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The Imminence and Horror of the Invasion

Flee for safety, O children of Benjamin,

from the midst of Jerusalem!

Blow the trumpet in Tekoa,

and raise a signal on Beth-haccherem;

for evil looms out of the north,

and great destruction.

I have likened daughter Zion

to the loveliest pasture.

Shepherds with their flocks shall come against her.

They shall pitch their tents around her;

they shall pasture, all in their places.

“Prepare war against her;

up, and let us attack at noon!”

“Woe to us, for the day declines,

the shadows of evening lengthen!”

“Up, and let us attack by night,

and destroy her palaces!”

For thus says the L ord of hosts:

Cut down her trees;

cast up a siege ramp against Jerusalem.

This is the city that must be punished;

there is nothing but oppression within her.

As a well keeps its water fresh,

so she keeps fresh her wickedness;

violence and destruction are heard within her;

sickness and wounds are ever before me.

Take warning, O Jerusalem,

or I shall turn from you in disgust,

and make you a desolation,

an uninhabited land.

Thus says the L ord of hosts:

Glean thoroughly as a vine

the remnant of Israel;

like a grape-gatherer, pass your hand again

over its branches.

To whom shall I speak and give warning,

that they may hear?

See, their ears are closed,

they cannot listen.

The word of the L ord is to them an object of scorn;

they take no pleasure in it.

But I am full of the wrath of the L ord;

I am weary of holding it in.

Pour it out on the children in the street,

and on the gatherings of young men as well;

both husband and wife shall be taken,

the old folk and the very aged.

Their houses shall be turned over to others,

their fields and wives together;

for I will stretch out my hand

against the inhabitants of the land,

says the L ord.

For from the least to the greatest of them,

everyone is greedy for unjust gain;

and from prophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

They have treated the wound of my people carelessly,

saying, “Peace, peace,”

when there is no peace.

They acted shamefully, they committed abomination;

yet they were not ashamed,

they did not know how to blush.

Therefore they shall fall among those who fall;

at the time that I punish them, they shall be overthrown,

says the L ord.

Thus says the L ord:

Stand at the crossroads, and look,

and ask for the ancient paths,

where the good way lies; and walk in it,

and find rest for your souls.

But they said, “We will not walk in it.”

Also I raised up sentinels for you:

“Give heed to the sound of the trumpet!”

But they said, “We will not give heed.”

Therefore hear, O nations,

and know, O congregation, what will happen to them.

Hear, O earth; I am going to bring disaster on this people,

the fruit of their schemes,

because they have not given heed to my words;

and as for my teaching, they have rejected it.

Of what use to me is frankincense that comes from Sheba,

or sweet cane from a distant land?

Your burnt offerings are not acceptable,

nor are your sacrifices pleasing to me.

Therefore thus says the L ord:

See, I am laying before this people

stumbling blocks against which they shall stumble;

parents and children together,

neighbor and friend shall perish.

Thus says the L ord:

See, a people is coming from the land of the north,

a great nation is stirring from the farthest parts of the earth.

They grasp the bow and the javelin,

they are cruel and have no mercy,

their sound is like the roaring sea;

they ride on horses,

equipped like a warrior for battle,

against you, O daughter Zion!

“We have heard news of them,

our hands fall helpless;

anguish has taken hold of us,

pain as of a woman in labor.

Do not go out into the field,

or walk on the road;

for the enemy has a sword,

terror is on every side.”

O my poor people, put on sackcloth,

and roll in ashes;

make mourning as for an only child,

most bitter lamentation:

for suddenly the destroyer

will come upon us.

I have made you a tester and a refiner among my people

so that you may know and test their ways.

They are all stubbornly rebellious,

going about with slanders;

they are bronze and iron,

all of them act corruptly.

The bellows blow fiercely,

the lead is consumed by the fire;

in vain the refining goes on,

for the wicked are not removed.

They are called “rejected silver,”

for the L ord has rejected them.

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Prophet now shews what he found the Jews to be, whose manners and proceedings he had been commanded to observe. Had he said this at first, either the fury of the people would have been kindled, or his judgment would have been treated with contempt: but when God shewed what he had known through his servant, it had more weight, and then the fury of the people was also repressed, when they understood that it would avail them nothing to fight against God.

He says, that they were all the apostates of apostates, or the transgressors of transgressors. Some read סרי, sari, with a ש, shin, and render the words, “the princes of transgressors.” But I adopt the first as the more approved reading. They who read “princes, “elicit a meaning from the words which appears strange, but not the true one: they say that they were the princes of transgressors, because the people were no better than their rulers, and because servants imitated their masters in all kinds of wickedness. But this, as all must see, is a strained meaning. Why then should anything be changed, since the sentence, as it is, has a most suitable meaning? They are then called the apostates of apostates, or the transgressors of transgressors, סרי סררים, sari sarerim The Hebrews, we know, express the superlative degree by doubling the word, as, the heaven of heavens, the holy of holies, the God of gods. He then says, that they were not only wicked, but most wicked, who had reached the extreme point of depravity. For when impiety reaches its summit, then justly may men be called the apostates of apostates. This, I have no doubt, is what the Prophet means.

He afterwards adds, that they walked in slander The same mode of speaking, if I mistake not, is found in Leviticus 19:16,

“Go not,” or walk not, “among thy people with slander.”

