Jeremiah 8:13

13 "'I will take away their crops, says the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine and no figs on the fig tree. Even the leaves will dry up and die. I will take away what I gave them.'"

Jeremiah 8:13 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 8:13

I will surely consume them, saith the Lord
Or, "gathering I will gather them" ^F11; into some one place, the city of Jerusalem, and there destroy them. The word is, (hyylk Nwvl) , expressive of consumption and destruction, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe; and so the Targum,

``destroying I will destroy them, saith the Lord.''

There shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the
leaf shall fade;
some understand this by way of complaint, that there were no fruit on the vine and fig tree, nor even leaves; which they allegorically interpret of the fruit of good works being wanting in them, which was the cause of their ruin. Others think there are metaphors which describe the manner of their destruction; and so the Targum,

``and they shall fall, as the grapes fall from the vine, and as the falling fruit from the fig tree, and as the leaf from the tree.''

Though it rather intends the sterility of the land, and in general the famine that should attend the siege of Jerusalem. Grapes and figs are mentioned only, as Kimchi observes, because they were the chief fruits, and they are put for the whole. And the things that I have given them shall pass away from them;
whatever they had in their barns and cellars, or were just becoming ripe in their fields, vineyards, and gardens, should either be blasted, or rather be taken away and devoured by their enemies, so that they themselves should not enjoy them. The Targum interprets it of the law transgressed by them, as the cause of their ruin, and paraphrases it thus,

``because I have given them my law from Sinai, and they have transgressed it;''

and so Jarchi,

``this shall be unto them, because I have given them statutes, and they have transgressed them.''

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FOOTNOTES:

F11 (Mpyoa Poa) "eolligendo colligam eos", Montanus, Tigurine version. So Piscator.

Jeremiah 8:13 In-Context

11 They tried to heal my people's serious injuries as if they were small wounds. They said, "It's all right, it's all right." But really, it is not all right.

12 They should be ashamed of the terrible way they act, but they are not ashamed at all. They don't even know how to blush about their sins. So they will fall, along with everyone else. They will be thrown to the ground when I punish them, says the Lord.

13 "'I will take away their crops, says the Lord. There will be no grapes on the vine and no figs on the fig tree. Even the leaves will dry up and die. I will take away what I gave them.'"

14 "Why are we just sitting here? Let's get together! We have sinned against the Lord, so he has given us poisoned water to drink. Come, let's run to the strong, walled cities. The Lord our God has decided that we must die, so let's die there.

15 We hoped to have peace, but nothing good has come. We hoped for a time when he would heal us, but only terror has come.