Yahweh of Armies says, “They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine. Turn again your hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets.”
Parallel Translations
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Yahweh of Armies says, “They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel like a vine. Turn again your hand as a grape gatherer into the baskets.”
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Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
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Thus saith the LORD of hosts: They shall thoroughly glean as a vine the remnant of Israel; turn again thy hand as a grape-gatherer upon the shoots.
Cross-references (5)
Passages linked to Jeremiah 6:9 in the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge, ordered by reader-vote popularity; verse text shown in World English Bible.
- Jeremiah 16:16 “Behold, I will send for many fishermen,” says Yahweh, “and they will fish them up. Afterward I will send for many hunters, and they will hunt them from every mountain, from every hill, and out of the clefts of the rocks.
- Jeremiah 49:9 If grape gatherers came to you, would they not leave some gleaning grapes? If thieves came by night, wouldn’t they steal until they had enough?
- Obadiah 1:5-6 “If thieves came to you, if robbers by night—oh, what disaster awaits you—wouldn’t they only steal until they had enough? If grape pickers came to you, wouldn’t they leave some gleaning grapes? How Esau will be ransacked! How his hidden treasures are sought out!
- Jeremiah 52:28-30 This is the number of the people whom Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive: in the seventh year, three thousand twenty-three Jews; in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadnezzar, he carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty-two persons; in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar Nebuzaradan the captain of the guard carried away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty-five people: all the people were four thousand six hundred.
- Revelation 14:18 Another angel came out from the altar, he who has power over fire, and he called with a great voice to him who had the sharp sickle, saying, “Send your sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine of the earth, for the earth’s grapes are fully ripe!”
Cross-references from openbible.info (CC BY 4.0)
Explain this verse (19 sources)
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John Calvin 1540 · Public Domain God here confirms the former statement, as though he…
God here confirms the former statement, as though he had said, that he dreaded a sight so sad and mournful, which yet the Jews disregarded. He then shews, that he did not in vain exhort the Jews, even though late, to repent, for he foresaw how dreadful would be their calamities. Hence he says, Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Gleaning they shall glean; for the word here does not mean to gather the vintage, but to glean, grapiller, after the vintage. As after the harvest the poor follow and gather ears of corn here and there, until nothing remains in the field; so also in vintages when there is a gleaning, nothing remains. Hence God in the law forbade the vineyards to be gleaned, that there might be something left for the poor. (Leviticus 19:10; Deuteronomy 24:21.) But he says here, “Gleaning they shall glean as a vine;” he speaks not of the people but of the remnant.
The ten tribes had been plundered, and at length their whole country had been laid waste, most of them had been led into exile, but a few had sought hiding — places for a time: and he says that they were like gleanings: “though, “he says, “there be a few grapes, yet these shall follow.” In short, the Prophet sets before the Jews that vengeance of God, which was known already to them as much as to the Israelites, the ten tribes: and yet he shews that God’s vengeance was not completed, for there were still a few remaining, a gleaning: “What then shall come of you? What indeed! ye have seen that your brethren have been plundered, ye have seen that they and their children have been slain; ye have seen that all kinds of cruelty have been exercised towards them; and yet after the name of Israel has been obliterated, and their country now deserted, has become a waste, God will still punish the remnant, and ye shall see that his judgment will shortly overtake them; and what do ye, wretched beings, yet look for? and how great is your torpidity, which never comes to an end? why do you not seek to be reconciled to God, when such an opportunity is offered to you?”
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We now then apprehend the Prophet’s object. And then he says, Return thy hand as a vintager to the baskets; that is, “Behold the vintagers, they stimulate one another; so that there is no end of gleaning, as they ever return to their baskets, until they gather everything, until there remains not a grape on the vine.”
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 He exhorteth the Babylonians to be diligent to search…
He exhorteth the Babylonians to be diligent to search out all and to leave none.
Geneva Bible (1599) marginal notes — public domain.
John Trapp 1656 · Public Domain Jer 6:9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They…
Jer 6:9 Thus saith the LORD of hosts, They shall throughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets.
Ver. 9. They shall thoroughly glean the remnant.] They shall make clean work of them. {as Jdg 20:45}
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 Though gleaning be a term proper for all kind…
Though gleaning be a term proper for all kind of harvest, yet the word used here is appropriated to the vintage, and implies the thorough riddance that the Chaldeans shall make, contrary to the law for gathering the vintage, though it may seem to allude to it, Lev 19:10. Judah shall be gleaned over and over, till there be a full end, none left; as the Israelites gleaned the Benjamites, Jdg 20:45; for thus they picked them up at several times, both before, 2Ki 24:2, and also at thee time of Zedekiah’s reign, 2Ki 25:6,7,11,15,19; and this seems to be intimated in the next words. See Hab 1:9.
