Yahweh’s word came to me the second time, saying, “Take the belt that you have bought, which is on your waist, and arise, go to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.”
So I went and hid it by the Euphrates, as Yahweh commanded me.
After many days, Yahweh said to me, “Arise, go to the Euphrates, and take the belt from there, which I commanded you to hide there.”
Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and took the belt from the place where I had hidden it; and behold, the belt was ruined. It was profitable for nothing.
Then Yahweh’s word came to me, saying, “Yahweh says, ‘In this way I, will ruin the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem.
John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain On vv7, 9 The Prophet, by saying that he went to the…
The Prophet, by saying that he went to the Euphrates, confirms what he had narrated: he did not indeed mean that he actually went there, but his object was to give the Jews a vivid representation. It is then what Rhetorians call a scene presented to the view; though the place is not changed, yet the thing is set before the eyes by a lively description. Thus the Prophet, as the Jews were deaf, exhibited to their view what they would not hear. This is the reason why he says that he went. For the same purpose is what follows, that at the end of many days God had bidden him to take out the girdle Here also is signified the length of the exile. As to the hole in a rock, what is meant is disgrace; for without honor and esteem the Jews lived in banishment, in the same manner as though they were cast into a cavern. Hence by the hole is signified their ignoble and base condition, that they were like persons removed from the sight of all men and from the common light of day. By the end of many days, is meant, as I have said, the length of their exile, for in a short time they would not have become putrified, and except indeed this had been distinctly expressed, they would have never been convinced of the grievousness of the calamity which was nigh them. Hence he says that the days would be many, so that they might contract putridity while hidden in the hole.
John Calvin's Commentaries (1540-1563) — public domain. Text from the Calvin Translation Society English edition (1840s-50s) via the Christian Classics Ethereal Library (ccel.org). Calvin's coverage is partial (roughly two-thirds of the Bible); uncommented books and verses are honest gaps, never fabricated. The 19th-century editor's footnotes and remarks are omitted so the notes are faithfully Calvin's own voice.
Geneva Bible translators 1599 · Public Domain On v4 Because this river Perath or Euphrates was far from…
Because this river Perath or Euphrates was far from Jerusalem, it is evident that this was a vision, whereby was signified that the Jews should pass over Euphrates to be captives in Babylon, and there for length of time should seem to be rotten, although they were joined to the Lord before as a girdle about a man.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain On vv3–9 Jer 13:3 And the word of the LORD came…
Jer 13:3 And the word of the LORD came unto me the second time, saying,
Ver. 3. And the word of the Lord came to me.] Heb., Was to me. "At sundry times," {a} or piecemeal, God spake to his servants the prophets. {Heb 1:1}
Read full note →
{a} πολυμερως per gradus et momenta, non simul et semel.
John Trapp, A Commentary or Exposition upon All the Books of the Old and New Testament (1647–1656) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Matthew Poole 1685 · Public Domain On vv4, 5, 6, 7, 9 God having commanded the prophet to procure such a…
God having commanded the prophet to procure such a girdle as was before mentioned, and to tie it upon his loins, he a second time comes to him, and commandeth him to take this girdle, and carry it to Euphrates. This was one of the four great rivers that the river out of the garden of Eden divided itself into, Gen 2:10,14. It was the border of the Promised Land, Gen 15:18; Deu 1:7; 11:24; 1Ch 5:9. Reuben’s lot was bounded by it. The prophet was commanded to hide his girdle in the
hole of a
Read full note →
rock in that river. But why there? Were there not other places nearer where the prophet might have hid it? It is judged by some that this command was also to signify unto them that they should be carried out of their own borders into captivity; or rather, that they had corrupted, and were become rotten, by doing after the fashions and manners of the heathens, who lived on the other side of Euphrates always, but having (a hundred years before this) captivated the ten tribes, lived also on this side of it.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain On vv3–9 And the word of the Lord,.... The Targum is,
And the word of the Lord,.... The Targum is,
"the word of prophecy from before the Lord:''
Read full note →
came unto me the second time, saying; what distance of time there was between this order and the former is not known.
