18 Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, which refuses to be healed? will you indeed be to me as a deceitful (brook), as waters that fail?
*Minor differences ignored. Grouped by changes, with first version listed as example.
Before we proceed, we shall shortly refer to the meaning of the passage. Jeremiah has before shewn that he possessed an heroic courage in despising all the splendor of the world, and in regarding as nothing those proud men who boasted that they were the rulers of the Church: but he now confesses his infirmity; and there is no doubt but that he was often agitated by different thoughts and feelings; and this necessarily happens to us, because the flesh always fights against the spirit. For though the Prophet announced nothing human when he declared the truth of God, yet he was not wholly exempt from sorrow and fear and other feelings of the flesh. For we must always distinguish, when we speak of the prophets and the apostles, between the truth, which was pure, free from every imperfection, and their own persons, as they commonly say, or themselves. Nor were, they so perfectly renewed but that some remnant of the flesh still continued in them. So then Jeremiah was in himself disturbed with anxiety and fear, and affected with weariness, and wished to shake off the burden which he felt so heavy on his shoulders. He was then subject to these feelings, that is, as to himself; yet his doctrine was free from every defect, for the Holy Spirit guided his mind, his thoughts, and his tongue, so that there was in it nothing human. The Prophet then has hitherto testified that he was called from above, and that he had cordially undertaken the office deputed to him by God, and had faithfully obeyed him: but now he comes to himself, and confesses that he was agitated by many thoughts, which betokened the infirmity of the flesh, and were not free from blame. This then is the meaning. He says, Why is my grief strong, or hard? He intimates that his grief could not be eased by any soothing remedy. He alludes to ulcers, which by their hardness repel all emollients. And for the same purpose he adds, And my wound weak, as some render it, for it is from 'ns anesh, to be feeble; and hence is 'nvs anush, which means man; and it expresses his weakness, as 'dm adam, shews his origin, and 'ys aish, intimates his strength and courage. Others render the words, "and my wound full of pain;" and others, "strong," as he had before called his grief strong. He afterwards thus explains what he meant by the terms he used, It refuses to be healed There is no doubt, as I have already intimated, but that the Prophet here honestly expresses the perturbations of his own mind, and shews that he in a manner vacinated; the wickedness of the people was so great, that he could not so perseveringly execute his office as he ought to have done. [1] He adds, Thou wilt be to me as the deception of inconstant waters I wonder why some render the words, "Thou wilt be to me deceptive as inconstant waters." The word may indeed be an adjective, but it is doubtless to be rendered as a substantive, "Thou wilt be to me as the deception," and then, "of unfaithful waters." that is, of such as flow not continually: for faithful or constant waters are those which never fail; as the Latins call a fountain inexhaustible whose spring never dries; so the Hebrews call a fountain faithful or constant which never fails either in summer or in drought. On the contrary, they call waters unfaithful which become dry, as when a well, which has no perennial veins, is made dry by great heat; and such also is often the case with large streams. [2] We now see the import of this comparison: but the words are apparently very singular; for the Prophet expostulates with God as though he had been deceived by him, "Thou wilt be to me," he says, "as a vain hope, and as deceptive waters, which fail during great heat, when they are mostly wanted." If we take the words as they appear to mean, they seem to border on blasphemy; for God had not without reason testified before, that he is the Fountain of living water; and he had condemned the Jews for having dug for themselves broken cisterns, and for having forsaken him, the Fountain of living water. Such, no doubt, had He been found by all who trusted in him. What then does Jeremiah mean here by saying, that God was to him as a vain hope, and as waters which continue not to flow? The Prophet, no doubt, referred to others rather than to himself; for his faith had never been shaken nor removed from his heart. He then knew that he could never be deceived; for relying on God's word he greatly magnified his calling, not only before the world, but also with regard to himself: and his glorytug, which we have already seen, did not proceed except from the inward feeling of his heart. The Prophet then was ever fully confident, because he relied on God, that he could not be made ashamed; but here, as I have said, he had regard to others. And we have already seen similar passages, and the like expressions will hereafter follow. There is no doubt but that it was often exultingly alleged that the Prophet was a deceiver: "Let him go on and set before us the words of his God; it has already appeared that his boasting is vain in saying that he has hitherto spoken as a prophet." Since then the ungodly thus harassed the Prophet, he might have justly complained that God was not to him like perennial springs, because they all thought that he was deceived. And we must always bear in mind what I said yesterday, -- that the Prophet does not speak here for his own sake, but raffler that he might reprove the impiety of the people. It therefore follows --
1 - It is better to retain throughout the figurative language, -- Why has my sore become perpetual, And my stroke incurable, refusing to be healed? He mentions "sore" first, the effect; then the "stroke" which casued it. He refers doubtless to the state of his mind: therefor "the sore" and "the stroke" were the sorrow and the grief which he experienced. -- Ed.
