Jeremiah 9:17-20

Matthew Henry's Complete Commentary - Jeremiah 9:12-22

Two things the prophet designs, in these verses, with reference to the approaching destruction of Judah and Jerusalem:?1. To convince people of the justice of God in it, that they had by sin brought it upon themselves and that therefore they had no reason to quarrel with God, who did them no wrong at all, but a great deal of reason to fall out with their sins, which did them all this mischief. 2. To affect people with the greatness of the desolation that was coming, and the miserable effects... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 9:17

Thus saith the Lord of hosts, consider ye ,.... The punishment that was just coming upon them, as Kimchi; or the words that the Lord was about to say unto them; as follows: and call for the mourning women, that they may come ; the same with the "praeficae" among the Romans; persons that were sent for, and hired by, the relations of the dead, to raise up their mourning; and who, by their dishevelled hair, naked breasts, and beatings thereon, and mournful voice, and what they said in their... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 9:18

And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us ,.... Deliver out a mournful song, as the Arabic version; setting forth their miseries and distresses, and affecting their minds with them. The prophet puts himself among the people, as being a party concealed in their sufferings, and sympathizing with them, as well as to show the certainty of then and how soon they would be involved in them: that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters ; or balls of the... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 9:19

For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion ,.... Out of the fortress of Zion, out of the city of Jerusalem, which was thought to be inexpugnable, and could never be taken; but now a voice is heard out of that, deploring the desolation of it: how are we spoiled ? our houses destroyed, and we plundered of our substance: we are greatly confounded : filled with shame, on account of their vain confidence; thinking their city would never be taken, and they were safe in it: because we... read more

John Gill

John Gills Exposition of the Bible Commentary - Jeremiah 9:20

Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women ,.... Not the mourning women, but others who had lost their husbands and their children, and had just reason for real mourning; and therefore they are called upon to it, not only because they were more tenderhearted than men, as Kimchi observes; or because they were more attentive to the hearing of the word of God than men; but because of the paucity of men, such numbers being slain in the siege, and by the sword; and of the loss the women had... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 9:17

Call for the mourning women - Those whose office it was to make lamentations at funerals, and to bewail the dead, for which they received pay. This custom continues to the present in Asiatic countries. In Ireland this custom also prevails, which no doubt their ancestors brought from the east. I have often witnessed it, and have given a specimen of this elsewhere. See the note on Matthew 9:23 . The first lamentations for the dead consisted only in the sudden bursts of inexpressible grief,... read more

Adam Clarke

Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 9:20

Teach your daughters - This is not a common dirge that shall last only till the body is consigned to the earth; it must last longer; teach it to your children, that it may be continued through every generation, till God turn again your captivity. read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 9:17

Verse 17 In this passage, as in many others, the Prophet endeavors by a striking representation really to touch the hearts of his people, for he saw that they were extremely refractory, insensible, and secure. Since then the threatenings of God were either wholly despised, or had not sufficiently moved the hearts of the people, it was necessary to set forth God’s judgments as present. Therefore the Prophet gives a striking description of what takes place in times of mourning. At the same time... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 9:18

Verse 18 Let them, he says, take up for us a wailing, and let our eyes come down to tears, and let our eyelids flow down into waters These are hyperbolical words, and yet they do not exceed the intensehess of the coming vengeance: for it was not in vain that he said at the begSnning of the chapter, “Who will make my head waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears?” As then the greatness of the calamity could be expressed by no words, the Prophet was constrained to adopt these hyperbolical... read more

John Calvin

John Calvin's Commentary on the Bible - Jeremiah 9:19

Verse 19 We have said before, that when Jeremiah addressed the people in these words, they were still in a tolerably good condition, so that the king had confidence in his own resources; and his counsellors also thought that some aid would come to them from Egypt, and the people were likewise deceived. But the Prophet speaks of future events and points out as by the finger the evils which were as yet concealed from the view; for he could not otherwise teach with any authority, as he had to do... read more

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