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Verse-by-Verse Bible Commentary
Jeremiah 24:9

'I will make them an object of terror and an evil for all the kingdoms of the earth, as a disgrace and a proverb, a taunt and a curse in all the places where I will scatter them.
New American Standard Bible

Bible Study Resources

Concordances:
Nave's Topical Bible - Dispersion;   Zedekiah;   Thompson Chain Reference - By-Word, Israel;   Israel;   Israel-The Jews;   The Topic Concordance - Israel/jews;   Pestilence;  
Dictionaries:
Easton Bible Dictionary - By-Word;   Ezekiel, Book of;   Holman Bible Dictionary - Jeremiah;   Lamentations, Book of;   Morrish Bible Dictionary - Proverb;   Wilson's Dictionary of Bible Types - By-word;  
Encyclopedias:
International Standard Bible Encyclopedia - Captivity;   Jehoiachin;   Proverb;   Zedekiah (2);   The Jewish Encyclopedia - Cursing;  

Bridgeway Bible Commentary


Good and bad figs (24:1-10)

On the occasion of Babylon’s attack on Jerusalem in 597 BC, the king Jehoiachin (Jeconiah) was taken captive to Babylon, along with the best of Judah’s people. The people that Babylon did not want were left in Judah and placed under the control of Zedekiah, the new king appointed by Babylon (2 Kings 24:10-17). Jeremiah’s vision of two baskets of figs was concerned with these events (24:1-3).

The people left behind in Jerusalem thought that they had God’s approval, because they were still in their homeland, whereas the others had been punished with shameful exile. Jeremiah points out that this is not so. Those taken captive are the ‘good figs’. The shock of the captivity will awaken many of them to see their sin, repent of it and return to the Lord. God will then bring them back into their land, where they will enjoy a new and living relationship with him (4-7).
Those who remain in Jerusalem are the ‘bad figs’. They continue in their evil ways and think that by relying on Egypt they will escape the power of the Babylonians. Jeremiah tells them that, far from escaping, they will come to the most humiliating and horrible end (8-10).

Bibliographical Information
Flemming, Donald C. "Commentary on Jeremiah 24:9". "Fleming's Bridgeway Bible Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/​commentaries/​bbc/​jeremiah-24.html. 2005.

Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible

REGARDING THE BAD FIGS

“And as the bad figs that cannot be eaten, they are so bad, surely thus saith Jehovah, So will I give up Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in the land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt, I will even give them up to be tossed to and fro among all the kingdoms of the earth for evil; to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.”

“The bad figs” These are identified here as Zedekiah the king of Judah and his princes, along with all of the rest of the people who remained behind in Judah after the deportation of the first wave of captives. Note also that even the Jews who had fled to Egypt or other nations are also included among the bad figs. Only the people who suffered the discipline of the captivity would be used by God in his future plans for Israel, and not all of them, but only those who with a whole heart would repent and turn to the true God.

“Green’s word on the bad figs: They were the self-righteous remainder of the people in Jerusalem and Judah who had a spirit of arrogant superiority, scorn for their less fortunate countrymen in captivity, and a superstitious reliance on such sanctified shams as the inviolability of Jerusalem and the Temple, and a trust in the efficacy of empty, formalistic worship.”Broadman Bible Commentary (Nashville: Broadman Press, 1971), p. 129.

These verses, of course, prophecy another invasion and destruction of Jerusalem, which indeed came to pass about a decade after the first invasion. There would be other captives to join their countrymen in Babylon; and the Jews would be totally rooted out of the land that God had given to them and to their fathers.

“Among all the kingdoms of the earth” This is a reiteration of the Mosaic curse of Deuteronomy 28:25; Deuteronomy 28:37, the fulfillment of which is witnessed by a Jewish settlement in practically every city on the face of the earth.

