And Jehovah hath given me knowledge, and I know [it]; then thou shewedst me their doings.
Jeremiah has just delivered God's word against a guilty nation. Now the chapter turns personal. God opens the prophet's eyes to a murder plot already running against him. Two questions follow. Why is the faithful man the hunted man? And what does God do for a servant who cannot see the danger?
The plot was not random malice. It grew out of the message he carried. At the end of the chapter he takes his place with the few who still hold God's testimony.
At the end of the chapter Jeremiah takes the place of the faithful remnant who have the testimony of God... Jeremiah, on account of his faithfulness and his testimony, was exposed to the plots of the wicked. Jehovah reveals these things to him. The condition of the remnant is marked by righteousness, and in keeping with that he calls for the vengeance of God. This will be the means of deliverance for the remnant.
The force of "The LORD made it known to me" lies in what came before it: total ignorance.
In the latter part of the chapter (verses 18-23) the prophet states how the Lord had made known everything to him. He knew nothing of their murderous plans against himself. He was as unaware as an animal led to slaughter. So he calls for righteous vengeance on the guilty people, and above all, very soon, on the men of Anathoth. Their nearness to Jeremiah had given them the chance to prove their extreme wickedness.
Anathoth was his own village, and the conspirators included the people closest to him by blood.
At first Jeremiah was not aware of his family's hostility. But then God warns him... They joined the people of Anathoth in seeking the prophet's life. They wanted to put an end to his preaching. Jeremiah knew nothing of these plots until God told him.
The next verse pictures a gentle lamb led away, unaware. That is why commentators see here a picture of someone greater than Jeremiah.
Their sinful doings are all around him, and nothing about them is hidden. The prophet suffers like His Lord, of whom he is a type. He is brought "like a lamb" to the slaughter. They had devised wicked plans against him, to "cut him off from the land of the living" (verses 18-19). How like this is to what Isaiah 53 says of our blessed Lord! But the prophet's prayer in the next verse is nothing like His. He asks for vengeance on his persecutors.
A type is a resemblance, not an equation. Two things separate the prophet from the One he pictures: what he said, and what happened to him.
The Spirit of Christ was in Jeremiah (1 Peter 1:11). We are therefore justified in seeing some clear foreshadowing of our blessed Lord in him. There is doubtless much about Jeremiah also that stands out in striking contrast to Him. For instance, like his Lord, he is led as "a lamb" by his persecutors "to the slaughter" (Jeremiah 11:19). But the likeness goes no further here, for Christ "opened not His mouth." Again, they said about the prophet, "Let us cut him off from the land of the living." They did not do this to Jeremiah. They did do it to our blessed Saviour.
Once informed, Jeremiah asks God to repay his enemies. Commentators read that prayer in the setting Jeremiah lived under. It is not a model for every believer.
Verses 18-23. The Lord revealed to him their doings. He was ignorant of it, like a lamb or an ox brought to the slaughter. They wanted to cut him off from the land of the living. He calls for vengeance upon them. This fits fully with the age of the law and God's righteous government.
Vine sets that prayer beside a very different one.
It was truly a perfectly righteous prayer for a Jew to make, with earthly promises and hopes, and it should be answered (verses 21-23). But the Lord Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies.
- Faithfulness — The plot was the price of his testimony. Holding God's word put him at odds with his own town and family.
- Blindness — He knew nothing. Like an animal led to slaughter, he had no sense of the danger until God spoke.
- Disclosure — God answered that blindness by showing him. The servant's safety rests on what the Lord makes known, not on what the servant spots.
- Likeness — The unsuspecting lamb of the next verse points forward to Christ. Yet Jeremiah was spared, and Christ was cut off.
- Response — Jeremiah's cry for vengeance fits God's righteous government under the law. Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies.
And I was like a tame lamb [that] is led to the slaughter; and I knew not that they devised devices against me, [saying,] Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, that his name may be no more remembered.
Here the message turns on the messenger. Men are plotting Jeremiah's death, and he has no idea. Two questions run through this verse. Who wanted him dead? And why do his words sound so much like a description of Christ?
Jeremiah says plainly that he did not know. One writer measures that blindness by the picture in the verse itself: the animal walking to slaughter.
In the last part of the chapter (verses 18-23) the prophet states how the Lord made it all known to him. He was as unaware of their murderous plots against himself as the animal set apart for slaughter.
The people scheming against him were not foreign enemies. They were his relatives and the people of Anathoth, his home town — and they kept up a friendly front.
