Chapter Fifteen

1–9. A new refusal by Jehovah to hear the prophet’s prayer. 10–21. The prophet’s spiritual suffering and encouragement by God.

Jer 15:1-9. The Lord does not wish to forgive His people, because they do not deserve it. The people must endure all the punishments determined for them by God’s righteous judgment, and the prophet already sees the carrying out of this sentence.

Jeremiah 15:1. And the Lord said to me: Even if Moses and Samuel were to stand before Me, My soul would not turn toward this people; send them away from My presence, let them depart. Moses and Samuel, as in Ps 98:6, are presented here as such intercessors for the people whose intercession Jehovah accepted (Exod 32:11 and following; Num 14:13 and following 1 Sam 7:9 and following; 1 Sam 12:18). But now even these intercessors could not be heard by God—so great is the transgression of the people of Judah against God! “Let them depart.” The Hebrews evidently came themselves to the temple to beg for forgiveness.

Jeremiah 15:3. And I will appoint over them four kinds of judgment, says the Lord: the sword to slay, and dogs to tear, and the birds of the sky and the beasts of the earth to devour and destroy. Dogs, predatory birds, and beasts appear in order to devour the corpses of slain Jews and, as unclean creatures, defile them by this.

Jeremiah 15:4. And I will make them an abhorrence to all the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, son of Hezekiah, king of Judah, for what he did in Jerusalem. “I will make them an abhorrence”—more precisely from the Hebrew: I will make the Jews such that, looking at them and their fate, all nations will shudder. “Because of Manasseh.” This thought appears to be a repetition of the thought of the writer of the Fourth Book of Kings (2 Sam 21:11 and following; 2 Sam 23:26; 2 Sam 24:3). It is difficult to imagine that Jeremiah could say that because of the sins of one king, who moreover repented and was returned from captivity (see 2 Sam 21:11 and following), God would nevertheless destroy the entire population of Judah. If he thought so, then what would be the purpose of his preaching about repentance, which he for a long time addressed to his people?! Evidently, Manasseh here is only a type of the sinful Jew. And in the Jews, his contemporaries, the prophet sees imitators of that ungodly king, and therefore announces their destruction to them. Jer 15:5. and following verses up to verse 9 form a small, metrically regular poem.

Jeremiah 15:7. I will winnow them with a winnowing fan at the gates of the earth; I will bereave them of children, I will destroy My people; yet they do not return from their ways. “At the gates of the earth.” The Jews, like chaff, will be blown out of their country. But in the original text it says: “in the gates of the earth.” Here gates, as in Jer 14:2, are mentioned instead of cities (the word in this sense is understood by Symmachus), and the whole expression can be translated thus: “I will winnow you with a winnowing fan in (all) cities.”

Jeremiah 15:8. Their widows are more numerous before Me than the sand of the sea; I bring upon them, upon the mother of youths, a destroyer at noon; suddenly upon them I bring terror and anguish. “Upon the mother of youths.” This expression is not entirely clear, though it is more happily conveyed in the Syriac translation: upon the mother and upon her son (cf. Gen 32:12; Hos 10:14). “A destroyer at noon”—that is, enemies, knowing that Jerusalem has no defenders, will attack it in broad daylight. Jer 15:10-21. The prophet suffers at the sight of the enmity which his words about the judgment awaiting his fellow citizens awakes in the Jews. Although God comforts the prophet with a promise of His support, yet the prophet still cannot compose himself. How long must he suffer? He bears reproaches for the sake of Jehovah! At first, he was truly steadfast in his ministry and it brought him joy to be the messenger of Jehovah’s commands, so much so that he abstained from the normal amusements of young men. But now he is unable to bear the weight of his mission, and he does not feel that strength which Jehovah promised to sustain in him. God answers the prophet with a rebuke for his faintheartedness. Let the prophet take courage again—then God will sustain him, restore to him the lost dignity, and the prophet will again occupy the position he held upon entering his ministry.

Jeremiah 15:10. “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me as a man of contention and a man of conflict with the whole earth! I have not lent, nor have others lent to me, yet all curse me. Nothing so easily arouses mutual ill-will and hatred as the relations between those who lend and borrow money at interest.

Jeremiah 15:11. The Lord said: Surely your life will end well, and I will cause your enemies to deal well with you in times of trouble and hardship. The enemies of the prophet—that is, the Jews themselves—will seek the prophet’s intercession before God when afflictions befall them (cf. Jer 21:1 and following; Jer 37:3).

Jeremiah 15:12. Can iron shatter iron from the north, and bronze? More correctly: “Can one break iron, northern iron (mined in northern mountains and extremely hard) and bronze?” Iron here refers to the prophet, who is miraculously strengthened by God.

Jeremiah 15:13. Your wealth and your treasures I will give for plunder, without price, for all your sins, throughout all your territory. Jeremiah 15:14. And I will cause your enemies to carry you away into a land you do not know; for a fire has kindled in My anger—it will burn upon you. These words represent a direct address from God to the people. By this inserted address God wants to convince the prophet that His words will be fulfilled. “Without price”—that is, the despoilers of the Judean country will not be punished by God.

Jeremiah 15:15. O Lord! You know all; remember me and visit me, and take vengeance for me on those who persecute me; do not take me away in Your forbearance; You know that for Your sake I suffer reproach. You know—the prophet does not doubt the wisdom of all of Jehovah’s actions toward him, but asks only that He take into account his weakness. The enemies of the prophet appear to him at the same time as enemies of Jehovah Himself.

Jeremiah 15:16. Your words were found, and I ate them; and Your word became for me a joy and delight of my heart; for Your name is called upon me, O Lord, God of hosts. Compare Jer 1:9. Here, however, a more natural rendering is that of the LXX, which relates the phrase “Your words were found” to the preceding verse. Better translate the end of verse 15 and the beginning of verse 16 thus: “I suffer reproach from those who reject Your words. So end it!... And may Your word be...” etc.

Jeremiah 15:17. I did not sit in the circle of merrymakers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone because Your hand was heavy upon me, for You filled me with indignation. The heavy hand—these are the revelations which Jeremiah received from God. These revelations had dark content, and therefore he could not be joyful when receiving them.

Jeremiah 15:18. Why is my suffering perpetual, and my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will You surely be to me like a deceived source, like waters that cannot be depended upon? In Palestine there are many such streams which have water only during periods of rain. In summer these streams are simply dry beds along which one can walk.

Jeremiah 15:19. Therefore thus says the Lord: If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before Me; and if you separate the precious from the vile, you shall be as My mouth. Let them turn to you, but you do not turn to them. Jehovah expresses no regret for what Jeremiah has suffered and, as it were, forgets his merits. By this Jeremiah is made to understand that by his excessive complaints he has lowered his dignity as a minister of Jehovah. No, those lips which the Lord made an instrument for proclaiming His will must speak nothing unworthy. Whoever is dissatisfied with his position as a messenger of Jehovah and still desires something for himself personally is not worthy to be a minister of God! “Separate the precious from the vile”—more correctly: “if you bring forth only the noble and nothing base.” In Jeremiah there are both good qualities and bad. He must develop only the first and free himself from the normal human carnal strivings. Special Remarks. Chapters 14 and 15 form one whole. When was the speech found here spoken? Judging by the circumstances in which the prophet found himself at this time, this speech can be dated to the second half of Jehoiakim’s reign. At this time the prophet indeed suffered greatly from the universal hatred which his prophecies about the impending destruction of Jerusalem and the Temple aroused among the inhabitants of Jerusalem.