Jeremiah 10:18

18 The LORD says, "I am about to throw out of this land everyone who lives in it. I will bring trouble on them. They will be captured."

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.

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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 The God of Jacob is not like them. He gives his people everything they need. He made everything that exists. And that includes Israel. It's the nation that belongs to him. His name is The LORD Who Rules Over All.

17 People of Jerusalem, your enemies have surrounded you. They are attacking you. So gather up what belongs to you. Then leave the land.

18 The LORD says, "I am about to throw out of this land everyone who lives in it. I will bring trouble on them. They will be captured."

19 How terrible it will be for me! I've been wounded! And my wound can't be healed! In spite of that, I said to myself, "I'm sick. But I'll have to put up with it."

20 Jerusalem is like a tent that has been destroyed. All of its ropes have snapped. My people have gone away from me. Now no one is left to set up my tent. I have no one to set it up for me.