2 - The Septuagint and the Vulgate strangely refer to this stroke or the wound in the previous clause, "It has become like the deception of inconstant water:" but the gender of the infinitive added to the verb will not admit of this rendering. It is literally as follows, -- Becoming thou hast become like a deceiveer, Like waters which are not constant. The word 'kzk is not substantive, but an adjective, formed like 'kzr, violent. The quotation from Chardin, made by Blayney, respecting an illusion in the deserts of Arabia, occasioned by the sun's rays on the sand, by which a vast lake appears, is here out of place, as unfaithful or inconstant waters, not unreal, is what is expressed. Calvin's view is no doubt correct. -- Ed
Why is my pain perpetual - i. e., Are all my labors to be in vain?
As a liar - Really, "as a deceitful brook," a brook which flows only in the winter, the opposite of the "perennial stream" of Amos 5:24. Jeremiah had expected that there would be a perpetual interference of Providence in his behalf, instead whereof things seemed to take only their natural course.
Wilt thou be altogether unto me as - waters that fail? - Leaning either springs, which in the height of summer grow dry; or, like that phenomenon in the sandy desert, where, by a peculiar action of the air on the rising vapors, the resemblance of water is produced, so that the traveler, deceived, rejoices that he is come, in the sandy desert, to the verge of a beautiful lake; but the farther he travels, it is still at the same distance, and at last vanishes; and he finds the whole was an illusion, for the waters have failed. Nothing can exceed the disappointment of the farmer whose subsistence absolutely depends on the periodical rains, when these fail, or fall short of their usual quantity. Some times the rice is sown and springs up in the most promising manner; but the latter rains fail, and whole fields of young rice wither and perish.
Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, [which] refuseth to be healed? wilt thou be altogether to me (r) as a liar, [and as] waters [that] fail?
(r) And have not assisted me according to the promise? In which it appears that in the saints of God is imperfection of faith, which through impatience is often assailed as in (Jeremiah 20:7).
Why is my pain perpetual,.... The pain of his mind; his uneasiness for the good of his people, which was likely to last, having no hope of a change for the better: or it may design the pain which they gave him by their reproaches and persecutions of him, which seemed as if they would have no end:
and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed? the same thing is meant as before. The allusion is to an old ulcer, or obstinate wound, which no medicine can affect, is desperate and deadly; and such the prophet reckoned his case to be, or however deprecates it, and expostulates with God why it should be so:
wilt thou be altogether unto me as a liar, and as waters that fail? such God cannot be, nor did the prophet think he was; he knew that he was God that could not lie, and that he was faithful to his promises, and would not disappoint the faith, hope, and expectations of his people; but he feared he would be thought to be so by others, by his enemies, who would triumph over him, and say, where is thy God? did he not promise to make thee a defenced city, an iron pillar, and brasen walls? is he as good as his word? is he not like a dry brook, whose waters fail? are not thy hope and expectation in vain, who hast been trusting to him, and depending on him? and it is as if the prophet should say, Lord, let them have no occasion to speak after this manner; nor suffer my faith in thy promises to fail; show thyself to be as thou art, a covenant keeping God, and whose faithfulness never fails: to which an answer is returned in the following verses.
(Jeremiah 30:15). "Pain," namely, the perpetual persecution to which he was exposed, and his being left by God without consolation and "alone." Contrast his feeling here with that in Jeremiah 15:16, when he enjoyed the full presence of God, and was inspired by His words. Therefore he utters words of his natural "infirmity" (so David, Psalm 77:10) here; as before he spoke under the higher spiritual nature given him.
as a liar, and as--rather, "as a deceiving (river) . . . waters that are not sure (lasting)"; opposed to "tiring (perennial) waters" (Job 6:15). Streams that the thirsty traveller had calculated on being full in winter, but which disappoint him in his sorest need, having run dry in the heat of summer. Jehovah had promised Jeremiah protection from his enemies (Jeremiah 1:18-19); his infirmity suggests that God had failed to do so.
Why is my pain become perpetual? "My pain" is the pain or grief he feels at the judgment he has to announce to the people; not his pain at the hostility he has on that account to endure. נצח adverbial = לנצח, as in Amos 1:11; Psalm 13:2, etc. "My wound," the blow that has fallen on him. אנוּשׁה, malignant, is explained by "(that) will not heal," cf. Jeremiah 30:12; Micah 1:9. The clause 'היו still depends on למּה, and the infin. gives emphasis: Wilt Thou really be? אכזב, lit., lying, deception, means here, and in Micah 1:16, a deceptive torrent that dries up in the season of drought, and so disappoints the hope of finding water, cf. Job 6:15. "A water," etc., is epexegesis: water that doth not endure. To this the Lord answers -
Why - Jeremiah, though a great prophet, was (as Elijah) a man subject to like passions with other men.
*More commentary available at chapter level.