Jeremiah 15:1

Four Types of Calamity

1 Then Yahweh said to me, "[Even] if Moses and Samuel stood {before me}, my heart [would] not [be] to this people. Send [them] away from my {sight}, and let them go out.

Jeremiah 15:1 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 15:1

Then said the Lord unto me
In answer to his expostulations and entreaties, ( Jeremiah 14:19-22 ) , though Moses and Samuel stood before me;
to pray before me, as the Targum; to make intercession for the people. Standing is a prayer gesture. The Jews say there is no standing but prayer, or that is meant when it is mentioned; (See Gill on Matthew 6:5). Moses and Samuel were named, because they were eminent for prayer, and had success in it, for the people of Israel. Of Moses, see ( Exodus 32:11 Exodus 32:31 Exodus 32:32 ) ( Numbers 14:17-19 ) and of Samuel, see ( 1 Samuel 7:9 ) and of both, ( Psalms 99:6 ) . The Arabic version reads "Moses and Aaron", but wrongly. The Palmists make use of this text to prove the intercession of saints in heaven for those on earth; but the words are only a supposition, and not a fact. The meaning is, that supposing that Moses and Samuel were alive, and made intercession for the people, their prayers would not be regarded; and such a supposition, as it suggests that they were not alive, so that they did not stand before him, and make intercession for Judah; wherefore this is against, and not for, the intercession of saints in heaven: yet my mind could not be towards this people;
God could have no good will to them, no delight in them; could not be reconciled to them, or agree to it, that the favours asked for should be granted them, or that they should be continued in their own land; and therefore it was in vain for the prophet to solicit on their account; but, on the other hand, it is ordered as follows: cast them out of my sight;
or presence; as persons loathsome and abominable, not to be borne; I cannot look upon them, or have anything to say to them, in a favourable way: and let them go forth;
from my presence, from the temple, the city, and out of their own land; that is, declare that so it shall be.

Jeremiah 15:1 In-Context

1 Then Yahweh said to me, "[Even] if Moses and Samuel stood {before me}, my heart [would] not [be] to this people. Send [them] away from my {sight}, and let them go out.

2 {And then} if they say to you, 'Where shall we go?' Then you shall say to them, 'Thus says Yahweh, "[Those] who [are destined] for the plague, to the plague, and [those] who [are destined] for the sword, to the sword, and [those] who [are destined] for the famine, to the famine, and [those] who [are destined] for the captivity, to the captivity." '

3 "And I will summon over them four types of calamity," {declares} Yahweh, "the sword to kill, and the dogs to drag away, and the birds of the air and the wild animals of the earth to devour and to destroy.

4 And I will make them a terror to all of the kingdoms of the earth because of Manasseh, the son of Hezekiah, the king of Judah, because of what he did in Jerusalem.

5 "For who will have compassion on you, [O] Jerusalem, or who will show sympathy to you, or who will turn aside {to ask about your welfare}?

Footnotes

• [a] Literally "to the face of me"
• [b] Literally "face"