Turn back thine hand; as much as to say, they should not be content with one spoiling, but they should go back a second and a third time, again and again, to carry away both persons and spoil, leaving nothing behind them worth carrying away, Jer 52:28-30; the first carrying away being as the vintage, the second the gleaning; carrying away first the principal, and afterwards the more inferior sort.
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As a grape gatherer into the baskets; as the grapegatherers do, filling one basket after another. Whether these be the words of the Babylonians calling upon and stirring up one another to do it, as some; or the words of God to the Babylonians, as most; it comes much to the same thing; for what they did; as by God’s commission.
Matthew Poole's English Annotations on the Holy Bible (1683–1685) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Matthew Henry 1710 · Public Domain The heads of this paragraph are the very same…
The heads of this paragraph are the very same with those of the last; for precept must be upon precept and line upon line.
I. The ruin of Judah and Jerusalem is here threatened. We had before the haste which the Chaldea army made to the war (Jer 6:4, Jer 6:5); now here we have the havoc made by the war. How lamentable are the desolations here described! The enemy shall so long quarter among them, and be so insatiable in their thirst after blood and treasure, that they shall seize all they can meet with, and what escapes them at one time shall fall into their hands another (Jer 6:9): They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine; as the grape-gatherer, who is resolved to leave none behind, still turns back his hand into the baskets, to put more in, till he has gathered all, so that they be picked up by the enemy, though dispersed, though hid, and none of them shall escape their eye and hand. Perhaps the people, being given to covetousness (Jer 6:13), had not observed that law of God which forbade them to glean all their grapes (Lev 19:10), and now they themselves shall be in like manner thoroughly gleaned and shall either fall by the sword or go into captivity. This is explained Jer 6:11, Jer 6:12, where God's fury and his hand are said to be poured out and stretched out, in the fury and by the hand of the Chaldeans; for even wicked men are often made use of as God's hand (Psa 17:14), and in their anger we may see God angry. Now see on whom the fury is poured out in full vials - upon the children abroad, or in the streets, where they are playing (Zac 8:5) or whither they run out innocently to look about them: the sword of the merciless Chaldeans shall not spare them, Jer 9:21. The children perish in the calamity which the fathers' sins have procured. The execution shall likewise reach the assembly of young men, their merry meetings, their clubs which they keep up to strengthen one another's hands in wickedness; they shall be cut off together. Nor shall those only fall into the enemies' hands who meet for lewdness (Jer 5:7), but even the husband with the wife shall be taken, these two in bed together, and neither left, but both taken prisoners. And, as they have no compassion for the weak but fair sex, so they have none for the decrepit but venerable age: The old with the full of days, whose deaths can contribute no more to their safety than their lives to their service, who are not in a capacity to do them either good or harm, shall be either cut off or carried off. Their houses shall then be turned to others (Jer 6:12); the conquerors shall dwell in their habitations, use their goods, and live upon their stores; their fields and vines shall fall together into their hands, as was threatened, Deu 28:30, etc. For God stretches out his hand upon the inhabitants of the land, and none can go out of the reach of it. Now as to this denunciation of God's wrath, 1. The prophet justifies himself in preaching thus terribly, for herein he dealt faithfully (Jer 6:11): "I am full of the fury of the Lord, full of the thoughts and apprehensions of it, and am carried out with a powerful impulse, by the spirit of prophecy, to speak of it thus vehemently." He took no delight in threatening, nor was it any pleasure to him with such sermons as these to make those about him uneasy; but he could not contain himself; he was weary with holding in; he suppressed it as long as he could, as long as he durst, but he was so full of power by the Spirit of the Lord of hosts that he must speak, whether they will hear or whether they will forbear. Note, When ministers preach the terrors of the Lord according to the scripture we have no reason to be displeased at them; for they are but messengers, and must deliver their message, pleasing or unpleasing. 2. He condemns the false prophets who preached plausibly, for therein they flattered people and dealt unfaithfully (Jer 6:13, Jer 6:14): The priest and the prophet, who should be their watchmen and monitors, have dealt falsely, have not been true to their trust not told the people their faults and the danger they were in; they should have been their physicians, but they murdered their patients by letting them have their will, by giving them every thing that had a mind to, and flattering them into an opinion that they were in no danger (Jer 6:14): They have healed the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly, or according to the cure of some slight hurt, skinning over the wound and never searching it to the bottom, applying lenitives only, when there was need of corrosives, soothing people in their sins, and giving them opiates to make them easy for the present, while the disease was preying upon the vitals. They said, "Peace peace - all shall be well." (if there were some thinking people among them, who were awake, and apprehensive of danger, they soon stopped their mouths with their priestly and prophetical authority, boldly averring that neither church nor state was in any danger), when there is no peace, because they went on in their idolatries and daring impieties. Note, Those are to be reckoned our false friends (that is, our worst and most dangerous enemies) who flatter us in a sinful way.
