Jeremiah 30:12

For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(12) Thy bruise is incurable . . .—The mind of the prophet dwells on the seeming hopelessness, in words which sound like an echo from his Lamentations (Jeremiah 2:13), in order to enhance the blessedness of the reverent utterance of hope which appears in Jeremiah 30:17.

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 30:12-15. Thy bruise is incurable — In all human appearance. The state that the Jews should be in would be so miserable that it would be incurable from any hand except that of God. There is none to plead thy cause — There is none that, by the reformation of their lives, or their intercessions with God, endeavour to avert his displeasure. Or, as the words may be rendered, There is none to judge thy cause, none that knows the true nature of thy malady, or what medicines are proper to be applied to it. Their calamitous state is compared to a distempered body; (see Jeremiah 30:17, and Jeremiah 8:22; Isaiah 1:5-6;) and the false prophets, instead of applying proper remedies, have healed thy wound slightly. Or the words may mean, There is none to intercede for thee with thy victors and oppressors. All thy lovers have forgotten thee — All the nations whose alliance they had solicited, and whose idolatries they had imitated, and who had professed much friendship for them, had neglected and forgotten them, and desired no farther connection with them. They seek thee not — Seek not thy welfare, but abandon thee to ruin. For I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, &c. — Thy iniquities have provoked me to punish thee with that severity which appears like cruelty, and as if I had declared myself an utter enemy to thee. Why criest thou for thine affliction? —

Why shouldest thou expostulate with me, as if I had dealt unjustly with thee, whereas, if thy condition seem desperate, it is owing to thine own iniquities, which have still been increased with new aggravations of guilt.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

30:12-17 When God is against a people, who will be for them? Who can be for them, so as to do them any kindness? Incurable griefs are owing to incurable lusts. Yet, though the captives suffered justly, and could not help themselves, the Lord intended to appear for them, and to punish their oppressors; and he will still do so. But every effort to heal ourselves must prove fruitless, so long as we neglect the heavenly Advocate and sanctifying Spirit. The dealings of His grace with every true convert, and every returning backslider, are the same in effect as his proceedings to the Jews.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Incurable - Mortal, fatal.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

12. The desperate circumstances of the Jews are here represented as an incurable wound. Their sin is so grievous that their hope of the punishment (their exile) soon coming to an end is vain (Jer 8:22; 15:18; 2Ch 36:16).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Interpreters generally understand by bruise or wound here the state that the Jews should be in the captivity of Babylon, which would be miserable, and so miserable that it would be incurable from any hand, except the hand of God. But I do not understand why it may not as well be interpreted of their sinful state, with reference to God’s purpose, and interpreted by 2 Chronicles 36:16, where it is said, The wrath of God arose against them till there was no remedy. They had sinned to that degree that God had resolved into captivity they should go, and there should abide till the determination of seventy years.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

For thus saith the Lord, thy bruise is incurable,.... By themselves or others, in all human appearance; there was no help for them from men; their case seemed desperate; there was no likelihood of their recovery to their former state and glory, as at this day the case of the Jews appears to be; there seems to be no probability of their conversion and restoration; and whenever it is, it will be as life from the dead, Romans 11:15; like quickening Ezekiel's dry bones, or raising persons from the dead, which none but the hand of omnipotence can effect:

and thy wound is grievous; an expression signifying the same as before: the metaphor is taken from a body wounded and bruised in such a manner, as to be past the skill of the most able surgeon to cure it.

Geneva Study Bible

For thus saith the LORD, Thy bruise is incurable, and thy wound is grievous.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

12. Thy hurt is incurable] lit. It is ill with thy hurt. Similar words are applied by the prophet to himself in Jeremiah 15:18.

The pronouns in the v. are fem. as referring to the nation, as in Jeremiah 22:20 and often elsewhere. For the whole v. cp. Lamentations 2:13.

12–15. These vv. are either Jeremiah’s own (so Du.) or a close imitation of his style.