At first Jeremiah was not aware of his family's hostility. But then God warns him, "For even your brothers, the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you... Do not believe them, even though they speak smooth words to you" (12:26). Along with the inhabitants of Anathoth, they were seeking the life of the prophet and wanting to put an end to his preaching (11:26). Jeremiah was ignorant of these plots (11:19) until he was informed of them by God.
Their closeness to Jeremiah gave them the chance to show how evil they were. So the call for vengeance falls on that town first.
So he calls for righteous vengeance on the guilty people. He calls for it above all, and very soon, on the men of Anathoth. Jeremiah's nearness had given them the chance to prove how great their wickedness was.
The Greek Old Testament, called the Septuagint, has its own wording here. It pairs the word for lamb with an adjective meaning innocent.
In the Septuagint the word arnion is used in Psalm 114:4 and 6; in Jeremiah 11:19, with the adjective akakos, innocent; and in Jeremiah 27:45, "lambs."
Writers see Christ foreshadowed here, but they are careful. The likeness runs through the lamb, the cutting off and the erased name. At each point it stops short.
The Spirit of Christ was in Jeremiah (1 Peter 1:11). We are therefore justified in seeing some clear foreshadowing of our blessed Lord in him. There is no doubt much about Jeremiah also that stands in striking contrast to Him. For instance, if, like his Lord, he is led as "a lamb" by his persecutors "to the slaughter" (Jeremiah 11:19), he was not like Him any further in this case. Christ "opened not His mouth." Again, they said about the prophet, "Let us cut him off from the land of the living." They did not do this to Jeremiah. They did it to our blessed Saviour (Isaiah 53:8). They wanted Jeremiah's "name to be remembered no more." But of Christ Scripture asks, "Who shall declare His generation?"
In the next verses Jeremiah asks God for vengeance. Writers see that as a right prayer for a man in his position, but not the prayer of Christ.
How like this is to what Isaiah 53 says of our blessed Lord! But how unlike His prayer is the prophet's prayer in the next verse, where he asks for vengeance on his persecutors. It was a righteous prayer for a Jew to make, with earthly promises and hopes, and it should be answered (vv. 21-23). But the Lord Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies.
Jeremiah is not only speaking for himself here. He stands for a faithful few inside a guilty nation, and their righteousness shapes the prayer he prays.
At the end of the chapter Jeremiah takes the place of the faithful remnant who have the testimony of God. His position continually reminds us of the Psalms... Because of his faithfulness and his testimony, the wicked plotted against Jeremiah. Jehovah reveals these things to him. And, in keeping with the righteousness that marks the condition of the faithful remnant, he calls for the vengeance of God.
- Unaware — Jeremiah walked toward death with no more suspicion than a lamb led to slaughter. The plot was real long before he knew it.
- Uncovered — He learned of it only because God told him. Faithfulness does not come with instincts for danger; it comes with a God who reveals.
- Up close — The plotters were his own family and neighbours in Anathoth, speaking smooth words to his face while seeking his life.
- Unlike — The lamb, the cutting off and the blotted-out name all point to Christ. Yet Jeremiah spoke, lived on, and asked for vengeance. Christ stayed silent, went to death, and asked His Father to forgive.
- Undestroyed — They wanted his name forgotten. We still read his name today, and of Christ Scripture asks, "Who shall declare His generation?"
But thou, Jehovah of hosts, who judgest righteously, who triest the reins and the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them for unto thee have I revealed my cause.
Jeremiah has just learned that the men of his own home town were plotting to kill him for his preaching. Instead of fighting back, he hands the case to God — which raises two questions: how does God test the heart, and may a believer pray for vengeance?
The prophet had no idea of the danger he was in until God told him. That is why the end of the chapter turns to judgment on the men of one small town.
In the last part of the chapter (vv. 18-23) the prophet tells how the Lord made it all known to him. He was as unaware of their murderous plans against himself as an animal marked out for slaughter. So he calls for righteous vengeance on the guilty people, and above all, very soon, on the men of Anathoth. Their nearness to Jeremiah had given them the chance to prove how great their wickedness was.
The verse appeals to God as the One who tests the heart and the mind. God's word does that same searching work in anyone who hears it.
The word of man flatters our nature and entertains our mind. The word of God tests the innermost self and the heart. It awakens and searches the conscience. It proves what I am and where I am. More important still, it presents the remedy for my soul's disease. That remedy is Jesus and the resurrection.