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II. The sin of Judah and Jerusalem, which provoked God to bring this ruin upon them and justified him in it, is here declared. 1. They would by no means bear to be told of their faults, nor of the danger they were in. God bids the prophet give them warning of the judgment coming (Jer 6:9), "but," says he, "to whom shall I speak and give warning? I cannot find out any that will so much as give me a patient hearing. I may give warning long enough, but these is nobody that will take warning. I cannot speak that they may hear, cannot speak to any purpose, or with any hope of success; for their ear is uncircumcised, it is carnal and fleshly, indisposed to receive the voice of God, so that they cannot hearken. They have, as it were, a thick skin grown over the organs of hearing, so that divine things might to as much purpose be spoken to a stone as to them. Nay, they are not only deaf to it, but prejudiced against it; therefore they cannot hear, because they are resolved that they will not: The word of the Lord is unto them a reproach; both the reproofs and the threatenings of the word are so;" they reckoned themselves wronged and affronted by both, and resented the prophet's plain-dealing with them as they would the most causeless slander and calumny. This was kicking against the pricks (Act 9:5), as the lawyers against the word of Christ, Luk 11:45, Thus saying, thou repoachest us also. Note, Those reproofs that are counted reproaches, and hated as such, will certainly be turned into the heaviest woes. When it is here said, They have no delight in the word, more is implied than is expressed; "they have an antipathy to it; their hearts rise at it; it exasperates them, and enrages their corruptions, and they are ready to fly in the face and pull out the eyes of their reprovers." And how can those expect that the word of the Lord should speak any comfort to them who have no delight in it, but would rather be any where than within hearing of it? 2. They were inordinately set upon the world, and wholly carried away by the love of it (Jer 6:13): "From the least of them even to the greatest, old and young, rich and poor, high and low, those of all ranks, professions, and employments, every one is given to covetousness, greedy of filthy lucre, all for what they can get, per fas per nefas - right or wrong;" and this made them oppressive and violent (Jer 6:6, Jer 6:7), for of those evils, as well as others, the love of money is the bitter root. Nay, and this hardened their hearts against the word of God and his prophets. It was the covetous Pharisees that derided Christ, Luk 16:14. 3. They had become impudent in sin and were past shame. After such a high charge of flagrant crimes proved upon them, it was very proper to ask (Jer 6:15), Were they ashamed when they had committed all these abominations, which are such a reproach to their reason and religion? Did they blush at the conviction, and acknowledge that confusion of face belonged to them? If so, there is some hope of them yet. But, alas! there did not appear so much as this colour of virtue among them; their hearts were so hardened that they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush, they had so brazened their faces. They even gloried in their wickedness, and openly confronted the convictions which should have humbled them and brought them to repentance. They resolved to face it out against God himself and not to own their guilt. Some refer this to the priests and prophets, who had healed the people slightly and told them that they should have peace, and yet were not ashamed of their treachery and falsehood, no, not when the event disproved them and gave them the lie. Those that are shameless are graceless and their case is hopeless. But those that will not submit to a penitential shame, nor take that to themselves as their due, shall not escape an utter ruin; for so it follows: Therefore they shall fall among those that fall; they shall have their portion with those that are quite undone; and, when God visits the nation in wrath, they shall be sure to be cast down and be made to tremble, because they would not blush. Note, Those that sin and cannot blush for it are in an evil case now, and it will be worse with them shortly. At first they hardened themselves and would not blush, afterwards they were so hardened that they could not. Quod unum habebant in malis bonum perdunt, peccandi verecundiam - they have lost the only good property which once blended itself with many bad ones, that is, shame for having done amiss. - Senec. De Vit. Beat.
