Jeremiah 10:18

18 For thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] about to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress to them, so that they may feel it."

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 portion of Jacob [is] not like these, for he [is] the creator of everything, and Israel [is] the tribe of his inheritance, Yahweh of hosts [is] his name.

17 Gather your bundle from [the] ground, you who live under the siege.'"

18 For thus says Yahweh, "Look, I [am] about to sling out the inhabitants of the land at this time, and I will bring distress to them, so that they may feel it."

19 Woe to me, because of my wound. My wound [is] incurable. But I said, "Surely this [is my] sickness, and I must bear it."

20 My tent is devastated, and all my tent cords are torn. My children have gone out [from] me, and they are not. There is no [one who] pitches my tent again, or [one who] puts up my tent curtains.