Jeremiah 12

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

Arno Clemens Gaebelein

Arno Gaebelein's Annotated Bible - Jeremiah 12:1-17

CHAPTER 12 The Prophet’s Prayer and the House Forsaken, Yet Compassion 1. The prophet’s prayer (Jeremiah 12:1-6 ) 2. The house forsaken, yet compassion (Jeremiah 12:7-17 ) Jeremiah 12:1-6 . In his outburst of grief and in great mental perplexity Jeremiah states the old question, why does the righteous man suffer, why does the wicked prosper? And then the prayer for His intervention. Such will be again the case with the godly remnant in the end of this present age. They will suffer and be... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Jeremiah 12:1

12:1 {a} Righteous [art] thou, O LORD, when I plead with thee: yet let me speak with thee of [thy] judgments: Why doth the way of the wicked {b} prosper? [why] are they all happy that deal very treacherously?(a) The prophet confesses God to be just in all his doings, although man is not able to give a reason for all his actions.(b) This question has been always a great temptation to the godly, to see the wicked enemies of God in prosperity, and his dear children in adversity, as in Job 21:7,... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Jeremiah 12:2

12:2 Thou hast planted them, yea, they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth fruit: thou [art] near in their mouth, and far from their {c} reins.(c) They profess God in mouth, but deny him in heart, which is here meant by the reins, Isaiah 29:13, Matthew 15:8 . read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Jeremiah 12:3

12:3 But thou, O LORD, knowest me: thou hast seen me, and tried my heart toward thee: pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, and {d} prepare them for the day of slaughter.(d) The Hebrew word is "sanctify them", meaning that God would be sanctified in the destruction of the wicked to whom God for a while gives prosperity, that afterward they would the more feel his heavy judgment when they lack their riches which were a sign of his mercy. read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Jeremiah 12:4

12:4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell in it? the beasts are consumed, and the birds; because they said, {e} He shall not see our last end.(e) Abusing God’s leniency and his promises, they flattered themselves as though God would ever be merciful and not utterly destroy them therefore they hardened themselves in sin, till at length the beasts and insensible creatures felt the punishment of their stubborn rebellion against... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Jeremiah 12:5

12:5 If thou hast run with the {f} footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses? and [if] in the land of peace, [in which] thou didst trust, [they wearied thee], then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan?(f) Some think that God reproves Jeremiah, in that he would reason with him, saying that if he was not able to march with men, then he was far unable to dispute with God. Others, by the footmen mean them of Anathoth: and by the horsemen, them of Jerusalem... read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Jeremiah 12:7

12:7 I have forsaken {g} my house, I have left my heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.(g) God wills the prophet to denounce his judgments against Jerusalem, even though they will both by threatenings and flatteries labour to silence him. read more

John Calvin

Geneva Study Bible - Jeremiah 12:8

12:8 My heritage is to me as a {h} lion in the forest; it crieth out against me: therefore have I hated it.(h) Ever ranting and raging against me and my prophets. read more

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