For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, by Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
Parallel Translations
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For Israel is not forsaken, nor Judah, by his God, by Yahweh of Armies; though their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
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For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
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For Israel is not widowed, nor Judah, of his God, of the LORD of hosts; for their land is full of guilt against the Holy One of Israel.
Cross-references (30)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 51:5 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Romans 11:1-2 I ask then, did God reject his people? May it never be! For I also am an Israelite, a descendant of Abraham, of the tribe of Benjamin. God didn’t reject his people, which he foreknew. Or don’t you know what the Scripture says about Elijah? How he pleads with God against Israel:
- Hosea 4:1 Hear Yahweh’s word, you children of Israel; for Yahweh has a charge against the inhabitants of the land: “Indeed there is no truth, nor goodness, nor knowledge of God in the land.
- Zechariah 12:6 In that day I will make the chieftains of Judah like a pan of fire among wood, and like a flaming torch among sheaves; and they will devour all the surrounding peoples, on the right hand and on the left; and Jerusalem will yet again dwell in their own place, even in Jerusalem.
- Zechariah 12:8 In that day Yahweh will defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem. He who is feeble among them at that day will be like David, and David’s house will be like God, like Yahweh’s angel before them.
- 1 Samuel 12:22 For Yahweh will not forsake his people for his great name’s sake, because it has pleased Yahweh to make you a people for himself.
- Ezra 9:9 For we are bondservants; yet our God has not forsaken us in our bondage, but has extended loving kindness to us in the sight of the kings of Persia, to revive us, to set up the house of our God, and to repair its ruins, and to give us a wall in Judah and in Jerusalem.
- Psalms 94:14 For Yahweh won’t reject his people, neither will he forsake his inheritance.
- Isaiah 44:21 Remember these things, Jacob and Israel; for you are my servant. I have formed you. You are my servant. Israel, you will not be forgotten by me.
- Isaiah 49:14-15 But Zion said, “Yahweh has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” “Can a woman forget her nursing child, that she should not have compassion on the son of her womb? Yes, these may forget, yet I will not forget you!
- Isaiah 54:3-11 For you will spread out on the right hand and on the left; and your offspring will possess the nations and settle in desolate cities. “Don’t be afraid, for you will not be ashamed. Don’t be confounded, for you will not be disappointed. For you will forget the shame of your youth. You will remember the reproach of your widowhood no more. For your Maker is your husband; Yahweh of Armies is his name. The Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer. He will be called the God of the whole earth. For Yahweh has called you as a wife forsaken and grieved in spirit, even a wife of youth, when she is cast off,” says your God. “For a small moment I have forsaken you, but I will gather you with great mercies. In overflowing wrath I hid my face from you for a moment, but with everlasting loving kindness I will have mercy on you,” says Yahweh your Redeemer. “For this is like the waters of Noah to me; for as I have sworn that the waters of Noah will no more go over the earth, so I have sworn that I will not be angry with you, nor rebuke you. For the mountains may depart, and the hills be removed; but my loving kindness will not depart from you, and my covenant of peace will not be removed,” says Yahweh who has mercy on you. “You afflicted, tossed with storms, and not comforted, behold, I will set your stones in beautiful colors, and lay your foundations with sapphires.
- Isaiah 62:12 They will call them “The Holy People, Yahweh’s Redeemed”. You will be called “Sought Out, A City Not Forsaken”.
- Jeremiah 16:18 First I will recompense their iniquity and their sin double, because they have polluted my land with the carcasses of their detestable things, and have filled my inheritance with their abominations.”
- Jeremiah 19:4 Because they have forsaken me, and have defiled this place, and have burned incense in it to other gods that they didn’t know, they, their fathers, and the kings of Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of innocents,
- Jeremiah 23:15 Therefore Yahweh of Armies says concerning the prophets: “Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and make them drink poisoned water; for from the prophets of Jerusalem ungodliness has gone out into all the land.”
- Jeremiah 31:37 Yahweh says: “If heaven above can be measured, and the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, then I will also cast off all the offspring of Israel for all that they have done,” says Yahweh.
- Jeremiah 33:24-26 “Don’t consider what this people has spoken, saying, ‘Has Yahweh cast off the two families which he chose?’ Thus they despise my people, that they should be no more a nation before them.” Yahweh says: “If my covenant of day and night fails, if I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; then I will also cast away the offspring of Jacob, and of David my servant, so that I will not take of his offspring to be rulers over the offspring of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: for I will cause their captivity to be reversed and will have mercy on them.”
