Jeremiah 22:23

23 and then thou that sittest in the Lebanon, and makest (thy) nest in cedars, shalt be shamed, and ashamed of all thy malice. How wailedest thou, when sorrows were come to thee, as the sorrow of a woman travailing of child? (thou who sittest in Lebanon, and makest thy nest in cedars. How thou shalt wail, when sorrows shall come to thee, like the sorrow of a woman in labour!)

Jeremiah 22:23 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 22:23

O inhabitant of Lebanon
Jerusalem is meant, and the inhabitants of it, so called, because they lived near Lebanon, or in that land in which Lebanon was; or rather because they dwelt in houses made of the wood of Lebanon; and which stood as thick as the trees in the forest of Lebanon; and where they thought themselves safe and secure, according to the next clause; not but that there were inhabitants of the mountain of Lebanon, called Druses; and there were towns and villages on it, inhabited by people, as there are to this day. After four hours and a half travelling up the ascent, from the foot of the mountain, there is, as travellers F26 inform us, a small pretty village, called Eden; and besides that, at some distance from it, another called Canobine, where there is a convent of the Maronites, and is the seat of their patriarch; and near it a valley of that name, full of hermitages, cells and monasteries; but the former are here meant; that makest thy nests in the cedars;
in towns, palaces, and houses, covered, ceiled, raftered, and wainscotted with cedars; here they lived at ease and security, as birds in a nest. The Targum is,

``who dwellest in the house of the sanctuary, and among kings? nourishing thy children;''
how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a
woman in travail?
that is, either thou wilt seek grace and favour at the hand of God, and make supplication to him; thou wilt then be an humble supplicant, when in distress, though now proud and haughty F1: or what favour wilt thou then find among those that come to waste and destroy thee? This refers to the calamity coming upon them by the Chaldeans, as the following words show:
FOOTNOTES:

F26 Maundrell's Journey from Aleppo p. 142, 143. Thevenot's Travels, part 1. B. 2. c. 60. p. 221.
F1 (ytnxn hm) "quam gratiam habuisti, [vel] quomodo precata es", Vatablus; "quam afficieris gratia", Piscator; "quantum gratiae invenies", Schmidt.

Jeremiah 22:23 In-Context

21 I spake to thee in thy plenty, and thou saidest, I shall not hear (I will not listen to thee); this is thy way from thy youth, for thou heardest not my voice.
22 Wind shall feed all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; (The wind shall carry away all thy shepherds, and thy lovers shall go into captivity; and then thou shalt be shamed, and ashamed for all thy malice,)
23 and then thou that sittest in the Lebanon, and makest (thy) nest in cedars, shalt be shamed, and ashamed of all thy malice. How wailedest thou, when sorrows were come to thee, as the sorrow of a woman travailing of child? (thou who sittest in Lebanon, and makest thy nest in cedars. How thou shalt wail, when sorrows shall come to thee, like the sorrow of a woman in labour!)
24 I live, saith the Lord, for thou Jeconiah , the son of Jehoiakim, king of Judah, were (as) a ring in my right hand, from thence I shall draw away him. (As I live, saith the Lord, for thou Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim, the king of Judah, were the ring on my right hand, but now I shall draw thee away from there.)
25 And I shall give thee in the hand of them that seek thy life, and in the hand of them whose face thou dreadest, and in the hand of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, and in the hand of Chaldees. (And I shall give thee into the hands of those who seek thy life, and into the hands of those whose faces thou fearest, and into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, and into the hands of the Chaldeans.)
Copyright © 2001 by Terence P. Noble. For personal use only.