There is, of course, far more in this prophecy than the transport of Jews to Babylon. “The prophecy of Jeremiah 24:10 was partly fulfilled in the fall of Jerusalem to Nebuchadnezzar, but more so in the siege of Jerusalem by the Romans under Vespasian and Titus in A.D. 70.”Charles Lee Feinberg in Ezekiel (Chicago: Moody Press), p. 529. It was upon that occasion that the status of racial Israel, already long reduced, was at last terminated, as regards any racial consideration whatever having any bearing whatever upon who is saved or not saved.

Bibliographical Information
Coffman, James Burton. "Commentary on Jeremiah 24:9". "Coffman's Commentaries on the Bible". https://www.studylight.org/​commentaries/​bcc/​jeremiah-24.html. Abilene Christian University Press, Abilene, Texas, USA. 1983-1999.

Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible

The complete fulfillment of this prophecy belongs to the Christian Church. There is a close analogy between Jeremiah at the first destruction of Jerusalem and our Lord at the second. There the good figs were those converts picked out by the preaching of Christ and the Apostles; the bad figs were the mass of the people left for Titus and the Romans to destroy.

Jeremiah 24:5

Acknowledge ... for their good - Specially their spiritual good. Put a comma after Chaldaeans.

Jeremiah 24:8

That dwell in the land of Egypt - Neither those carried captive with Jehoahaz into Egypt, nor those who fled there, are to share in these blessings. The new life of the Jewish nation is to be the work only of the exiles in Babylon.

Bibliographical Information
Barnes, Albert. "Commentary on Jeremiah 24:9". "Barnes' Notes on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/​commentaries/​bnb/​jeremiah-24.html. 1870.

Calvin's Commentary on the Bible

Here the Prophet borrows his words from Moses, in order to secure authority to his prophecy; for the Jews were ashamed to reject Moses, as they believed that the Law came from God: it would at least have been deemed by them an abominable thing to deny credit to the Law. And yet they boldly rejected all the prophets, though they were but faithful interpreters of the Law, as the case is with the Papists of the present day, who, though they dare not deny but that the Scripture contains celestial truth, yet furiously reject what is alleged from it. Similar was the perverseness of the Jews. Hence the prophets, in order to gain more credit to their words, often borrowed their very words from Moses, as though they had recited from a written document what had been dictated to them. For in Deuteronomy and in other places Moses spoke a language of this kind, — that God would give up the people to a concussion or a commotion, for a reproach, for a proverb, for a taunt, to all the nations of the earth. (Deuteronomy 28:37; 1 Kings 9:7.)

It is then the same as though Jeremiah had said, that the time would at length come when the Jews would find that so many maledictions had not been pronounced in vain by Moses. They no doubt read Moses; but as they were so stupid, no fear, no reverence for God was felt by them, even when he terrified them with such words as these. The Prophet then says, that the time was now near when they should know by experience that God had not in vain threatened them.

I will set them for a commotion The verb זוע, zuo, means to move and to be noisy. Many render the noun here “noise,” others “perturbation,” and others, “the shaking of the head;” for we are wont to shake the head in scorn. (126)

However this may be, we are to read in connection with this the following words, — that they would be for a reproach, and a terror, and a taunt, and an execration, to all nations It is then said, on account of evil: for the preposition ל , lamed, is to be taken here in different senses: before “commotion,” it means “for;” but here it is causal, “on account of.” The severe and dreadful vengeance of God would be such, that it would move and disturb all nations. He indeed mentions all kingdoms, but the meaning is the same. He then adds reproach, that is, that they would be subjected to the condemnation of all nations. They had refused to submit to God’s judgment, and when he would have made them ashamed for their good, they had wickedly resisted. It was therefore necessary to subject them to the reproach of all people.

