23 Behold, the storm of Yahweh, (even his) wrath, is gone forth, a sweeping storm: it shall burst on the head of the wicked.
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
The Prophet seems to speak abruptly; for nothing could be more delightful than the promise that God gives, that he would be a Father to the people; but he immediately adds, that there would arise an involving whirlwind, which would abide on the head of the wicked. These things, at the first view, seem not to harmonize. But the latter sentence may be applied to the heathens, or to any of the enemies of the Church; for whenever God appears as the Savior of his people, his vengeance goes forth, and is poured on the wicked. Hence such declarations as the following often occur, "The day of my vengeance is nigh, and the year of my visitation." (Isaiah 63:4) Isaiah joins both, the favor of God and his vengeance: and this is often done by the other Prophets, in order that we may see that God's mercy cannot be clearly and distinctly perceived towards the faithful, except when his judgment on the other hand be made conspicuous as to the wicked. So this passage may be explained. But we may well thus connect the words of the Prophet, -- that he kindly endeavored to allure the people by offering them God's favor; but that having seen that it would be despised, as we stated yesterday, by the greater part of them, he now seasonably threatens them, that if they refused the favor offered them, such ingratitude could not be borne by God. And this is a mode of teaching common in Scripture. For God on his part thus manifests his kindness so as to stimulate men; but as he sees them not only slothful and tardy, but also wicked and ungrateful, he declares that they shall not be unpunished if they despise his favor. The former truth then well agrees with what the Prophet now says, -- that the wrath of God would arise like a tempestuous storm. He afterwards adds, a whirling or involving tempest, properly, a tempest gathering itself. The verb is gvr gur, in a reduplicate form and in Hithpael. A similar sentence is found in Jeremiah 23:19; but there the Prophet used another word as required by the subject. [1] Some render it "falling," for gvr, gur, means to fall; and this meaning is suitable, "a falling storm," that is, impetuously descending, so as to abide on the head of the wicked. But the former sense has been more generally taken, and I am disposed to embrace it; for it tends to shake men with terror, when the storm is said to be like a whirlwind, for it turns and twists around, so that it cannot be avoided. The meaning then is, that God's vengeance would be fatal to all the wicked. But we may take the wicked, rsym reshoim, for the despisers of God, though boasting of his name, as well as for aliens: but I am inclined to include both, even domestic and foreign enemies of God; as though the Prophet had said, that no remedy remained, except they fled to the mercy of God. It afterwards follows, --
1 - This verse is literally the same, word for word, with the passage referred to here, with the exception of the word that is noticed; and yet neither the early versions nor the Targum are the same: it is singular how they differ from themselves, so that we can have no confidence in their verbal accuracy. Instead of "the pregnant tempest" in Jeremiah 23:19, we have here "the violent tempest;" it is a participle from a verb which means to agitate, to excite, to stir up; and being passive, it means what is agitated or in great commotion, and hence violent or turbulent. Many copies have v here before sr, as in the former passage, where it is omitted only in one copy. -- Ed.
Compare the marginal reference. These verses would more appropriately be attached to the next chapter, for which they form a suitable introduction.
The whirlwind of the Lord - A grievous tempest of desolation, -
Shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked - On Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans.
Behold, (q) the whirlwind of the LORD goeth forth with fury, a continuing whirlwind: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked.
(q) Lest the wicked hypocrites should flatter themselves with these promises the prophet shows what will be their portion.
Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with fury,.... That is, the wrath of God, which like a whirlwind comes suddenly, with great force and strength, and carries all before it; there is no withstanding it; such is the wrath of God against the enemies of his church and people:
a continuing whirlwind; whirlwinds, as they come suddenly, are generally soon over; but this will continue very boisterous and terrible, until it has done all the execution designed by it:
it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked; according to some, the wicked Jews, that do not repent and turn to the Lord; but rather the wicked of the nations, as Jarchi; not the Gentiles in general, as distinguished from the Jews, which is his sense, but the antichristian states; for the ruin of antichrist, and the conversion of the Jews, will be much about the same time; and the vials of God's wrath, which will be poured upon them, and fall upon their heads, will give them much pain, both in body and mind; see Revelation 16:10; and which wrath and ruin are expressed by a tempest of thunder, lightning, and hail, and by an earthquake, Jeremiah 30:18.
