Jeremiah 9:9

Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) Shall I not visit . . .?—The previous use of the same warning in Jeremiah 5:9; Jeremiah 5:29 gives these words also the emphasis of iteration.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

9:1-11 Jeremiah wept much, yet wished he could weep more, that he might rouse the people to a due sense of the hand of God. But even the desert, without communion with God, through Christ Jesus, and the influences of the Holy Spirit, must be a place for temptation and evil; while, with these blessings, we may live in holiness in crowded cities. The people accustomed their tongues to lies. So false were they, that a brother could not be trusted. In trading and bargaining they said any thing for their own advantage, though they knew it to be false. But God marked their sin. Where no knowledge of God is, what good can be expected? He has many ways of turning a fruitful land into barrenness for the wickedness of those that dwell therein.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

An arrow shot out - Rather, "a murderous arrow."

In heart he layeth his wait - Rather, "inwardly he layeth his ambush."

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. (Jer 5:9, 29).

Matthew Poole's Commentary

See Jeremiah 5:9,29.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord,.... The Targum adds,

"to bring evil upon them.''

Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? the Targum is,

"or of a people whose works are such, shall I not take vengeance according to my pleasure?''

See Gill on Jeremiah 5:9.

Geneva Study Bible

Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. Here repeated from ch. Jeremiah 5:9; Jeremiah 5:29.

Jeremiah 9:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

The land laid waste, and the people scattered amongst the heathen. - Jeremiah 9:9. "For the mountains I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lament; for they are burnt up so that no man passeth over them, neither hear they the voice of the flock; the fowls of the heavens and the cattle are fled, are gone. Jeremiah 9:10. And I make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling of jackals; and the cities of Judah I make a desolation, without an inhabitant. Jeremiah 9:11. Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? and to whom the mouth of Jahveh hath spoken, that he may declare it? Wherefore doth the land come to ruin, is it burnt up like the wilderness, that none passeth through? Jeremiah 9:12. Jahveh said: Because they forsake my law which I set before them, and have not hearkened unto my voice, neither walked therein, Jeremiah 9:13. But went after the stubbornness of their heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers have taught them. Jeremiah 9:14. Therefore thus hath Jahveh of hosts spoken, the God of Israel: Behold, I feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink, Jeremiah 9:15. And scatter them among the nations which they knew not, neither they nor their fathers, and send the sword after them, until I have consumed them."

Already in spirit Jeremiah sees God's visitation come upon the land, and in Jeremiah 9:9 and Jeremiah 9:10 he raises a bitter lamentation for the desolation of the country. The mountains and meadows of the steppes or prairies are made so desolate, that neither men nor beasts are to be found there. Mountains and meadows or pastures of the steppes, as contrasted with the cities (Jeremiah 9:10), represent the remoter parts of the country. על is here not local: upon, but causal, concerning equals because of, cf. Jeremiah 4:24., as is usual with (נשׂא נהי )קינה; cf. 2 Samuel 1:17; Amos 5:1; Ezekiel 26:17, etc. נצּתוּ, kindled, burnt up, usually of cities (cf. Jeremiah 2:15), here of a tract of country with the sig. be parched by the glowing heat of the sun, as a result of the interruption of agriculture. מדבּר is steppe, prairie, not suitable for tillage, but well fitted for pasturing cattle, as e.g., the wilderness of Judah; cf. 1 Samuel 17:28. With מבּלי, Jeremiah 9:11, cf. Ezekiel 33:28. Not only have the herds disappeared that used to feed there, but the very birds have flown away, because the parched land no longer furnishes food for them; cf. Jeremiah 4:25. To "are fled," which is used most properly of birds, is added: are gone away, departed, in reference to the cattle.