Teks -- Jeremiah 5:29-31 (NET)

5:29 I will certainly punish them for doing such things!” says the Lord. “I will certainly bring retribution on such a nation as this! 5:30 “Something horrible and shocking is going on in the land of Judah: 5:31 The prophets prophesy lies. The priests exercise power by their own authority. And my people love to have it this way. But they will not be able to help you when the time of judgment comes!

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per frasa)

Wesley: Jer 5:30 - The land

Heb. This land: aggravating the greatness of the wonder, that such a thing should be in such a land.

JFB: Jer 5:29

(Jer 5:9; Mal 3:5).

JFB: Jer 5:30

(Jer 23:14; Hos 6:10).

JFB: Jer 5:31 - bear rule by their means

Literally, "according to their hands," that is, under their guidance (1Ch 25:3). As a sample of the priests lending themselves to the deceits of the false prophets, to gain influence over the people, see Jer 29:24-32.

JFB: Jer 5:31 - love to have it so

(Mic 2:11).

JFB: Jer 5:31 - end thereof

The fatal issue of this sinful course when divine judgments shall come.

Clarke: Jer 5:30 - A wonderful and horrible thing is committed on the land

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed on the land - Dahler translates: "Strange crimes and horrible trespasses have been committed in the land."These have been already detailed; but this may refer to what follows.

Clarke: Jer 5:31 - The prophets prophesy falsely

The prophets prophesy falsely - The false prophets predict favorable things, that they may please both the princes and the people

Clarke: Jer 5:31 - The priests bear rule by their means

The priests bear rule by their means - The false prophets affording them all that their influence and power can procure, to enable them to keep their places, and feed on the riches of the Lord’ s house

Clarke: Jer 5:31 - And my people love to have it so

And my people love to have it so - Are perfectly satisfied with this state of things, because they are permitted to continue in their sins without reproof or restraint. The prophets and the priests united to deceive and ruin the people. The prophets gave out false predictions; by their means the priests got the government of the people into their own hands; and so infatuated were the people that they willingly abandoned themselves to those blind guides, and would not hearken to the voice of any reformer. In my Old Bible the words stand thus: - Stonyng and mervailis ben made in the erthe, prophets prophecieden lesing; and prestis flappiden with joye with ther bondes, and my peple lovid siche thingis. False prophets and worldly priests have been in all ages the bane of religion, and the ruin of many souls. When profligate people stand up on behalf of profligate priests, corruption must then be at its height.

Calvin: Jer 5:29 - NO PHRASE

He repeats what we have before noticed, so there is no need of an explanation. But the repetition is not without its use; for the Jews had become so torpid, that all reproofs and threatenings were regarded with indifference. Hence God rouses them with great vehemence, Shall I not, he says, visit for these things? He takes it for granted, that we ought to be fully persuaded, that he is the judge of the world. It is the proper office of a judge to punish the wicked, and also to relieve the helpless and the oppressed, and to check the audacity of those who allow themselves every liberty. God then reasons here from his own nature and office, as though he had said, “Since I am God, can I suffer so much impiety and wantonness to prevail unpunished among my people?” Then he adds —

On such a nation as this, shall not avenged be my soul?

God transfers here to himself, as we have said elsewhere, what does not strictly belong to him; but it is the same as though he had said, “There is no one among earthly judges so void of feeling as to bear such indignities; for when the judge sees that he is treated with contempt by the wicked, is he not provoked?” Avenged then shall be my soul; as though he said, that he is not so soft, or so slothful, or so careless, as not to take vengeance on such wanton contempt. It follows —

Calvin: Jer 5:30 - NO PHRASE

The Prophet, being not satisfied with the reproof which we have observed, speaks still more strongly against the wickedness of the people. He then says, that so deplorable was their state as to make all to feel amazed. A stupendous thing, he says, has happened, which exceeds all human conception, and cannot be comprehended. By the two words he uses, he intimates that the impiety of the people could not be expressed in words or could not be conceived by the mind; for it was a monstrous thing. This is the meaning. ¹⁵⁷

Calvin: Jer 5:31 - NO PHRASE

Let us now see what was this monstrous thing which the Prophet here refers to, and which he abhorred. The prophets, he says, prophesy falsely It was no doubt enough to make all astonished, when these impostors assumed the name of prophets at Jerusalem, where God had chosen his habitation and his sanctuary: how great and how base a profanation was it of God’s name? There were indeed at that time impostors everywhere, who boasted that they were God’s prophets, who in many places passed as oracles the delusions of Satan; but to see the ministers of the devil in the very sanctuary of God, (which was then the only one in the world,) even in the very city where he had, as it has been said, his habitation and dwelling, was a monstrous thing, which ought to have made all men astonished. It is indeed a detestable thing under the Papacy, when monks and similar unprincipled men ascend the pulpit, and there most shamefully pretend that they are the true prophets of God, and faithful teachers; but still it would be doubly monstrous, were any among us to corrupt pure doctrine with their errors and infect the people with their superstitions. It was not then without reason that Jeremiah introduced his subject by saying, that it was an astonishing thing and hardly to be conceived, when prophets prophesied falsely

