CHAPTER 1
1. The words of Yirmeyahu the son of Hilqiyahu, one of the priests who lived in Anathoth in the land of Binyamin:
Yirmeyahu: His name means “YHWH will raise up” or “appoint”. Hilqiyahu: 2 Kings 22:4 mentions a high priest by this name only 5 years after the time the book begins. So if Yirmeyahu was his firstborn, he would be next in line to be high priest. Anathoth, today called Anata, sits atop a hill about 5 km. outside Yerushalayim and is visible from the road to Y’rikho.
2. to whom the Word of YHWH came in the days of Yoshiyahu the son of Amon, king of Yehudah, in the thirteenth year of his reign.
This is five years after Yoshiyahu began to seek YHWH and five years before he had the Temple repaired and the Book of the Torah was found. (2 Chron. 36)
3. It also came in the days of Yehoyaqim the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Yehudah, until the completion of the eleventh year of Tzidqiyahu the son of Yoshiyahu, king of Yehudah—up to the carrying away of Yerushalayim into exile in the fifth month.
Eleventh: the Hebrew number is in the form of an afterthought, an extra added after ten, rather than the usual number for eleven, probably since he did not complete the full year as king, since he himself was taken captive. Interestingly, the reigns of the last four kings of Yehudah lasted, respectively, three months, eleven years, three months, and eleven years.
4. Now the Word of YHWH came to me, saying,
5. “Before I formed you in the abdomen, I knew you, and before you came out of the womb I set you apart and appointed you a prophet to the nations.”
This may not be as mystical as it sounds. YHWH knew his pedigree—who his father was (v. 1). Yirmeyahu was in the right family at the right time. He had every advantage he needed to be the right person for this job, if he would follow through and realize his potential. To the nations: yet the whole book is essentially addressed to Yehudah and Israel. Yet Irish tradition (The Book of Wars) says that after the deportation of Yerushalayim to Bavel (Babylon), Yirmeyahu took the daughter of King Tzidqiyahu to Ireland (an area colonized by the Phoenician alliance, of which Yehudah had been a part) and founded cities there, chiefly with the tribe of Menashe. One of the families mentioned there was named Makhiri—the Hebrew name for the Makhirites, descendants of one of Menashe’s grandsons. Was this book only the “warm-up” for that prophetic role?
6. But I said, “Alas, Master YHWH, I do not know how to speak, because I am [too] young!”
Both Moshe (Ex. 4:10; 6:12) and Yeshayahu had similar responses to their call. YHWH does not often call those who have natural confidence in their own abilities, but those who know they need His upholding. Nevertheless, He does not accept excuses:
7. But YHWH told me, “Do not say, ‘I am [too] young’, because in regard to everywhere I send you, you can go, and you must say whatever I order you [to say].
He might be young, but YHWH was not, so he need not worry!
8. “Do not be afraid of their faces, because I am with you to rescue you,” declares YHWH.
9. Then YHWH stretched out His hand and touched it to my mouth. And YHWH told me, “Here. I have put My words in your mouth.
Compare Yeshayahu 6.
10. “Consider [it to be the case that on] this day I have appointed you [as] an overseer over the nations and over the dominions, to pluck up by the roots, and to tear down, and to bring about loss, and to overthrow, to rebuild, and to plant.
Plant: or establish. He would cut things out as a doctor does (removing a cancer so the body can survive), not as a butcher does. The pattern of tearing down is how a forest is cleared to plant a field and how a foundation is dug before the house can be built upward. Before we could begin acting as Israel again, we too had to cut down many false interpretations of Scripture that we had nurtured into large trees in the past. The Aramaic adds “and over the House of Israel” before the last two phrases. Compare Ecclesiastes 3:10, which says there is a season for all these things (possibly one reason the almond, which heralds the new planting season, is chosen as the imagery here):
11. Then the Word of YHWH came to me, saying, “What do you see, Yirmeyahu?” And I said, “What I see is a stick [from] an almond tree.”
A stick from an almond tree: Aramaic, a king hastening to do evil. Interestingly enough, in light of the note on v. 5, the only place in Europe that almond trees grow is in Ireland and the British Isles.
12. Then YHWH told me, “You have done well in your seeing, because I will keep watch over My Word, in order to [effectively] bring it about.”
Keep watch: the root word for “almond tree” in v. 11, so this is a play on words as a memory aid. The almond tree is called the “watched tree” its blossoming alerts us to the fact that it is time to plant barley because the new festival year, which depends on the barley being at the right stage, will begin soon. Keep watch over: “awaken” or “alert”, thus, “I will alert My Word to perform” (compare Yeshayahu 50:4 where He says YHWH “awakens” His servant morning by morning). The almond is also called the “resurrection tree” because it is the first to bloom after the “death” of winter. But it is the last tree to bear fruit. There are two times during which the almond nut is edible. First, during its green stage, after which it is again inedible until it reaches its dry stage. Aharon’s rod that budded was an almond branch (Numbers 17:8); the “dead tree” that still bore fruit (overnight!) was a sign of his high-priestly authority. This choice of Aharon relates to YHWH’s choice of Yirmeyahu, who also might have been high priest but for the fact that there was no Temple left by that time, so YHWH gave him another distinguished role.
13. Then the Word of YHWH came to me a second [time], saying, “What do you see?” And I said, “A seething caldron is what I see, and its face is from the face of the north.”
A seething caldron: Aramaic, a king who seethes like a caldron. Face of the north: before the hidden place, or from the place where something lurks undiscovered; Aramaic, the arrangement of his troops are advancing from the direction of the north. This repetition of the word “face” emphasizes to Yirmeyahu that though his opponents have threatening faces, YHWH has His own answer to this—faces that are meaner still. Compare v. 17 and Y’shua’s warning not to fear those who could kill the body, but those who can destroy both body and soul. (Mat. 10:28)
14. So YHWH told me, “Out of the north will an evil be unleashed upon all those dwelling in the Land,
Though Babylon is east of Yehudah, the fertile crescent by which its armies would travel there would make them approach Yehudah from the north. The “north” can also mean “treasury” in Hebrew, so He was simply using one of the tools He had created—the Babylonian army—to carry out His discipline on Yehudah. (See Havaquq 1) Judgment often comes out of the north in Scripture.
15. “because here I am, calling to all the families of the kingdoms of the north,” declares YHWH. “When they come, each will set up his seat at the entrance to the gates of Yerushalayim, and against all its walls all around, and against all the cities of Yehudah.
Set up his seat (or throne) at the entrance to the gates: i.e., take authority over all the decisions affecting the city. The gate is a place of judgment, so YHWH is using these other kings as His means to render His judgment:
16. “And I will pronounce My verdicts against them on account of all the wickedness of those who have forsaken Me and burned incense to other elohim, and have bowed down to what their [own] hands have made.
Bowed down: Aramaic, been enslaved.
17. “So now, tie together [the garments that hang slack at] your sides, get up, and tell them all that I order you. Do not let yourself ‘go to pieces’ because of their faces, or else I may break you ‘to pieces’ in front of their faces.
Tie together your slack garments: an idiom much like our “roll up your sleeves”; i.e., “Get to work”, securing anything that would slow you down. Do not go to pieces: notice YHWH’s use of the same phrase in reply again (as in v. 13); Aramaic, do not hold back from reproving them. If we credit authority to anything but Him, He may leave us at the mercy of what we already worship (by fearing it). Like Kefa with the wind and waves, things other than Him only have the power we give them by recognition.
18. “And after all, today I have given permission for you to be an inaccessible city, a pillar of iron, and walls of brass against the whole Land—to the kings of Yehudah, to her princes, to her priests, and to the people of the Land.
The same is said of Yerushalayim (Zech. 12:2-3), and we are being built into the New Yerushalayim, so if we remain faithful to this calling, we can claim this promise as well.
19. “Now they will fight against you, but they will not be able [to overcome] you, because I am with you, “ declares YHWH, “to bring about your deliverance.”
In addition to the calling Yirmeyahu had since before His birth (v. 5), he now had this promise to uphold him throughout the trials he was about to experience because of his faithfulness. Sadly, those who had made themselves his enemies were not supposed to be the “bad guys”; these were the leaders of Yehudah, who had a better record of righteousness than their northern neighbors, but were nearing the limit of what YHWH would tolerate. It would be difficult to oppose those he should have been able to respect, but they had made the wrong decisions—possibly even putting someone other than Yirmeyahu in the high priest’s position, but YHWH still regarded his authority as valid. This gave him confidence, and he was invincible as long as he obeyed. We, too, as Israel, have a calling that precedes our birth, which our ancestors agreed we would live by, and we also have countless promises that those who remain faithful through trouble will be delivered and inherit the Land which will again be like the Garden of Eden. What more incentive could we be offered to be bold and endure the short-lived attacks that enemies try to slip in before they are defeated?
CHAPTER 2
1. Then the Word of YHWH came to me, saying,
2. “Go, call out in the hearing of Yerushalayim, saying, ‘This is what YHWH says: “I remember [about] you the kindness of your youth, the love of your espousals, your following Me into the wilderness, in a land [that was] not seeded.
I remember about you: Aramaic, I remember in your favor. In the wilderness: the Aramaic adds, without provisions. He is speaking about the honeymoon period between Israel and YHWH, and the implications are that things are not going as well as they were then. Compare Yirmeyahu’s difficult message in the next verses with Revelation 3:1-3.
