Albert Barnes' Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 5:20-31
Against the God
(1) of Creation Jeremiah 5:22, and
(2) of Providence Jeremiah 5:24,
They sin, not merely by apostasy, but by a general immorality extending to all classes Jeremiah 5:25. It is in this immorality that their idolatry has its root.
The sea is the symbol of restless and indomitable energy, chafing against all resistance, and dashing to pieces the works whereby man endeavors to restrain its fury. Yet God has imposed upon it laws which it must obey, and keeps it in its appointed place, not by barriers of iron but by a belt of sand. Modern science has shown that the resisting power of sand is enormous. A wave which would shatter rocks fails powerless upon sand.
Can they not prevail - The opposite of “thou couldest” Jeremiah 3:5. The sea, the mightiest of God’s works, cannot prevail, cannot break God’s laws, because He has not endowed it with free-will. Man, physically impotent, can prevail, because, being made in God’s image, he is free.
The heart, or will of the Jews was first “revolting,” literally a will that “drew back” from God, because it disliked His service; and secondly it was “rebellious,” a will that actively resisted Him. Compare Deuteronomy 21:18, Deuteronomy 21:20.
As God’s Providence addresses itself chiefly to the thoughtful, Jeremiah says in their heart. By the intelligent study of God’s dealings men perceive that they are not merely acts of power but also of love.
The appointed weeks - literally, He guardeth, maintaineth, for us the weeks which are the statutes or settled laws “of the harvest.” These were the seven weeks from the Passover to Pentecost, and were as important for the ingathering of the crops as the rainy seasons for their nourishment.
It was not that the rains did not fall, or that the harvest weeks were less bright; the good was there, but the wickedness of the community blocked up the channels, through which it shou d have reached the people. The lawlessness and injustice of the times kept the mass of the people in poverty.
Rather, he spieth about like the crouching down of fowlers; they have set the fatal snare; “they catch men.”
Trap - literally, “The destroyer;” it was probably a gin, which strangled the birds caught in it.
Deceit - The wealth gained by deceit and fraud.
Fatness is admired in the East as a sign of wealth.
They shine - This word is used of the sleekness of the skin, soft and smooth as ivory.
They overpass the deeds of the wicked - literally, “They have overpassed words of wickedness,” i. e., they go to excess in wickedness.
Yet they prosper - Or, that they (the orphans) may prosper, enjoy their rights.
Rather, A terrible “and horrible thing” has happened “in the land.”
Bear rule by their means - Rather, “The priests” rule at their hands, i. e., govern according to their false prophecies, guidance, and directions.
My people love to have it so - False teaching lightens the yoke of God’s Law, and removes His fear from the conscience: and with this, man is ready to be content.