He then adds, Priests receive into their hands; so some render the words: but there may be a twofold meaning. Sampson is said in Jud 14:9, to have received into his hands honey from the lion, and the same verb is found there: but as it means also to rule, to govern, the exposition most suitable to this place is, — that the priests ruled by the means of the false prophets. At the same time, if any one takes the other view, — that the priests received into their hands, that is, that they gathered and accumulated gifts from all quarters, the meaning would not be unsuitable. ¹⁵⁸

However this may be, the Prophet evidently shews that there was a mutual collusion between the false prophets and the priests. The false prophets, he says, deceive the people by their flatteries, and what do the priests? It was their duty to oppose them: they receive, he says, into their hands; that is, they are satisfied, for they see that these fallacies bring gain to them, and therefore they easily assent to what is taught by the false prophets. The same thing is to be seen at this day under the Papacy: the monks flatter the people and prop up the whole system of Popery; and hence these unprincipled men call themselves the chariots of the Pope; for the Pope is carried as it were on four wheels — the four mendicant orders. And this they boast, when they wish to shew what adepts they are in lying. The Pope then is carried by the four wheels of the mendicants. We see how he has honored and daily honors these mendicants with privileges, and why? Because they prop up his tyranny. Such was at that time the state of the people; the priests took their prey, and the false prophets snatched also a part of it, like these hungry dogs at this day; who yet do not act so oppressively as the Pope: they lick as it were his seat, like dogs; while he and his mitered bishops devour the fattest spoils. The meaning then, that they received into their hands, is not unsuitable.

But when we consider the main drift of the passage, it is more in harmony with it to say, that the priests ruled by their means; for without the false prophets they could not have retained their influence over the people; they must have been repudiated by them all. Since then they ruled by their means, there was a mutual collusion between them.

He then adds, And my people have wished it to be so The common people, no doubt, exculpated themselves, as they do at this day, who hold forth this excuse as their shield, “O, we are not learned, we have never been in school, and what can we do but to follow our bishops?” Thus, then, at this day, the lower orders, the multitude, seek to cast off every blame from themselves. But the Prophet says here, that the people loved to have things so. And, doubtless, we shall find that to be ever true which is said in Deu 13:3, that when false prophets come, it is for the purpose of trying God’s people, whether they from the heart love God. It is then his object to try our religion, whenever he gives loose reins to impostors and false prophets: for every one who truly loves God will be preserved by his Spirit from being led away by such deceivers. When, therefore, ignorant men are deluded, it is certain that they are justly punished for their neglect and contempt of God, because they have not been sufficiently attentive to his service; yea, because they have wished for impostors, according to what has been also often said by the monks, “The world wishes to be deceived, let it be deceived in the name of the devil.” These impostors have become so shameless, as to boast that they are the ministers of Satan to deceive men. However, that common saying has been found true; for the world is never deceived except with its own consent, and willingly; for those who are the most ignorant close their eyes against clear light, and shun God as much as they can, and seek to hide themselves in darkness, according to what Christ says,

“Whosoever committeth sin hateth the light.” (Joh 3:20)

The Prophet adds in the last place, And what will ye do at last, or at the end of it? Some omit the pronoun ה , he; and others apply it to the false prophets and the priests; but the Prophet, I have no doubt, refers to Jerusalem, What will ye do at the end of it? For we know that as Jerusalem had been founded by God’s hand, and while it had him as its protector and guardian, it was safe; but this was a false confidence, when they despised God and gloried in their wickedness. What, then, he says, will ye do at the end of it? as though he had said, “You deceive yourselves, if you think that this city will be perpetual; for its overthrow is nigh at hand: what then will ye do, when the city itself shall bc destroyed, except that you shall be all destroyed together with it?” ¹⁵⁹

TSK: Jer 5:29

Jer 5:9, Jer 9:9; Mal 3:5; Jam 5:4

TSK: Jer 5:30 - A wonderful and horrible thing

A wonderful and horrible thing : or, Astonishment and filthiness, Jer 2:12, Jer 23:14; Isa 1:2; Hos 6:10