It is added, for a proverb and for a tale, or as some read, “for a parable and for a proverb.” The word משל, meshel, means a common saying; but here it signifies a scoff, and a similar meaning must be given to, שנינה, shenine, a tale or a fable. By both words he means, that when the heathens wished to describe a most grievous calamity, they would take this example, “Yes, it is all over with the Jews, no nation has become so wretched.” The same view is to be taken of execration; for he intimates that they would become a type and a pattern of a curse, “Yes, may you perish like the Jews; may God execute vengeance on you, as he has done on the Jews.” He then adds, that this would happen to them in all places wherever God would drive them; as though the Prophet had said, that God would not be satisfied with their exile, though that was to be grievous and bitter; but that when driven to distant lands they would become objects of reproach, so that all would point at them with the finger of scorn, accompanied with every mark of reproach, and would be also taking them as an example of execration. He afterwards adds —

(126) “Vexation,” as rendered by the Vulg., and in several places in our version, is the best word. The word which follows is of a similar import, “for evil,” that is, annoyance. The verse is as follows, —

9.And I will make them a vexation, an evil, To all the kingdoms of the earth, — A reproach and a proverb, A taunt and an execration, In all the places where I shall drive them.

The word for “taunt” is rendered in other places “a byword:” it denotes what is sharp and cutting. They were to be objects and subjects of these things. Being a vexation and an evil, or an annoyance to others, they would become objects of reproach and execration, and subjects of proverbs and of taunts. See a note on Jeremiah 15:4; vol. 2 — Ed.

Bibliographical Information
Calvin, John. "Commentary on Jeremiah 24:9". "Calvin's Commentary on the Bible". https://www.studylight.org/​commentaries/​cal/​jeremiah-24.html. 1840-57.

Smith's Bible Commentary

Chapter 24

Now in chapter 24.

The LORD showed me, and, behold, there were two baskets of figs set before the temple of the LORD, after Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon had carried away the captives Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon ( Jeremiah 24:1 ).

Now in the first captivity or the first time that Nebuchadnezzar came, he did not destroy the city, but he did take captives and he did take treasure. Among those captives that were taken in the first captivity were the young princes-Daniel, Meshach, Shadrach and Abednego. They were all taken in this first captivity. He had taken the king Jeconiah to Babylon and he had set up Zedekiah as the king. But then Zedekiah rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar and he came the second time. And in the second time is when he destroyed the temple, destroyed the city and all. So this message came to Jeremiah after this first captivity when Daniel and others were carried away. Some of the skilled carpenters and all were carried away to Babylon. He saw two baskets of figs.

One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad. Then said the LORD unto me, What do you see, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, you can't even eat them, they are so evil. Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying, Thus saith the LORD God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good ( Jeremiah 24:2-5 ).

They had gone away captive, but God said that that was for their good. That's so that they won't see this horrible desolation that's coming. Daniel, Shadrach, Meshach and Abednego, they were the good figs. Those that were taken away captive in that first invasion by Babylon.

For I will set my eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. And I will give them an heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart ( Jeremiah 24:6-7 ).

And we read of the witness and the testimony that Daniel and Shadrach and Meshach and Abednego were in that Babylonian kingdom.

And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, because they are so rotten; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt: And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers ( Jeremiah 24:8-10 ).

So the two groups: those that went in the first captivity, Daniel and others who were the good figs; Zedekiah, the rotten mess that he made of things and those that were with him that were to be destroyed.

"





Bibliographical Information
Smith, Charles Ward. "Commentary on Jeremiah 24:9". "Smith's Bible Commentary". https://www.studylight.org/​commentaries/​csc/​jeremiah-24.html. 2014.

Dr. Constable's Expository Notes

They would become an object of terror and a source of evil for the other kingdoms of the earth. They would become objects of criticism, ridicule, cursing, and a proverb-about what unfaithfulness to the covenant can result in-wherever they would go (cf. Jeremiah 19:8).

Bibliographical Information
Constable, Thomas. DD. "Commentary on Jeremiah 24:9". "Dr. Constable's Expository Notes". https://www.studylight.org/​commentaries/​dcc/​jeremiah-24.html. 2012.

Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible

And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for [their] hurt,.... Jeconiah and the captives with him were only carried into Babylon; but these should be scattered one from another into the several parts of the world. The former were carried captive for their good, and it issued in that; but these were carried away for their hurt, to the injury of their persons and properties, and without having any effect upon them to the good of their souls: though this might begin to be fulfilled by the seventy years' captivity in Babylon, yet it had a more complete fulfilment in the destruction of this people by the Romans; to which these and the following words seem more particularly to refer:

[to be] a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them; their names to be used as a proverb for their riches ill gotten, their falsehood and tricking; and under the curse of God, and the reproach of man, as they are this day; see

Deuteronomy 28:37.

