Jeremiah 25:16
Ver. 16. And they shall drink, and be moved, and be mad,.... The judgments foretold shall come upon them, whether they will or not; which will have such effects upon them, as intoxicating liquor has on drunken persons; make them shake and tremble, and reel to and fro, and toss and tumble about, and behave like madmen:
because of the sword that I will send among them; this explains what is meant by the wine cup of fury, the sword of a foreign enemy that shall enter among them and destroy; and which would make them tremble, and be at their wits' end, like drunken and mad men. Jeremiah 25:17Ver. 17. Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand,.... In a visionary way, and did as he commanded, and prophesied as he directed him. The prophet was obedient to the heavenly vision, as became him:and made all the nations to drink, unto whom, the Lord had sent me; not that he travelled through each of the nations with a cup in his hand, as an emblem of what wrath would come upon them, and they should drink deep of; but this was done in vision, and also in prophecy; the prophet publishing the will of God, denouncing his judgments upon the nations, and declaring to them what would befall them. Jeremiah 25:18Ver. 18. [To wit], Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah,.... Which are mentioned first, because God's judgments began with them, as they usually do with the house of God, 1Pe 4:17; and even now began; for this very year, in which this prophecy was delivered, Nebuchadnezzar came up and besieged Jerusalem, and carried away some captives, Da 1:1; this was the beginning of what afterwards were more fully executed:and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof: the Kings Jehoiakim, Jeconiah, and Zedekiah, with those of their families, the princes of the blood, and their nobles:to make them a desolation, an astonishment, an hissing, and a curse; to strip them of their crowns and kingdom, of their wealth, and riches, and honour, and bring them into slavery and bondage; so that they became an astonishment to some, to see the change that was made in them; and were hissed stand cursed by others:(as [it is] this day); which is added, either because of the certainty of it, or because it began to take, place this very year; though more fully in Jeconiah's time, and still more in Zedekiah's; or rather this clause might be added by Jeremiah after the captivity; or by Baruch, or by Ezra, or whoever collected his prophecies, and put them into one volume, as Jer 52:1 seems to be added by another hand. Jeremiah 25:19Ver. 19. Pharaoh king of Egypt,.... Who is mentioned first after the kings of Judah; not only because the Jews were in alliance with Egypt, and trusted to them; and therefore this is observed, to show the vanity of their confidence and dependence; but because the judgments of God first took place on the king of Egypt; for in this very year, in which this prophecy was delivered, Pharaohnecho king of Egypt was smitten by Nebuchadnezzar, Jer 46:2; though the prophecy had a further accomplishment in Pharaohhophra, who was given into the hands of his enemies, as foretold, Jer 44:30;and his servants, and his princes, and all his people; his menial servants, his domestics, and his nobles and peers of the realm, and all his subjects. It expresses an utter destruction of the kingdom of Egypt; and the particulars of it may be the rather given, to show the vain trust of the Jews in that people. Jeremiah 25:20Ver. 20. And all the mingled people,.... Not the Arabians, who are mentioned afterwards, Jer 25:24; but rather a mixed people in the land of Egypt, such as came out of it along with the Israelites; or were near it, and bordered upon it, as the Targum; which renders it, all the bordering kings; or rather a mixture of people of different nations that dwelt by the sea coasts, either the Mediterranean, or the Red sea, as others think:and all the kings of the land of Uz; not the country of Job, called by the Greeks Ausitis, as the Vulgate Latin version; but rather a country of Idumea, so called from Uz the son of Dishan, the son of Seir, La 4:21;and all the kings of the land of the Philistines; the petty kings of it, called the lords of the Philistines elsewhere, who were great enemies to the people of the Jews: the prophecy of their destruction is in forty seventh chapter, and whose principal cities are next mentioned:and Ashkelon, and Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod; of Ashkelon, and the sword in it, and ruin, see Jer 47:5. "Azzah" is the same with Gaza, whose destruction is also foretold in Jer 47:1; see Ac 8:26; "Ekron" was another of the cities of the Philistines; see 1Sa 5:10; and "Ashdod" is the same with Azotus, another of their cities, Ac 8:40; called "the remnant of Ashdod", because the remains only of a once very strong and fortified place; but was so weakened and wasted by Psammiticus, king of Egypt, in a blockade of it, for the space of nine and twenty years {k}, before he took it, that when he had got in it, it was but as the carcass of a city, to what it was before {l}.