- Jeremiah 46:28 Don’t be afraid, O Jacob my servant,” says Yahweh; “for I am with you; for I will make a full end of all the nations where I have driven you; but I will not make a full end of you, but I will correct you in measure, and will in no way leave you unpunished.”
- Jeremiah 50:4-5 “In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the children of Israel will come, they and the children of Judah together; they will go on their way weeping, and will seek Yahweh their God. They will inquire concerning Zion with their faces turned toward it, saying, ‘Come, and join yourselves to Yahweh in an everlasting covenant that will not be forgotten.’
- Jeremiah 50:20 In those days, and in that time,” says Yahweh, “the iniquity of Israel will be sought for, and there will be none; also the sins of Judah, and they won’t be found; for I will pardon them whom I leave as a remnant.
- Ezekiel 8:17 Then he said to me, “Have you seen this, son of man? Is it a light thing to the house of Judah that they commit the abominations which they commit here? For they have filled the land with violence, and have turned again to provoke me to anger. Behold, they put the branch to their nose.
- Ezekiel 9:9 Then he said to me, “The iniquity of the house of Israel and Judah is exceedingly great, and the land is full of blood, and the city full of perversion; for they say, ‘Yahweh has forsaken the land, and Yahweh doesn’t see.’
- Ezekiel 22:24-31 “Son of man, tell her, ‘You are a land that is not cleansed, nor rained on in the day of indignation.’ There is a conspiracy of her prophets within it, like a roaring lion ravening the prey. They have devoured souls. They take treasure and precious things. They have made many widows within it. Her priests have done violence to my law, and have profaned my holy things. They have made no distinction between the holy and the common, neither have they caused men to discern between the unclean and the clean, and have hidden their eyes from my Sabbaths. So I am profaned among them. Her princes within it are like wolves ravening the prey, to shed blood, and to destroy souls, that they may get dishonest gain. Her prophets have plastered for them with whitewash, seeing false visions, and divining lies to them, saying, ‘The Lord Yahweh says,’ when Yahweh has not spoken. The people of the land have used oppression and exercised robbery. Yes, they have troubled the poor and needy, and have oppressed the foreigner wrongfully. “I sought for a man among them who would build up the wall and stand in the gap before me for the land, that I would not destroy it; but I found no one. Therefore I have poured out my indignation on them. I have consumed them with the fire of my wrath. I have brought their own way on their heads,” says the Lord Yahweh.
- Hosea 1:10 Yet the number of the children of Israel will be as the sand of the sea, which can’t be measured or counted; and it will come to pass that, in the place where it was said to them, ‘You are not my people,’ they will be called ‘sons of the living God.’
- Amos 9:8-9 Behold, the eyes of the Lord Yahweh are on the sinful kingdom, and I will destroy it from off the surface of the earth; except that I will not utterly destroy the house of Jacob,” says Yahweh. “For, behold, I will command, and I will sift the house of Israel among all the nations, as grain is sifted in a sieve, yet not the least kernel will fall on the earth.
- Micah 7:18 Who is a God like you, who pardons iniquity, and passes over the disobedience of the remnant of his heritage? He doesn’t retain his anger forever, because he delights in loving kindness.
- Micah 7:20 You will give truth to Jacob, and mercy to Abraham, as you have sworn to our fathers from the days of old.
- Zephaniah 3:1-4 Woe to her who is rebellious and polluted, the oppressing city! She didn’t obey the voice. She didn’t receive correction. She didn’t trust in Yahweh. She didn’t draw near to her God. Her princes within her are roaring lions. Her judges are evening wolves. They leave nothing until the next day. Her prophets are arrogant and treacherous people. Her priests have profaned the sanctuary. They have done violence to the law.
- Zechariah 2:12 Yahweh will inherit Judah as his portion in the holy land, and will again choose Jerusalem.
- 1 Kings 6:13 I will dwell among the children of Israel, and will not forsake my people Israel.”
- 2 Kings 21:16 Moreover Manasseh shed innocent blood very much, until he had filled Jerusalem from one end to another; in addition to his sin with which he made Judah to sin, in doing that which was evil in Yahweh’s sight.