Bibliographical Information
Gill, John. "Commentary on Jeremiah 24:9". "Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible". https://www.studylight.org/​commentaries/​geb/​jeremiah-24.html. 1999.

Henry's Complete Commentary on the Bible

Vision of the Good and Bad Figs; Promises and Threatenings. B. C. 599.

      1 The LORD shewed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the LORD, after that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon.   2 One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe: and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad.   3 Then said the LORD unto me, What seest thou, Jeremiah? And I said, Figs; the good figs, very good; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil.   4 Again the word of the LORD came unto me, saying,   5 Thus saith the LORD, the God of Israel; Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans for their good.   6 For I will set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them again to this land: and I will build them, and not pull them down; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up.   7 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am the LORD: and they shall be my people, and I will be their God: for they shall return unto me with their whole heart.   8 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so evil; surely thus saith the LORD, So will I give Zedekiah the king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land of Egypt:   9 And I will deliver them to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I shall drive them.   10 And I will send the sword, the famine, and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed from off the land that I gave unto them and to their fathers.

      This short chapter helps us to put a very comfortable construction upon a great many long ones, by showing us that the same providence which to some is a savour of death unto death may by the grace and blessing of God be made to others a savour of life unto life; and that, though God's people share with others in the same calamity, yet it is not the same to them that it is to others, but is designed for their good and shall issue in their good; to them it is a correcting rod in the hand of a tender Father, while to others it is an avenging sword in the hand of a righteous Judge. Observe,

      I. The date of this sermon. It was after, a little after, Jeconiah's captivity, Jeremiah 24:1; Jeremiah 24:1. Jeconiah was himself a despised broken vessel, but with him were carried away some very valuable persons, Ezekiel for one (Ezekiel 1:12); many of the princes of Judah then went into captivity, Daniel and his fellows were carried off a little before; of the people only the carpenters and the smiths were forced away, either because the Chaldeans needed some ingenious men of those trades (they had a great plenty of astrologers and stargazers, but a great scarcity of smiths and carpenters) or because the Jews would severely feel the loss of them, and would, for want of them, be unable to fortify their cities and furnish themselves with weapons of war. Now, it should seem, there were many good people carried away in that captivity, which the pious prophet laid much to heart, while there were those that triumphed in it, and insulted over those to whose lot it fell to go into captivity. Note, We must not conclude concerning the first and greatest sufferers that they were the worst and greatest sinners; for perhaps it may appear quite otherwise, as it did here.

      II. The vision by which this distinction of the captives was represented to the prophet's mind. He saw two baskets of figs, set before the temple, there ready to be offered as first-fruits to the honour of God. Perhaps the priests, being remiss in their duty, were not ready to receive them and dispose of them according to the law, and therefore Jeremiah sees them standing before the temple. But that which was the significancy of the vision was that the figs in one basket were extraordinarily good, those in the other basket extremely bad. The children of men are all as the fruits of the fig-tree, capable of being made serviceable to God and man (Judges 9:11); but some are as good figs, than which nothing is more pleasant, others as damaged rotten figs, than which nothing is more nauseous. What creature viler than a wicked man, and what more valuable than a godly man! The good figs were like those that are first ripe, which are most acceptable (Micah 7:1) and most prized when newly come into season. The bad figs are such as could not be eaten, they were so evil; they could not answer the end of their creation, were neither pleasant nor good for food; and what then were they good for? If God has no honour from men, nor their generation any service, they are even like the bad figs, that cannot be eaten, that will not answer any good purpose. If the salt have lost its savour, it is thenceforth fit for nothing but the dunghill. Of the persons that are presented to the Lord at the door of his tabernacle, some are sincere, and they are very good; others dissemble with God, and they are very bad. Sinners are the worst of men, hypocrites the worst of sinners. Corruptio optimi est pessima--That which is best becomes, when corrupted, the worst.

