Jeremiah 40:10 - Exposition

To serve the Chaldeans; rather, to stand before the Chaldeans (so literally); i.e. to mediate between you and them (comp. Jeremiah 15:1 ). Gather ye wine, etc. It was the fifth or sixth month (comp. Jeremiah 41:1 ; 2 Kings 25:8 ), the end of July or the beginning of August, when grapes, figs, and olives become ripe. Observe, "wine" is here the wine in the grape; the Hebrew yayin seems originally to have meant a cluster of grapes, like the corresponding word ( wain ) in Arabic (comp. on Jeremiah 48:33 ). That ye have taken; rather, that ye shall have taken. (The "captains" had up to this time been in the open country, Jeremiah 40:7 .)