11;
Ezek 34:2-
Ezek 34:3;
Mic 3:11).
19 The people plead with God, Jeremiah being forbidden to do so.
no healing-- (
Jer 15:18).
peace . . . no good-- (
Jer 8:15).
20 (
Dan 9:8).
21 us--"the throne of Thy glory" may be the object of "abhor not" ("reject not"); or "Zion" (
Jer 14:19).
throne of thy glory--Jerusalem, or, the temple, called God's "footstool" and "habitation" (
1Chr 28:2;
Ps 132:5).
thy covenant-- (
Ps 106:45;
Dan 9:19).
22 vanities--idols (
Deut 32:21).
rain-- (
Zech 10:1-
Zech 10:2).
heavens--namely, of themselves without God (
Matt 5:45;
Acts 14:17); they are not the First Cause, and ought not to be deified, as they were by the heathen. The disjunctive "or" favors CALVIN'S explanation: "Not even the heavens themselves can give rain, much less can the idol vanities."
art not thou he--namely, who canst give rain?