Jeremiah 7:20

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(20) Shall be poured out.—The word is used in Exodus 9:33 of the plague of rain; here, of the great shower of the fire of the wrath of Jehovah (comp. Nahum 1:6). It is significant that it had been used by Josiah on hearing of the judgments denounced in the new-found copy of the Law (2Chronicles 34:21).

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 7:20. Therefore thus saith the Lord — And what he saith he will not unsay, nor can all the world withstand its execution. Hear it therefore and tremble. Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place — As the flood of waters was poured upon the old world, or the shower of fire and brimstone upon Sodom; since they will provoke me, let them feel the effects of their conduct. They shall soon find, 1st, That there is no escaping this deluge of wrath, either by fleeing from it, or fencing against it. It shall be poured out on this place — Though it be a holy place, the Lord’s house. It shall reach both man and beast — Like the plagues of Egypt; and, like some of them, shall destroy the trees of the field and the fruit of the ground — Which they had designed and prepared for Baal, and of which they had made cakes to the queen of heaven. They shall find, 2d, That there is no extinguishing it: it shall burn and shall not be quenched — Prayers and tears, forms and ceremonies of worship, and ritual observances of whatever kind, shall then avail nothing, to prevent that total destruction which it shall produce.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

7:17-20 The Jews took pride in showing zeal for their idols. Let us learn to be earnest in the service of our God, even from this bad example. Let us think it an honour to be employed in any work for God. Let us be as diligent ourselves, and as careful to teach our children the truths of God, as many are to teach the mysteries of iniquity. The direct tendency of this sin is malice against God, but it will hurt themselves. And they shall find there is no escaping. God's wrath is fire unquenchable.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

Upon man, and upon beast - All creation in some mysterious way shares in man's fall and restoration Romans 8:19-22.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

20. beast … trees … ground—Why doth God vent His fury on these? On account of man, for whom these were created, that the sad spectacle may strike terror into him (Ro 8:20-22).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Mine anger; put for his revenge, by a metonymy of the cause for the effect.

My fury: this expresseth his anger boiled up to the height, Jeremiah 4:4.

Poured out; a metaphor taken from violent rains; see Jeremiah 6:11; and may in particular allude to those showers of fire that were poured out upon Sodom, Genesis 19:24.

Upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground: these particulars are enumerated to express an utter desolation and ruin; see Jeremiah 4:25; and it is threatened against those creatures which are innocent, because they were made for the use of man, partly that it might show how greatly God is offended, and that it should work upon them not only a greater fear of his judgments, but a greater shame for their sin, that they should occasion such sufferings upon the innocent creature, Romans 8:20,22.

Shall not be quenched: he follows the threatening with showing the irresistibleness of it; his resolution is not to be revoked, Jeremiah 4:4; and this is suitable to the charge he gave the prophet, Jeremiah 7:16.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Therefore thus saith the Lord God,.... Since these are their thoughts, and this the fruit of their doings:

behold, my anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place; like fire, to consume and destroy it; meaning Jerusalem, which was burned with fire; as an emblem of God's wrath, and an instance of his vengeance upon it, for sins; which came down in great abundance, like a storm or tempest:

upon man and upon beast; upon beasts for the sake of man, they being his property, and for his use; otherwise they are innocent, and do not deserve the wrath of God, nor are they sensible of it:

and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of your ground; which should be blighted by nipping winds, or cut down and trampled upon by the Chaldean army:

and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched; that is, the wrath of God shall burn like fire, and shall not cease until it has executed the whole will of God in the punishment of his people.

Geneva Study Bible

Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; Behold, mine anger and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be quenched.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 20. - Upon man, and upon beast. That all creation shares in the curse of man is repeatedly affirmed in the Old Testament as well as the New. Inferentially, this doctrine appears from the narrative of the Fall, and still more clearly from Isaiah's description of Paradise regained (11.). Hosea speaks of sufferings of the animals arising out of the guilt of Israel (Hosea 4:3), and a consciousness of the "solidarity" of all living creatures is ascribed to a Ninevite king in the Book of Jonah (Jonah 3:7, 8). In general, the origin of this community of suffering is left mysterious, but in Genesis 6:12 it is expressly stated as the cause of the Deluge, that "all flesh [i.e. both man and beast.] had corrupted its way upon the earth;" i.e. apparently, that contact with man had led to a corruption of the original innocence of the lower animals. It is a common experience that intercourse between Christianized (not to say civilized) man and the domestic animals produces a sometimes pathetic change in the psychic phenomena of the latter. Is the reverse process utterly inconceivable? Jeremiah 7:20

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

But instead of vexing Him (Jahveh) they rather vex themselves, inasmuch as God causes the consequences of their idolatry to fall on their own head. אתם is used reflexively: se ipsos; cf. Ew. 314, c; Gesen. 124, 1, b. For the cause of the shame of their face, i.e., to prepare for themselves the shame of their face, to cover their face with shame; cf. Jeremiah 3:25. - For (Jeremiah 7:20) because of this idolatrous work, the wrath of the Lord will pour itself over the land in the consuming fire of war (cf. Jeremiah 4:4 with Jeremiah 5:17, Nahum 1:6, etc.), so as to cut off men and beasts, trees and fruit.