3. “’“Israel was set apart to YHWH, the firstfruits of His yield. All who devour him will be held guilty; evil will come upon them”, declares YHWH.
4. “’Hear a word [from] YHWH, O House of Yaaqov, and all the clans of the House of Israel!
House of Israel: already in exile at this point, except for a small token remnant who had left Yarav’am’s jurisdiction and joined Yehudah (2 Chron. 11:14-16), but this word has now come to us as well.
5. “’This is what YHWH says: “What injustice have your ancestors found in Me, since they have distanced themselves from Me and gone after empty [hopes] and become empty [themselves]?
The House of Israel mixed with the Gentiles and became Gentiles themselves. (Hoshea 7:8; 8:8)
6. “‘“They did not [even] say, ‘Where is YHWH, Who brought us up out of the land of Egypt, leading us through the wilderness—through a land of mixed steppes and sinkholes, through a land of drought and the shadow of death, a land through which not a man has passed and where humanity has not dwelt?’
7. “‘“And I brought you into the Land of orchards [so you could] eat its fruit and [enjoy] its pleasantness. But when you went in, you defiled My Land, and changed My possession into something abominable.
8. “‘“The priests did not say, ‘Where is YHWH?’ Nor did those who handle the Torah know Me! Even the shepherds have rebelled against Me, and the prophets prophesied under Ba’al’s [influence], so they have gone after things that do not bring benefit.
If even the foundation of the house is crooked, how can it not need to be torn down in order to rebuild it? Handle: or wield skillfully; i.e., those who were to teach others how to respond to it, but how could they when they missed the main point? Shepherds: or pastors; compare Y’hezq’el 34. Under Ba’al’s influence: or, “by the Lord”—a title now thought to refer to Ba’al’s arch-enemy, but which is really a translation of Ba’al.
9. “‘“So I am going to bring a case against you”, declares YHWH, “and I will lodge a complaint against your children’s children.
10. “‘“For go across to the islands of Kittim and see; send [word] to Qedar, and consider carefully whether there has been anything like this:
Kittim: Cyprus and/or some of the Greek isles. Qedar: Aramaic, the province of the Arabs.
11. “‘“Has a nation changed its elohim [even] when they were not elohim? Yet My people have exchanged their [honorable] reputation without gaining anything!
Paul was probably alluding to this in Galatians 1:6-7.
12. “‘“Be appalled at this, O heavens, and bristle with terror! Become exceedingly desolate,” is what was uttered by YHWH,
Be appalled, O heavens: a Hebrew wordplay, shamu shamayim. Aramaic, because of the Land of Israel which is to be wasted.
13. “‘“because My people have committed two evils: they have let go of Me, the source of living waters, to dig out for themselves cisterns—broken cisterns that cannot contain the water.
Cisterns: the root word also means “explanations”. Indeed, our own excuses for why we practiced Sunday worship, Christmas, Easter, etc., simply did not hold water. When we tried to pour His living water into them, they acted like sieves. It is bad enough to forsake YHWH, but to replace Him with something of our own making is even worse.
14. “‘“Is Israel a servant? If he is born in the house, why has he been plundered?
15. “‘“The young lions have roared and set their voices against him, and have laid his land waste; cities of his have been set on fire from [being] without inhabitant.
Young lions: a symbol of Babylon.
16. “‘“The sons of Nof and Tahpanes have also fed upon your scalp.
Nof: Memphis, Egypt. Tahpanes (an alternate spelling for Tahpanhes): Tel Defenneh in Egypt, 18 miles (29 km.) east-southeast of Tanis.
17. “‘“Haven’t you dealt this out to yourself [by] abandoning YHWH your Elohim during the time He was leading you on the journey?
18. “‘“So what is there for you on the road to Egypt now? To drink the waters of Shikhor? Or what is there for you toward the road to Ashur? To drink the waters of the River?
Shikhor: “the dark one”, a tributary of the Nile that ran along the eastern border of Egypt at that time. Why should we want to drink black water when YHWH has pure, undefiled water for us? Aramaic, to cast your males into the river. The river: the Ferath (Euphrates).
19. “‘“Your own wickedness will chastise you, and your own apostasies will reprove you. So recognize and consider [the fact] that forsaking YHWH your Elohim is an evil and bitter [thing], when awe of Me is not upon you,” declares Adonai YHWH of Armies.
This is the answer to verse 13. If we sow to what is “our own”, what is “our own” will come back and bite us. “You should be fearing Me instead”, He says. Fearing anything else is paganism. If fear anything else, we prove we do not truly fear YHWH. YHWH of Armies: We do not want to get on His bad side.
20. “‘“For ages ago I broke your yoke and pulled off your bands [of chastisement], yet you said, ‘I will not cross over!’, because on every lofty hill and under every flourishing tree you stooped over as a prostitute!
Cross over: from the life we had been living, back into His jurisdiction.
21. “‘“Yet I Myself had planted you [as] a choice [species of] vine—a completely reliable seed! So how were you changed into the degenerate [shoots] of a vine [that was] foreign to Me?
There is another pun here: “choice vine” is soreq, but it had turned out to be surey (degenerate shoots).
22. “‘“Even if you wash yourself with that which loosens [the dirt], and greatly increase lye [soap] for yourself, your perversity has [become] a deeply-engrained stain before Me,” declares YHWH.
23. “‘“How can you say, ‘I am not defiled; I have not gone after the Ba’als’? Consider your way in the [deep] gorge! Admit what you have done! [You are like a] swift dromedary crossing [back] over her [own] tracks,
24. “‘“a wild donkey accustomed to the uninhabited land, that pants after the wind in the passion of her desire during her time [of heat]; who can turn her back? None who try to find her will weary themselves; they will find her in her month.
25. “‘“Hold your foot back from being bare, and your throat from dehydration. But you said, ‘It is hopeless! No, because I have loved foreigners, and they are the ones I will go after.'
Bare feet were one form of mourning ritual (2 Shmu’el 15:30) or a humiliation to which captives were subjected, mainly so they would not run away (Yeshayahu 20:2-4). But the only context in Torah that describes a single foot being bare (as we see here) is when a kinsman redeemer refuses to fulfill his obligation to raise up a son for his brother who died childless. (Deut. 25:9; compare Ruth 4:7) Foreigners: It is a disgrace to leave one’s own family unprovided for while one goes after what proverbs so often calls “the strange woman”. Instead of being dehydrated, we are urged to “drink water from your own well”. (Prov. 5:15) All too often we are attracted to what is exotic, because we have become bored with what seems more and more mundane, but putting our energy into those close to home is how we become fruitful, and we may even still receive some benefit from our efforts. Walking with one shoe off leaves us both undignified and unbalanced. As we come back to the realization that we are Israel, it is still easy to get sidetracked with flashy eschatology or even theories about where the ark of the covenant is hidden, but they only tickle our ears and require no work, but making people from so many different backgrounds mesh into a unified whole—the only way we can fulfill our calling--takes a lot of effort, a lot of plodding along, and does not leave us much room for titillating fluff. Foot: or in such a sexually-charged context (v. 24), it can also be read as referring to the whole leg.
26. “‘“As [one who is] discovered [to be] a thief is ashamed, so [it is for] the House of Israel—they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets,
27. “‘“who say to a piece of wood, ‘You are my father!’ or to a stone, ‘You gave birth to us!’, because they have turned their back to Me instead of their face, yet in their time of trouble, they will say, ‘Rise up and bring us deliverance!’
28. “‘“But where are your deities that you have made for yourself? Let them rise up, if they can bring you deliverance in the time of your trouble, because you have come to have as many gods as you have cities, O Yehudah!
29. “‘“What will you complain to Me about? It is Me that you have all offended,” declares YHWH.
30. “‘“I have struck your children in vain; they have not received correction. Your own sword has devoured your prophets like a lion that brings destruction.
31. “‘“O generation, consider the Word of YHWH! Have I been a wilderness to Israel? Or a land of deep darkness? Why [then] have My people said, ‘We are restless; we will not come to You anymore’?
Generation: classified by time or characteristics. Consider: literally, see, i.e., look around at all He has blessed you with; why are you bored with Him? Do you call that freedom—having nothing to live for, nothing to serve but self? Restless could also be translated “in charge”. The rabbis of Yehudah, after 135 C.E., also decided they could out-vote YHWH. The way to repent for saying “We will not” is to say, “We will” and actually do it. (Mat. 21:28ff) They failed to remember that their brother Kingdom was expelled for this very reason. If we (as the latter) have decided to go back to our Father’s house (Luk. 15:17), we need to learn His ground rules; we cannot bring our own.
32. “‘“Can a [betrothed] virgin forget her finery, or a bride her ornaments? Yet there’s no telling [how many] days My people have forgotten Me!
33. “‘“How thoroughly will you beautify your manner [of walking] to try to secure love? That is why you have even taught the evil women your ways!
I.e., you are even teaching prostitutes new tricks!
34. “‘“On the edges [of your skirts] is also discovered the blood of the souls of innocents who yielded [to you]. You have not found [it] by digging, because [it is] on all of these.
Digging: looking for “dirt” on someone by snooping in secret places, breaking in where not invited. It is in plain sight, right out in the open, all over your clothes!
35. “‘“Yet you say, ‘Since I am innocent, [I’m sure] He will turn His anger away from Me!’ Pay attention: I will judge you [specifically] on account of the fact that you say, ‘I have not sinned!’
36. “‘“How you exhaust yourself [going to and fro] to alter your course! You will be disappointed by Egypt too, just as you were disappointed by Ashur.
