Jeremiah 12:7

7 I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance: I have given my dear soul into the hand of her enemies.

Jeremiah 12:7 Meaning and Commentary

Jeremiah 12:7

I have forsaken my house
The temple, where the Lord took up his residence, and vouchsafed his presence to his people; this was fulfilled in the first temple, when it was destroyed by the Chaldeans; and more fully in the second, when Christ took his leave of it, ( Matthew 23:38 ) and when that voice was heard in it, a little before the destruction of Jerusalem, as Josephus ^F1 relates,

``let us go hence.''

So the Targum,

``I have forsaken the house of my sanctuary.''

I have left mine heritage:
the people whom he had chosen for his inheritance, whom he prized and valued, took care of, and protected as such; see ( Deuteronomy 32:9 ) . I have given the dearly beloved of my soul;
whom he heartily loved and delighted in, and who were as dear to him as the apple of his eye: into the hands of her enemies;
the Chaldeans. This prophecy represents the thing as if it was already done, because of the certainty of it, and to awaken the Jews out of their lethargy and stupidity; and by the characters which the Lord gives of them it appears what ingratitude they had been guilty of, and that their ruin was owing to themselves and their sins.

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FOOTNOTES:

F1 De Bello Jud. l. 6. c. 5. sect. 3.

Jeremiah 12:7 In-Context

5 If thou hast been wearied with running with footmen, how canst thou contend with horses? and if thou hast been secure in a land of peace, what wilt thou do in the swelling of the Jordan?

6 For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have fought against thee, and have cried after thee with full voice: believe them not when they speak good things to thee.

7 I have forsaken my house, I have left my inheritance: I have given my dear soul into the hand of her enemies.

8 My inheritance is become to me as a lion in the wood: it hath cried out against me, therefore have I hated it.

9 Is my inheritance to me as a speckled bird? is it as a bird dyed throughout? come ye, assemble yourselves, all ye beasts of the earth, make haste to devour.