Jeremiah's enemies fought him with words. He would not fight them the same way.
They rose in rebellion against the messenger of the Lord. They hated him. They would strike him with the tongue, speak evil of him, bring false accusations against him. But the man of God does not take up their quarrel. Like Hezekiah when the enemy insulted him, Jeremiah turned to the Lord. He tells the Lord all about it. Then he prays for judgment to fall on them.
The prayer is not personal spite. Jeremiah stands here for the faithful few. For them, God's action against the wicked is the way of deliverance.
At the end of the chapter Jeremiah takes the place of the faithful remnant who have the testimony of God. His position keeps reminding us of the Psalms… Because he was faithful and held to his testimony, Jeremiah lay open to the schemes of the wicked. The Lord reveals these things to him. In line with the righteousness that marks the state of the remnant, he calls for the vengeance of God. This will be the means of deliverance for the remnant.
The same words reach beyond Jeremiah's own day.
Here once more we must look at these words prophetically. Words like the prophet's will be spoken again during the great tribulation. They will come from the lips of the remnant of Israel, who suffer from their enemies and who rightly call for heaven's vengeance. That vengeance will fall on these enemies when the Lord appears in glory.
The lamb led to the slaughter in the previous verse points to Christ. But the likeness has a limit.
The Spirit of Christ was in Jeremiah (1 Peter 1:11). We are therefore right to see some clear foreshadowing of our blessed Lord in him. There is no doubt much about Jeremiah too that stands out in sharp contrast to Him. For instance, like his Lord he is led as "a lamb" by his persecutors "to the slaughter" (Jer. 11:19). But the likeness went no further in this case, for Christ "opened not His mouth."
Yet Jeremiah hands his cause to a righteous Judge. That step the Christian is to copy.
If we keep silent when insulted, it is not that evil and malice have no answer. We leave the answer with God. We are never to try to take vengeance on the wrongdoer. God keeps all vengeance in His own hands… Our part then is to follow in the steps of the Lord Jesus. When insults come, we commit ourselves to Him who judges righteously.
- Revealed — Jeremiah knew as little of the plot as an animal marked out for slaughter. God told him what men had hidden.
- Searched — God tests the innermost self and the heart. His word proves what a person is, then offers the remedy — Jesus and the resurrection.
- Committed — men struck at the prophet with their tongues, but he did not take up the quarrel. He turned to the Lord and told Him all about it.
- Answered — his call for vengeance is the righteous cry of the faithful remnant. God's action against the wicked is their deliverance, and the same cry will rise again in the great tribulation.
- Surpassed — Jeremiah is led like a lamb, but Christ opened not His mouth. We copy not the cry for vengeance but the handing of our case to Him who judges righteously.
Therefore thus saith Jehovah concerning the men of Anathoth, that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of Jehovah, that thou die not by our hand,
The LORD names the men who want Jeremiah dead and order him to stop prophesying: his own neighbours in Anathoth. What does a servant of God do when the threat comes from home?
Jeremiah had no idea that men were hunting him. God told him, and only then could he respond.
In the last part of the chapter (vv. 18-23) the prophet tells how the Lord made everything known to him. He had been as unaware of their murderous plots against him as an animal led to slaughter. So he calls for righteous vengeance on the guilty people, and very soon on the men of Anathoth in particular. Jeremiah's nearness to them had given them the opportunity to prove how deep their wickedness went.
Anathoth was where Jeremiah's own relatives lived.
At first Jeremiah was not aware of his family's hostility. But then God warns him: "For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you… do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you." Along with the people of Anathoth, they were seeking the prophet's life and wanting to put an end to his preaching.
The town itself sharpens the offence.
A city assigned to the priests in the territory of Benjamin. Abiathar the high priest had his own "fields" there, and Jeremiah was born there. Its people persecuted the prophet.
The threat targeted the name Jeremiah spoke in. God's reply reaches that town's own children.
The men of Anathoth had intimidated him by saying, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand." The Lord answers him. Their young men will die by the sword, and their sons and daughters by famine. No remnant of them will be left.
Commentators see the prophet here as a picture of his Lord. They also mark where the picture stops.