Alter your course: “turn over a new leaf” by seeking out a new lover rather than by confessing and returning to YHWH, her husband.
37. “Indeed, you will go out from [being] with this [one] with your hands atop your head, because YHWH has loathed those in whom you put your trust, and you will not bring prosperity [through] them.”
Hands atop your head: i.e., as slaves, tied up; Aramaic, the shame of your sins will be upon your head. You have trusted as allies those who are aliens and know nothing about YHWH; they will indeed turn on you.
CHAPTER 3
1. “Tell [Me]: If a man dismisses his wife, and she goes away from being with him and becomes another man’s, could he return to her again? Wouldn’t that land be profaned to [the point of] defilement? Yet you have played the prostitute with many companions, and [still] you come back to Me!”, declares YHWH.
The command in question is set forth in Deut. 24:4. Companions: literally, those of the same flock; the Aramaic Targum explains that this refers to nations. So Yehudah was considering the other nations as its equal, when in YHWH’s eyes they are not to be in the same category. (Num. 23:9)
2. “Lift up your eyes to the barren heights, and find [a place] where you haven’t been ravished! By the roads you have sat [waiting] for them, like an Arab in the wilderness, and you have been polluting [the] Land with your harlotries and your wickedness!
Arab: a Bedouin prostitute, in this case; remember they were not yet Muslims at this time, so their character was undoubtedly much less subdued even than it is now. Polluting: the term could even mean “defecating on”. He insists on the camp in which His presence resides being kept free of excrement (Deut. 23:12-14), and the same concept extends metaphorically to His entire Land.
3. “That is why the heavy rains have been withheld and there has been no spring rain, yet you have had the forehead of a whore-woman; you have refused to be ashamed.
Ample warning of this is given in Deut. 11:16-17; now it was coming to pass as it had in the days of Eliyahu. Forehead: Aramaic, impudence (immodesty); LXX, shamelessness. Be ashamed: Aramaic, humble herself. YHWH calls Himself Israel’s husband (Yeshayahu 54:5), so going after any other elohim is adultery or prostitution. The forehead is the place YHWH’s name (Ex. 28:36-38) and His commandments belong (Deut. 11:18). A harlot says just anyone can write his name on her head, if he gives her what she wants. (Compare Rev. 13:16; 17:5) But we do the same if we excuse our compromises by saying, “I only did what I had to do.” And Colossians 3:5 reveals that even covetousness is a form of idolatry. So we are indeed guilty of the same.
4. “Haven’t you just called to Me, ‘My Father! You are the guide of my youth!’?”
Guide: literally, tamer; Aramaic, redeemer. Youth: LXX, time of virginity.
5. Will He hold back forever? Or will He restrain [His wrath] perpetually? You have indeed said and done [as many] evil things as you could!
The shakharit morning prayer includes the intent that all of our potentials be submitted to YHWH, but here, anything Yehudah could potentially have done wrong, she did!
6. YHWH also said to me in the days of Yoshiyahu the king, “Did you see what apostate Israel did? She went [up] onto every high mountain and under every flourishing tree, and played the prostitute there!
Apostate: or backslidden;LXX, given to turning (away). YHWH reminds Yehudah of her sister, who is already long gone into exile, as an example of how not to be.
7. “But tell [Me], after she has done all of these [things], can she return to Me? She has not yet returned. Her treacherous sister Yehudah was even watching.
8. “But I will watch, because on account of all the reasons [for] which apostate Israel committed adultery, I dismissed her and was giving her a certificate of divorce, treacherous Yehudah, her sister, was still not afraid, and she too went off and played the prostitute!
Watch: a turn of meaning from the watching in v. 7 to watching for Israel to come back nonetheless, like the Prodigal’s father.
9. “And what came about due to the frivolous noise of her harlotry [was] that she profaned the Land and committed adultery with the stone and with the tree.
Frivolous noise: or, how lightly she took the error of her ways; LXX, her fornication was accounted as nothing.
10. “Yet even through all of this, her treacherous sister Yehudah has not returned to Me with her whole heart, but in a cheating [manner],” declares YHWH.
Cheating: deceitfully or fraudulently, in vain, or in a feigned way; i.e., pretending, as a put-on.
11. But YHWH told me, “Apostate Israel has justified herself more than treacherous Yehudah.
12. “Go and call out these words toward the north: ‘Return, O apostate Israel!’, declares YHWH, ‘I will not make My presence fail among you, because I am kind, and will not maintain [My anger] forever.’
North: i.e., toward Ashur (Assyria), by whom the Northern Kingdom had been exiled. Note that the unfaithfulness of Yehudah (v.11) is one reason He has had mercy on the Northern Kingdom. Here He uses the same shock treatment as in Y’shua’s parables of the two sons (Mat. 21:29) and the P’rush and the Tax-Collector (Luke 18:14), and Paul’s comments in Romans 1-2 about the Gentiles (see note on v. 17 below) proving to be more obedient to the Torah’s demands, though they had turned away from the written Torah. The intent is to provoke Yehudah to jealousy. (Deut. 32:16; Rom. 11:11)
13. “’[Why not go ahead and] admit your perversion, since you have rebelled against YHWH your Elohim? You have [widely] dissipated your journeys to strangers under every flourishing tree, and you have not obeyed My voice, declares YHWH.
14. “’Come back, O apostate children,” says YHWH, “because I am married to you [as your overlord], and I will take you away—one from a city, and a pair from a family—and I will lead you to Tzion.
I am married to you: Aramaic, I have taken pleasure in you. One from a city, two from a family: this is indeed how we are seeing the firstfruits of the return of the Northern Kingdom taking place. Though many more are descendants of the Northern Kingdom by blood, YHWH said He would return only a remnant.
15. “’Then I will give you shepherds consistent with My heart, and they will feed you knowledge and that [which is] prudent.
Prudent: or circumspect, or what leads to success; LXX, they will certainly tend you with knowledge.
16. “And because you increase and are fruitful in the Land in those days”, declares YHWH, “what will take place is that they will no longer say, ‘The Ark of the Covenant of YHWH!’, and it will no longer come to mind, nor will they remember it or miss it, nor will it be made again.
This has not yet occurred, for the Ark is still being looked for by some, including archaeologists. Miss it: or more literally, visit it. Be made: Aramaic, they will no longer wage war with it (idolatrously, as in the days of the high priest Eli). In any case, it will not be sought out as an object of worship.
17. “At that time they will call Yerushalayim ‘The Throne of YHWH’, and all the nations will be bound to it—to the Name of YHWH, to Yerushalayim—and they will no longer walk after the [twisted] stubbornness of their evil heart.
Nations: In context, the tribes of backslidden Israel, who by the time of Y’shua had been declared to be Gentiles for all intents and purposes by the Sanhedrin. This is the background for the understanding of most Renewed Covenant references to ”Gentiles”. What is twisted started out straight, and will be straightened out again, as indicated by the pet name YHWH gives to Israel when all the tribes are together: Yeshurun (“they will be straight/level/upright”).
18. “In those days the House of Yehudah will walk with the House of Israel, and they will come together from the land of the north onto the Land that I gave to your ancestors as an inheritance.
Walk with: in the sense of being “added onto”; Aramaic, associate with. Halachah means “the way we walk” (i.e., walk out the Torah in specific ways). Now Efrayim, still envious of Yehudah by and large, is walking according to Yehudah’s halachah, but as we become more established in Torah, we will overtake Yehudah to the extent that this envy will no longer be felt (Yeshayahu 11). Here it even appears that the roles will be reversed. (Compare Tzef. 3; Zech. 10:6-7.) Come together: one reason all of Israel had to be brought into Egypt—so they could all return to the Land together, and it appears it will be this way again.
19. “And I Myself said, ‘How can I set you among the children and give you a desirable land and a prominent portion among the armies of the nations?’ I thought you would call Me ‘My Father’, and not turn away from [following] after Me.
I.e., the only way we can again qualify to be among the recipients of this promise is to return to being all we were originally meant to be as Israel, “forsaking all others”:
20. “Truly, like a woman who [is] treacherously unfaithful to her companion, you have indeed been treacherously unfaithful to Me, O House of Israel,” declares YHWH.
21. “A voice was heard weeping on the barren heights, the descendants of Israel’s beggings for mercy, since they have distorted their way and forgotten YHWH their Elohim.
Distorted their way: like one crossing a forest who forgets to mark the way back home.
22. “Return, O apostate children; I will heal your turnings-away!”
Look at us! We have arrived for you, because You are YHWH our Elohim!
Turnings-away: LXX, bruises. YHWH’s call has been effective! Now the Northern Kingdom’s response has begun, and continues until the end of the chapter. This is being fulfilled in our own day, 2,600 years after Yirmeyahu prophesied!
23. Indeed, the mountain commotion from the hills is deceptive; in reality, the deliverance of Israel is in YHWH our Elohim!
Mountain commotion (uproar): Aramaic, we have been excited about what cannot profit on the mountains.
24. But the shameful thing has consumed our fathers’ hard labor since our youth—their flocks and their cattle-herds, their sons and their daughters.
25. We must lie down in our shame, and our reproach will cover us, because we have sinned against YHWH our Elohim—we and our fathers, from our youth all the way up to this day, and we have not obeyed the voice of YHWH our Elohim.