John Gill's Exposition of the Whole Bible (1746–1763) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Wesley 1765 · Public Domain On v5 So - Most think Jeremiah did this in a…
So - Most think Jeremiah did this in a vision, for it was a very long journey from Anathoth to Euphrates.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain On vv4, 7 Verse 4. Go to Euphrates, and hide it there]…
Verse 4. Go to Euphrates, and hide it there] Intending to point out, by this distant place, the country into which they were to be carried away captive.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain On vv4, 9 Jer 13:4. Arise, go to Euphrates — God commanded…
Jer 13:4. Arise, go to Euphrates — God commanded the prophet to go and hide the girdle on the bank of the Euphrates, to signify that the Jews should be carried captive over that river, called the waters of Babylon, Psa 137:1. In the margin of our ancient English Bibles, it is observed, that, “because this river Perath, or Euphrates, was far from Jerusalem, it is evident that this was done in a vision.” And the generality of the best commentators have been of this opinion; it not being probable that the prophet should have been sent twice upon a journey of such considerable length and difficulty, to the very great loss of his time, merely upon the errands here mentioned, namely, to carry the girdle to the Euphrates, and to fetch it back, when, it seems, every purpose would have been answered altogether as well if the transaction had been represented in vision. Several things, it must be observed, are related in Scripture as actually done, which yet were certainly only performed in visions. One instance we have Jer 25:15-29, where Jeremiah is commanded to take a cup of wine in his hand, and to cause several kings and nations, there enumerated, to drink of it: for it would be a perfect absurdity to believe that he actually went round to all those kings and nations, and made them drink of the contents of his cup. And yet he makes no more distinction in this latter case, than in that now before us, between mental and bodily action. Another remarkable instance we have Gen 15:5, where the text says, that God brought Abraham forth abroad, and bid him tell the stars; and yet it appears, by a subsequent verse, that the sun was not then gone down. Indeed, in all these cases, and in many more that might be mentioned of a similar kind, it made no difference as to the end God had in view, whether the transactions related were visionary or real; for either way they served equally to represent the events which it was God’s pleasure to make known. See Lowth and Blaney.
Joseph Benson's Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1811–1818) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Albert Barnes 1834 · Public Domain On vv4, 6 In a hole of the rock - “In a…
In a hole of the rock - “In a cleft of the rock.” As there are no fissured rocks in Babylonia, the place where Jeremiah hid the girdle must have been somewhere in the upper part of the river.
Albert Barnes' Notes on the Bible (1834–1885) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain On vv4, 9 Euphrates, above 150 leagues distant. Some think this was…
Euphrates, above 150 leagues distant. Some think this was only to be done in spirit: but it is generally supposed that the prophet made this long journey twice. Bochart suggests that Euphrates (Hebrew Peratha) may be put for Ephrata, or Bethlehem, as the first syllable is often cut off. (Calmet) --- Yet a journey to the Euphrates would represent more strikingly the destination of the people; and it would not be difficult for God to convey Jeremias thither in a short time, if requisite, as he sent Habacuc through the air to carry a dinner to Daniel; (xiv. 32.) though this supposition is not here necessary, as the labour to which Jeremias was repeatedly exposed, might shew the people their manifold transgressions and captivities. (Haydock) --- Such prophetic actions make a deeper impression than words, Hebrews i. The ingratitude of the people is here described, to chap. xxi. (Worthington)
George Leo Haydock (1774–1849), Haydock's Catholic Family Bible and Commentary, 1859 edition — public domain. Excludes Psalms (Douay-Rheims chapter numbering differs from Protestant) and Deuterocanonical books (Catholic canon only).
Robert Jamieson, A. R. Fausset & David Brown 1871 · Public Domain On vv4, 6, 9 Euphrates--In order to support the view that Jeremiah's act…
Euphrates--In order to support the view that Jeremiah's act was outward, HENDERSON considers that the Hebrew Phrath here is Ephratha, the original name of Beth-lehem, six miles south of Jerusalem, a journey easy to be made by Jeremiah. The non-addition of the word "river," which usually precedes Phrath, when meaning Euphrates, favors this view. But I prefer English Version. The Euphrates is specified as being near Babylon, the Jews future place of exile.
hole--typical of the prisons in which the Jews were to be confined.
Read full note →
the rock--some well-known rock. A sterile region, such as was that to which the Jews were led away (compare Isa 7:19) [GROTIUS].