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain The Prophet shows here the cause why God had…
The Prophet shows here the cause why God had resolved to treat the Babylonians with so much severity, even because he would be the avenger of his own people. He also obviates a doubt which might have disturbed weak minds, for he seemed to have forsaken his people when he suffered them to be driven into exile. As this was a kind of repudiation, as we have seen elsewhere, the Prophet says now, that Israel had not been wholly widowed, nor Judah, by his God; as though he had said, that the Jews and the Israelites were indeed, for a time, like widows, but this was not to be perpetual. For, as we have said, the divorce was temporary, when God so forsook his Temple and the city, that the miserable people was exposed to plunder. As long, then, as the will of their enemies prevailed, God seemed to have forsaken his people. It is of this widowhood that the Prophet now speaks; but he yet testifies that Israel would not be wholly widowed by Jehovah his God.
He indeed alludes to that spiritual marriage, of which frequent mention is made; for God had, from the beginning, united the Church to himself, as it were, by a marriage-bond; and the people, as it is well known, had been so received into covenant, that there was contracted, as it were, a spiritual marriage. Then the Prophet now says, that they were not widowed; in which he refers to the hope of deliverance; for it could not have been denied but that God had repudiated his people. But he shows that their chastisement would not be perpetual, because God would at length reconcile to himself the people from whom he had been alienated, and would restore them to the ancient condition and honor of a wife. He speaks of both kingdoms.
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Then he adds, by Jehovah of hosts By this title he sets forth the power of God, as though he had said, that as God is faithful in his promises, and constantly keeps his covenant, so he is not destitute of power, so as not to be able to save his people and to rescue them, when it pleases him, from death itself. He confirms this truth, when he says, for the land of the Chaldeans is filled with sin on account of the Holy One of Israel, as though he had said, that the land was abominable, because it carried on war against God.: For when he speaks of the Holy One of Israel, he shows that God had such a care for his people that he was prepared, when the suitable time came, to show himself as their avenger. We now perceive what the Prophet means when he says, that Chaldea was filled with sin, even because it provoked God when it thought that the wrong was done only to men. It follows, —
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 Though they were forsaken for a time, yet they…
Though they were forsaken for a time, yet they were not utterly cast off as though their husbands were dead.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 51:5 For Israel [hath] not [been] forsaken, nor…
Jer 51:5 For Israel [hath] not [been] forsaken, nor Judah of his God, of the LORD of hosts; though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel.
Ver. 5. For Israel hath not been forsaken.] Heb., Widowed.
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Though their land was filled with sin.] Heb., Guilt, or delinquency, or devastation. The Scripture hath been fully made good to us of this nation, while the fulness of sin in us hath not yet abated the fulness of grace in God toward us. See those four gracious yets, Zec 1:17. {See Trapp on "Zec 1:17"}
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 That is, not, utterly forsaken, for in a sense…
That is, not, utterly forsaken, for in a sense they were forsaken as to some gradual manifestations of God’s love to them, but Judah and Israel were not left as a widow, or were not divorced from God. The word translated sin signifies a most heinous sinning, or desolation, and the best interpreters judge that sin here signifieth the punishment of sin. God hath not forsaken the Jews utterly, though as they were formerly filled with grievous sins, so they be now filled with grievous judgments because of their sins.
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 For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of…
For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God,
of the Lord of hosts,.... That is, not totally and finally; for though they might seem to be forsaken, when carried captive by their enemies, yet they were not in such sense as a woman is deprived of her husband when dead, and she is become a widow, as the word (d) used may signify; or when divorced from him; or as children are deprived of their parents, and become orphans; but so it was not with Israel; for thought they were under the frowns of Providence, and the resentment of God they had sinned against, yet the relation between them still subsisted; he was their covenant God and Father, their husband and protector, and who would vindicate them, and avenge them on their enemies:
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though their land was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel; which was the reason why they were carried captive, and so seemed to be forsaken of God; or though their land was filled with punishment, with devastation and destruction, yet nevertheless God would appear for them, and restore that and them unto it; or rather this is to be understood of the land of the Chaldeans, as it is by Jarchi and Kimchi; and be rendered, "for their land is filled with punishment for sin, from", or "by", or "because of the Holy One of Israel" (e); by which it appears, that the people of God were not forsaken by him, and were not without a patron and defender of them; since it was a plain case that the land of the Chaldeans was filled with the punishment of the sword and other calamities by the Holy One of Israel, because of the sins they had committed against him, and the injuries they had done to his people. So the Targum,
"for their land is filled with, (punishment for) the sins of murder, by the word of the Holy One of Israel.''