The prophet stands among all their sinful doings and knows them fully. Yet he suffers like his Lord, of whom he is a type. He is brought "like a lamb" to the slaughter. They had devised wicked schemes against him, to "cut him off from the land of the living" (vv. 18-19). All this is very like what Isaiah 53 says about our blessed Lord. But in the next verse the prophet's prayer is very unlike His, for Jeremiah asks for vengeance on his persecutors. For a Jew, with earthly promises and hopes, it was a perfectly righteous prayer, and it would be answered (vv. 21-23). But the Lord Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies.
Jeremiah is not speaking as a private man nursing a grudge. He stands where the faithful few stand when the nation has gone wrong.
At the end of the chapter Jeremiah takes the place of the faithful remnant who have the testimony of God… His faithfulness and his testimony left him open to the schemes of the wicked. The LORD reveals these things to him. He then calls for the vengeance of God, in keeping with the righteousness that marks the condition of the remnant. This will be the means of deliverance for the remnant. He announces the judgment of these wicked men by the word of the LORD.
The threat left its mark on Jeremiah's life, but not on his message.
In loneliness the prophet goes away, forsaking his heritage and his hopes — yet despite everything, standing firm in his purpose to proclaim the word of the Lord.
- Word revealed — Jeremiah was as unaware of the plot as an animal led to slaughter. God told him, so it never took him by surprise.
- Word resisted at home — the men who wanted him dead were his own neighbours and relatives, from a town set apart for priests. Nearness only exposed how deep their wickedness ran.
- Word forbidden — they banned the name he spoke in. God answered with judgment on the town's sons and daughters.
- Word foreshadowing — he suffers "like a lamb," a picture of his Lord. Yet his prayer differs: he calls for vengeance, while Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies.
- Word still spoken — leaving his heritage and his hopes behind, Jeremiah went on alone, set on proclaiming the word of the Lord.
-- therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts Behold, I punish them the young men shall die by the sword; their sons and their daughters shall die by famine;
The people of Anathoth, Jeremiah's home town, had told him to stop preaching or die at their hands. This verse is God's reply, and it raises a hard question: how can a prophet call down such a sentence on his own neighbours?
The threat came from Jeremiah's own family and his home town. He was the last person to learn of it.
At first Jeremiah was not aware of his family's hostility. But then God warns him, "For even your brothers, the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you … Do not believe them, even though they speak smooth words to you." Along with the people of Anathoth, they were trying to take the prophet's life and stop his preaching. Jeremiah knew nothing of these plots until God told him.
Jeremiah's home town is singled out. Living close to him gave these men their chance to show how far their wickedness went.
In the last part of the chapter (verses 18-23) the prophet tells how the Lord had made everything known to him. He had been as unaware of their murderous plots against him as an animal on its way to slaughter. So he calls for righteous vengeance on the guilty people, and above all, very soon, on the men of Anathoth. Living close to Jeremiah had given them the chance to prove how great their wickedness was.
They had chosen death by the sword as their weapon against him. The reply uses their own words back against them, and leaves nothing of the family line standing.
The men of Anathoth had intimidated him by saying, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand." The Lord answers him that their young men would die by the sword, and their sons and daughters by famine. None of them would be left.
A call for vengeance is not a failure of love. It belongs to a way of God's working that is not the way He works today.
Righteousness marks the saint just as much as love does. It has its place where there are enemies of that love and of the blessing of the people God loves. This is the Spirit of prophecy, not the gospel. No doubt that is because prophecy belongs to the government of God, not to His present dealings in sovereign grace.
The punishment announced here is not only the end of Jeremiah's enemies. It is how the small group who held on to God's word come out safe.
Jeremiah's faithfulness and his testimony left him open to the schemes of the wicked. Jehovah reveals these things to him. In keeping with the righteousness that marks the condition of the remnant, he calls for the vengeance of God. This will be the means of deliverance for the remnant. He announces the judgment of these wicked men by the word of Jehovah.
Writers see the sufferings of Christ foreshadowed in this passage. They also mark where the likeness stops, and the differences are as instructive as the resemblance.
The Spirit of Christ was in Jeremiah (1 Peter 1:11). We are therefore justified in seeing some clear foreshadowing of our blessed Lord in him. No doubt there is also much about Jeremiah that stands in striking contrast to Him. For instance, like his Lord he is led as "a lamb" by his persecutors "to the slaughter" (Jer. 11:19). But the likeness went no further here, for Christ "opened not His mouth." Again, they said of the prophet, "Let us cut him off from the land of the living." They did not do this to Jeremiah. But they did do it to our blessed Saviour.