      III. The exposition and application of this vision. God intended by it to raise the dejected spirit of those that had gone into captivity, by assuring them of a happy return, and to humble and awaken the proud and secure spirits of those who continued yet in Jerusalem, by assuring them of a miserable captivity.

      1. Here is the moral of the good figs, that were very good, the first ripe. These represented the pious captives, that seemed first ripe for ruin, for they went first into captivity, but should prove first ripe for mercy, and their captivity should help to ripen them; these are pleasing to God, as good figs are to us, and shall be carefully preserved for use. Now observe here,

      (1.) Those that were already carried into captivity were the good figs that God would own. This shows, [1.] That we cannot determine of God's love or hatred by all that is before us. When God's judgments are abroad those are not always the worst that are first seized by them. [2.] That early suffering sometimes proves for the best to us. The sooner the child is corrected the better effect the correction is likely to have. Those that went first into captivity were as the son whom the father loves, and chastens betimes, chastens while there is hope; and it did well. But those that staid behind were like a child long left to himself, who, when afterwards corrected, is stubborn, and made worse by it, Lamentations 3:37.

      (2.) God owns their captivity to be his doing. Whoever were the instruments of it, he ordered and directed it (Jeremiah 24:5; Jeremiah 24:5): I have sent them out of this place into the land of the Chaldeans. It is God that puts his gold into the furnace, to be tried; his hand is, in a special manner, to be eyed in the afflictions of good people. The judge orders the malefactor into the hand of an executioner, but the father corrects the child with his own hand.

      (3.) Even this disgraceful uncomfortable captivity God intended for their benefit; and we are sure that his intentions are never frustrated: I have sent them into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. It seemed to be every way for their hurt, not only as it was the ruin of their estates, honours, and liberties, separated them from their relations and friends, and put them under the power of their enemies and oppressors, but as it sunk their spirits, discouraged their faith, deprived them of the benefit of God's oracles and ordinances, and exposed them to temptations; and yet it was designed for their good, and proved so, in the issue, as to many of them. Out of the eater came forth meat. By their afflictions they were convinced of sin, humbled under the hand of God, weaned from the world, made serious, taught to pray, and turned from their iniquity; particularly they were cured of their inclination to idolatry; and thus it was good for them that they were afflicted,Psalms 119:67; Psalms 119:71.

      (4.) God promises them that he will own them in their captivity. Though they seem abandoned, they shall be acknowledged; the scornful relations they left behind will scarcely own them, or their kindred to them, but God says, I will acknowledge them. Note, The Lord knows those that are his, and will own them in all conditions; nakedness and sword shall not separate them from his love.

      (5.) God assures them of his protection in their trouble, and a glorious deliverance out of it in due time, Jeremiah 24:6; Jeremiah 24:6. Being sent into captivity for their good, they shall not be lost there; but it shall be with them as it is with gold which the refiner puts into the furnace. [1.] He has his eye upon it while it is there, and it is a careful eye, to see that it sustain no damage: "I will set my eyes upon them for good, to order every thing for the best, that all the circumstances of the affliction may concur to the answering of the great intention of it." [2.] He will be sure to take it out of the furnace again as soon as the work designed upon it is done: I will bring them again to this land. They were sent abroad for improvement awhile, under a severe discipline; but they shall be fetched back, when they have gone through their trial there, to their Father's house. [3.] He will fashion his gold when he has refined it, will make it a vessel of honour fit for his use; so, when God has brought them back from their trial, he will build them and make them a habitation for himself, will plant them and make them a vineyard for himself. Their captivity was to square the rough stones and make them fit for his building, to prune up the young trees and make them fit for his planting.