{k} Herodot. l. 2. c. 157. {l} Vid. Prideaux, Connexion, part 1. B. 1. p. 34. Jeremiah 25:21Ver. 21. Edom, and Moab, and the children of Ammon. All well known and implacable enemies of Israel. The Edomites descended from Esau; and the Moabites and Ammonites from Moab and Ammon, the two sons of Lot by his daughters. Their destruction is prophesied of in the forty eighth and forty ninth chapters. Jeremiah 25:22Ver. 22. And all the kings of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon,.... Two very ancient cities in Phoenicia, frequently mentioned together in Scripture, being near each other. Their ruin is foretold in Jer 47:4;and the kings of the isles which [are] beyond the sea; which some understand of Greece and Italy; others of Rhodes, Cyprus, and Crete, and other islands in the Mediterranean sea; the Cyclades, as Jerom: but the words may be rendered, "and the kings of the country by the seaside"; and may design those that dwell upon the coast of the Mediterranean sea. Jeremiah 25:23Ver. 23. Dedan, and Tema, and Buz,.... These seem to be places in Edom or Idumea, of whose destruction Jeremiah prophesies in Jer 49:7; or rather in Arabia and Mesopotamia. Jerom reckons them among the Ishmaelites and Saracens, The persons from whom they descended are mentioned in Ge 22:21;and all [that are] in the utmost corners; that is, either of the above countries, or of the whole earth: or "all that had their hair shorn" {m}; or the corners of their beards; which Jerom says is applicable to the Saracens.{m} hap yuwuq lk "universis qui attonsi sunt in comam", V. L. "barbitonsis", Syr. Jeremiah 25:24Ver. 24. And all the kings of Arabia,.... Of Arabia Petraea;and all the kings of the mingled people that dwell in the desert; the other Arabians or mixed people, that dwell in Arabia Deserta, as the Scenites, Nomades, Kedarenes, and others; and so the Targum,"and all the kings of the Arabians, that dwell in tents in the desert.''Of these, see the prophecy in Jer 49:28. Jeremiah 25:25Ver. 25. And all the kings of Zimri,.... Of Arabia Felix, so called from Zimran, a son of Abraham by Keturah, Ge 25:2; the same whom Pliny {n} calls Zamerenes;and all the kings of Elam; or Persia; who are prophesied against in Jer 49:34;and all the kings of the Medes; who commonly go together with the Persians.{n} Nat. Hist. I. 6. c. 28. Jeremiah 25:26Ver. 26. And all the kings of the north, far and near, one with another,.... That were on the north of Judea, the kings of Syria, and those that were near to the kingdom of Babylon, whether more remote from Judea, or nearer it and which joined one another in that part of the world;and all the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the earth; the whole Babylonian monarchy, called the whole world; as the Roman empire afterwards was, Lu 2:1;and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them; or the king of Babylon, as the Targum; and that Babylon is meant by "Sheshach" is certain from Jer 51:41; but why it is so called is not so easy to say. The Jewish writers make it to be the same with Babylon, by a change of the letters in the alphabet, put in such a situation, which they call "Athbash", in which "shin" is put for "beth", and "caph" for "lamed"; and so, instead of Babel or Babylon, you have "Sheshach", which is thought to be used rather than Babylon, that Nebuchadnezzar, now besieging Jerusalem, might not be irritated: but others take it to be the name of an idol of the Babylonians, from whence the city was called, which is not improbable; for, as Hillerus {o} has observed, their god Bel and Sheshach signify the same thing. Bel is the same as Behal, "swift"; and "Sheshach" may be derived from the Arabic word which signifies "to move swiftly" {p}; and may both be names of the sun, worshipped by the Chaldeans, so called from the swiftness of its motion. Now in Babylon stood the temple of Bel or Sheshach, and so might have its name from thence: and it may be further observed, what has been by others, that the Babylonians had a public festival, like the Saturnalia of the Romans, which held five days, and was called Sacchoea or Shace, as is supposed from their god Shach, to whom it was kept: to which may be added, that Mishael had the name of Meshach given him in Babylon; "Shach", in the one, answering to "El" in the other; which signifies God, Da 1:7. Shach is used for a king or prince in the Persic language to this day. And now the king of Sheshach or Babylon must drink of the cup, or be punished last of all; who was the instrument of destroying most of the rest, yet should not go unpunished.