Jeremiah 14:1-22
1 The word of the LORD that came to Jeremiah concerning the dearth.a
2 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish; they are black unto the ground; and the cry of Jerusalem is gone up.
3 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters: they came to the pits, and found no water; they returned with their vessels empty; they were ashamed and confounded, and covered their heads.
4 Because the ground is chapt, for there was no rain in the earth, the plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads.
5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, because there was no grass.
6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places, they snuffed up the wind like dragons; their eyes did fail, because there was no grass.
7 O LORD, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou it for thy name's sake: for our backslidings are many; we have sinned against thee.
8 O the hope of Israel, the saviour thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth aside to tarry for a night?
9 Why shouldest thou be as a man astonied, as a mighty man that cannot save? yet thou, O LORD, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy name; leave us not.
10 Thus saith the LORD unto this people, Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained their feet, therefore the LORD doth not accept them; he will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins.
11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
12 When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not accept them: but I will consume them by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence.
13 Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! behold, the prophets say unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have famine; but I will give you assuredb peace in this place.
14 Then the LORD said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies in my name: I sent them not, neither have I commanded them, neither spake unto them: they prophesy unto you a false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the deceit of their heart.
15 Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent them not, yet they say, Sword and famine shall not be in this land; By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed.
16 And the people to whom they prophesy shall be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the famine and the sword; and they shall have none to bury them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: for I will pour their wickedness upon them.
17 Therefore thou shalt say this word unto them; Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and let them not cease: for the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a great breach, with a very grievous blow.
18 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword! and if I enter into the city, then behold them that are sick with famine! yea, both the prophet and the priest go aboutc into a land that they know not.
19 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed Zion? why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us? we looked for peace, and there is no good; and for the time of healing, and behold trouble!
20 We acknowledge, O LORD, our wickedness, and the iniquity of our fathers: for we have sinned against thee.
21 Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake, do not disgrace the throne of thy glory: remember, break not thy covenant with us.
22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
Jeremiah 14:1 to Jeremiah 15:9. The Drought in Judah, and Jeremiah's consequent Intercession. The date of this disaster is unknown, but some year in the latter half of Jehoiakim's reign is most probable. The effects of the drought are graphically described in Jeremiah 14:2. The personified gates represent the people who gather at them in mourning attire and attitude (sit in black upon the ground; cf. Jeremiah 8:21; Jeremiah 13:18). The empty pits are dried-up storage cisterns (cf. Jeremiah 2:13). Men cover their heads because of grief (2 Samuel 15:30). The first clause of Jeremiah 14:4 (to chapt) is best emended, with Duhm, after LXX, The tillers of the ground are dismayed (cf. mg.). The eyes of the wild asses fail through fruitless search for herbage (cf. Lamentations 4:17). In Jeremiah 14:7, the prophet confesses the people's sin, but appeals to Yahweh's honour (Jeremiah 14:7), and His ownership of Israel (Jeremiah 14:9; cf. Jeremiah 7:10), as a reason for His permanent presence and effective help. In Jeremiah 14:10, Yahweh replies that His aloofness corresponds (even so) to the people's abandonment of Him (Jeremiah 14:10 b as Hosea 8:13), and announces evil as the only answer to their sacrifice; to which Jeremiah objects (Jeremiah 14:13) that the people have been misled by the prophets (Jeremiah 23:9 ff.) who promised peace. Yahweh, disowning these prophets (Jeremiah 14:14), announces their doom as well as that of the people, and Jeremiah is bidden to lament the horrors that are coming on Judah through invasion and its consequences. In Jeremiah 14:19, Jeremiah continues the dialogue with a further confession on behalf of the people, and with an appeal to the ties that bind Yahweh to Israel (Jeremiah 14:21 mg.) ; Yahweh alone can remove the terrors of this drought. In Jeremiah 15:1, Yahweh replies that even such pleaders as Moses (Numbers 14:13) and Samuel (1 Samuel 7:9) would not turn Him from His purpose; let the people go forth to pestilence (death, Jeremiah 15:2), sword, famine, and captivity; let them be an object of consternation (for tossed to and fro, Jeremiah 15:4) to all, because of the heathenism of Manasseh (2 Kings 21:11 ff.). It is Jerusalem that has rejected Yahweh (thou, Jeremiah 15:6, emphatic), and therefore is winnowed with a fork. The coming destruction is described (Jeremiah 15:8) as widespread and unexpected (at noonday, as in Jeremiah 6:4); even the (happy) mother of seven (1 Samuel 2:5) utterly collapses.
Jeremiah 14:3. Read both mgg.
Jeremiah 14:14. divination, and a thing of nought: read, with Driver, a worthless divination by omission of one letter.
Jeremiah 14:18 b is difficult and obscure; for go about we should perhaps render go begging, or, with second mg. alternative, simply journey
Jeremiah 14:21. the throne of thy glory: Jerusalem, as containing the Temple; cf. Jeremiah 17:12.
Jeremiah 14:22. vanities: i.e. gods.
Jeremiah 15:7. fanned with a fan: i.e. winnowed; cf. Jeremiah 4:11; Isaiah 30:24; Matthew 3:12. The Eastern threshing-floor is described in Thomson, The Land and the Book, pp. 538ff.