Jeremiah 21:12
Ver. 12. O house of David, thus saith the Lord,.... This appellation is made use of to put them in mind of their descent, and to observe to them how much it became them to follow the example of so illustrious an ancestor, from whom they had the honour to descend; by doing judgment and justice as he did, 2Sa 8:15; or, otherwise, their being his seed would not secure them from ruin and destruction:
execute judgment in the morning; be at it early, and dispatch it speedily; show a hearty regard for it; prefer it to eating and drinking; and do not delay it to the prejudice of persons concerned. The power of judgment with the Jews belonged to the king; he was supreme judge in their courts; they judged, and were judged, the Jews say {q}; by whom judgment was executed in a morning, and not in any other part of the day; and the case judged ought, as they say, to be as clear as the morning {r}:and deliver [him that is] spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor; that had anything taken from him by force or fraud; that was either robbed or cheated of his substance; or was refused what he had lent to or entrusted another with; or was by any ways and means wronged and injured by another in his person or property. This suggests that things of this kind were not done, and were the reason why the Lord would deliver them up into the hands of their enemies, or cause his judgments to fall upon them:lest my fury go out like fire, and burn that none can quench [it]; or put a stop to it, by all their prayers and entreaties, or by all that they can say or do:because of the evil of your doings; it is a sad thing when princes set bad examples; it is highly provoking to God, whose deputies they are; and it becomes them to begin a reformation, and lead it on, or they cannot expect safety for themselves and their people.{q} T. Bab. Sanhedrin, fol. 19. 1. {r} Ib. fol. 7. 2. Jeremiah 21:13Ver. 13. Behold, I [am] against thee,.... Or, "behold, I unto thee" {s}; to be supplied either thus, "behold, I say unto thee" {t}; what follows; and therefore take notice of it, attend unto it: or, "behold, I come unto thee" {u}; who bid defiance to all their enemies to come near them, as in the latter part of the verse. The Targum is,"lo, I send my fury against thee;''and the phrase denotes the Lord's opposition to them; his setting himself against them, and coming out unto them in his great wrath:O inhabitant of the valley, [and] rock of the plain, saith the Lord; a description of Jerusalem; between the lower and higher part of which lay a valley, called Tyropaeon, which divided the two hills, on which the city was built {w}; yea, the whole city was on high, on a rock, and around it a valley or plain; and because it was built upon a rock, and fortified with hills and mountains, the inhabitants of it thought themselves safe and secure, and even impregnable; hence it follows:which say, who shall come down against us? who shall enter into our habitations? who of our neighbours dare to make a descent upon us? or are so weak and foolish as to attempt to break through our fortifications, natural and artificial, and enter into our houses, and take away our persons, and spoil us of our goods? we defy them.{s} Kyla ynnh "ecce ego ad te", Munster, Montanus. {t} "Ecce tibi dico", Strigelius; so Luther. {u} "Ecce ad te venio", Pagninus; so Kimchi. {w} Joseph. de Bello Jud. l. 5. c. 4. sect. 1. Jeremiah 21:14Ver. 14. But I will punish you according to the fruit of your doings,saith the Lord,.... The situation of their city, and the strength of its fortifications, however sufficient they might be thought to keep out an enemy from annoying them; yet it was impossible to hinder the Lord's coming among them, as he here threatens to do; and "visit" them, as the word signifies, in a way of wrath and justice, according to the demerit of their sins, expressed by "the fruit of their doings"; their punishment was the reward of their unrighteousness, the effect of their sinful practices; and, though this was dreadful and terrible, they could not but own it was just and equitable:and I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof; not in the forest of Lebanon, but in the city of Jerusalem; whose houses stood as thick as trees in a forest, and which many of them, at least the most stately, might be built or ceiled with cedars from Mount Lebanon and its forest; though some understand this of the cities and towns about Jerusalem; and so the Targum renders it, "in its cities"; and the Syriac version, "its towns"; but these seem rather meant in the following clause:and it shall devour all things round about it; the mountains and trees upon them, the cities and towns adjacent.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.