Jeremia 11:18

Evidence that Judah is Unreclaimable, and that the Sore Judgments Threatened cannot be Averted. - As a practical proof of the people's determination not to reform, we have in Jer 11:18-23 an account of the designs of the inhabitants of Anathoth against the prophet's life, inasmuch as it was their ill-will towards his prophecies that led them to this crime. They are determined not to hear the word of God, chiding and punishing them for their sins, and so to put the preacher of this word out of the way. - Jer 11:18. "And Jahveh gave me knowledge of it, and I knew it; then showedst Thou me their doings. Jer 11:19. And I was as a tame lamb that is led to the slaughter, and knew not that they plotted designs against me: Let us destroy the three with the fruit thereof, and cut him off out of the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered. Jer 11:20. But Jahveh of hosts, that judgeth justly, trieth reins and heart-I shall see Thy vengeance on them, for to Thee have I confided my case. Jer 11:21. Therefore thus hath Jahveh spoken against the men of Anathoth, that seek after thy life, saying, Thou shalt not prophesy in the name of Jahveh, that thou die not by our hand. Jer 11:22. Therefore thus hath Jahveh of hosts spoken: Behold, I will punish them; the young men shall die by the sword, their sons and daughters shall die by famine. Jer 11:23. And a remnant shall not remain to them; for I bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, the year of their visitation." Jeremiah had not himself observed the designs of the people of Anathoth against his life, because the thing was carried on in secret; but the Lord made it known to him. אז, then, sc. when I knew nought of their murderous intent; cf. Jer 11:19. "Their doings," i.e., those done in secret. Jer 11:19. כּבשׂ , agnus…

The prophet Jeremiah has much in his writings concerning himself, much more than Isaiah had, the times he lived in being very troublesome. Here we have (as it should seem) the beginning of his sorrows, which arose from the people of his own city, Anathoth, a priest's city, and yet a malignant one. Observe here, I. Their plot against him, Jer 11:19. They devised devices against him, laid their heads together to contrive how they might be in the most plausible and effectual manner the death of him. Malice is ingenious in its devices, as well as industrious in its prosecutions. They said concerning Jeremiah, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof - a proverbial expression, meaning, "Let us utterly destroy him root and branch. Let us destroy both the father and the family" (as, when Naboth was put to death for treason, his sons were put to death with him), or rather "both the prophet and the prophecy; let us kill the one and defeat the other. Let us cut him off from the land of the living, as a false prophet, and load him with ignominy and disgrace, that his name may be no more remembered with respect. Let us sink his reputation, and so spoil the credit of his predictions." This was their plot; and 1. It was a cruel one; but so cruel have the persecutors of God's prophets been. They hunt for no less than the precious life, and very precious the lives are that they hunt for. But, (2.) It was a baffled one. They thought to put an end to his days, but he survived most of his enemies; they thought to blast his memory, but it lives to this day, and will be blessed while time lasts. II. The information which God gave him of this conspiracy against him. He knew nothing of it himself, so artfully had they concealed it; he came to Anathoth, meaning no harm to them and theref…

11:18-23 The Lord warned Jeremiah of the plots against him. Jeremiah prayed, and the Lord promised to rescue him. 11:18-19 The Lord had warned Jeremiah at the time of his commissioning (1:19) that opposition would threaten his life. Jeremiah saw himself as a lamb being led to the slaughter, with no power to resist. This opposition occurred before Jeremiah’s trial in the Temple courtyard, early in the reign of Jehoiakim (between 608 and 605 BC; see ch 26). Some scholars believe that this verse prefigures the death of Christ, as does the suffering servant of Isa 53:7.