Jeremiah 8:13

13 " ' "I will take away their harvest," announces the Lord. "There will not be any grapes on the vines. The trees will not bear any figs. The leaves on the trees will dry up. What I have given them will be taken away from 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.''

FOOTNOTES:

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

Jeremiah 8:13 In-Context

11 They bandage the wounds of my people as if they were not very deep. 'Peace, peace,' they say. But there isn't any peace.
12 Are they ashamed of their hateful actions? No. They do not feel any shame at all. They do not even know how to blush. So they will fall like others who have already fallen. They will be brought down when I punish them," says the Lord.
13 " ' "I will take away their harvest," announces the Lord. "There will not be any grapes on the vines. The trees will not bear any figs. The leaves on the trees will dry up. What I have given them will be taken away from them." ' "
14 Why are we sitting here? Let's gather together! Let's run to the cities that have high walls around them! Let's die there! The LORD our God has sentenced us to death. He has given us poisoned water to drink. That's because we've sinned against him.
15 We hoped peace would come. But nothing good has happened to us. We hoped we would finally be healed. But all we got was terror.
Holy Bible, New International Reader's Version® Copyright © 1995, 1996, 1998 by Biblica.   All rights reserved worldwide.