Jeremiah 9 Study Notes

9:1 From here and 13:17; 14:17 derives the designation of Jeremiah as “the weeping prophet.” He is brokenhearted (8:21).

9:2 The prophet longed for a traveler’s lodging place so he could take a break and get some rest from his ministry to the people. This emotion here is just as strong as it was in v. 1, which shows the depths of Jeremiah’s grief over Judah’s resistance to the word of God.

9:3 The Lord speaks here. The land was full of lies. The word rendered faithfulness can also be rendered “integrity.”

9:4 Every brother will certainly deceive, Jeremiah argued, punning on Jacob’s name (Gn 27:36), here also rendered correctly as “will certainly deceive” (Hb ‘aqov ya‘qov; lit “will deceive [like] the deceiver/Jacob”; cp. Hs 12:2-4).

9:5-6 These verses could hardly be more emphatic on the presence of deception in Judah.

9:7 Amazingly, God is still not ready to reject his people; he will once more attempt to refine and test them (17:10; Ps 66:10; Pr 17:3). The furnace of trials will determine if God can take away the dross of their sin. God declared, what else can I do in view of the fact that Judah was the daughter of my dear people. On this term see 4:11.

9:8-9 Betrayal in personal relationships was common, and the Lord could not let it stand.

9:10-11 The whole ecosystem will collapse, leaving only scavengers (jackals).

9:12-14 The land was a desolation because the people had stubbornly rejected Torah.

9:15 Wormwood belonged to the aster family. It had a bitter taste and the same effect as the poisonous water.

9:16 God’s declaration I will scatter them among the nations is just what Moses had warned would happen if the people abandoned the Lord (Lv 26:33; Dt 28:36,64).

9:17-22 This section is a poem about death, the grim reaper. Death is personified as an intruder who sneaks in through the window at night.

9:17 The women who mourn were professional mourners whose dirges would start the mourning process for the conquered nation.

9:23-24 Two contrasting ways are described in two triads of values. Wisdom . . . strength, and wealth are the values that the wise . . . the strong, and the wealthy aspire to. But the person who understands and knows the Lord sets his highest values on the fact that God alone is the Lord. He shows faithful love (Hb chesed; used 248 times in the OT, meaning “loyalty, steadfast love, grace”), justice, and righteousness. God’s people should note what he delights in and order their priorities accordingly. The supreme goal and glory of humanity is to know and enjoy God.

9:25 The circumcised yet uncircumcised lumps Judah in with four other nations that practiced circumcision of the flesh but neglected circumcision of the heart (4:4; Gl 5:2-5). Circumcision of the flesh was merely an outward symbol. If that alone were enough to please God, the pagan nations mentioned here would enjoy God’s favor.

9:26 The phrase inhabitants . . . who clip the hair on their temples refers to Arabian tribes that cut hair from the corners of their temples to honor Bacchus, the pagan god of wine. Israel was forbidden to do this (Lv 19:27; Dt 14:1) out of respect for the Lord.