CHAPTER 4
1. “If you [do] return, O Israel,” YHWH declares, “return to Me, and if you will take away your abominable [idols] from My presence without wavering,
I.e., if you are going to go to the trouble of repenting, repent all the way and in the right direction—toward Me! Not toward religion periphoral to the Torah, not toward the messenger at the expense of the One who sent the message, and not toward traditions meant to preserve the memory of the real, direct commands, now that we can keep the original practices again.
2. “and you will swear, ‘[As] YHWH lives’, in truth, in right legal ruling, and in righteousness, then [even] the Gentiles will bend their knees to Him, and in Him will they make their boast.”
After this encouraging digression into what will take place among even the scattered tribes of Efrayim (the kingdom that retained the name of Israel), YHWH now returns to His message to Yehudah, which has been turning in the same direction as Israel had a hundred years before.
3. Because this is what YHWH says to the man of Yehudah and to Yerushalayim: “Plow up your untilled ground, and do not sow [your seeds] into the thorns.
Untilled ground: LXX, fresh ground. Don’t do what the Northern Kingdom did!
4. “Circumcise yourselves unto YHWH, and remove the ‘foreskins’ of your hearts, O man of Yehudah and inhabitants of Yerushalayim, so that the heat of My rage will not come out like fire, with burning that no one can put it out, because of the presence of the wickedness of your practices.
Foreskins of your hearts: the excess fleshiness that weighs them down, the part that has not been harvested by Him; LXX, hardness of heart.
5. “Announce it in Yehudah, and make it heard in Yerushalayim, and say, ‘When you blow the shofar in the Land, summon [them all to] fill [it up], and say, “Assemble yourselves, and let us go to the fortified cities!”
6. “Lift up a sign toward Tzion: ‘Gather for refuge! Do not delay, because I am bringing an evil thing from the north—indeed, a great shattering.
North: Both Israel and Yehudah were taken off to exile in the north (by Assyria and Babylon respectively, via the fertile crescent which requires going north first before turning east).
7. “A lion has come up from its lair, and one that brings about the destruction of nations is on [its] way; it has set out from its place to make your Land a horrifying wasteland. Your cities will become a ruin, without an inhabitant.
Lion: the symbol Babylon used for itself. Lair: or, thicket.
8. “On account of this, put on burlap; lament and make a howling, because the fierce anger of YHWH has not been turned back from us!
Burlap: a sign of mourning and humbling oneself because it is so uncomfortable to wear and not something only the rich can afford.
9. “And what will come about in that day,” declares YHWH, “[is that] the king will lose heart; the same [with] the hearts of the officials, and the priests will be stunned and the prophets dumbfounded.”
As we will see, at this time all the prophets except Yirmeyahu were hearing from the wrong source, so the outcome would not be at all what they expected. The following appears to refer to a natural catastrophe that the kings cannot deal with politically:
10. Then I said, “Alas, Adonai YHWH! Truly You have tricked this people and Yerushalayim, saying, ‘There will be peace for you’, when the sword reaches [even to] the [very] soul!”
I.e., “In Yehudah, the place where YHWH’s name is enshrined, in the ‘city of peace’, no less, we are supposed to be protected, aren’t we?”
11. At that time it will be said to this people and to Yerushalayim, “A dazzling wind from the barren heights of the wilderness [in the] direction of the daughter of My people, not to sift or to purge,
Dazzling wind: or glowing; LXX, a spirit of error. Aramaic, a cold sweeping wind. Barren heights: Aram., heads of the river-courses. Sift: or winnow.
12. “[but] a wind fuller than these will come for Me. Now I, too, will declare verdicts to them.”
A wind fuller than these: LXX, a spirit of full vengeance.
13. Behold, like clouds he will come up, and his chariots like a storm-wind; swifter than eagles [are] his horses. Woe to us, because we are devastated!
He: Aramaic, a king with his troops. This was spoken when Nevuchadnetzar had withdrawn and all the prophets except Yirmeyahu were prognosticating peace.
14. Wash your hearts [clean] of wickedness, Yerushalayim, so that you may be spared! How long will you let your troublesome plans remain in your midst?
15. Because a voice reports from Dan, and proclaims, “Trouble!” from the mountains of Efrayim.
Dan: the northernmost city in Israel, the first place the attackers would become visible, with little warning because of the mountains that block the view when the trade route to Mesopotamia fades from sight. The mountains of Efrayim: often called “the West Bank” today by Israel’s enemies—the area between Ramallah (near Beyth-El) and Nablus (Sh’khem). From here one can see all the way across the Yarden Valley, the othe direction from which an attack on Yerushalayim would be likely to be staged. The Aramaic specifies more particularly that the references to Dan and the Mountains of Efrayim are alluding to particular idols set up at each of these places. (1 Kings 12:29; Judges 17)
16. Make mention of it to the nations, make a proclamation about Yerushalayim [that] blockaders are coming from a distant land, and will set their noise against the cities of Yehudah.
Make mention to: or, remind. Blockaders: i.e., besiegers, guards, or possibly observers; it is the same Hebrew word as that used for “Christians” today. Aramaic, robbers like grape-gatherers. Set their noise: or, designate their voice.
17. “Like those who watch [over] a field, they have come against her from all around, because she has rebelled against Me,” declares YHWH.
Rebelled against Me: LXX, neglected Me.
18. “Your way and your practices have brought these things upon you; this is your own misery, because it is bitter, since it reaches [all the way] to your heart.
This is an allusion to the bitter waters used to test a woman accused of unfaithfulness to her husband (Numbers 5:18-27) in which her abdomen would swell up if she were guilty:
19. My belly! My belly! I am convulsed [to the] walls of my heart! My heart is clamoring against me; I cannot keep silent, because I have heard the sound of the shofar. My soul, the alarm signaling war!
Yirmeyahu seems to identify himself with the guilt of his people, though he himself is not the guilty one, for Israel is all one people. Walls of my heart: LXX, sensitive powers of my heart; Aram., support of my heart.
20. “Crushing upon crushing has been summoned, because the whole Land is devastated. My tents are devastated suddenly, My hanging-drapes in a moment!
Tents… hanging-drapes: an allusion to the Tabernacle, or their successors, the curtains in the Temple, which was to be destroyed. (See also 10:20)
21. “How long must I see the rallying-standard and hear the sound of the shofar?
Sound of the shofar: Sometimes (as here) used as an alarm announcing the approach of an enemy army.
22. “For My people are foolish; they have not acknowledged Me. They are stupid children; they are not discerning! They are skillful in doing evil, but do not know how to do right!”
Foolish: as actually despising and mocking wisdom, not just lacking it.
23. I inspected the Land, and, lo and behold, it was a chaotic ruin and an empty desolation; [I looked] toward the heavens, and none of their light was there.
This is an allusion to when YHWH first inspected the earth (the same word as “the Land”), and found it “a chaotic ruin and an empty desolation” (Gen. 1:2), and He brought light into being. Now the actions of His people have brought the order He created to an end. As in Genesis, at one time it had been otherwise, since the neginning of Genesis picks up a narrative after a scene of judgment on rebellious spirits.
24. I looked on the mountains, and, behold, they were quaking, and all the hills were moving themselves to and fro.
Moving themselves: Aramaic, displaced; LXX, in commotion. This did not take place when Babylon came to besiege Yerushalayim. Nothing of this magnitude has occurred on earth since 701 B.C.E. (long before Yirmeyahu’s day), so it still has a fulfillment in the days to come when the story resumes.
25. I paid [close] attention, but there was no human being, and all the birds of the skies had fled.
As at the flood of Noach, YHWH was wondering whether all His work of creation had been futile. There was no one bearing His image anymore. In mystical terms, the man of light (Adam) had been scattered again. The kingdom had come, and all that remained to make it complete was a marriage ceremony, but the bride could not wait for the wedding and went off with other lovers. So the wedding was off. The Israel that existed as YHWH intended had been destroyed, and the shards of light had to be gathered up yet again. The process had to be started all over. This was begun by Y’shua’s followers. But they dropped the ball, too. We need to take warning from this, that it can occur yet again as the option is being given to us once more.
26. I looked, and behold, the fruitful orchard [was] a wilderness, and all its cities were broken down from the presence of YHWH, from the presence of His fierce anger,
Fruitful orchard: or, as a proper name, Karmel (a mountain range in an area with the perfect climate for growing even subtropical fruits today as well).
27. because this is what YHWH has said: “The whole Land will be a desolation, but I will not make a complete end [of it].
28. “Over this the earth will mourn, and the heavens above will grow dark, because I have spoken, I have devised [a plan], and I will not be moved to pity, nor will I turn back from it.
Heavens grow dark: probably as a result of heavy volcanic debris in the atmosphere that results from the planet-wide catastrophe being under discussion here. Turn back from it: Aramaic, reconsider it.
29. “From the sound of war-horses and bow-archers every city will be put to flight; they will go to the thickets and go up among the [hollows of the] rocks. Every city will be abandoned, and not a man will dwell in them.
30. “And [when] you [are] despoiled, what will you do? Though you wear scarlet, though you put on gold ornaments, though you widen your eyes with black cosmetics, you will beautify yourself in vain. Your paramours will loathe you; they will demand your life,
31. “because I have heard a sound like a woman who is made sick, distress as of one giving birth to her first child—the voice of the daughter of Tzion gasping for breath, beginning to spread her palms: ‘Alas for me now; my life is fading away because of murderers!’”
Spread her palms: LXX, lose the strength of her hands. My life is fading away: or, my soul is weary.