- Threat. Jeremiah's own relatives and the people of his home town told him to stop preaching or die by their hand.
- Revealed. He knew nothing of the plot until God told him. He was as unaware as an animal on its way to slaughter.
- Answered. The sentence turns their threat back on them: sword for the young men, famine for their children, no survivors left.
- Government. A prayer for vengeance belongs to prophecy and God's rule of the earth. It does not belong to the gospel and His grace today.
- Deliverance. The same judgment that falls on the wicked is what rescues the faithful few.
and there shall be no remnant of them; for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, in the year of their visitation.
Jeremiah's hometown had tried to silence him, and this verse is God's answer to the plotters. It raises hard questions: why judgment falls on one small village, why the prophet prays for vengeance, and what hope is left when God says none will remain.
The men under sentence were not strangers. They were neighbours from the village where Jeremiah grew up, a place set apart for priests:
A city assigned to the priests in the territory of Benjamin. Abiathar the high priest had his own "fields" there, and Jeremiah was born there. Its people persecuted the prophet.
The plot was not only in the town. It reached his own relatives, and he knew nothing of it until God told him:
At first Jeremiah was not aware of his family's hostility. But then God warns him, "For even your brothers and the house of your father, even they have dealt treacherously with you … do not believe them, though they speak friendly words to you" (12:6). Along with the inhabitants of Anathoth, they were seeking the life of the prophet and wanting to put an end to his preaching (11:26). Jeremiah was ignorant of these plots (11:19) until he was informed of them by God.
The whole nation was guilty, yet this verse names one village. Their nearness to Jeremiah is what gave their wickedness the chance to show itself:
In the latter part of the chapter (verses 18-23) the prophet states how the Lord had made known everything to him. He was as unaware of their murderous plots against himself as an animal set aside for slaughter. So he calls for righteous vengeance on the guilty people. He calls for it above all, and very soon, on the men of Anathoth. Their nearness to Jeremiah had given them the opportunity of proving their excessive wickedness.
Their threat had been simple: stop prophesying or die by our hand. The reply matched threat for threat, and left nothing standing:
The men of Anathoth had tried to frighten him. They said, "Do not prophesy in the name of the LORD, or you will die by our hand." The Lord answers him that their young men should die by the sword, and their sons and daughters by famine. No remnant of them should be left.
Older translations read "the year of their visitation." God's visits are not all of one kind:
The visitation in mercy goes before the visitation in judgment — and the interval may be long or short. We see this in the moral history of different nations — such as Egypt, Israel, and the world itself.
Anathoth had its visit in mercy first — a prophet living in their streets. The year named here is what came after they tried to kill him.
Jeremiah here is a picture of Christ, and the picture breaks at one point:
In the presence of all their sinful doings, and with full knowledge of it, the prophet suffers like his Lord, of whom he is a type. He is brought "like a lamb" to the slaughter. They had devised wicked schemes against him, to "cut him off from the land of the living" (verses 18-19). How like this is to what Isaiah 53 says of our blessed Lord! But how unlike His prayer is the prophet's prayer in the next verse, where he asks for vengeance on his persecutors. It was a perfectly righteous prayer for a Jew to make, with earthly promises and hopes, and it would be answered (verses 21-23). But the Lord Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies.
The call for vengeance is not treated as a personal grudge. It belongs to a man standing where the faithful few stand, and its answer is their rescue:
At the end of the chapter Jeremiah takes the place of the faithful remnant who have the testimony of God… His faithfulness and his testimony exposed Jeremiah to the plots of the wicked. Jehovah reveals these things to him. The remnant's condition is marked by righteousness, and in keeping with that he calls for the vengeance of God. This will be the means of deliverance for the remnant. He announces the judgment of these wicked men by the word of Jehovah.
- Home. The men sentenced here were Jeremiah's own neighbours. Anathoth was a priests' city, and the place where he was born.
- Hidden. He knew nothing of the plot, not even his own brothers' part in it, until God revealed it.
- Weighed. Nearness to the prophet is what made Anathoth's guilt stand out. The nation was guilty; this village proved how deep the guilt ran.
- Dated. Visitation in mercy came first — a prophet in their streets. "The year of their punishment" is the fixed time that follows mercy refused, and the interval may be long or short.
- Answered. Jeremiah's cry for vengeance was a righteous prayer under earthly promises, and God granted it — judgment on the plotters means deliverance for the faithful few. The Lord Jesus asked His Father to forgive His enemies instead.