Yet this phrase may be otherwise explained, that is, that they walked in calumnies, or that they perverted everything. But in this place, the word slander, seems too feeble, as the Prophet, in my judgment, means more, even the audacity of the people, so that they allowed themselves every liberty in sinning, and thus walked in their own wickedness.

He adds, Brass and iron ¹⁸⁵¹⁸⁵ “Their impudence resembles brass, and their obstinacy may be compared to iron.” — Lowth. Many render the words, “Brass mixed with iron;” that is, that the noble and the vulgar were mingled together, so that there was a common consent among them. Of this meaning I do not wholly disapprove: but as it is rather refined, I know not whether it be well — founded. I therefore prefer to regard this as designating their hardness: They were like brass and iron, for they were inflexible. The Prophet then after having called them transgressors who had alienated themselves from God, and after having said, that they walked in their own depravity, now adds, that they were untamable, not capable of any improvements; and hence he compares them to brass and iron.

He at last adds, that they were all corrupters This, as I think, is to be referred to their habits: for thus are enemies called, who plunder everything, and commit all excesses. But they are corrupters here, who not only like thieves plunder the goods of all, but who are leaders to others in wickedness: so that all things were in confusion, as it is wont to be said, from the head to the feet. ¹⁸⁶¹⁸⁶     This verse and the preceding have been amended, and for the most part conjecturally, by Blayney, and though with the approbation of Horsley, yet with no satisfactory reasons. That the Prophet was made as it were a fortress, appears from Jeremiah 1:18: and there is here an evident allusion to that, though his being made a watchtower, or a watchman occupying such a place, was for a different purpose. The two verses I thus render, —
   27. A watchtower have I given thee among my people, A fortress, that thou mightest know and try their way; Then we are told what he had found them to be, — All of them are the apostates of apostates, Companions of the slanderer; Brass and iron are all of them, Corrupted are they.
   “The apostates of apostates,” mean thorough, confirmed apostates, as “servant of servants” means the basest: “companions,” etc., is literally, “Walkers with,“ etc. “All of them,“ clearly belong to “Brass and iron,“ as “they” follows “corrupted.” The ancient versions are not satisfactory, and the Targum is paraphrastic; but they give the general meaning. “Prover” or “examiner” is what the versions give for “watchtower.” “Fortress” is omitted in the Septuagint, the Arabic, and the Targum, and is rendered “strong” by the Vulgate “The apostates” is left out by the Septuagint and the Arabic, and is rendered “princes” by the Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum For “companions of the slanderer,“ the Septuagint and Arabic have “walking perversely — σκολιῶς;” the Syriac and Targum, “walking with guile — cum dolo;” and the Vulgate, “walking fraudulently — fraudulenter.” The word רכיל, “slanderer” is found in five other places, Leviticus 19:16; Proverbs 11:13; 20:19; Jeremiah 9:4; Ezekiel 22:9. In the first three passages it is rendered in our version “a talebearer,“ but more correctly, a slanderbearer, or, as Parkhurst renders it, “a trader in slander.” It does not mean “a sharper,“ as Blayney thinks. The passages in Proverbs are inconsistent with such an idea. There is no passage where it may not be rendered “a slanderer,“ except Ezekiel 22:9; where it evidently means “slander.” — Ed He afterwards adds —

¹⁸⁵ “Their impudence resembles brass, and their obstinacy may be compared to iron.” — Lowth.

¹⁸⁶ This verse and the preceding have been amended, and for the most part conjecturally, by Blayney, and though with the approbation of Horsley, yet with no satisfactory reasons. That the Prophet was made as it were a fortress, appears from Jeremiah 1:18: and there is here an evident allusion to that, though his being made a watchtower, or a watchman occupying such a place, was for a different purpose. The two verses I thus render, — 27. A watchtower have I given thee among my people, A fortress, that thou mightest know and try their way; Then we are told what he had found them to be, — All of them are the apostates of apostates, Companions of the slanderer; Brass and iron are all of them, Corrupted are they. “The apostates of apostates,” mean thorough, confirmed apostates, as “servant of servants” means the basest: “companions,” etc., is literally, “Walkers with,“ etc. “All of them,“ clearly belong to “Brass and iron,“ as “they” follows “corrupted.” The ancient versions are not satisfactory, and the Targum is paraphrastic; but they give the general meaning. “Prover” or “examiner” is what the versions give for “watchtower.” “Fortress” is omitted in the Septuagint, the Arabic, and the Targum, and is rendered “strong” by the Vulgate “The apostates” is left out by the Septuagint and the Arabic, and is rendered “princes” by the Vulgate, Syriac, and the Targum For “companions of the slanderer,“ the Septuagint and Arabic have “walking perversely — σκολιῶς;” the Syriac and Targum, “walking with guile — cum dolo;” and the Vulgate, “walking fraudulently — fraudulenter.” The word רכיל, “slanderer” is found in five other places, Leviticus 19:16; Proverbs 11:13; 20:19; Jeremiah 9:4; Ezekiel 22:9. In the first three passages it is rendered in our version “a talebearer,“ but more correctly, a slanderbearer, or, as Parkhurst renders it, “a trader in slander.” It does not mean “a sharper,“ as Blayney thinks. The passages in Proverbs are inconsistent with such an idea. There is no passage where it may not be rendered “a slanderer,“ except Ezekiel 22:9; where it evidently means “slander.” — Ed