Jeremiah 12:9

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 12:7-13

The people of the Jews are here marked for ruin. I. God is here brought in falling out with them and leaving them desolate; and they could never have been undone if they had not provoked God to desert them. It is a terrible word that God here says (Jer. 12:7): I have forsaken my house?the temple, which had been his palace; they had polluted it, and so forced him out of it: I have left my heritage, and will look after it no more. His people that he has taken such delight in, and care of, are... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 12:9

Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird ,.... Or, "is not mine heritage unto me as a speckled bird?" F2 So V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Calvin, Jarchi, and Kimchi. as a bird of various colours, delightful to look at, as the peacock, so Jerom interprets it here; it was so formerly, but not so now; or as a bird of various colours, and unusual, which other birds get about, look on, hate, and peck at. Some think this refers to the motley party coloured religion the Jews had embraced,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 12:9

Is unto me as a speckled bird - A bird of divers colors. This is a people who have corrupted the worship of the true God with heathenish rites and ceremonies; therefore, the different nations, (see Jeremiah 12:10 ; whose gods and forms of worship they have adopted shall come and spoil them. As far as you have followed the surrounding nations in their worship, so far shall they prevail over your state. Every one shall take that which is his own; and wherever he finds his own gods, he will... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 12:9

Verse 9 The beginning of this verse is variously explained, Some think that a kind of bird is here meant, which has various colors, one variegated, which excites all other birds against itself; but this is without meaning. Others are of the opinion, and the greater part too, that birds tinged with blood were against his heritage. They hence thus explain the words, “Is a bird, tinged,” that is; with blood, “my heritage,” that is, about my heritage; “is there a bird around it? They consider both... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 12:7-11

The inheritance that has lost its charms. I. WE HAVE HERE REGRETFUL THOUGHTS OF THE PAST . We can see what the prophet once hoped and desired. Not only what he had hoped and desired in those dreams of youth before God had touched his heart and claimed the service of his lips, but also what he had hoped and desired since becoming a prophet. Dear as Anathoth with its inhabitants may have been before, it would become dearer still when he thought of impending calamities to... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 12:7-13

The hiding of God's face. Here is a most terrible condition of things set forth. It may be taken as telling of the calamities which ensue when God hides his face from his people. It is terrible every way. Because— I. OF HIM BY WHOM HIS FACE IS HIDDEN . It is God. We feel such conduct from our fellow-men according to our estimate of the person who manifests it. Now, all these facts which make the hiding of his face grievous to us meet in God—righteousness, goodness,... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 12:7-17

A separate prophecy. The key to it is in 2 Kings 24:1 , 2 Kings 24:2 , where it is related that, after Jehoiakim's rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, "Jehovah sent against him bands of the Chaldees, and bands of the Syrians, and bands of the Moabites, and bands of the children of Ammon, and sent them against Judah to destroy it." The prophecy falls into two strophes or sections, 2 Kings 24:7-13 and 2 Kings 24:14-17 . In the first we have a complaint of the desolation produced by the... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 12:9

The first part of this verse is mistranslated. Instead of Mine heritage is unto me , etc; it should be, Is mine heritage unto me ( i.e. to my sorrow, a dativus ethics ) a colored bird of prey? Are birds of prey round about her? The passage is difficult, but the following seems the most plausible explanation:—Jehovah is represented as surprised to see his chosen people a prey to the heathen (a strongly anthropomorphic description, as if Jehovah had not anticipated that his "giving up"... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 12:9

The speckled bird. A great preacher relates the following incident:—He says, "I had during my early ministry to preach one evening at a neighboring village, to which I had to walk. After reading and meditating all day, I could not meet with the right text. Do what I would, no response came from the sacred oracle, no light flashed from the Urim and Thummim. I prayed, I meditated, I turned from one verse to another; but the mind would not take hold, or I was, as John Bunyan would say, ' much... read more

Albert Barnes

Albert Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible - Jeremiah 12:7-9

Yahweh shows that the downfall of the nation was occasioned by no want of love on His part, but by the nation’s conduct.Left - More correctly, cast away.Jeremiah 12:8Judah has not merely refused obedience, but become intractable and fierce, like an untamed lion. It has roared against God with open blasphemy. As His favor is life, so is His hatred death, i. e., Jerusalem’s punishment shall be as if inflicted by one that hated her.Jeremiah 12:9Rather, “Is My heritage unto Me as a speckled bird?... read more

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