Pulpit Commentary

Verses 12-17. - Miserable indeed is the condition of Israel! No wonder; for its sins were great. And yet, just because it is so forlorn, Jehovah will interpose for its relief. Verse 12. - For thus saith, etc. If the two preceding verses are a later insertion, we must render, But surely (more strictly, surely, but particles of asseveration easily acquire an adversative force from the context). Bright, indeed, is the prospect for Judah, "but surely" his present condition is very much the reverse; comp. Isaiah 9:1 (Authorized Version," nevertheless"). Thy bruise is incurable, etc. One of Jeremiah's characteristic repetitions (see Jeremiah 10:19; Jeremiah 14:17; Jeremiah 15:18). That thou mayest be bound up. This rendering follows the accents. But the mixture of figures is very incongruous. It is much better to connect the words a little differently and to render, for thy sore thou hast no medicines (nor any) plaster. Jeremiah 30:12

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

Because Israel has been severely chastised for his sins, the Lord will now punish his enemies, and heal Israel. - Jeremiah 30:12. "For thus saith Jahveh: It is ill with thy bruise, thy wound is painful. Jeremiah 30:13. There is none to judge thy cause; for a sore, healing-plaster there is none for thee. Jeremiah 30:14. All thy lovers have forgotten thee, thee they seek not; for I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy, the chastisement of a cruel one, because of the multitude of thine iniquity, [because] thy sins were numerous. Jeremiah 30:15. Why criest thou over thy bruise - [because] thy wound is bad? Because of the multitude of thine iniquity, [because] thy sins were numerous, have I done these things to thee. Jeremiah 30:16. Therefore all those who devour thee shall be devoured; and all thine oppressors, they shall all go into captivity; and they who spoiled thee shall become a spoil, and those that plundered thee I will give up for plunder. Jeremiah 30:17. For I will put a plaster on thee, and will heal thee of thy wounds, saith Jahveh; for they call thee an outcast, [and say], Zion is she [whom] none seeketh after."

This strophe is only a fuller expression of the idea set forth in Jeremiah 30:11, that the Lord certainly chastises Israel, but will not make an end of him. The chastisement has commenced. From the wounds and blows which Israel has received, he lies motionless and helpless, getting neither sympathy nor aid from his lovers. The feminine suffix and the mention of lovers show that the address turns to the daughter of Zion. On the expression אנוּשׁ , "it is ill with thy bruise," cf. Jeremiah 15:18. נחלה מכּה, "bad, incurable is the stroke which thou hast received," as in Jeremiah 10:19; Jeremiah 14:17. דּוּן דּין, "to execute justice;" cf. Jeremiah 5:28; Jeremiah 22:16. Hitzig well explains the meaning: "thy claims against thy heathen oppressors." למזור, although connected by the accents with what precedes, does not agree well with דּן דּינך; for מזור has not the meaning which has been attributed to it, of a "bandage," but, as derived from the verb זוּר, "to press a wound," signifies the wound that has been pressed together; see on Hosea 5:13. Neither does the figure of the wound agree with the expression, "there is none to judge thy cause," so that we might, with Umbreit, render the passage, "No one gives thee thy due, in pressing thy wounds;" while, as Graf says, " רפאות dissociated from למזור forms a useless synonym with תּעלה," and in Jeremiah 46:11, where the thought is repeated, it is separated from the latter word. Accordingly, with Hitzig and Graf, we connect למזור into one clause: "for the wound, there is no healing (or medicine)-no plaster." תּעלה is what is laid upon the wound, a plaster. "All thy lovers," i.e., the nations which were once allied with thee (cf. Jeremiah 22:20, Jeremiah 22:22), do not trouble themselves about thee, because I have smitten thee so heavily on account of the multitude of thy transgressions; cf. Jeremiah 5:6; Jeremiah 13:22. עצמוּ still depends on the preposition על, which continues its force, but as a conjunction. The idea that the Israelites have richly deserved their sufferings is still more plainly presented in Jeremiah 30:15 : "Why criest thou, because thou hast brought this suffering on thee through thy sins?" אנוּשׁ also depends on על, which continues to exert its power in the sentence as a conjunction.