III. They are put in mind of the good counsel which had been often given them, but in vain. They had a great deal said to them to little purpose,
1. By way of advice concerning their duty, Jer 6:16. God had been used to say to them, Stand in the ways and see. That is, (1.) He would have them to consider, not to proceed rashly, but to do as travellers in the road, who are in care to find the right way which will bring them to their journey's end, and therefore pause and enquire for it. If they have any reason to think that they have missed their way, they are not easy till they have obtained satisfaction. O that men would be thus wise for their souls, and would ponder the path of their feet, as those that believe lawful and unlawful are of no less consequence to us than the right way and the wrong are to a traveller! (2.) He would have them to consult antiquity, the observations and experiences of those that went before them: "Ask for the old paths, enquire of the former age (Job 8:8), ask thy father, thy elders (Deu 32:7), and thou wilt find that the way of godliness and righteousness has always been the way which God has owned and blessed and in which men have prospered. Ask for the old paths, the paths prescribed by the law of God, the written word, that true standard of antiquity. Ask for the paths that the patriarchs travelled in before you, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob; and, as you hope to inherit the promises made to them, tread in their steps. Ask for the old paths, Where is the good way?" We must not be guided merely by antiquity, as if the plea of prescription and long usage were alone sufficient to justify our path. No; there is an old way which wicked men have trodden, Job 22:15. But, when we ask for the old paths, it is only in order to find out the good way, the highway of the upright. Note, The way of religion and godliness is a good old way, the way that all the saints in all ages have walked in. (3.) He would have them to resolve to act according to the result of these enquiries: "When you have found out which is the good way, walk therein, practise accordingly, keep closely to that way, proceed, and persevere in it." Some make this counsel to be given them with reference to the struggles that were between the true and false prophets, between those that said they should have peace and those that told them trouble was at the door; they pretended they knew not which to believe: "Stand in the way," says God, "and see, and enquire, which of these two agrees with the written word and the usual methods of God's providence, which of these directs you to the good way, and do accordingly." (4.) He assures them that, if they do thus, it will secure the welfare and satisfaction of their own souls: "Walk in the good old way and you will find your walking in that way will be easy and pleasant; you will enjoy both your God and yourselves, and the way will lead you to true rest. Though it cost you some pains to walk in that way, you will find an abundant recompence at your journey's end." (5.) He laments that this good counsel, which was so rational in itself and so proper for them, could not find acceptance: "But they said, We will not walk therein, not only we will not be at the pains to enquire which is the good way, the good old way; but when it is told us, and we have nothing to say to the contrary but that it is the right way, yet we will not deny ourselves and our humours so far as to walk in it." Thus multitudes are ruined for ever by downright wilfulness.
2. By way of admonition concerning their danger. Because they would not be ruled by fair reasoning, God takes another method with them; by less judgments he threatens greater, and sends his prophets to give them this explication of them, and to frighten them with an apprehension of the danger they were in (Jer 6:17); Also I set watchmen over you. God's ministers are watchmen, and it is a great mercy to have them set over us in the Lord. Now observe here, (1.) The fair warning given by these watchmen. This was the burden of their song; they cried again and again, Hearken to the sound of the trumpet. God, in his providence, sounds the trumpet (Zac 9:14); the watchmen hear it themselves and are affected with it (Jer 4:19), and they are to call upon others to hearken to it too, to hear the Lord's controversy, to observe the voice of Providence, to improve it, and answer the intentions of it. (2.) This fair warning slighted: "But they said, We will not hearken; we will not hear, we will not heed, we will not believe; the prophets may as well save themselves and us the trouble." The reason why sinners perish is because they do not hearken to the sound of the trumpet; and the reason why they do not is because they will not; and they have no reason to give why they will not but because they will not, that is, they are herein most unreasonable. One may more easily deal with ten men's reasons than one man's will.
Matthew Henry's Commentary on the Whole Bible (1708–1710) — public domain (CC PDM 1.0). Text via the HelloAO Bible API.
John Gill 1763 · Public Domain Thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Finding that all…
Thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Finding that all his threatenings, admonitions, and expostulations, were in vain, he says of the Chaldeans, with respect to the Israelites,
they shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine; by "the remnant of Israel" are meant the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin, who were left in the land when the ten tribes were carried captive; and these the Chaldeans should come and carry away also, just as the poor come into a vineyard, after the vintage has been gathered in, and pick off and glean what is left upon the branches:
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turn back thine hand as a grapegatherer into the baskets; these words, according to Kimchi, are the words of the Chaldeans to one another, to turn their hands to the spoil, and to the prey, again and again, just as the grape gatherer does; he gathers a bunch of grapes, and puts it into his basket, and then turns his hand, time after time, till he has gleaned the whole vine: and, according to Jarchi, it seems to be his sense, that they are the words of God unto them; and so Abarbinel; and it is as if he should say, O thou enemy, turn thine hand to the spoil a second time, as a grape gatherer turns his hand to the baskets; and who observes that so it was, that when Jehoiakim was carried captive, and slain, Jeconiah was made king: then, at the end of three months, the enemy returned, and carried him captive; and, at the end of twelve years, returned again, and carried Zedekiah captive; nay, even of the poor of the people, and it may be observed, that they were carried away at different times; see Jer 52:15.