TSK: Jer 5:31 - prophets // bear rule // my people // and what

prophets : Jer 14:14, Jer 23:25, Jer 23:26; Lam 2:14; Eze 13:6; Mic 3:11; Mat 7:15-17; 2Co 11:13-15; 2Pe 2:1, 2Pe 2:2

bear rule : or, take into their hands

my people : Isa 30:10,Isa 30:11; Mic 2:6, Mic 2:11; Joh 3:19-21; 2Th 2:9-11; 2Ti 4:3, 2Ti 4:4

and what : Jer 4:30,Jer 4:31, Jer 22:22, Jer 22:23; Deu 32:29; Isa 10:3, Isa 20:6, Isa 33:14; Lam 1:9; Eze 22:14; Zep 2:2, Zep 2:3

Tafsiran/Catatan -- Catatan Kata/Frasa (per Ayat)

Poole: Jer 5:29

It is expressed as a thing taken for granted, he certainly will. Can I be a God, and wink at such things? It cannot be. See this explained Jer 5:9 .

Poole: Jer 5:30 - The land

So prodigious or stupendous a crime, that it is beyond the thought or apprehension of man to conceive, much more to express; and so abominable, that a man would even loathe the thoughts of. What this is we have in the next verse.

The land Heb. this land , aggravating the greatness of the wonder, that such a thing should be in such a land: see Isa 26:10 .

Poole: Jer 5:31 - The prophets prophesy falsely // The priests bear rule by their means // My people love to have it so // What will ye do in the end thereof?

The prophets prophesy falsely either spreading and dispersing abroad the lies of their idols, particularly Baal, Jer 2:8 , or venting their lies in the name of the true God, Jer 4:10 .

The priests bear rule by their means by this means it comes to pass that the princes and priests are encouraged to do all their mischiefs, whether it were in corrupting judgment by bribes, or countenancing fraud and oppression, and hardening themselves against God’ s threatenings, or whatever else; they were encouraged by the lies of the false prophets, they, and the priests, and the princes combining, and setting themselves against the true prophets of God, Jer 26:8 ; and thus the priests in effect take the management of all the affairs into their own hands ; so the Heb. take into their hands , which intimates the authority they used in their ministry.

My people love to have it so they are very well pleased with the flatteries and lies of the false prophets, not being able to bear the truths that were delivered them from God, Mic 2:11 .

What will ye do in the end thereof? q.d. Whither do you think these things will tend? You must look for nothing but utter ruin as the fruit and effect of such doings, Mic 3:11,12 : when this city, which you look upon to be perpetuated, shall be overthrown, and you utterly perish in its ruin, how miserably will you find yourselves to be deluded by your false prophets, and disappointed in your hopes! A sad aposiopesis, concerning the exterminating of the people by the Chaldeans.

Haydock: Jer 5:29 - Nation?

Nation? It is contrary to God's justice not to punish the guilty. (Worthington)

Gill: Jer 5:29 - Shall I not visit for these things

Shall I not visit for these things?.... See Gill on Jer 5:9.

Gill: Jer 5:30 - A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land.

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land. What may justly raise admiration in some, and horror in others, or both in all: it is so amazing that it can hardly be conceived of, and so shameful and filthy as not to be expressed; what it is follows:

Gill: Jer 5:31 - The prophets prophesied falsely // and the priests bear rule by their means // and my people love to have it so // and what will ye do in the end thereof

The prophets prophesied falsely,.... That the people would have peace and prosperity, and not be carried captive into Babylon, as Jeremiah and other true prophets of the Lord had predicted:

and the priests bear rule by their means; or rather "the princes"; for the word signifies princes as well as priests, and to the former government more properly belongs; and so Jarchi interprets it of the judges of the people, and their exactors; these governed the people according to the words of the false prophets, as the same writer explains it; they were "under" their influence and direction, they went after them, as the phrase על יר is sometimes used; see 1Ch 25:2 or, as Kimchi understands it, the priests received gifts by their hands to pervert judgment, and they declined doing justice, according to their will. The Targum is,

"the priests helped upon their hands;''

took the false prophets, as it were, and carried them in their hands. Some render it, "the priests remove, or depart by their means" ^h; through their false prophesies they departed from the law, and the worship of God and his ordinances, from attending to them, and performing them in the manner appointed; in the whole it denotes great friendship, unity, and agreement between the priests, or princes, and the false prophets; they agreed together to keep the people in awe and in bondage; and what was of all the most surprising is what follows:

and my people love to have it so; both that the prophets prophesy smooth things to them, though false; and that the princes should govern as they directed:

and what will ye do in the end thereof? that these evils will bring unto; namely, the destruction of the city and nation. The meaning is, what will become of them at last? or what would they do, when this wicked government would come to an end, and they should be taken and carried captive by the Chaldeans? which would be their case; and how would they like that, who love to have things as they were, which would bring on their ruin?