      (6.) He engages to prepare them for these temporal mercies which he designed for them by bestowing spiritual mercies upon them, Jeremiah 24:7; Jeremiah 24:7. It is this that will make their captivity be for their good; this shall be both the improvement of their affliction and their qualification for deliverance. When our troubles are sanctified to us, then we may be sure that they will end well. Now that which is promised is, [1.] That they should be better acquainted with God; they should learn more of God by his providences in Babylon than they had learned by all his oracles and ordinances in Jerusalem, thanks to divine grace, for, if that had not wrought mightily upon them in Babylon, they would for ever have forgotten God. It is here promised, I will give them, not so much a head to know me, but a heart to know me, for the right knowledge of God consists not in notion and speculation, but in the convictions of the practical judgment directing and governing the will and affections. A good understanding have all those that do his commandments,Psalms 111:10. Where God gives a sincere desire and inclination to know him he will give that knowledge. It is God himself that gives a heart to know him, else we should perish for ever in our ignorance. [2.] That they should be entirely converted to God, to his will as their rule, his service as their business, and his glory as their end: They shall return to me with their whole heart. God himself undertakes for them that they shall; and, if he turn us, we shall be turned. This follows upon the former; for those that have a heart to know God aright will not only turn to him, but turn with their whole heart; for those that are either obstinate in their rebellion, or hypocritical in their religion, may truly be said to be ignorant of God. [3.] That thus they should be again taken into covenant with God, as much to their comfort as ever: They shall be my people, and I will be their God. God will own them, as formerly, for his people, in the discoveries of himself to them, in his acceptance of their services, and in his gracious appearances on their behalf; and they shall have liberty to own him for their God in their prayers to him and their expectations from him. Note, Those that have backslidden from God, if they do in sincerity return to him, are admitted as freely as any to all the privileges and comforts of the everlasting covenant, which is herein well-ordered, that every transgression in the covenant does not throw us out of covenant, and that afflictions are not only consistent with, but flowing from, covenant-love.

      2. Here is the moral of the bad figs. Zedekiah and his princes and partizans yet remain in the land, proud and secure enough, Ezekiel 11:3. Many had fled into Egypt for shelter, and they thought they had shifted well for themselves and their own safety, and boasted that though therein they had gone contrary to the command of God yet they had acted prudently for themselves. Now as to both these, that looked so scornfully upon those that had gone into captivity, it is here threatened, (1.) That, whereas those who were already carried away were settled in one country, where they had the comfort of one another's society, though in captivity, these should be dispersed and removed into all the kingdoms of the earth, where they should have no joy one of another. (2.) That, whereas those were carried captives for their good, these should be removed into all countries for their hurt. Their afflictions should be so far from humbling them that they should harden them, not bring them nearer to God, but set them at a greater distance from him. (3.) That, whereas those should have the honour of being owned of God in their troubles, these should have the shame of being abandoned by all mankind: In all places whither I shall drive them they shall be a reproach and a proverb. "Such a one is as false and proud as a Jew"--"Such a one is as poor and miserable as a Jew." All their neighbours shall make a jest of them, and of the calamities brought upon them. (4.) That, whereas those should return to their own land, never to see it more, and it shall be of no avail to them to plead that it was the land God gave to their fathers, for they had it from God, and he gave it to them upon condition of their obedience. (5.) That, whereas those were reserved for better times, these were reserved for worse; wherever they are removed the sword, and famine, and pestilence, shall be sent after them, shall soon overtake them, and, coming with commission so to do, shall overcome them. God has variety of judgments wherewith to prosecute those that fly from justice; and those that have escaped one may expect another, till they are brought to repent and reform.

      Doubtless this prophecy had its accomplishment in the men of that generation yet, because we read not of any such remarkable difference between those of Jeconiah's captivity and those of Zedekiah's, it is probable that this has a typical reference to the last destruction of the Jews by the Romans, in which those of them that believed were taken care of, but those that continued obstinate in unbelief were driven into all countries for a taunt and a curse, and so they remain to this day.

Bibliographical Information
Henry, Matthew. "Complete Commentary on Jeremiah 24:9". "Henry's Complete Commentary on the Whole Bible". https://www.studylight.org/​commentaries/​mhm/​jeremiah-24.html. 1706.
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