{o} Onomastic. Sacr. p. 596, 597, 598, 611. {p} , "celer fuit, celeriter processit", Golius, col. 2676. Jeremiah 25:27Ver. 27. Therefore thou shalt say unto them,.... To the several nations before mentioned, prophesied against:thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; the Lord of armies, above and below, the Sovereign of the whole universe; but in a special and peculiar manner the God of Israel:drink ye, and be drunken, and spew, and fall, and rise no more; as is sometimes the case of drunken men; they drink till they are quite intoxicated; and become drunk, and then they spew up what they have drunk; and, attempting to walk, fall, and sometimes so as never to rise more; not only break their bones, but their necks, or fall into places where they are suffocated, or in one or other, where they lose their lives. So it is signified, that these nations should drink of the cup of God's wrath and fury; or his judgments should come upon them in such a manner as that they should be obliged to part with all their riches, power, and authority; and should fall and sink into such a ruinous condition, as that they should never be able to the more to a prosperous one:because of the sword that I will send among you; by which they should be destroyed. The Targum joins this with the preceding clause, thus,"and ye shall not rise from before those that kill with the sword, whom I send among you.'' Jeremiah 25:28Ver. 28. And it shall be, if they refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink,.... To give credit to the prophecies of ruin and destruction delivered by the prophet, but say, these things shall not be:then shalt thou say unto them, thus saith the Lord of hosts, ye shall certainly drink; or those judgments shall certainly be inflicted; there will be no possibility of escaping, whether they were believed or not; or how unwilling soever they were to believe the denunciations of them, or to have them come upon them; yet assuredly so it would be; for thus saith the Lord of hosts, who is omnipotent, and does what he pleases in the armies of heaven, and among the inhabitants of the earth, over whom he has a despotic power and government, Jeremiah 25:29Ver. 29. For, lo, I begin to bring evil upon the city which is called by my name,.... Jerusalem, the city of God, the holy city, where his name was called upon, and he was worshipped; on this he would first bring down his judgments; and indeed he had already begun to bring evil on it; for this very year Nebuchadnezzar came up to besiege it, and carried some away captives:and should ye be utterly unpunished? or could they expect to go free from punishment, who had so grossly sinned, and were guilty of such abominable idolatries, and had been the means of drawing in the people of God into the same; and therefore, since the professing people of God, who had been drawn in by their examples, were punished, they could not, they ought not, to think of escaping. See the like argument in Lu 23:31;ye shall not be unpunished; or cleared, or acquitted, or go free; but made instances and examples of vindictive justice:for I will call for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth,saith the Lord of hosts; or I will call them that kill with the sword, as the Targum; who will obey the call, answer to it, and come forth and slay the inhabitants of the earth, and none shall escape. Jeremiah 25:30Ver. 30. Therefore prophesy thou against them all these words, and say unto them,.... What follows, as well as declare all that is before spoken concerning the cup of fury all nations must drink of:the Lord shall roar from on high: from, heaven, like a lion, in violent claps of thunder; or in such dreadful dispensations of his providence, as will be very amazing and terrifying:and utter his voice from his holy habitation; from heaven, as before; and though it will be terrible, yet quite consistent with his holiness and justice:he shall mightily roar upon his habitation; the temple at Jerusalem, where he had his residence; but now should be deserted by him, and feel the effects of his wrath in the destruction and desolation of it: or rather, since the address is made to the nations of the world, and not to the Jews, it may be rendered, "in" or "out of his habitation" {q}; and so designs heaven, as before; and all these expressions are intended to show both the certainty and terribleness of the dispensation;he shall give a shout, as they that tread [the grapes], against all the inhabitants of the earth; or, "answer a shout" {r}; give the onset for battle against the inhabitants of the earth, as the general of an army; which is accompanied with a shout, like that which is made by workmen treading in the wine press, to encourage one another to go on the more cheerfully in their work.