(Jeremiah 23:19). Vengeance upon God's foes always accompanies manifestations of His grace to His people.
continuing--literally, "sojourning," abiding constantly; appropriately here in the case of Babylon, which was to be permanently destroyed, substituted for "whirling itself about" ("grievous" in English Version) (see on Jeremiah 23:19-20), where the temporary downfall of Judea is spoken of.
As in that chapter the restoration of Judah, so in this the restoration of Israel's ten tribes is foretold.
The wicked shall be destroyed by the fire of God's anger. - Jeremiah 30:23. "Behold, a whirlwind of Jahveh - wrath goeth forth - a sweeping whirlwind; it shall hurl down on the head of the wicked. Jeremiah 30:24. The heat of Jahveh's anger shall not return till He hath done and till He hath established the purpose of His heart; in the end of the days ye shall consider it."
These two verses have been already met with in Jeremiah 23:19 and Jeremiah 23:20, with a few variations. Instead of מיחולל we have here מתגּורר, and אף־יהוה is here strengthened by prefixing חרון; on the other hand, בּינה, which is added in the preceding passage to intensify התבּוננוּ, is here omitted. The first of these changes is more of a formal than a real kind; for by the substitution of מתגּורר for מיחולל, the play in the latter word on יחוּל is merely disturbed, not "destroyed," since ר and ל are kindred sounds. התגּורר has been variously rendered. The meaning of "abiding," which is founded on 1-Kings 17:20, is here unsuitable. Equally inappropriate is the meaning of "crowding together," or assembling in troops, which we find in Hosea 7:14. It is more correct to derive it from גּרר, either in the sense of sweeping away or that of blustering, which are meanings derived from the fundamental one of producing harsh sounds in the throat, and transferred to the rushing sound made by the storm as it carries everything along with it. The second and third changes affect the sense. For, by the addition of חרון to אף, the idea of a judgment in wrath is intensified; and by dropping בּינה, less is made of the acuteness of perception. Both of these variations correspond to differences in the context of both passages. In Jeremiah 23, where the words are applied to the false prophets, it was important to place emphasis on the statement that these men would, by experience, come to a full knowledge of the reality of that judgment they denied; in this chapter, on the other hand, the idea of judgment in wrath must be expressly set aside. There is thus no good ground for considering these verses a later interpolation into the text, as Movers, Hitzig, and Ngelsbach think. Hitzig rejects these verses as spurious on the false ground that the judgment threatened in this chapter refers merely to the fall of the kingdom of Babylon, which Jeremiah could not have been able to know beforehand; Ngelsbach rejects them on the ground of other erroneous assumptions.
(Note: First, he holds the groundless opinion that this prophecy originated in the time of Josiah, and therefore could not have borrowed verses from the address given in Jeremiah 23, which belongs to the time of Jehoiakim; secondly, with as little ground he affirms that these verses do not correspond with the character of the chapter, and seem like a jarring discord in the midst of the announcement of deliverance it contains; finally, he asks whence could come "the wicked" mentioned, in the times described by the prophet - as if he thought that when the captivity of the people was turned, all godless ones would suddenly disappear. - The doubts as to the genuineness of Jeremiah 30:22 are based by Ngelsbach merely on the fact that the same idea is repeated in Jeremiah 31:1.)
The only doubtful point regarding these verses is, whether they are to be connected, as Hengstenberg thinks, with what precedes, or with what follows, as Ewald supposes. In the former case, to the promise for the true Israel would be added a threat against those who only seemed to be Israel, - like the declaration in Isaiah, "There is no peace to the wicked:" this addition would thus be made, lest those for whom the promise was not intended should unwarrantably apply it to themselves. But, however well-founded the thought is, that every increasing manifestation of grace is invariably accompanied by an increased manifestation of righteousness, and though all the prophets clearly testify that the godless members of the covenant people have no share in the promised salvation, but instead are liable to judgment; yet there has not been such preparation made for the introduction of this thought as that we might be able at once to join these two verses to what precedes. The exclamation "Behold!" with which the words are introduced, rather form a sign that a new addition is to be made to the prophecy. We therefore view the threat in this verse as a resumption of the threat of judgment made in Jeremiah 30:5., to which is attached, in Jeremiah 31:1, the further development of the announcement of deliverance; but we refer the threat made in the verse not merely to the heathen as such, but to all "wicked ones," in such a way that it at the same time applies to the godless members of the covenant people, and signifies their exclusion from salvation.
A continuing - Not a sudden blast, that shall presently go over, but a vengeance that shall abide.
*More commentary available at chapter level.