CHAPTER 5
1. “Go to and fro now through the streets of Yerushalayim, and please look and be sure; ask in her open plazas if anyone who does justice, who searches for [steadfast] faithfulness, can be found, so I can pardon her.
Streets: literally, outdoor spaces; Aramaic, marketplaces. This is reminiscent of Avraham’s pleas that YHWH see whether there were not at least ten righteous left in S’dom and Ghamorah, so that He could spare them. (Gen. 18:32) But here, it is YHWH doing the initiating, and He would spare it if there is only one person who renders a right verdict (according to His words)! That is how badly He wants to not have to destroy the city of His favor. Instead, everyone did what was right in his own eyes. Later, He did find one man (Y’shua), on account of whom He could pardon us. But today again He is looking for men to set up a Torah-based court so decisive rulings can be made instead of letting things go on as they have been. Right rulings include both gentleness and strength, kindness and severity—in short, knowing what is best for each one in the flock, for some need their legs broken so they will stop wandering, while others need oil poured on their wounds.
2. “[Even] if they say, ‘[As] YHWH lives’, they have been swearing deceitfully.”
3. O YHWH, aren’t your eyes [looking] for faithfulness? You have had them beaten, but they are not in agony; You have finished them off, but they have refused to accept correction. They have made their faces harder than rock; they have refused to repent!
His eyes also go to and fro (v. 1)—not only in Yerushalayim but the whole Land (or earth), looking for someone whose heart is completely His, so He can fully support him. (2 Chron. 16:9) Yet many today who are Israel are resisting the call to act as Israel.
4. So I said, “Oh, [I’m sure these] are low-lifes who have [remained] dull since they have not been acquainted with the way of YHWH, the right procedures of their Elohim.
5. “I will go to the distinguished and speak to them, because they have been acquainted with the way of YHWH, the right procedures of their Elohim.” But, alas! They have broken the yoke and snapped the training-bands just the same!
Distinguished: or great; LXX, rich. Just the same: They did no better than the “low-lifes”.
6. On account [of this], a lion will attack them from the thicket; a wolf of the Aravah will assault them. A leopard is watching over their cities; anyone who leaves them will be torn to pieces, because they have been crossing far over the boundaries and they have turned away [too] many [times].
Lion: Babylon. Wolf of the Aravah: a similar phrase means “evening wolf” in Havaqquq 1:8 and Tzef. 3:3, and taken this way here by the Aramaic version. The Aravah borders on Edom; this may be the reference. Leopard, or possibly cheetah (because speed is its characteristic): corresponds with the kingdom of Greece, Babylon’s second successor, in Daniel 7:6. They have turned away too many times: or, their backslidings have broken their bones into many [pieces]—as in the previous phrase.
7. “How can I forgive you for this? Your sons have forsaken Me and sworn by what are not elohim! When I had fed them to the full, they still committed adultery and thronged the houses of prostitutes!
Fed them to the full: or, made them swear an oath: i.e., a marriage vow:
8. “They have become lustful, well-fed stallions, each neighing to his companion’s wife!
9. “Shall I not call them to account over these matters?” says YHWH. “And if My soul will not avenge itself of such a nation as this…
10. “Go up among her vine-rows and ruin [them], but do not carry out a complete destruction. Take away her spreading tendrils, because they do not belong to YHWH,
Vine-rows: or battlement-walls. Take away her spreading tendrils (offshoots): or, remove her branches—possibly what Paul was alluding to in Rom. 11:17-24; see also Yirm. 11:16. Unfruitful branches will be cut off. (Yoch. 15:2).
11. “since the House of Israel and the House of Yehudah have offended Me with treachery,” declares YHWH.
Both houses were cut off (taken away from the Land, where the root was). Only part of Yehudah returned, both after the Babylonian captivity and in our own generation. The penalty is not as unbending in our captivity, but how can we truly sing the songs of Tzion in a strange land? (Ps. 137) He is calling us back to where we must be holy in order to remain, and thus He has mercifully given us time to prepare by learning what holiness means while we are still outside the Land, so this may not recur once we arrive there.
12. “They have deceptively denied YHWH, and said, ‘Not Him! Trouble will not come upon us, nor will we see the sword or famine.’
13. “The prophets also will turn into wind, since there is nothing of the Word in them; the same will be done to them.
Turn into wind: or spirit. Those who take Christian doctrine to its logical conclusion also end up having none of the actual Word of YHWH left since they spiritualize it away. The root for “word” in Hebrew is “pasture” or a place to feed the sheep. Ear-ticklers are only feeding the sheep with candy.
14. “Therefore, this is what YHWH, Elohim of Armies, says: ‘Because you have said this thing, I am indeed here, turning My words into fire within your mouth, and [turn] this people [into] sticks, and it will consume them.
A prophet is meant to bring fire, not wind, for His word is a fire. (23:29) The downfall of the Northern Kingdom is that it failed to stoke up the fire when it should. (Hoshea 7:4) You have said: Here “you” is plural. Your mouth: here “your” is singular (probably referring to Yirmeyahu).
15. “Here, I am bringing upon you a nation from a distant [land], O House of Israel,’ declares YHWH. “It is a strong nation, a nation that has endured for an age—a nation whose tongue you do not know, nor can you understand what they say.
That has endured for an age: an ancient people whose beginnings are shrouded in mystery. Babylon was founded by Nimrod, the great hunter who rebelled against YHWH shortly after the Noachian deluge.
16. “Its quiver is like an open grave; they are all valiant,
17. “and it will devour your harvest and your bread! They will devour your sons and daughters! It will devour your flock and your herd! It will devour your vine and your fig tree, and with the sword it will plunder your fortified cities—those in which you trust.
When Israel wanted to have a king so it could be just like the other nations (for which Babylon is the archetype), the prophet Shmuel told them that the repercussions would be very similar to these. (1 Shmuel 8:11-18)
18. “Yet even in those days,” declares YHWH, “I will not bring you to an end completely.
19. “Now this is how it will be when you say, ‘In return for what has YHWH done all these [things] to us?’ Then tell them, ‘Just as you have forsaken Me and served other elohim in your Land, in the same way you will serve strangers in a land that is not your own.
Serve: i.e., be enslaved to. Strangers: literally, those who are estranged or alienated, thus possibly even people from the Northern Kingdom who had left the Covenant and already formed new nations, as many of them did. (Not all were enslaved to Assyria.)
20. “Make this conspicuous in the House of Yaaqov, and make it heard throughout Yehudah:
21. “‘Now hear this, O foolish and senseless people, [who] have eyes but cannot see, who have ears but cannot hear:
22. “‘Don’t you respect Me?’ says YHWH. ‘Or won’t you tremble from My presence—I who have set the sand [as a] boundary for the sea, a prescribed limit that it can never pass? They may toss themselves to and fro, but will not succeed; though its waves rage, they cannot cross over it.
Respect, tremble: Coming from a young, inexperienced man like Yirmeyahu, this probably seemed like a joke to those predisposed to reject a message of judgment. Sand: symbolic also of the descendants of Avraham; the sea: a symbol of the Gentile nations. (Compare Zech. 12:3) The nations are limited by Israel. (Deut. 32:8)
23. “’But this people has a stubborn heart; they have turned and walked away.
They are not acting as Israel is meant to, though even inanimate nature does what it is supposed to do. (v. 22).
24. “’Nor have they said in their heart, “Let us now fear YHWH our Elohim, who gives rain (both the early and the late) in its time, who preserves for us the weeks prescribed for harvest.”
If the rains come two weeks too early or too late, the crop can be lost. But they thought that as long as He was on time, everything would be all right. They, too, had to be in season if they were to enjoy His blessings. There is a right time for everything. (Eccles. 3; Prov. 15:23) If we are alert to His signs, we will not be caught by surprise. (Mat. 24:42ff) They took the rain for granted, but they would not even be around to eat the harvest it was bringing. (v. 17)
25. “’Your perversions have turned these away, and your sins have kept back from you what is best,
26. “’because wicked [ones] have been found among My people. They lie in wait like crouching trappers. They lay out a snare; they capture mortal men.
27. “’Like a cage full of birds, their houses are filled with betrayal. This is how they have become great and are growing rich.
Cage: Aramaic, a place for fattening animals.
28. “’They have grown fat and slick; they pass over the case [against] the wicked. They do not plead the cause (the cause of the orphan) so that they may become prosperous; nor do they vindicate the rights of the needy.
29. “’Shouldn’t I hold them accountable for these things?’ says YHWH. ‘If My soul will not avenge itself of such a nation as this…’
30. “An appalling, horrifying thing has been brought about in the Land!
31. “The prophets prophesy fraudulently, and the priests dominate based on [who can] afford to, and My people love it that way, so what will they do to end it?”
Who can afford to: literally, according to their hand. This was still going on in Y’shua’s day, for the Romans sold the high priesthood to whomever was the highest bidder, whether or not he was from the lineage YHWH had prescribed. Who would stop it if they were the very ones profiting from it?
CHAPTER 6
1. “O descendants of Binyamin, gather yourselves to flee out of the midst of Yerushalayim for refuge! And in Theqoa, blow the shofar. Also, over Beyth-HaKerem, raise a signal, because an evil has looked down out of the north, along with a great shattering.
Binyamin: north of Yerushalayim. Theqoa: from the same root as the next word, “blow”, or trumpet. It is to the south of Yerushalayim. Beyt-ha-Kerem: southwest of Yerushalayim. I.e., the attack is coming on all sides.
