Chapter Twelve

1–6. The prophet’s complaint about his lot and God’s answer, proclaiming that the prophet must expect even greater troubles. 7–13. God’s vengeance upon his people. 14–21. Words of comfort and promise.

Jer 12:1-6. The hostility shown toward the prophet by his fellow-citizens prompts the prophet to ask God to punish them. Even the land of Judah cries out to God against the people, because through their stubbornness it experiences all sorts of devastation, while the very cause of these misfortunes remains unpunished. God’s answer not only does not comfort him, but confirms that his sorrows will yet increase.

Jeremiah 12:1. You will be righteous, O Lord, when I complain to you; yet I would plead my case before you. Why does the way of the wicked prosper? Why do all who are treacherous thrive? Jeremiah 12:2. You plant them, and they take root; they grow and bring forth fruit; you are near in their mouth and far from their heart. Jeremiah stands here before the same riddle that troubled Job (compare Job 12:6; Job 21:7 and following).

Jeremiah 12:4. How long will the land mourn, and the grass of every field wither? For the wickedness of those who dwell in it the beasts and the birds are swept away, because men said, “He will not see our latter end. The prophet probably complains here of a continuing drought in Judah (compare Jer 14:1 and following). “He will not see,” that is, the prophet will not live to see the fulfillment of his terrible predictions.

Jeremiah 12:5. If you have raced with men on foot, and they have wearied you, how will you compete with horses? And if in a safe land you fall down, how will you do in the thickets of the Jordan? “In the thickets” more correctly: in the thickets of the Jordan, where lions dwell (compare Jer 49:19; Zech 11:3).

Jeremiah 12:6. For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you; they are in full cry after you; do not believe them, even though they speak friendly words to you. God foretells to the prophet that even his own close relatives will try to do him harm. Jer 12:7-13. Still, nothing happens without the will of God. The hand of Jehovah at this present time hangs so heavily over the Judean country, although God does not cease to love his people whom he chastises.

Jeremiah 12:7. I have forsaken my house, I have abandoned my heritage; I have given the beloved of my soul into the hands of her enemies. “My house, my heritage,” that is, the land and people of Judah (compare Hos 8:1). From here through verse 13 there is a beautiful poem in which the speaker is the Lord himself.

Jeremiah 12:9. My heritage has become to me like a many-colored bird of prey, against which other birds of prey attack from every side. Go, gather together, all you wild beasts of the field; come to devour it. Birds with colorful brilliant plumage are usually attacked by other birds (Tacitus, Annals, VI, 28; Suetonius, Caesar, 81; Pliny, Natural History, X, 17).

Jeremiah 12:10. Many shepherds have destroyed my vineyard, they have trampled down my field; my pleasant field they have made into a desolate wilderness; Foreign shepherds, that is, kings and princes, have caused much harm to the Judean state during the ninth year of the reign of King Jehoiakim (2 Sam 24:1 and following). At that time the prophet’s speech was apparently made.

Jeremiah 12:14. Thus says the Lord concerning all my evil neighbors who touch the heritage which I have given to my people Israel to inherit: “Behold, I will pluck them up from their land, and I will pluck up the house of Judah from among them. Jeremiah 12:15. But after I have plucked them up, again I will have compassion on them, and I will bring them back, each to his heritage and each to his land. Jeremiah 12:16. And it shall come to pass, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, “As the Lord lives,” even as they taught my people to swear by Baal, then they shall be built up in the midst of my people. Jeremiah 12:17. But if any nation will not listen, then I will utterly pluck it up and destroy it, says the Lord. But the Lord will still bring about his plan for the salvation of Judah. The evil neighbors of the Judeans (Moab, Ammon, Edom, and others) will experience the same fate as the Judeans, but then, together with the Judeans, will be restored to their lands. More than that, they can accept the faith of Judah and dwell in the midst of God’s people. This is necessary if they wish to be saved. Special remarks. In opposition to the opinion of some critics about the inauthenticity of this chapter, one must note that the prediction in verses 14–17 concerning the taking of the Moabites, Ammonites, and others into captivity by Nebuchadnezzar according to the will of God did not come to pass. If the author of chapter XII were a Jew living after the exile, he would scarcely have placed in the book a prophecy that remained unfulfilled.