Jeremiah 14:10 - Exposition

Thus have they loved to wander, … therefore the Lord doth not accept them; i.e. with such pertinacity have they been set upon "wandering" (roving lawlessly about), that the Lord hath no more pleasure in them. "Therefore," is, literally, and . "Thus," or "so," is used in the same sense as in 1 Kings 10:12 , which runs literally, " … there came not so [abundantly] among timber." The particle of comparison has given much occupation to the commentators (see Payne Smith's note), but the above view is at once simple and suitable to the context; for Jeremiah has already admitted that "our backslidings are multiplied" (verse 7). The Lord doth not , etc . (to the end of the verse), is quoted verbatim from Hosea 8:13 . Jeremiah puts conspicuous honor on the older inspired writers; he has no craving for originality. Nearly all has been said already; what he has to do is chiefly to adapt and to apply, He will now remember , etc. The emphasis is on "now" Nothing is more remarkable in the prophets than the stress laid on the unerring justness of the time chosen for Divine interpositions. When the iniquity is fully ripe, it as it were attracts the punishment, which till then is laid up in store (comp. Genesis 15:16 ; Isaiah 18:5 ; Isaiah 33:10 ).