{q} whwn le "in habitaculo suo", Junius & Tremellius; "vel [ex habitaculo]", Gataker, Schmidt. {r} hney ddyh "heded respondebit", Schmidt; "celeusma respondebit", Gataker. Jeremiah 25:31Ver. 31. A noise shall come up [even] to the ends of the earth,.... Wars, and rumours of wars, everywhere, till the cup has gone round, and all nations have drank of it, and have felt the power of divine wrath for their sins:for the Lord hath a controversy with the nations; will enter into a judicial process with them; will litigate the point with them, and try it openly; that it may be seen who is in the right, and who in the wrong:he will plead with all flesh; or enter into judgment with them, as Kimchi; or reprove them in judgment, as Jarchi; he will be too many for them; he will carry his case, overcome them in judgment, and reprove and condemn them. Or the words may be rendered, "he will be judged by all flesh" {s}; he will submit it to the judgment of the whole world, if it is not a righteous thing in him to do what he is about to do, and will do; he will make it clear and manifest that he does nothing unjustly, but all according to the strict rules of justice and equity:he will give them [that are] wicked to the sword, saith the Lord; to be destroyed by it, and none but them; and seeing they are such that deserve it, he is not to be charged with unrighteousness in so doing.{s} rvb lkl awh jpvn "judicium subibit ipse cum omni carne", Tigurine version. Jeremiah 25:32Ver. 32. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation,.... Begin in one nation, and then go on to another; first in Judea, and then in Egypt; and so on, like a catching distemper, or like fire that first consumes one house, and then another; and thus shall the cup go round from nation to nation, before prophesied of: thus, beginning at Judea, one nation after another was destroyed by the king of Babylon; then he and his monarchy were destroyed by the Medes and Persians; and then they by the Macedonians; and then the Greeks by the Romans;and a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth; or "from the sides of [it]" {t}; that is, "from the ends of [it]"; as the Targum, which paraphrases it,"and many people shall come openly from the ends of the earth;''this was first verified in the Chaldean army under Nebuchadnezzar, compared to a whirlwind, Jer 4:13; and then in the Medes and Persians under Cyrus; and after that in the Greeks under Alexander; the great and last of all in the Romans under Titus Vespasian.{t} Ura ytkrym "a lateribus terrae", Schmidt; "a finibus terrae", Vatablus. Jeremiah 25:33Ver. 33. And the slain of the Lord,.... Slain by his permission, yea, by his orders, according to his will, in his wrath and sore displeasure, and to glorify his vindictive justice:shall be at that day from [one] end of the earth even unto the [other] end of the earth; not that this should be at one and the same time; for there never was such a time, that there was such a general slaughter in the world, that the slain should reach from one end to the other; but that within the dispensation, in which the cup should go round to all nations, meant by "that day", the slain of the Lord would be in all parts of the world; or that, according to his will, there would be a great slaughter everywhere, as the cup went round, or the sword was sent, first ravaging one country, and then another;they shall not be lamented; having no pity from their enemies; and as for their friends, they will share the same rite with them; so that there will be none to mourn over them:neither gathered; taken up from the field of battle where they fall; but, where they should fall, there they should lie; none gathering up their bodies or bones, in order for interment:nor buried; in the sepulchres of their fathers, nor indeed in any place, or in any manner; as not in any grand and magnificent manner, so not so much as in a common way;they shall be dung upon the ground; spread upon it, and lie above it, as dung, to manure the earth. Jeremiah 25:34Ver. 34. Howl, ye shepherds, and cry,.... The Targum is,"howl, ye kings, and cry;''and the rulers and governors of the nations before threatened with destruction are meant; who are here called upon to lamentation and mourning for the ruin and loss of their kingdoms; though Calvin thinks that this is an apostrophe to the Jewish nation, and the rulers of it. It is no uncommon thing in Scripture to call kings and civil magistrates shepherds; see Jer 23:1;and wallow yourselves [in the ashes], ye principal of the flock; or "roll yourselves [in dust]", as a token of mourning; as being in the utmost distress, and incapable of helping themselves, and redressing the grievances of their people; and therefore lie down and tumble about as in the greatest anxiety and trouble, the Targum is,"cover your heads with ashes, ye mighty of the people;''meaning those who were in the highest posts of honour and profit; the chief as to authority and power, riches and wealth;for the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions are accomplished; the time is come when they who were the fat of the flock, and were nourished up for slaughter, should be slain. The allusion to shepherds and sheep is still kept up; and such who should escape that, should be scattered up and down the world, as a flock of sheep is by the wolf, or any other beast of prey, when some are seized and devoured, and others dispersed; and this was not the case of the Jews only, but of other nations in their turn;and ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel; a vessel of worth and value, and so desirable; as vessels of glass, of gems, or of earth, as of Venice glass, of alabaster, of China; which when they fall and are broken, become useless, and are irreparable; signifying hereby, that their desirableness and excellency would not secure them from destruction, and that their ruin would be irretrievable. Jeremiah 25:35Ver. 35. And the shepherds shall have no way to flee,.... Or, "and flight shall perish from the shepherds" {u}; though they may attempt it, they shall not be able to accomplish it; neither the dignity of their persons, the greatness of their power, or the abundance of their riches, would make a way for them; their enemies being so numerous, powerful, and watchful:nor the principal of the flock to escape; this was particularly verified in Zedekiah and his princes, Jer 39:4. The Targum is,"and the house of fugitives shall perish from the kings, and deliverance from the mighty of the people.''{u} Myerh Nm ownm dbaw "et peribit fuga a pastoribus", V. L. "effugiumperibit", Schmidt; "perfugium", Cocceius. Jeremiah 25:36Ver. 36. And a voice of the cry of the shepherds,.... Or of the kings, as the Targum:and an howling of the principal of the flock, [shall be heard]; of the mighty of the people, as the same; what is before called for is here represented as in fact, because of the certainty of it:for the Lord hath spoiled their pastures: their kingdoms, provinces, cities, and towns; or their people, as the Targum, among whom they lived, and by whom they were supported; still keeping up the metaphor of the shepherd and flock. This the Lord is said to do because he suffered it to be done, yea, ordered it to be done, as a punishment for their sins. Jeremiah 25:37Ver. 37. And the peaceable habitations are cut down,.... Or, "their peaceable ones", as the Targum; the palaces and stately dwellings, in which they lived in great pomp and prosperity, in great peace, plenty, and safety, are destroyed by the enemy, and laid waste, and become desolate; yea, even those that lived peaceably and quietly, and neither were disturbed themselves, nor disturbed others, yet, as is usual in times of war, share the same fate with their neighbours, who have been more troublesome and molesting:because of the fierce anger of the Lord; or "from before [it], from the face [of it]"; shall be destroyed by it, that being displayed; and using enemies as instruments in the destruction of them. Sin is the cause of God's wrath and fierce anger, and his wrath and anger the cause of the destruction of men and their habitations, Whoever are the instruments. Jeremiah 25:38Ver. 38. He hath forsaken his covert as a lion,.... Which some understand of God leaving Jerusalem, or the temple, where he dwelt; who, while he made it his residence, protected it; but when he forsook it, it became exposed to the enemy. Kimchi says it may be understood of the destruction of the first temple by Nebuchadnezzar; but he thinks it is most correct to interpret it of the destruction of the second temple; that is, by the Romans, when it was left desolate by Christ, the Lion of the tribe of Judah. But it may be understood of Nebuchadnezzar leaving Babylon, his den, and ranging about like a ]ion for his prey; see Jer 4:7. So the Targum,"and a king has removed from his tower or fortress;''and the land is desolate; the land of Judea, or whatsoever country he comes into with his army; that, or Egypt, or any other:because of the fierceness of the oppressor; the tyrant Nebuchadnezzar; or "oppressing sword" {w}, as some supply it, it being feminine; and so the Targum,"from before the sword of the enemy.''Some render it, "because of the fierceness of the dove"; so the Vulgate Latin; and understand it of the Babylonians or Chaldeans; who, as the Romans had an eagle, they had the dove on their standards or ensigns; which they received from the Assyrians, when they succeeded them in their monarchy; and those from Semiramis their first queen, who had it, it is said, on her standard {x}; and was retained in honour of her, and in memory of her being nourished by a dove, and turned into one after her death, as commonly believed {y}; and who had her name, as is affirmed {z}, from the word arymu, "semira", signifying, in the Chaldee language, the song or cooing of the dove; but fierceness ill agrees with the dove, which is a meek and harmless creature;and because of his fierce anger; either of God, or of the king of Babylon his instrument, in destroying nations; not Judea only, but many others.{w} hnwyh "gladii opprimentis", Junius & Tremellius; "gladii abripientis", Piscator. So Gataker and Ben Melech. {x} R. David Gantz, Tzemach David, par. 2. fol. 4. 1. Vid. Lydium, de Re Militare, l. 3. c. 7. p. 83, 84. {y} Vid. Diodor. Sicul l. 2. p. 92, 107. Ed. Rhodoman. {z} R. Azarias, Meor, Enayim, c. 21. fol. 89. 2. Vid Selden, De Dieu, Syris, l. 2. c. 3. p. 275.
John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.