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 Glean - Judah shalt be gleaned over and over,…
Glean - Judah shalt be gleaned over and over, 'till there be a full end, none left. Turn back - As much as to say, they should not be content with one spoiling, but they should go back a second and a third time, to carry away both persons and spoil.
John Wesley, Explanatory Notes Upon the Whole Bible (1754–1765) — public domain. Text via the GEBible commentary corpus.
Adam Clarke 1810 · Public Domain Verse 9. They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of…
Verse 9. They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand] The Chaldeans are here exhorted to turn back and glean up the remnant of the inhabitants that were left after the capture of Jerusalem; for even that remnant did not profit by the Divine judgments that fell on the inhabitants at large.
Adam Clarke's Commentary on the Bible (1810–1826) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword/MySword module.
Joseph Benson 1811 · Public Domain Jer 6:9. They shall thoroughly glean — As if…
Jer 6:9. They shall thoroughly glean — As if he had said, Come, ye Chaldeans, into my vineyard; collect the vintage; gather even to the very last grapes; the remnant of Israel as a vine — The prophet, by this, seems to express, that all the remains of the Israelites, who had escaped when the main body of them had been carried into captivity by the Assyrians, and who had taken refuge in Judea and Jerusalem, should also be carried away into captivity by the Babylonians. Turn back thy hand, &c. — That is, begin the work of gathering or gleaning anew: return again after the first time, and pick up those few inhabitants that were left before, and carry them also into captivity. Thus the Chaldeans did, as may be seen Jer 52:28-30.
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 They ... - Each word indicates the completeness of…
They ... - Each word indicates the completeness of Judah’s ruin.
Turn back thine hand - Addressed perhaps to Nebuchadnezzar as God’s servant Jer 25:9. He is required to go over the vine once again, that no grapes may escape.
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Into the baskets - Better, “upon the tendrils.” While the Jews carried captive to Babylon escaped, misery gleaned the rest again and again.
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 Basket. Chaldeans, destroy all. Nabuchodonosor took Joakim twice, and…
Basket. Chaldeans, destroy all. Nabuchodonosor took Joakim twice, and afterwards Jechonias and Sedecias, chap. xxix. 2.
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 The Jews are the grapes, their enemies the unsparing…
The Jews are the grapes, their enemies the unsparing gleaners.
turn back . . . hand--again and again bring freshly gathered handfuls to the baskets; referring to the repeated carrying away of captives to Babylon (Jer 52:28-30; Kg2 24:14; Kg2 25:11).
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 JERUSALEM’S AND ISRAEL’S OVERTHROW, ff. 9-15.
JERUSALEM’S AND ISRAEL’S OVERTHROW, ff. 9-15.
9. Baskets — Rather, tendrils. The figure is the gleaning of the vine, that no grapes may escape. The enemy will not be satisfied with one devastating campaign, but will repeat his inroad.
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 9. turn again thine hand] addressed to the leader…
9. turn again thine hand] addressed to the leader of the attack upon the land. Du. and Co., omitting for metrical reasons “They shall … Israel,” consider that the prophet is bidden to search whether any good grapes are yet concealed under the leaves. Cp. Gen_18:32. In this case Jer_6:10 gives the result of the search as vain.
into the baskets] better (with mg.) upon the shoots. So Gi. and others, taking MT. as another form of a word used Isa_18:5.
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9–15. See introd. note to ch. The gleaners shall go over and over again. Calamity shall not visit the land once only, as it has already visited the Northern tribes, but many times.
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 (9) Turn back thine hand.—The image of the grape-gatherer…
(9) Turn back thine hand.—The image of the grape-gatherer carrying on his work to the last grape or tendril was a natural parable of unsparing desolation. The command is addressed to the minister of destruction, Nebuchadnezzar, or, it may be, to the angel of death.
Into the baskets.—The noun is found here only, and probably means, like a kindred word in Isa_18:5, the tendrils of the vine upon which the hand of the gatherer was to be turned.
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. 9-15. It is an all but complete Judgment,…
Vers. 9-15. It is an all but complete Judgment, which Jehovah foreshows. Unwilling as the people are to hear it, the disclosure must be made.
