Jeremiah 30:16

16 'Therefore all who 1devour you will be devoured; And all your adversaries, every one of them, 2will go into captivity; And those who plunder you will be for plunder, And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.

Jeremiah 30:16 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 30:16

Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured
Thus rendering the words, they are to be connected with ( Jeremiah 30:10 Jeremiah 30:11 ) ; and all between to be put into a parenthesis: but rather, in connection with the preceding words, they should be rendered "nevertheless", or "notwithstanding" F25; though they had sinned at so great a rate, and were so much afflicted and chastened by the Lord, yet their enemies should not go unpunished, and mercy in the issue would be showed to them. Jarchi calls it an oath, that so it should be; the Romans that devoured them, and ate up their substance, were devoured by the Goths and Vandals; for this may be carried further than to the destruction of the Babylonish empire by the Persians; and all thine adversaries, everyone of them shall, fro into captivity;
or be conquered and subdued, as were the Assyrians, Egyptians, Chaldeans, Grecians, Romans; and not only Rome Pagan has been destroyed, but Rome Papal also will go into captivity; see ( Revelation 13:10 ) ; and they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, and all that prey upon thee
will I give for a prey:
they shall be used according to the law of retaliation; the same measure they have measured shall be measured to them again.


FOOTNOTES:

F25 (Nkl) "verumtamen, [vel] nihilominus", Gataker. So Kimchi and Abarbinel.

Jeremiah 30:16 In-Context

14 'All your lovers have forgotten you, They do not seek you; For I have wounded you with the wound of an enemy, With the punishment of a cruel one, Because your iniquity is great And your sins are numerous.
15 'Why do you cry out over your injury? Your pain is incurable. Because your iniquity is great And your sins are numerous, I have done these things to you.
16 'Therefore all who devour you will be devoured; And all your adversaries, every one of them, will go into captivity; And those who plunder you will be for plunder, And all who prey upon you I will give for prey.
17 'For I will restore you to health And I will heal you of your wounds,' declares the LORD , 'Because they have called you an outcast, saying: "It is Zion; no one cares for her."'
18 "Thus says the LORD , 'Behold, I will restore the fortunes of the tents of Jacob And have compassion on his dwelling places; And the city will be rebuilt on its ruin, And the palace will stand on its rightful place.

Cross References 2

  • 1. Jeremiah 2:3; Jeremiah 8:16; Jeremiah 10:25
  • 2. Isaiah 14:2; Joel 3:8
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