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From: Jeremiah 14:17

Oracles in a time of drought

[And the Lord said to me:]
[17] “You shall say to them this word:
‘Let my eyes run down with tears night and day,
and let them not cease,
for the virgin daughter of my people is smitten with a great wound,
with a very grievous blow.
[18] If I go out into the field,
behold, those slain by the sword!
And if I enter the city,
behold, the diseases of famine!
For both prophet and priest ply their trade through the land,
and have no knowledge.’”

[19] Hast thou utterly rejected Judah?
Does thy soul loathe Zion?
Why hast thou smitten us
so that there is no healing for us?
We looked for peace, but no good came;
for a time of healing, but behold, terror.
[20] We acknowledge our wickedness. O Lord,
and the iniquity of our fathers,
for we have sinned against thee.
[21] Do not spurn us, for thy name’s sake;
do not dishonour thy glorious throne;
remember and do not break thy covenant with us.
[22] Are there any among the false gods of the nations that can bring rain?
Or can the heavens give showers?
Art thou not he, O Lord our God?
We set our hope on thee,
for thou doest all these things.

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Commentary:

14:1-15:9. This highly dramatic passage is made up of poems and dialogues be-
tween God and Jeremiah. It paints a picture of anguish, hunger and death — a
desperate attempt to provoke repentance. “The prophet includes here a prayer
to God on behalf of his chosen people, so that having punished them he will also
show them his mercy” (St Thomas Aquinas, “Postilla super Jeremiam”, 14, 1).

What Jeremiah had been saying about the evils that would befall Jerusalem was
all coming true. After the attack on the city in 597 and the deportation that en-
sued, the situation was terrible. The affliction suffered by the city was compoun-
ded by a terrible drought which made its plight and that of all Judah even worse
(14:1-6; cf. 8:18-23). In their extremity the people cry out to God, begging him
not to treat them like strangers (14:7-9). The Lord replies through his prophet,
and despite Jeremiah’s attempts to excuse his fellow citizens, he does not
mince his words: all these disasters are due to the faults and sins of the people
(14:10-12), who made the mistake of relying on false prophets who put their
minds at ease with promises of peace and prosperity (14:13-16). Jeremiah is
deeply distressed by the whole situation, and he again begs God not to punish
Judah (14:17-19); and the people again entreat God, their only hope (14:20-22).
But the Lord has already promulgated his sentence. He will not go back on it —
not even if the nation’s great mediators, Moses and Samuel, were to speak on its
behalf (15:1-4; cf. Ex 32:11-14; 1 Sam 7:8-12). Its wickedness dates back a long
time — certainly to the reign of Manasseh (698-642), the son of Hezekiah (15:4),
who tolerated and even promoted impiety and idolatry (2 Kings 21:1-18). So, the
Lord had no option but to carry out his sentence (15:5-9): Judah had “rejected”
him (cf. 15:6). This last part of the oracle is very severe and shows the profound
pain felt by the prophet, for there is nothing he can do to ward off this great mis-
fortune.

The words of 15:2 (cf. 43:11) are quoted in the book of Revelation (13:10) with
reference to the latter days, to exhort readers to accept the truth of God’s mes-
sage and bear persecution with endurance and faith.

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Source: “The Navarre Bible: Text and Commentaries”. Biblical text from the
Revised Standard Version and New Vulgate. Commentaries by members of
the Faculty of Theology, University of Navarre, Spain.

Published by Four Courts Press, Kill Lane, Blackrock, Co. Dublin, Ireland, and
by Scepter Publishers in the United States.