They shall thoroughly glean, etc. "Israel" has already been reduced to a "remnant;" the ten tribes have lost their independence, and Judah alone remains. (Jer_5:15) Even Judah shall undergo a severe sifting process, which is likened to a gleaning. (comp. Oba_1:5 Jer_49:9) The prospect is dark, but believers in God"s promises would remember that a few grapes were always left after the gathering. (comp. Isa_17:6) Turn back thine hand. If the text is correct, the speaker here addresses the leader of the gleaners. Keil thinks this change of construction is to emphasize the certainty of the predicted destruction. But it is much more natural (and in perfect harmony with many other similar phenomena of the received text) to suppose, with Hitzig, that the letter represented in the Authorized Version By "thine" has arisen by a mistaken repetition of the first letter of the following word, and (the verbal form being the same for the infinitive and the imperative) to render turning again the hand. In this case the clause will be dependent on the preceding statement as to the "gleaning" of Judah. Into the baskets; rather, unto the shoots. The gleaners will do their work with a stern thoroughness, laying the hand of destruction again and again upon the vine-shoots.
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"Turn back thine hand.
The text, no doubt, tells of the utter and complete desolation which would result from the Chaldean invasion of Judah and Jerusalem. In vivid dramatic form Jehovah is represented as bidding the invading armies go over their ruthless work again, and make the desolation yet more awful, Like as the grape-gatherer, after he had to all appearances stripped the vine of its clusters, would turn back his hand" amongst the tendrils, and search once more over the whole branch to see that no solitary cluster had escaped him ("tendrils," rather than "baskets," are what is meant; see Exposition); so, if there were a solitary village or homestead which had escaped the fury of the foe, they are bidden go back on their work, that none whatever might escape. Such the meaning, and it was ruthlessly fulfilled. But the form of expression may be applied, not merely to the ministers of God"s vengeance, as in the text, but to those who serve him in ways far more acceptable and ordinary. We, therefore, take the charge, "Turn back thine hand as a grape-gatherer," and address it
I To THOSE WHO ARE AT WORK FOR GOD. The self-satisfied, who look at their work with too much content, as if it could not be bettered, these need this charge. And the discouraged, who are for throwing up their work, abandoning it in sorrow and despair, believing they can do nothing more, to them God would say," Turn back thine hand." To those who desire to do their work thoroughly. Go over it again. See how Paul was constantly in the habit of "turning back his hand," i.e. going over the Churches that he had established, revisiting them, in order that he might confirm" them in the faith (cf. Acts, passim). Line upon line, line upon line," is God"s counsel to us in this matter.
II To THE STUDENTS OF HIS WORD. To none more than to these is this charge necessary, if they are to keep a living interest in God"s Word. We come to be so familiar with the main themes, and the forms in which they are expressed, that reading of the Bible comes to be a work in which no thought is aroused, or attention arrested, and we weary of it terribly. Now, it is to the diligent searcher, who will "turn back his hand," go over his work again, and not be content with the truths which lie only on the surface and which every eye can see, to him shall there be revealed clusters of precious truths which he had never seen before, and the Word of God shall yield to him what it yields only to searchers like himself.
III TO THOSE ANXIOUS FOR THE FRUITS OF GOD"S GRACE IN THEMSELVES. To true-hearted believers it is often a cause of regret that their fruits seem so few and so poor. How often the confession is made of this spiritual fruitlessness! But we need not, ought not, to stay in complaints and confessions. "Turn back thine hand," and search if there may not be more fruit found, and of a better kind. "In me is thy fruit found," says God, and it may be we have been looking in the wrong places and to wrong sources for that which we so earnestly desire to see. We may "go on unto perfection," for so bids us the Word of God. Our "whole body, soul, and spirit may be preserved blameless," and we maybe "the sons of God without rebuke;" for Christ "is able has power to save to the uttermost," and therefore we may be "filled with all the fullness of God." So, Christian brother," turn back thine hand as a grape-gatherer," and think not thou hast gathered all the fruits of the Spirit that may he borne by thee. Thou hast not.
In conclusion, note how the subject tells of:
1. The worth of those objects which we search after. The action of the grape-gatherer, in carefully going over the branch again, testifies to his sense of the value of that for which he searches. And so here in I, II, III
2. And what is yet left to be gathered will be more readily found because of the others that have been gathered. The solitary remaining clusters are seen more easily now that the others which hid them are cleared away. And he who desires to do more work for God, to know more of the truth of God, to bear more fruit unto God, shall find that his former work has been for his help, and on account thereof he is more sure of success. "Herein is my Father glorified, that ye bear much fruit;" therefore "turn back thine hand. C.
Vers. 9-17. The preacher"s bitter cry.