2. “The pleasant and delicate daughter of Tzion I have brought to silence.
Aramaic, O beautiful and noble lady, how you have corrupted your ways; therefore the assembly of Tzion is ashamed.
3. “To her shepherds will come with their flock; they will strike their tents against her all around. Each will feed his hand:
Each will feed his hand: Aramaic, They will assist each other.
4. “’Appoint war against her! Let us go up at noon!’”
Woe to us, because the day has declined; the shadows of evening have [begun to] stretch themselves out.
5. “Rise up and let us go up by night, and let us spoil her palaces!”
6. Because this is what YHWH of Armies has said: “Cut down her trees, and cast up a siege-mound against Yerushalayim! She is the city to be called to account; the innermost part of her is nothing but extortion!
Called to account: Aram., whose debts have been stored up against her.
7. “As a cistern keeps its waters fresh, in the same way she keeps her wickedness fresh: violence and devastation are heard within her; grief and wounds are constantly in front of My face.
Fresh: or cool. Grief and wounds: or, sickness and plagues.
8. “O Yerushalayim, let yourself be corrected, so that My soul may not be alienated from you, so that I don’t [have to] turn you into a desolation—an uninhabited land!”
He is not offering to rescind the punishment, but telling them to take the beating and learn from it so they can survive. The two Hebrew words for “teach” mean “to prod” and “to deal blows”, so if we want to learn from YHWH, we must prepare to be goaded. If we judge ourselves, we should not need to be judged. (1 Cor. 11:31) His rebuke is a favor. We can take the wounds He gives us in the wrong direction, and they will profit us nothing, or we can let it have the effect He wants. (v. 14; Heb. 12:12-13; Ps. 51:8) The affliction is beneficial if by it we learn His ways. (Ps. 119:71) When His judgments are seen in the world, its inhabitants will learn to be righteous; the wicked will not learn when there is only grace. (Yeshayahu 26:9-10)
9. This is what YHWH of Armies says: “ They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine. Return your hand like a [grape] gatherer [does] onto the [thinner] tendrils.”
I.e., come back for a second round of plundering. Aram., your plague will return.
10. To whom can I speak strongly and admonish, and [have] them listen? Indeed, their ear is uncircumcised and they are unable to listen [well]. YHWH’s Word has even become for them something to be ashamed of; they take no delight in it.
Uncircumcised: i.e., blocked off by excess flesh so that the hearing is dulled. The term can also mean “uncovered”, seemingly the opposite, but they were opening their ears to the wrong things (letting those who should not speak into our lives, such as gossips and whisperers, have authority there) and not opening them to the right things. Wise reproof is like a golden earring to an obedient ear. (Prov. 25:12) One who had a hole bored into his ear at the doorpost (Heb., mezuzah) to show that he wished to remain with a beneficent master (Ex. 21:6) would traditionally wear a golden earring to show publicly that he receives instruction, rulings, and protection from that household. YHWH tells us to write His words on our doorposts. (Deut. 11:20) But those who don’t listen and respond when He calls are numbered for the sword. (Yeshayahu 65:12) Their ear: This ear is singular, but it belongs to a plural group. They are meant to hear as one unit.
11. But I am filled up with the indignation of YHWH. I am tired of holding it in! [I want] to pour it out on the babies in the open [squares] and the youthful circle of friends alike, because even the man with a wife will be captured, the aged with fullness of days,
12. and their houses will be turned over to others, fields and women together, “because I will stretch out My hand over the inhabitants of the Land,” declares YHWH,
13. “because from the least of them all the way to the greatest, every one gains a profit unjustly, and from the prophets to the priest, every one [of them] deals fraudulently!
Prophets, priest: those who, above all others, should know better.
14. “Also, they have healed the fracture of My people as if it were insignificant, saying, ‘Wholeness, total well-being’, when there is no soundness [in it]!
I.e., they pasted a band-aid over a broken leg, kissed it, and said it was “all better”!
15. “Were they ashamed when they committed a disgusting [act]? They not only were not ashamed; they were not even familiar with [what it means] to blush! Therefore they will fall with those who fall. When I call them to account, they will be made to stumble,” says YHWH.
In contrast, the Northern Kingdom will be ashamed of its ways (16:19; 31:19).
16. This is what YHWH says: “Stand on the roadways and look intently; ask, in regard to the ancient [well-trodden] paths, “Which one is the beneficial way?”—and walk on it. Then you will find settledness for your souls.” But they said, “Let’s not walk [on it].”
Ask whom? YHWH gives wisdom to those who need it. (Yaaqov 1:5) Ancient: or eternal, but also hidden—because they have been covered over with so much debris and are hard to find. But of all of these, we are searching for a particular one. Settledness for your souls: Compare Y’shua’s promise of “rest for your souls” in Matt. 11:28-30. His yoke is the same as this ancient path. This may be why his disciples were originally simply called followers of ”the Way”. (Yoch. 14:6; Acts 9:2; 19:9. 23; 24:14) They pointed many back to it, but again the reunited Israel did not continue in the direction he intended. But again YHWH is bringing many back to it today. We will never find settledness when seeking security directly, but if we seek YHWH’s kingdom, everything else we need will be provided. (Mat. 6:33) But Y’shua was speaking more directly against those who loaded people down with unnecessary restrictions that went far beyond the intent of the Torah. (Mat. 12) Indeed, one can hardly feel settled when he is always wondering whether his obedience is accepted or not. But Yirmeyahu’s audience was off the scale of obedience altogether:
17. “I have caused watchmen to rise up on your behalf: ‘Pay attention to the sound of the shofar!’ But they said, ‘We will not pay attention.’
Watchmen: Aramaic, teachers. Yehezqel 33:1-20 reveals that the sound of the shofar signals that it is time to repent, or else war will come against them.
18. “So listen, O nations, and notice what is upon them!
19. “Listen, O earth: behold, I am bringing evil upon this people—the fruit of their [own] inventions, because they have not paid attention to My words, and [as for] My instruction, they have rejected it.
Fruit of their own inventions (thoughts or plans): they are only reaping what they sowed. (Gal. 6:7) He brought witnesses so that no one could accuse Him of giving them what they did not deserve. Instruction: Heb., torah.
20. “Why is this frankincense coming to Me from Sh’va, along with the high-quality calamus from a far-away land? Your ascending-offerings are not acceptable, nor are your sacrifices pleasing to Me!”
When hearts are not right, YHWH does not see any point in us going through the motions. (Compare Amos 5:21.) He will not be placated with plea-bargains if there is no repentance; He will not accept quantity or even quality of gifts in lieu of quality of heart. Calamus: LXX, cinnamon.
21. So this is what YHWH says: “Here I am, setting out stumblingblocks for this people, and the fathers and the sons alike will stumble over them; [both] neighbor and his companion will perish.”
Companion: Aramaic, near-relation.
22. Thus says YHWH: “Indeed, a people is coming from the land of the north, and a great nation will be stirred up from the [extreme] recesses of the earth.
23. “They will retain their hold on bow and javelin; it is fierce and merciless. Their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, set in array like men to battle against you, O daughter of Tzion!”
24. We have heard the report about it. Our hands have grown weak; distress has taken hold of us—pain like a woman in childbirth!
Just as the report about the Israelites made the people of Y’rikho lose heart. (Yehoshua 5:1) But Israel is not to operate by the same rules as the Kanaanites. They are not acting as Israel. (See note on v. 30)
25. Do not go out [into] the field, and do not walk on the road, because the enemy has a sword; terror is on every side!
Y’shua warns of similar times in Mat. 24:15ff that are yet ahead (the time of Yaaqov’s trouble, also known as the birthpangs of Messiah, in context of v. 24), but which can be a reparation for the breaches made during the time being spoken of here, if we pick up where our ancestors left off. When the same temptation comes around again, if we respond in the way He desires this time, what was broken can be salvaged, for the ancient path (v. 16) is also an eternal one, and we can get back onto it today if we repent. Even a fool will remain protected if he stays on the right road. (Yeshayahu 35:8) That is the task before us now.
26. “O daughter of my people, put on burlap, and roll yourself in ashes! Perform a mourning ritual for yourself, [as] for an only child—bitter wailing, because the [violent] destroyer will come upon us suddenly!
Burlap (sackcloth) and ashes are signs of deep mourning. Only child: or, idiomatically, a favorite. The term was used of Yitzhaq. (Gen. 22:2) When Yehudah sees Y’shua returning, they will mourn for Him as for an only child. (Zech. 12:10)
27. “I have appointed you as an inspector and an examiner among My people, and you will consider and scrutinize their way.
Inspector: one who assays metals and places a value on them. Examiner: or restrainer; the word often means a walled fortress. (2 Thess. 2:7) Like Yoseyf, Y’shua was sent to check on how his Father’s tenants were treating what was His. (Mat. 21:33-41) He, too, found insufficient repentance. (Mat. 23:37)
28. “All of them are turning away—rebels, walking [about as] talebearers. They are all copper and iron; bringers of corruption they are!
29. “The bellows are scorched [dry]; the lead is consumed by the fire. The refiner smelts uselessly, as the wicked have not been drawn off.
When silver is melted down, the lead which may be mixed in is relatively easy to smelt off. But iron and copper have a much higher melting temperature, and when they are mixed together, the total temperature needed to melt the silver is higher. Iron and copper can be removed more easily from gold than silver, for with silver, all have to reach the temperature of vaporization before they are removed. A bellows cannot accomplish this. So only one of the three corrupters has been burned away. The resulting silver may look purer indeed, but if we stop there and think we have arrived, we are thoroughly unacceptable to Him:
30. “’Reject silver’ is what they call them, because YHWH has rejected them.
