9 Shall I not visit them for these things? says Yahweh; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
We have already met with this verse; it will therefore be enough briefly to refer to what it contains. God shews here, that except he denied himself he must necessarily punish the Jews. How so? He takes it as granted that he is the judge of the world: he had said that the Jews were not only become wicked in one thing, but were so given up to all kinds of wickedness, that they wearied themselves; what then was to be done? God would not have acted in a manner worthy of himself, nor preserved consistency, had he not punished such men; for he must have changed his nature, had he not hated such a perverse nation. But he speaks after the manner of men when he mentions vengeance; for we know that no passions belong to God, as it has been often stated: but as he hates wickedness, so he is said to execute vengeance, when he appears as a judge and chastises those by whom he has been provoked to wrath.
Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the Lord,.... The Targum adds,
"to bring evil upon them.''
Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? the Targum is,
"or of a people whose works are such, shall I not take vengeance according to my pleasure?''
See Gill on Jeremiah 5:9.
The land laid waste, and the people scattered amongst the heathen. - Jeremiah 9:9. "For the mountains I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lament; for they are burnt up so that no man passeth over them, neither hear they the voice of the flock; the fowls of the heavens and the cattle are fled, are gone. Jeremiah 9:10. And I make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling of jackals; and the cities of Judah I make a desolation, without an inhabitant. Jeremiah 9:11. Who is the wise man, that he may understand this? and to whom the mouth of Jahveh hath spoken, that he may declare it? Wherefore doth the land come to ruin, is it burnt up like the wilderness, that none passeth through? Jeremiah 9:12. Jahveh said: Because they forsake my law which I set before them, and have not hearkened unto my voice, neither walked therein, Jeremiah 9:13. But went after the stubbornness of their heart, and after the Baals, which their fathers have taught them. Jeremiah 9:14. Therefore thus hath Jahveh of hosts spoken, the God of Israel: Behold, I feed this people with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink, Jeremiah 9:15. And scatter them among the nations which they knew not, neither they nor their fathers, and send the sword after them, until I have consumed them."
Already in spirit Jeremiah sees God's visitation come upon the land, and in Jeremiah 9:9 and Jeremiah 9:10 he raises a bitter lamentation for the desolation of the country. The mountains and meadows of the steppes or prairies are made so desolate, that neither men nor beasts are to be found there. Mountains and meadows or pastures of the steppes, as contrasted with the cities (Jeremiah 9:10), represent the remoter parts of the country. על is here not local: upon, but causal, concerning = because of, cf. Jeremiah 4:24., as is usual with (נשׂא נהי )קינה; cf. 2-Samuel 1:17; Amos 5:1; Ezekiel 26:17, etc. נצּתוּ, kindled, burnt up, usually of cities (cf. Jeremiah 2:15), here of a tract of country with the sig. be parched by the glowing heat of the sun, as a result of the interruption of agriculture. מדבּר is steppe, prairie, not suitable for tillage, but well fitted for pasturing cattle, as e.g., the wilderness of Judah; cf. 1-Samuel 17:28. With מבּלי, Jeremiah 9:11, cf. Ezekiel 33:28. Not only have the herds disappeared that used to feed there, but the very birds have flown away, because the parched land no longer furnishes food for them; cf. Jeremiah 4:25. To "are fled," which is used most properly of birds, is added: are gone away, departed, in reference to the cattle.
*More commentary available at chapter level.