Profound distress marks the prophet"s utterances in this section. The lament over the incorrigible wickedness of men and his own baffled work is loud and long and bitter exceedingly (cf. Christ"s tears over Jerusalem; Paul"s sorrow over his countrymen).
I WHAT CAUSED THIS BITTER CRY? His perception of the judgment of God drawing nigh (vers. 9, 12, 15). The obstinacy of the people (vers. 10, 16, 17). The hopelessness of reformation (ver. 13). All were corrupt, and the prophets and priests were even leaders in sin (ver. 14). Even the Lord"s voice had been despised (ver. 16). Now, when facts like these occur, the judgment of God threatening but those exposed to them obstinately refusing warning; and when those who should have warned them and been their guides in the ways of God are themselves godless, and the voice of God has been heard and deliberately despised, then, as the faithful servant of God sees this awful guilt and its sure, inevitable, and swift-approaching judgment, then it is that a sense of despair, a deep grief fills the soul, as well it may.
II WHAT IS A PREACHER TO DO UNDER SUCH CIRCUMSTANCES? The first thought is to turn away from the doomed people and to speak no more to them in God"s Name. But it is better to take example from the prophet, who was verily as one of those servants who, when those called to the prepared feast would not come, but "made light " of the gracious invitation, each saying, "I pray thee have me excused," went out, at his lord"s bidding, into the highways and the hedges and compelled them to come in. So did Jeremiah now (ver. 11). It grieved him to the heart that God"s Word should be despised, and he became "full of the fury of the Lord". (cf. Jer_20:9) Hence he poured out his full heart upon young and old, men, women, and children, wherever he found opportunity of unburdening his soul on this great theme. He was inspired by God to do this, and the fact teaches us that preaching, which may seem to be of no use for the accomplishment of one result, may yet be of much use in regard to another. Jeremiah"s testimony, though it did not save the people from captivity, was of great service to them there, and to the whole Jewish people ever after. His words, which seemed as idle tales when he spoke them, became mighty through God in after days. The neglect, therefore, of our message now should not lead us to cease delivering it, but should muse us to more zeal, and make us "weary with holding in" (ver. 11). We may be sure that whenever God moves us to speak earnestly his Word, he intends to make our message a means of blessing some when and somewhere.
III WHAT THE PREACHER"S GRIEF REVEALS. It tells much:
1. Of God.
(1) Of his love; for it is ever he who inspires his servants with deep solicitude for men"s salvation: it is he who through them is saying, "How can I give thee up?
(2) Of his righteousness; for the vivid realization of the coming judgment which his servants have is given them that they may impress upon the impenitent and the ungodly the sure issue of their sins. The prophets who see and declare God"s love are they who declare his righteousness also.
2. Of the preacher himself. How truly he is sent of God! It is the Spirit of God speaks through him, the love of God leading him to deep love for his fellow-men. If our hearts are greatly filled with a yearning for men"s souls, if "rivers of water run down our eyes because men keep not God"s law, such solicitude is a sure sign of the presence of God with us, and a pledge of his help in delivering our message.
3. Of men. How desperately set they are against God! how absolute their need of the renewing power of the Holy Ghost! See what the prophet says (ver. 10): "Their ear is uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken." The habit of sin has caused their ear to be overgrown, and its power of hearing stopped, "so that," etc. How should the preacher ever remember this, and supplicate the mighty aid of the Divine Spirit if his message is to do any good!
IV QUESTIONS IT SUGGESTS.
1. For preachers and teachers. Do we know anything of the prophet"s grief? Facts all too plentiful and too closely resembling those which filled Jeremiah with the fury of the Lord (ver. 11) abound in our day. Do they excite any similar feeling in ourselves? What need we have to pray and watch against becoming used to sin! and for sympathy with the prophets of God and yet more with Christ, their Lord and ours!
2. For those who hear the Word of God. Are you becoming the cause of such grief to any of God"s servants? Remember theirs is but the foreshadowing of your own, which will be far greater if you heed not their word. Rather heed that Word, and so become not their bitter grief but their joy now, and their cause of rejoicing in the day of the Lord. C.
The Pulpit Commentary (1880–1919), ed. H.D.M. Spence-Jones & Joseph S. Exell — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
Paul E. Kretzmann 1924 · Public Domain The Prophet Voices the Fury of the Lord
The Prophet Voices the Fury of the Lord
v. 9. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They, namely, the invaders whose approach was here prophesied, shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine, not hastily nor superficially, but with the greatest thoroughness, as the divine judgment is ever executed. Turn back thine hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets, going back to the vines again and again in order to get even the last of the berries, said of the repeated invasions of the Chaldeans, at each of which they carried away captives to Babylon.