Reject: or refuse, here an adjective, not an imperative verb; Aramaic, blemished. He has done all He could, but they have not allowed Him to purify them. Silver is what is used to redeem, and this is Israel’s calling in the world, but it could not serve its purpose since it, too, was corrupted, and thus had to end up on a slagheap. Such silver is sold very cheaply, for Israel had profaned itself. Yet YHWH retained a remnant—“seed corn” which He planted again, hoping that the next harvest would produce an edible crop.
CHAPTER 7
1. The word that came to Yirmeyahu from YHWH:
2. “Stand in the gate of the House of YHWH and call out this word there: ‘Listen to the word of YHWH, all you of Yehudah who enter at these gates to bow yourselves to YHWH!
3. “’This is what YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel, says: “Correct your directions and your practices, and I will allow you to remain in this place.
4. “’”Do not entrust yourselves to the words of deception that say, ‘This is the Temple of YHWH, the Temple of YHWH, the Temple of YHWH!’
5. “’“For if you do right [by] making your directions and your practices right, and truly make just rulings between a man and his fellow,
He allows one more opening to repent. Restoration cannot come without the execution of right judgment, favoring no one.
6. “’“[if] you do not exploit the newcomer, the orphan, or the widow or shed innocent blood in this place, nor go after other elohim to your [own] injury,
The emphasis is on community—teaching the newcomer rather than going after his money, and taking care of one another when truly needy.
7. “’“then I will allow you to remain in this place, in the Land that I gave to your ancestors to [be] from age to age.
8. “’“Indeed, you are entrusting yourselves to the words of deception that [will leave you] without profit.
9. “’“Will you steal, murder, commit adultery, adjure yourselves fraudulently, and burn incense to Ba’al, and go after other elohim that you have not been acquainted with,
Other elohim: No one in Yirmeyahu’s day was acquainted with an elohim who was also a man, except from pagan sources.
10. “’“then come and stand before My face in this House which has been reputed to have My Name upon it, and say, ‘We are delivered’, just to [go back and] do all these disgusting things?
We are delivered…: This sounds very much like, “We are free from the Law; we can be forgiven, no matter what we do wrong.” His response, in so many words, is, “Will you tell Me this in My own house, just because I did you a favor?” He does not desire just a “confessional”, but true repentance.
11. “’“Has this House which has been reputed to have My Name upon it become a den of robbers? And I have indeed noticed,” declares YHWH.
Den of robbers: Yeshua quoted this verse in the affirmative when He came and cleansed the Temple of the “leaven” of unjust monetary exchange just before Passover twice.
12. “’“Because go now to My place which [was] in Shilo, where I first made My Name reside, and look at what I did to it in the face of the wickedness of My people Israel!
Shilo is where the Tabernacle had a semi-permanent place with a low foundational wall that has been excavated there by archaeologists. But that is all that is left of it, for this reason.
13. “’“And now, because you have done all these deeds,” declares YHWH, “and I [was] speaking to you, rising up early to speak, but you did not listen, and I [was] calling to you, but you did not respond.
14. “’“So I will do to the House which has been reputed to have My Name upon it, on [account of] which you are feeling secure, and to the place that I gave to you and your ancestors, just as I did to Shilo,
Just as I did: He made His presence depart. The background for why is found in 1 Shmuel 3-4.
15. “and I will throw you out of My presence, just as I have thrown out all of your brothers (all the descendants of Efrayim).”’
16. “And [as for] you, do not intervene for this people nor lift up an outcry or a prayer on their behalf; do not intercede with Me, because there is nothing in Me that will hear.
You: Yirmeyahu. I.e., don’t even begin to do what Avraham did, because it would break My heart to tell you “No”. Do not stand in the way, for if I relent, Israel will not survive. Let the judgment come so that it can be salvaged. A similar command was given to Shmuel the prophet in regard to King Sha’ul. (1 Shmuel 16) There was no longer a point of contact for Him within one who had rejected His word and deliberately disobeyed.
17. “Don’t you see what they are doing in the cities of Yehudah and in the streets of Yerushalayim?
18. “The children are gathering sticks and the fathers are kindling the fire; the women are kneading dough to make [prepared] cakes for the ‘queen of heaven’ and to pour out libations to other elohim in order to spite Me.
Queen of heaven: the Babylonian goddess Semiramis (later called Astarte, the Egyptian Hathor, the Greek Aphrodite, and Roman Venus) that had the veneer of “the Virgin Mary” pasted over it after Roman religion was mixed with Biblical in what then became the Catholic (universal) Church. This claim that very different beings are identical is the hallmark of the conglomerate world religion that is taking shape again. Cakes: part of the worship ritual.
19. “Is it Me they are spiting?” says YHWH. “Isn’t it themselves, to the shame of their own faces?”
20. “Therefore, this is what Adonai YHWH says: ‘Indeed, My anger and My rage will be poured out toward this place—upon both the man and the beast, upon both the tree of the field and the fruit of the ground—and it will burn and will not be put out.’
21. “Thus says YHWH of Armies, the Elohim of Israel: ‘Sweep your ascending [offering]s onto your slaughterings, and eat meat,
22. “’because I did not speak with your ancestors nor give them orders in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt concerning the matters of ascending offerings or slaughterings;
He desires obedience, not sacrifice. (1 Shmuel 15:22) I.e., He would rather we had no need to repent at all. Religion was only added when they became too interested in the religions of the people around them, but do we need “busy work” to keep us distracted? Why not look into the depths found within what He did intend?
23. “’rather, this is the thing that I commanded them: “Listen to My voice, and I will become for you an Elohim, and you will come to be My people. And walk in the whole way that I have commanded you so that it may go well for you.”
24. “’But they did not listen, nor did they bend their ear [toward Me], but walked in the plans and the stubbornness of their evil heart, and they went backward instead of forward.
Stubbornness: Aramaic, corrupt fancy.
25. “’Since the day that your ancestors came out of the land of Egypt until this day, I have been sending you all My servants the prophets—even rising up early [in the] day to send [them].
26. “’Yet they did not listen to Me, nor did they bend their ear [toward Me], but were making the back of their neck stiff; they did [more] evil than their parents.’
27. “So say all these words to them, but they will not listen; you will call to them, but they will not answer.
28. “But you must tell them, ‘This is the nation that does not obey the voice of YHWH their Elohim, nor do they receive correction. Faithfulness has vanished and has been cut off from their mouth.
29. “’Shear off [the hair of] your Nazirite consecration, and take up a dirge on the barren heights, because YHWH has rejected and will let loose the generation of His overflowing fury,
Let loose: paralleled in his depiction with cutting his hair. This Nazirite state may have been part of Yirmeyahu’s being set apart from his mother’s womb (1:6), and this the first he cut his hair. But more probably it was just that he set himself apart for the purpose of delivering this prophecy. The word “Nazir” literally means “an untrimmed vine” (Lev. 25:5); thus a Nazir’s locks are a picture of YHWH’s acceptance of Israel. (Y’hezq’el 5)
30. “’because the descendants of Yehudah have done what is evil in My eyes,’ declares YHWH. ‘They have set their detestable [idol] in the House which has been reputed to have My Name upon it, [in order] to defile it.
31. “’They have built the cultic platforms of the Tofeth which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom to burn their sons and daughters in the fire, which I neither commanded nor did it [even] come up in My mind.
Tofeth: identical to a word for “spit”, which is YHWH’s opinion of it. It comes from a root word meaning “to beat or drum upon” or “play the tambourine”, which may have been part of the ritual that went on there. The Valley of [the Son of] Hinnom (which means “lamentation”) became corrupted to “Ge-henna” in Greek, which became an idiom for “hell” because of the constant fires there after it was relegated to being a dumping-ground after the practices mentioned here rendered it unworthy of any nobler use. It formed the southern and western sides of the city of Yerushalayim in ancient times. The Tofeth in particular was at the confluence of the Valley of Hinnom and the Qidron Valley (the southeastern corner of the city), just south of Mt. Tzion (the City of David).
32. “’Therefore, behold, the days are coming,’ declares YHWH, ‘when it will no longer be called Tofeth or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but rather the Valley of the Slaying, because they will bury [people] in Tofeth due to lack of space,
Slaying: the emphasis is on the numbers who will be killed here when YHWH brings judgment. Due to lack of space: Aramaic, until there is no place.
33. “’and the corpses of this people will become food for the fowls of the sky and for the beast of the earth, and [there will be] no one [to] frighten them away.
Compare Rev. 19:17-21. Frighten them away: or startle them—unlike Avram, who was able to drive away the birds that started coming after the carcasses of the animals he had divided in his initial covenant with YHWH. (Gen. 15) Birds or fowls are often symbolic of evil spirits. But YHWH had already divided the nation of his descendants in half, but now the unstated, more gruesome consequence of this treason was also to be fulfilled.
34. “’And I will put an end to the voice of gladness and the voice of joy, the voice of the bridegroom and the voice of the bride from [within] the cities of Yehudah and the streets of Yerushalayim, because the land will become a place laid waste [and desolate].'
Joy: LXX, those who make merry. This is repeated again in 16:9 and 25:10, but compare 33:10-11. The same curse is transferred to Babylon in Rev. 18:23.
