Jeremiah 9:15

15 Therefore thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said: Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood and give them water of gall to drink.

Jeremiah 9:15 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 9:15

Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,
&c.] He calls himself "the Lord God of hosts", of armies above and below, in heaven and in earth, in opposition to Baalim, the idols of the Gentiles; which word signifies "lords"; which, though there be many who are called so, there is but one God, and one Lord, who is God over all, and "the God of Israel"; who had chosen them, and distinguished them by the blessings of his goodness; and yet they had forsaken him, and followed after other gods; by which the eyes of his glory were provoked, and he was determined to chastise them for it: behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood;
that is, with straits or difficulties, as the Septuagint version; with bitter afflictions; such are not joyous, but grievous; which are irksome and disagreeable, as bitter things, and particularly wormwood, are to the taste. The Targum is,

``I will bring tribulation upon them, bitter as wormwood:''

and give them water of gall to drink;
meaning either of the entrails of a beast so called, or of the juice of the herb hemlock, as the word is rendered in ( Hosea 10:4 ) , as Kimchi; or of the poison of a serpent, as Jarchi; and so the Targum,

``and I will give them the cup of cursing to drink as the heads of serpents:''

signifying that their punishment would be very severe, though just.

Jeremiah 9:15 In-Context

13 And the LORD said, Because they have forsaken my law, which I set before them, and have not heard my voice, neither walked therein,

14 but have walked after the imagination of their own heart and after the Baalim, which their fathers taught them,

15 Therefore thus hath the LORD of the hosts the God of Israel said: Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood and give them water of gall to drink.

16 I will scatter them also among Gentiles whom neither they nor their fathers have known, and I will send a sword after them until I have consumed them.

17 Thus hath the LORD of the hosts said, Consider ye and call for the mourning women that they may come and send for cunning women that they may come,