Jeremiah 12:3

Joseph Benson's Commentary of the Old and New Testaments - Jeremiah 12:2-3

Jeremiah 12:2-3. Thou hast planted them In a rich soil, by thy power: they have taken root; they grow Their prosperity seems to be confirmed and settled by thy providence. Thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins They talk of thee, and profess piety, but do not believe in and obey thee from their hearts; the true character this of hypocrites, who, according to Isaiah, honour God with their mouths, but their hearts are far from him, Isaiah 29:13. But thou, O Lord, knowest... read more

Donald C. Fleming

Bridgeway Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 12:1-17

Jeremiah’s complaint; God’s answer (12:1-17)As he thinks back on the treachery of the people of Anathoth, Jeremiah is prompted to complain to God. Innocent people suffer, whereas wicked people live at ease. Why is it, he asks, that God allows the wicked to prosper? God gives them life and food, and they grow fat and prosperous, though their hearts are far from God (12:1-2). Jeremiah, by contrast, remains true to God, yet he suffers. Indeed, the whole land suffers because of the sins of people... read more

E.W. Bullinger

E.W. Bullinger's Companion Bible Notes - Jeremiah 12:3

prepare = separate, or devote. read more

Thomas Coke

Thomas Coke Commentary on the Holy Bible - Jeremiah 12:3

Jeremiah 12:3. Pull them out, &c.— Thou wilt separate them as sheep to be sacrificed, and set them apart, &c. Houbigant. read more

Robert Jamieson; A. R. Fausset; David Brown

Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible - Jeremiah 12:3

3. knowest me— ( :-). tried . . . heart— ( :-). toward thee—rather, "with Thee," that is, entirely devoted to Thee; contrasted with the hypocrites (Jeremiah 12:2), "near in . . . mouth, and far from . . . reins." This being so, how is it that I fare so ill, they so well? pull . . . out—containing the metaphor, from a "rooted tree" (Jeremiah 12:2- :). prepare—literally, "separate," or "set apart as devoted." day of slaughter— (Jeremiah 12:2- :). read more

Thomas Constable

Expository Notes of Dr. Thomas Constable - Jeremiah 12:3

The Lord knew that Jeremiah’s attitude toward Him was entirely different than those hypocrites. The prophet prayed that the Lord would drag them off to punishment like sheep going to the slaughter (cf. Jeremiah 11:19). He prayed that God would reserve them for special destruction, as He had set Jeremiah apart for his ministry (Jeremiah 1:5). read more

John Dummelow

John Dummelow's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 12:1-17

1-4. The prosperity of the wicked perplexes Jeremiah.1. Wherefore, etc.] The question was one which much exercised men of pre-Christian times who had no clear view of any but temporal rewards and punishments. See Psalms 37, 39, 49, 73, and Job (specially Jeremiah 21:7) The plots of his fellow-townsmen at Anathoth (see Jeremiah 11) were probably the occasion of this outburst of Jeremiah’s. 2. Near in their mouth, etc.] They honour God with their lips but their heart is far from Him. 4. A drought... read more

Charles John Ellicott

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers - Jeremiah 12:3

(3) Thou, O Lord, knowest me.—Like all faithful sufferers from evil-doers before and after him, the prophet appeals to the righteous Judge, who knows how falsely he has been accused. In words in which the natural impatience of suffering shows itself as clearly as in the complaints of Psalms 69, 109, he asks that the judgment may be immediate, open, terrible. As if recalling the very phrase which he had himself but lately used (Jeremiah 11:19), he prays that they too may be as “sheep for the... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Dictionary of Texts - Jeremiah 12:1-17

Trivial Trouble Jeremiah 12:5 The proof that so many of us have little real trouble is found in the fact that we so piercingly bewail trifling losses and pains; were the distresses more acute, we should say less about them. I. The habit of pampering ourselves shows how far we have lost sight of the seriousness of life. The sacramental host of God has ever been prepared to accept great losses and sufferings for the high rewards it contemplates. 'The noble army of martyrs' is the glory of God's... read more

William Nicoll

Expositor's Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 12:1-17

CHAPTER VIITHE BROKEN COVENANTJeremiah 11:1-23 and Jeremiah 12:1-17THERE is no visible break between these two chapters. They seem to summarise the history of a particular episode in the prophet’s career. At the same time, the style is so peculiar that it is not so easy as it might appear at a first glance to determine exactly what it is that the section has to tell us. When we come to take a closer look at it, we find a thoroughly characteristic mixture of direct narrative and soliloquy, of... read more

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