(d) "viduus, sive viduatus", Vatablus, Calvin, Montanus; "ut vidua", Pagninus; "orbus", Schmidt. (e) "quia terra illorum repleta est delicto, sive reatu, vel poena", Grotius; so some in Gataker. "a Sancto Israelis", Montanus, Schmidt; "propter Sanctum Israelis", Vatablus, Calvin, Cocceius; so Ben Melech.
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 Forsaken - Not utterly forsaken.
Forsaken - Not utterly forsaken.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 5. For Israel hath not been forsaken] God…
Verse 5. For Israel hath not been forsaken] God still continued his prophets among them; he had never cast them wholly off. Even in the midst of wrath - highly deserved and inflicted punishment, he has remembered mercy; and is now about to crown what he has done by restoring them to their own land. I conceive אשם asham, which we translate sin, as rather signifying punishment, which meaning it often has.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Haydock's Catholic Bible Commentary 1859 · Public Domain Forsaken, as a widow, viduatus. (Haydock) --- God still…
Forsaken, as a widow, viduatus. (Haydock) --- God still considers the nation as his spouse. --- Their land. That of the Chaldeans, (Calmet) or of the Jews. (Theodoret) --- Sin, or punishment.
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 forsaken--as a widow (Hebrew). Israel is not severed from…
forsaken--as a widow (Hebrew). Israel is not severed from her husband, Jehovah (Isa 54:5-7), by a perpetual divorce.
though . . . sin--though the land of Israel has been filled with sin, that is, with the punishment of their sin, devastation. But, as the Hebrew means "for," or "and therefore," not "though," translate, "and therefore their (the Chaldeans') land has been filled with (the penal consequences of) their sin" [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.
The Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges 1878 · Public Domain 5. forsaken] lit. widowed, cp. Isa_54:4. The word is…
5. forsaken] lit. widowed, cp. Isa_54:4. The word is masculine, contrary to the figure (e.g. Jer_2:2) where Israel is the wife, and Jehovah the husband.
though their land, etc.] i.e. in spite of the guilt of the people of Jehovah. The Heb. conjunction, however, is better rendered for, and “their land” understood to be Chaldaea. In that case we should (with Co.) transpose the two parts of the v.
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 (5) Israel hath not been forsaken.—Better, widowed. The participle…
(5) Israel hath not been forsaken.—Better, widowed. The participle is from the word that commonly represents the idea of widowhood. Judah and Israel, the prophet declares, were not, as men thought, abandoned by their husband Jehovah. He was still their protector. The prophet has in his thoughts at once the image of apparent widowhood, as in Isa_50:1; Isa_54:4-6; Lam_1:1, and the thought that Jehovah is, after all, as the husband ready to forgive (Jer_3:4; Jer_3:14; Jer_3:20; Jer_4:1). The assurance of this returning love does not rest on any plea in extenuation of the nation’s guilt, which the words that follow admit without reserve. For “his” it would be better to read her or their, as keeping up the metaphor.
Against the Holy One of Israel.—On Jeremiah’s use of the name, see Note on Jer_50:29.
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 Vers. 5-14. The covenant between Jehovah and Israel is…
Vers. 5-14. The covenant between Jehovah and Israel is one reason why Babylon must fall; and Babylon"s own guilt is another. Hence pity is out of place. Here liveth piety where pity ends; Can any man be guilty more than he Whose bias with the doom of God contends? (Dante, "Inferno," 20:28, Cayley.)
Flee, therefore, lest ye be involved in Babylon"s ruin. For Jehovah"s purpose of vengeance cannot be reversed.
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Hath not been forsaken. The Hebrew is much more forcible, "is not widowed alluding to the fundamental Old Testament idea of a mystic marriage between God and his people. (comp. Isa_50:1 Isa_54:4-6 Ho 2) Was filled with sin; rather, with guilt (Hebrew, asham).
MILETICS. Ver. 5. "Suffering, but not forsaken.
Israel is not forsaken because she is driven from her home. Babylon is not more favoured because she flourishes for a season as a "golden cup in the Lord"s hand." For the land of the Chaldeans is filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. Thus the truth is quite contrary to appearances.
I WHEN GOD CHASTISES HIS PEOPLE HE MUST NOT BE THOUGHT TO HAVE FORSAKEN THEM. The chastisement is for their own good. It is, therefore, a proof that God has not neglected them. Instead of being an indication of hatred or indifference, chastisement is a sign of God"s love. Moreover, when his people suffer God is peculiarly near to them. Those captives who hung their harps on the willows by the rivers of Babylon found God more present than he had been to the careless sinful Jews who assembled in the courts of his temple. It is to be remembered that God is near to us when we do not perceive him, and often nearest in those dark hours when bitterness of soul prevents us from having any comforting hope in him.
