Jeremiah 10:18

18 The LORD proclaims: I'm going to eject those who live in the land at this time; I will badger them until they leave.

Jeremiah 10:18 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 10:18

For thus saith the Lord
This is a reason enforcing the exhortation in the preceding verse, and shows that the same people that are spoken of here are addressed there. Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once;
meaning the inhabitants of the land of Judea; or otherwise the prophet would never have expressed such a concern for them as he does in the following verse. Their captivity is signified by the slinging of a stone out of a sling, and shows how sudden, swift, and certain, it would be: and that it would as easily and swiftly be done, and with equal force and rapidity, as a stone is slung out of a sling; and that it would be done by the Lord himself, whoever were the instruments: and will distress them;
or "straiten" F26 them, on every side; it seems to intend the siege; or bring them into great straits and difficulties, through the pestilence, famine, sword, and captivity: that they may find it;
so as he had spoken by his prophets, it coming to pass exactly as they had foretold. The Targum is,

``that they may receive the punishment of their sins;''
and so the Septuagint and Arabic versions, "that thy stroke may be found"; but the Syriac version is very different from either, "that they may seek me and find"; which is an end that is sometimes answered by afflictive dispensations.
FOOTNOTES:

F26 (Mhl ytruhw) "oblidere faciana eos", some in Vatablus; "et angustabo, [vel] obsidebo eos", Schmidt; "faciam ut obsideant eos", Calvin; "arctum ipsis facium", Cocceius.

Jeremiah 10:18 In-Context

16 Jacob's portion is utterly different because God has formed all things, including Israel, his very own people— the LORD of heavenly forces is his name!
17 Pack your bags and get ready to leave, you who live under siege.
18 The LORD proclaims: I'm going to eject those who live in the land at this time; I will badger them until they leave.
19 How terrible for me, due to my injury; my wound is terrible. Yet I said to myself: This is my sickness, and I must bear it.
20 But now my tent is destroyed; all its ropes are cut, and my children are gone for good. There's no one left to set up my tent frame and to attach the fabric.

Footnotes 1

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