CHAPTER 8
1. “At that time”, declares YHWH, “they will bring out the bones of the kings of Yehudah, and the bones of its princes, and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, and the bones of the inhabitants of Yerushalayim from their graves,
Prophets: Aramaic adds, of falsehood, to clarify that YHWH does not wish to defame His prophets. Would the bones of the kings include even David’s? Was even he so disgraced because of the choices made by those who came after him?
2. “and they will spread them out to the sun, to the moon, and to all the hosts of heaven whom they have loved, whom they have served, after whom they have walked, after whom they have enquired, and to whom they have bowed down. They will not be collected or buried; they will come to serve as fertilizer on the surface of the ground.
Compare Yehezq'el 6:5. This ultimate act disrespect represented the opposite of being “gathered to one’s fathers”, for the bones of many generations were traditionally placed together after the bodies had decomposed. They were being separated from their heritage as Israelites. Normally one’s bones last for centuries, if not millennia, after one dies, but “envy is the rottenness of the bones.” (Prov. 14:29) Wanting another’s position for oneself makes the bones decay, ultimately making it as if this person had never existed, removing their memory from the earth. Fertilizer: LXX, as an example.
3. “And death will be chosen over life by all of the remnant who are left of this wicked family, who remain alive in all the places where I have caused them to be banished,” declares YHWH of Armies.
Death will be chosen: Aram., they will delight in death—as every aspect of Egyptian life emphasized preparation for death. YHWH said He set before us the choice of life or death. (Deut. 30:19) Those who did not wish to be subject to His Torah are described as having turned their hearts back to Egypt. (Acts 7:39) But choosing death is not as simple as being suicidal. Choosing self—our own lives—means death, because when we “find our lives”, we lose them. (Mat. 10:39)
4. “So you shall say to them, ‘This is what YHWH says: “Will they fall and not get up? If they turn away, won’t they come back?
They: apparently the Babylonian army, who may have appeared to be in “remission”. Or, “Don’t those who fall get up again? Don’t those who turn away come back? So why…?”
5. “’“Why has this people turned away? Yerushalayim is [one] constant apostasy! They cling tightly to deceitfulness; they refuse to repent.
Their measure of a successful, strong person is how well he is able to deceive others.
6. “’“I paid [close] attention and listened, but they did not speak like this. Not a man of them regrets his wickedness, saying, ‘What have I done?’ They all have turned back to their own lifestyles, like a horse running into the battle.
The first step toward changing is admitting guilt, but they refused to do so. Their heart is not asking where it has fallen short of its potential. They ignore the early warning signs that could spare them much more trouble later. Lifestyles: or, racecourses.
7. “’“Even a stork in the skies knows her appointed time, and a turtledove, a swallow, and a thrush maintains the season of her coming, but My people do not recognize YHWH’s manner of judging.
My people: who of all nations should know better.
8. “’“How can you say, ‘We are wise, and YHWH’s Torah is with us’, [when] in fact, look--the lying pen of the scribes has perpetrated fraud?
9. “’“Wise [men] have withered away; they have been broken in pieces, and will be captured. They have melted away at the word of YHWH, so what [kind of] wisdom [can] they have?
10. “’“So I will give their wives to others, their fields to those who are dispossessing them, because from the small to the great, everyone is wrongfully gaining an unjust profit. From the prophet to the priest, everyone is perpetrating fraud,
An unjust profit is not always about money. It can include thinking we deserve to be held in high esteem by men. The prophets were not content to hear from YHWH and speak authoritatively; they want their own authority, like Jezebel. This is why several in Scripture were struck with leprosy. (e.g., 2 Chron. 26:16-21) Even the priests, who had the most respected position in Israel, wanted more. Y’shua said they had received all the reward they were going to get.
11. “’“and they have healed the fracture of My people as if it were insignificant, saying, ‘Wholeness, total well-being’, when there is no soundness [in it]!
When people say there is peace in this age when peace has not yet arrived, it should be a red flag warning us not to trust them. (Daniel 8:25) The only way to true peace is through the painful inquiry into “what we have done”. To say we can be at peace just because “Jesus died for us” (so we can never be punished) or even because we are “doing the best we can” to obey is out of season in our day.
12. “’“Were they ashamed when they committed a disgusting [act]? They not only were not ashamed; they were not even familiar with [what it means] to blush! Therefore they will fall with those who fall. When I call them to account, they will be made to stumble,” says YHWH.
13. “’“I will collect [and] consume them,” is said by YHWH. “No grapes [will be] on the vine, and no figs on the fig tree; even the leaves will wither and fall off, and I will give [them] to those who overrun them.”’”
He has found no value in them. (9:9) Y’shua cursed a fig tree for having leaves (as if there would also be fruit) but no figs. (Mark 11:13ff)
14. On what account are we sitting still? Gather yourselves together, and let’s go into the fortified cities, and be silenced there, because YHWH our Elohim has silenced us there, and given us water of hemlock to drink, because we have sinned against YHWH.
Hemlock: or poison, bitterness, gall; Aramaic, the cup of cursing.
15. We waited expectantly for peace, but there is nothing agreeable; for a time of healing, but--lo and behold, [sudden, overwhelming] terror!
Healing: Aramaic, pardon from debts. Terror: This is what all who go on sinning willfully can expect, because they are taught that “God will forgive any sin”, so they do not truly repent.
16. “The snorting of his stallions was heard from Dan; from the sound the neighing of his mighty ones, the whole Land shakes, because they will come and devour the Land and all that fills it, the city and those who dwell there,
His: the King of Babylon’s.
17. “for behold, I am sending out among you serpents--poisonous snakes, which there is no way to charm, and they will bite you [hard]”, declares YHWH.
And this time Moshe will not be there with a brass serpent to look upon!
18. After [having been] cheerful, grief [has come] upon me; faintheartedness [has come] over me.
19. “There it is—the sound of the outcry of my people from a faraway land! Isn’t YHWH in Tzion? Isn’t her King within her? Why have they provoked Me to anger with their carved images, with foreign things that are empty?”
20. The harvest has passed; the summer has come to an end, and we have not been delivered!
This is at Sukkoth, when the grace period of the foregoing days is finally completed and one’s direction for the coming year is sealed. Atonement has not been granted as anticipated. (During the 40 years following Y’shua’s death the red cord tied around the “scapegoat’s” horn.) We need to count the cost and request an adequate “budget” for the coming year at this time, so that we will be able to complete what we need to. What we truly seek in the spirit will be found (Mat. 7:7), so be sure you are seeking the right thing.
21. On account of the crippling of the daughter of my people, I have been made crippled. I have been darkened [with mourning]; appalling horror has gotten a firm grip on me.
The Aramaic targum has Yerushalayim saying these words. Been darkened: Aram., my [Yerushalayim’s] face has been covered with a coating of blackness like a pot—possibly due to the burning of the city. But one day she will again speak, expressing amazement at all the children she has regained when they turned back to YHWH in their exile. (Yeshayahu 49:20-21)
22. Isn’t there any salve in Gil’ad? And isn’t there a healer there? So why hasn’t the health of the daughter of my people improved?
Salve: the Aramaic sees it as symbolic of the teaching of Eliyahu the prophet, who was from Gil’ad. If we had heeded his words, we would have been healed. His words are, “How long will you hobble between two opinions? If YHWH is Elohim, serve Him!” (1 Kings 18:21) The spirit of Eliyahu is returning today to precede the “great and terrible” Day of YHWH, and again it says, “YHWH—He is Elohim!” Not “the Lord” (Ba’al), “God” (luck), or some other substituted name; at best, these obscure the truth, and at worst are idolatry.
THE WRITINGS OF THE PROPHET
Yirmeyahu
(Jeremiah)
INTRODUCTION: Yirmeyahu, traditionally called Jeremiah in English, was a priest, and therefore from the tribe of Levi, and a reluctant prophet due to his young age. He prophesied beginning almost 100 years after the fall of the Northern Kingdom (Israel), just after Yoshiyahu’s widespread reforms, and just prior to the fall of the Southern Kingdom (Yehudah). The reigns spanned were the fifth-last and (skipping the three-month reign of Yehoakhaz) the final three kings of the Southern Kingdom. (Yehoyachin is not mentioned in 1:3, but he reigned for three months between the reigns of Yehoyaqim and Tzidqiyahu.) The time frame was 628 B.C.E.—about 60 years after Yeshayahu’s death--and from 609 through 586 B.C.E. (2 Kings 22-25; 2 Chron. 34-36) During this time Yoshiyahu was killed for meddling in Pharaoh Nekho’s military affairs, his son Yehoachaz was taken to Egypt, Nevukhadnetzar of Babylon made Yehudah a vassal, Yehoyaqim rebelled and was then plagued with Chaldean, Aramean, Moavite, and Ammonite raiders, Nevukhadnetzar again besieged Yerushalayim, Yehoyaqim surrendered and was taken captive to Babylon along with the temple and royal treasures (to be imprisoned 37 years, then treated well by the Babylonians until he died, as per 52:31). Tzidqiyahu was installed in his place, until he too rebelled and Yerushalayim was burned and the walls broken down. This particular Yirmeyahu is also mentioned in the 2 Chronicles 36 account, but that this was a common name in his generation is evident from several others mentioned throughout the books of Kings, Chronicles, and Nechemyah, including the grandfather of King Yehoakhaz.
7:21-8:3, followed by 9:22-23, is a haftarah (companion passage) for Torah Portion Tzav.
