The Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 14:1-22

The Pulpit Commentary · Joseph S. Exell and contributors · Public domain

EXPOSITION

This chapter must be read in connection with the following one. They describe chiefly Jeremiah's twofold attempt at intercession (see verses 7-9 and 19-22)—a tender and appealing attempt indeed. The terrible sufferings of the people during a drought went to the prophet's heart. He even ventured, when repelled the first time, to intercede anew, on the ground of the covenant, but in vain. On receiving (Jeremiah 15:2-9) a revelation of the bitter fate in store for his people, he bursts out into a heartrending complaint that his own destiny should throw him into such a whirlpool of strife. His Lord at once corrects and consoles him (Jeremiah 15:10-21). There are doubts, however, about the connection of these latter verses—The date of the drought is not stated; but as the punishment of Judah is described as future, and no reference is made to the captivity of Jehoiachin, we shall probably be right in setting it during the reign of Jehoiakim.

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commentaryMatthew Henry on Jeremiah 14:1-9The people were in tears. But it was rather the cry of their trouble, and of their sin, than of their prayer. Let us be thankful for the mercy of water, that we may not be taught to value it by feeling the want of it. S…Matthew Henry commentaryLamentation Caused by a Great Drought; Prayer for Mercy; Pleading with God. (b. c. 606.)LAMENTATION CAUSED BY A GREAT DROUGHT; PRAYER FOR MERCY; PLEADING WITH GOD. (B. C. 606.) The first verse is the title of the whole chapter: it does indeed all concern the dearth, but much of it consists of the prophet's…Matthew Henry commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 14:1The dearth; rather, the drought, or, more literally, the droughts, the plural being used to indicate the length of time the drought lasted.Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 14:1-6The miseries produced by lack of water. I. THE BITTER CONSCIOUSNESS THAT AN IMPERATIVE NEED CANNOT BE SATISFIED. Well might there be mourning, languishing, and crying. When we are speaking of need, one of the first ques…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 14:1-9Thankfulness through contrast: a harvest sermon. These verses are a terrible picture of drought and famine. Our thankfulness for what God has done for us in the bounteous harvest he has given may be called forth the mor…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 14:1-6A plague of drought. I. A PLAGUE OF DROUGHT IS AN INSTANCE OF A NATURAL CALAMITY OCCASIONING GREAT DISTRESS. Jeremiah gives a vivid picture of the trouble such a plague causes. Men of all classes, from the noble to the…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 14:2The tenses in the following description should be perfects and presents; the Authorized Version, by its inconsistency, destroys the unity of the picture. The gates thereof; i.e. the people assembled there. They are blac…Joseph S. Exell and contributors commentaryThe Pulpit Commentary on Jeremiah 14:3Their nobles—i.e. the upper classes of Judah and Jerusalem—have sent their little ones; rather, their mean ones; i.e. their servants, or perhaps (as Naegelsbach and Payne Smith) simply, "the common people;" it was not a…Joseph S. Exell and contributors