II THOUGH GOD WILL CHASTISE HIS PEOPLE HE WILL NEVER FORSAKE THEM. This is a further step. Not only is the chastisement no proof of God"s having forsaken his people, but in no case will he forsake them; no such proof can ever be found. True, they may be separated from God and may become "castaways;" but this is only because they forsake him. He is ever true to his side of the covenant. Let us, therefore, be prepared to expect the chastisement, but also be well settled in faith that the far worse trouble, the neglect of our souls by God, can never come.
III OUTWARD CIRCUMSTANCES ARE NO INDICATIONS OF OUR RELATIONS WITH GOD. The great contrast between Israel and Babylon furnishes a striking instance of this truth. It is strange. For one would have thought that the outward and inward life would harmonize. So they will ultimately. Then the "golden cup" will be broken and the suffering child of God exalted to honour. But now the world is in confusion, evil is allowed a certain liberty for the consequent discipline of good, and thus the sufferers may be near to God while the fortunate and happy are far away in sin.
HOMILIES BY A.F. MUIR Ver. 5. Divine love not to be severed from its object.
A marvelous statement. A down-trodden, sinful remnant of his people, who had broken every engagement of his covenant, is still owned and cared for.
I A PROOF OF THE FAITHFULNESS AND LONG SUFFERING MERCY OF GOD.
1. Having entered into covenant relations with Israel, he will not withdraw from them, even although their portion of the agreement has not been kept. He remains faithful, notwithstanding human unfaithfulness. The awful guilt of the elect nation cannot invalidate the obligations God has imposed upon himself. He is ready, therefore, at any moment to fulfil these when the conditions are complied with.
2. But it is rather to be taken as illustrating Divine mercy. The purposes of his love are never laid aside. He devises schemes of salvation when we are yet sinners.
3. Though hidden from human eyes, Divine love works continually and through all things. It was hard for mere men to see the favour of God in such times. Many of the Israelites themselves, doubtless, imagined themselves forsaken. Yet was redemption nearer to them in Babylon than when at Jerusalem they insulted and disobeyed him. "All things work together for good to them that love God," ere.; "Though he slay me, yet will I trust in him". (Job_13:15)
II A REVELATION FULL OF WARNING AND ENCOURAGEMENT.
1. The enemies of the Church are not to presume upon her misfortunes.
2. The Church itself, although cast down and feeble, is to be of good courage, for it is not cast off. Adversity is not forsakenness. "Lo, I am with you alway." There is no room for presumption, for the chastisements of love have greater severities in store for aggravated guilt. But, relying on the grace of God, it may arise and recommence the mission it has forsaken. M.
HOMILIES BY D. YOUNG Ver. 5. Unforsaken Israel.
I AN APPARENT FORSAKING. Israel looked forsaken. It was in exile, in captivity, and under the asserted judgment of Jehovah. We have always, to a certain extent, to accept the appearances of things. God"s presence had been manifested in outward favour and prosperity, and what was more plausible than to say that the withdrawing of the favour and prosperity meant the withdrawing of God himself? But then it is forgotten that God"s presence may be manifested in many ways. Outward prosperity is not essential to signify God"s satisfaction with us. Nor must we infer that, because a backsliding Christian has fallen into trouble and misery, therefore God has forsaken him. The signs of man forsaking God are made very clear, so that there may be all possible incentives to repentance; but if God ever does forsake a man, leaving him utterly to his own folly and recklessness, no sign of it is given to us. There is quite enough already in our own wild fancies to make us desponding and despairing.
II A PLAUSIBLE CAUSE FOR FORSAKING. The land of Israel was filled with sin against the Holy One of Israel. Men think of God as they do of themselves. The patience of the human master soon gets exhausted with the servant who disobeys many commandments and obeys others in the most perfunctory way.
III A REAL CAUSE FOR CLOSE ADHERENCE. That Israel, chosen and beloved of God, fills his land with sin, so far from being a reason for forsaking, is a reason for closer adherence than ever. The shepherd leaves the ninety-nine sheep in safety and goes into the wilderness after the lost one. If only men, brought at last to a sense of their wickedness and recklessness, could see how near God is to them, how ready and able to help, they would be filled with hope. "God is love," and therefore the greater our need the greater his nearness. The real difficulty is that we flee to the succours and solaces of self, and so the nearness of Cod, with all his suitable and ample supplies, is only too easily obscured.