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v. 10. To whom shall I speak and give warning, so the prophet now voices his objection, that they may hear? Of what use is all remonstrance under such circumstances? Behold, their ear is uncircumcised, closed against all admonitions by their own carnal-mindedness, and they cannot hearken, owing to the hardness of their hearts, brought on by their stubborn opposition. Behold, the Word of the Lord is unto them a reproach, a mockery and a derision; they have no delight in it.
v. 11. Therefore I am full of the fury of the Lord, so that its abundance must voice itself, like a stream overflowing its banks; I am weary with holding in, restraint was no longer a virtue; I will pour it out upon the children abroad, those playing in the streets and lanes, and upon the assembly of young men together; for even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged, the one who is just growing old, with him that is full of days. Thus the sentence of the Lord would strike all classes of people and every age without exception, the whole nation being included in the outpouring of His wrath.
v. 12. And their houses shall be turned unto others, transferred to them as the spoils of war, with their fields and wives together. Cf Deu 28:30; for I will stretch out My hand upon the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord, namely, for the purpose of chastising them.
v. 13. For from the least of them even unto the greatest of them, all classes of people, those of no influence as well as the powerful and mighty, every one is given to covetousness, the love of money suppressing every good intention, every laudable purpose; and from the prophet even unto the priest, the very leaders and teachers of the people, every one dealeth falsely, practicing falsehood and deception.
v. 14. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of My people slightly, touching upon the faults and transgressions of the body politic in a superficial manner only, saying, Peace, peace! when there is no peace. The prophets and priests, the leaders of the people, who were, by God’s command, the watchmen of the nation, ignored this duty in the interest of their own selfishness. Instead of exposing the evils, the wickedness, and idolatry of the people, they glossed over the conditions, treating the ulcerous growths of the body politic as insignificant bruises, after the manner of similar weak characters the world over.
v. 15. Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination? rather, "They are put to shame because they have wrought abominable things. " Nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither could they blush; they were devoid of all sense of decency, of all feeling of shame. Therefore they shall fall among them that fall, with the rest of the people that are doomed to destruction; at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, saith the Lord. Words having proved unavailing, the Lord will now execute His vengeance in deeds which will bring home the lessons which He intended to convey. The false leaders of any Church will deceive only themselves if they hope to escape the wrath which will strike the people under their care due to their own defection in attending to their duty.
Paul E. Kretzmann, Popular Commentary of the Bible (1921–1924) — public domain. Text from a community e-Sword module.
unfoldingWord translationNotes 2017 · CC BY-SA 4.0 They will certainly glean those who are left in…
They will certainly glean those who are left in Israel like a vineyard
Yahweh speaks of the enemy attacking those who remain as if the enemy were to pick grapes that remain in a vineyard after others have harvested it. AT: "After destroying Israel, they will certainly come back to attack the people who are still alive" (See: Metaphor)
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They will certainly
The word "They" refers to the enemy that Yahweh sends to destroy Israel.
Reach out again with your hand to pick grapes from the vines
Yahweh commands the enemy to attack those who remain in Israel as if the enemy were pick to grapes that remain in a vineyard after others have harvested it. AT: "Come back and attack the people of Israel who remain" or "Like people who reach out again to pick grapes from vines that they have already harvested, come back and attack the people who remain" (See: Metaphor)
To whom should I declare and warn so they will listen
Yahweh uses this question to emphasize that none of the people of Israel would listen to him even after they survived the attack of their enemies. AT: "There is no one left for me to speak to and warn who might listen" (See: Rhetorical Question)
Look
"You can see it yourself"
Their ears are uncircumcised
This represents their stubborn unwillingness to listen to God. AT: "Their ears are closed" or "They refuse to listen" (See: Metaphor)
Their ears
The word "Their" refer to the people of Israel.
The word of Yahweh has come to them
This idiom is used to announce that God gave messages to them. He did this through his prophets. AT: "Yahweh has sent messages to them" or "Yahweh has spoken to them" (See: Idiom)
they do not want it
"they do not want to listen to the word of Yahweh"
translationWords
Yahweh of hosts
glean
Israel
grape
vine
declare
circumcise
word of God
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 6:9 Little time remained for the people to turn…
6:9 Little time remained for the people to turn back to the one true God. The survivors of the invasion would be like leftover grapes on vines; God, the harvester, would track down the survivors to ensure that everyone in Israel experienced this punishment.
Tyndale Open Study Notes — © Tyndale Open Resources, licensed CC BY-SA 4.0. Text via the HelloAO Bible API.