Yirmeyah 12:10

10 Ro’im rabbim (many shepherds) have destroyed My kerem (vineyard), they have trodden My chelek under foot, they have made My chelet chemdat (portion desired) a desolate midbar.

Yirmeyah 12:10 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 12:10

Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard
This is a metaphor which is often used of the people of Israel and Judah; see ( Psalms 80:8 ) ( Isaiah 5:1-7 ) ( 27:2 ) , the pastors that destroyed them are not their own governors, civil or religious, but Heathen princes, Nebuchadnezzar and his generals. So the Targum paraphrases it,

``many kings slay my people;''
so Kimchi and Ben Melech. They have trodden my portion under foot;
the people of the Jews, that were his portion, and before called his heritage; whom the Chaldeans subdued, and reduced to extreme servitude and bondage; and were as the dirt under their feet, greatly oppressed and despised. They have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness;
by pulling down stately edifices, unwalling of towers, and destroying men; so that there were none to manure the fields, to dress the vineyards, and keep gardens and orchards in good case; but all were come to ruin and what before was a delightful paradise was now like an heath or desert.

Yirmeyah 12:10 In-Context

8 Mine nachalah is unto Me as an aryeh in the ya’ar (forest); it roareth out against Me; therefore have I hated it.
9 Mine nachalah is unto Me as a speckled bird of prey, the birds of prey round about are against her; come ye, assemble all the chayyat hasadeh (beasts of the field), come to devour.
10 Ro’im rabbim (many shepherds) have destroyed My kerem (vineyard), they have trodden My chelek under foot, they have made My chelet chemdat (portion desired) a desolate midbar.
11 They have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto Me; kol HaAretz is made desolate, but no ish taketh it to heart.
12 The plunderers are come upon all barren heights in the midbar; for the Cherev Hashem shall devour from the one end of the Eretz even to the other end of HaAretz; no basar shall have shalom.
The Orthodox Jewish Bible fourth edition, OJB. Copyright 2002,2003,2008,2010, 2011 by Artists for Israel International. All rights reserved.