IV A FRESH MANIFESTATION OF THE HOLY ONE OF ISRAEL. Never does God"s holiness so appear as when he is dealing with sinners in the way of long suffering, if perchance they will surrender at last and permit him to restore them to righteousness and peace. Surely God"s holiness shines most in his greatest attribute, and that is love. God is marked off from all created things by his power and his righteousness, but most of all by his transcendent love. Here is the most glorious aspect of his holiness, that, no matter how much men may sin against him, neglect his will, and abuse his world, yet, when they are ready to turn, he is close at hand with everything prepared to receive them. Y.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
The Biblical Illustrator 1887 · Public Domain For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of…
Jer_51:5
For Israel hath not been forsaken, nor Judah of his God.
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Israel and Judah not forsaken
You would think, according to the teaching of some, that Christ s members kept lopping off something like the limbs of lobsters, and that new ones were constantly growing. There is nothing in Scripture to warrant such a notion as that. You remember Mr. Bunyans parable of a child who is in a room, and a stranger comes in, and says, Come hither, child, I will cut off thy finger. No, says the child. Yes, but I will; I will take off your little finger. Here is a knife, I will cut off your little finger. No, again says the child, and begins to cry. Oh, but, says the stranger, that is a poor little finger that you have. I will cut it off and I will buy you a gold finger, such a brave gold finger. I will put it on your hand instead of your little finger. Oh, says the child, but it would not be my finger; I cannot lose my little finger. Whereupon Mr. Bunyan says, If Christ could have better people than those He has, He would not make the change, for, saith He, they are not My people; they are not a part of My own living self. So the Lord Jesus would not change you for a golden saint, for one much better than you axe. That new finger would not be what the Father gave him, nor what He bought with His precious blood. Thou shalt not be forgotten of Me, means that God will never cease to love His servants. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
Gods people not forgotten or forsaken
Before the siege of Paris Gustave Dore had nearly finished one of his greatest paintings, one of the finest pictures which has ever been produced. Having to fly from the city, on a sudden, as the Germans were coming up, he hid his picture in a cellar, down under a heap of rubbish. When the siege was over, Dore came back to Paris, and of course when he returned he had forgotten all about his picture, had he not? Not he; he had taken too much trouble with it to forget it. He knew the value of it, and he knew where he had put it. He did not have to go up and down the house and say to the people, Do you know where my picture is? No! he never forgot where he had himself put it, so he found it where it was hidden, brought it out to the light of day, and finished it. Now, in a far higher sense than that, God will have respect unto the works of His own hands. The very bodies of the saints, though they were hidden away for a while in the rubbish of the earth, He will fetch out, and He will complete the works of grace which He has begun upon each one of them. The Lord hath formed us to be His servants, we shall not be forgotten of Him. (C. H. Spurgeon.)
The Biblical Illustrator, edited by Joseph S. Exell (c. 1880s–1900s) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 Israel and Judah are not forsaken by their God,…
Israel and Judah are not forsaken by their God, by Yahweh of hosts
The words "Israel" and "Judah" are metonyms for the people of Israel and Judah. This can be translated in active form. AT: "Yahweh of hosts, the God of the people of Israel and Judah, has not forsaken them" (See: Metonymy and Active or Passive)
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their land is filled with offenses committed against the Holy One of Israel
The land in which they live is spoken of as if it were a container and their offenses as if they were solid objects that could fill the container. The abstract noun "offenses" can be translated as a verb. AT: "they have offended the Holy One of Israel everywhere throughout the land" (See: Metaphor and Abstract Nouns)
in her iniquity
Babylon is spoken of as if it were a woman. The word "iniquity" is a metonym for God punishing the people for their iniquity. AT: "when Yahweh punishes Babylon" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
will repay all of it to her
Babylon is spoken of as if it were a woman, and the iniquity of the people is spoken of as if Yahweh needed to pay back a debt. The word "her," meaning Babylon, is a metonym for the people of Babylon. AT: "will punish the Babylonians as much as they deserve" (See: Metaphor and Metonymy)
translationWords
Israel
Judah
forsake
God
Yahweh of hosts
Holy One
save
perish
iniquity
avenge
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 51:5 Although the Israelites had committed many sins against…
51:5 Although the Israelites had committed many sins against the Holy One, he was still their God, and he planned to save them.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.