Jamieson, Fausset & Brown — Commentary Critical and Explanatory on the Whole Bible (1871) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
Daniel D. Whedon 1874 · Public Domain On vv4, 7, 9 4. Euphrates — The future scene of the captivity.…
4. Euphrates — The future scene of the captivity. In most other places in the Bible (Jer_51:63; 2Ch_35:20, and perhaps Gen_2:14, being the only exceptions) this name is associated with Nahar, (נהר,) hence some have conjectured that the name is here used in a special sense. For instance, some have conjectured that it is used for Ephrath — Bethlehem, with the first weak letter omitted, so that the command would be, Go to Bethlehem. But this is violent and without warrant, and misses the significance of the locality. Ewald conjectures that the word is from the Arabic for water-fissure; “a view,” says Keil, “requiring no serious refutation.”
Daniel D. Whedon (gen. ed.), Commentary on the Old and New Testaments (1874–1909) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain On vv4, 8, 9 4. hide it there] in such a way that…
4. hide it there] in such a way that moisture should have full access to it.
the rock] If an actual visit to the Euphrates is meant, the part referred to “cannot be anywhere near Babylon, where there are no ‘rocks,’ or rather ‘crags’—but in the upper part of its course, above Carchemish, or even above Samosata, where it still flows between rocky sides.” Dr.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges (gen. ed. J. J. S. Perowne; Cambridge University Press, 1878–1918) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers 1878 · Public Domain On vv3, 4, 6, 7, 9 (3) The second time.—No dates are given, but the…
(3) The second time.—No dates are given, but the implied interval must have been long enough for the girdle to become foul, while the prophet apparently waited for an explanation of the strange command.
A Bible Commentary for English Readers, edited by Charles John Ellicott (1878–1897) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Pulpit Commentary 1880 · Public Domain On vv4, 6, 7, 8 Vers. 4-6. After Jeremiah has worn the apron for…
Vers. 4-6. After Jeremiah has worn the apron for some time, he is directed to take it to Prath, and hide it there in a cleft (not "hole") of the rock. A long interval elapses, and he is commanded to make a second journey to the same place, and fetch away the apron. What does this Prath mean? It is by no means easy to decide. Hardly "the Euphrates,
(1) because the common prefix, "the river," is wanting, though in so extraordinary a narrative it was peculiarly needed;
Read full note →
(2) because of the length of the journey to Babylonia, which has ex hyp. to be made twice; and
(3) because the Euphrates is not a rocky river. Ewald suggested that "some wet place near Jerusalem" probably had the name of Prath, and indicates a valley and spring called Forah, about six English miles north-east of Jerusalem. Mr. Birch appears to have hit independently on the same spot, which he identifies with the Parah of Jos_18:23, about three miles north-east of Anatbeth, and describes as a picturesque gorge between savage rocks, with a copious stream (Quarterly Statement of the Palestine Exploration Fund, October, 1880, p. 236). This combination, however, involves an emendation of the text (P"rath into Parah)logically it involves this, as Mr. Birch has seen; Ewald"s comparison of the Arabic furat, sweet water, seems inconsistent with his reference to Parah for which there does not seem to be sufficient necessity; and it is better to adopt the view of the great old French Protestant scholar, Bochart, that P"rath is a shortened form of Ephrath, i.e. at once Bethlehem and the district in which Bethlehem lay. (see 1Ch_2:50 1Ch_4:4; and perhaps Psa_132:6) It need hardly be said that the limestone hills of this region afforded abundance of secluded rocks. There may, of course, be at the same time an allusion to the ordinary meaning of Prath, viz. Euphrates, on the analogy of the allusion in Isa_27:12. Those who hold the view here rejected, that Prath is equivalent to the Euphrates, sometimes suppose that the narrative is a parable or symbolical fiction, such as Luther, Calvin, and others find in Hos_1:3, the thing signified being in this case the carrying captive of the people to Babylon; and this seems the best way of making this interpretation plausible.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv6, 8
translationWords
good
unfoldingWord translationNotes — © Distant Shores Media and the Door43 World Missions Community, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Source: git.door43.org/Door43/en_tn.
Tyndale Open Study Notes 2022 · CC BY-SA 4.0 On vv3, 6, 8 13:3-5 The Euphrates River is 300 miles north of…
13:3-5 The Euphrates River is 300 miles north of Jerusalem. Jeremiah probably joined a merchant caravan for protection as he walked or rode a donkey for the 600-mile round trip. Jeremiah did not know the purpose of the trip, but he obeyed God’s instructions.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.