Jeremiah 15:8 - Exposition

To me ; i.e. at my bidding. It is the dative of cause. Against the mother of the young men ; rather, upon … young man. The widow has lost her husband, the mother her son, so that no human power can repel the barbarous foe. The word rendered "young man" is specially used for "young warriors," e . g . Jeremiah 18:21 ; Jeremiah 49:26 ; Jeremiah 51:3 . Others following Rashi, take "mother" in the sense of "metropolis," or "chief city", in which case "young man" must be connected with the participle rendered "a spoiler;" but though the word has this sense in 2 Samuel 20:19 , it is there coupled with "city," so that no doubt can exist. Hero the prophet would certainly not have used the word in so unusual a sense without giving some guide to his meaning. The rendering adopted above has the support of Ewald, Hitzig, and Dr. Payne Smith. At noonday ; at the most unlooked-for moment (see on Jeremiah 6:4 ). I have caused him , etc.; rather, I have caused pangs and terrors to fall upon her suddenly .