Jeremiah 13:23 NIV

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 13:22-27

Here is, I. Ruin threatened as before, that the Jews shall go into captivity, and fall under all the miseries of beggary and bondage, shall be stripped of their clothes, their skirts discovered for want of upper garments to cover them, and their heels made bare for want of shoes, Jer. 13:22. Thus they used to deal with prisoners taken in war, when they drove them into captivity, naked and barefoot, Isa. 20:4. Being thus carried off into a strange country, they shall be scattered there, as the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin ?.... Or, "the Cushite"; either, as the Arabic version, the "Abyssine", the inhabitant of the eastern Ethiopia; properly an Ethiopian, as the Septuagint and Vulgate Latin versions render it; or, the "Chusean Arabian"; the inhabitant of Arabia Chusea, which was nearer Judea than the other Ethiopia, and better known, and which were of a dark complexion. The Targum renders it, the Indian; and so does the Syriac version. In the Misna F9 Yoma, c. 3. sect 7. ... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 13:23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin - Can a black, at his own pleasure, change the color of his skin? Can the leopard at will change the variety of his spots? These things are natural to them, and they cannot be altered; so sin, and especially your attachment to idolatry, is become a second nature; and we may as well expect the Ethiopian to change his skin, and the leopard his spots, as you to do good, who have been accustomed to do evil. It is a matter of the utmost difficulty to get a... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 13:23

Verse 23 God declares in this verse, that the people were so hardened in their wickedness, that there was no hope of their repentance. This is the sum of what is said. But it was a very bitter reproof for the Prophet to say that his own nation were past hope — that they had so entirely given themselves up to their vices that they were no longer healable. But he uses a comparison, — Can the Ethiopian, (94) he says, change his skin? Blackness is inherent in the skin of the Ethiopians, as it is... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:1-27

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

The Ethiopian's skin and the leopard's spots. I. SIN BECOMES INHERENT IN THE NATURE OF MEN . The black of the Ethiopian's skin and the spots of the leopard are natural. Sin is , of course, originally unnatural. Yet it is so engrafted into the very life of men that it becomes part of their nature. 1. Men inherit tendencies to evil; e . g . the child of the drunkard is likely to feel strong temptation to intemperance, etc. We are not to blame for what we... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

Moral helplessness: how induced. I. THE EXTENT TO WHICH IT MAY GO . The metaphors employed are intended to illustrate the difficulty of getting rid of that which has become a part of one's self, or which has become natural to one. It is evident that superficial means would never produce the effect supposed, because that which seems to be superficial has really its root in the nature, and would be reproduced similarly in place of that which was removed. The doctrine is that... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

An awful condition indeed. "Can the Ethiopian change his skin," etc.? This verse tells of one who as brought himself to such a pass that he cannot cease from sin. It is an awful condition indeed. Note— I. SOME OF THE ELEMENTS WHICH MAKE IT SO . They are: 1. The memories of a better past . There was a time when his soul was unsullied, his hands clean, his heart pure, his life unstained; when he could hold up his head in conscious integrity by the grace of God.... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

A moral impossibility. This passage expresses the hopelessness of the prophet as regards the success of any human effort to persuade the people to forsake their evil ways, or by any efforts of their own to save themselves. It suggests— I. THE INVETERACY OF SIN . 1. Arising from the depravity of nature . The dark spots and the ebon skin have a hidden cause. Sins are the natural outcome of sin. All forms of wrong-doing are but symptoms on the surface of a secret moral... read more

Spence, H. D. M., etc.

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

A natural impossibility. I. THE NATURAL IMPOSSIBILITY HERE PRESENTED . It is a profound and momentous truth, God himself being the witness—the heart-searching God—that man who is accustomed to do evil cannot turn to good. This truth is not baldly stated here, but is illustrated in such a way that there can be no possible doubt as to God's meaning. Observe that the impossibility referred to is a natural one. It is not said that under no circumstances whatever can a man... read more

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 13:22-27

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 13:23

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 13:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:1-27

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

The Pulpit Commentary - Jeremiah 13:23

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