Jeremiah 12:1 - Exposition

Painfully exercised by the mysteries of the Divine government, the prophet opens his grief to Jehovah. Righteous art thou, etc.; rather, Righteous wouldest thou be , O Jehovah , if I should plead with thee ; i.e. if I were to bring a charge against thee, I should be unable to convict thee of injustice (comp. Psalms 51:4 ; Job 9:2 ). The prophet, however, cannot refrain from laying before Jehovah a point which seems to him irreconcilable with the Divine righteousness. The rendering, indeed, must be modified. Let me talk with thee of thy judgments should rather be, yet will I debate questions of right with thee . The questions remind us of those of Job in Job 21:1-34 ; Job 24:1-25 . Thus to have been the recipient of special Divine revelations, and to be in close communion with God, gives no security against the occasional ingress of doubting thoughts and spiritual distress. Wherefore are all they happy , etc.? rather, secure. The statement must be qualified by what follows. In the general calamity the wicked still fare the best.