(23, 24) Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord . . .--The "wicked" who are thus threatened are the enemies and oppressors of the penitent and rescued people. In the "latter days," the far-off future (Genesis 49:1; Numbers 24:14; Isaiah 2:2), it should be seen that He was their avenger. (See Notes on Jeremiah 23:19-20.) A right division of chapters would probably connect this with the great promise of Jeremiah 31:1. Verses 23, 24. - These verses occur in a form evidently more original in Jeremiah 23:19, 20. In all probability they were first inserted from memory in the margin, and then incorporated into the text at a time subsequent (how long subsequent we cannot say) to Jeremiah. a continuing whirlwind; whirlwinds, as they come suddenly, are generally soon over; but this will continue very boisterous and terrible, until it has done all the execution designed by it: it shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked; according to some, the wicked Jews, that do not repent and turn to the Lord; but rather the wicked of the nations, as Jarchi; not the Gentiles in general, as distinguished from the Jews, which is his sense, but the antichristian states; for the ruin of antichrist, and the conversion of the Jews, will be much about the same time; and the vials of God's wrath, which will be poured upon them, and fall upon their heads, will give them much pain, both in body and mind; see Revelation 16:10; and which wrath and ruin are expressed by a tempest of thunder, lightning, and hail, and by an earthquake, Jeremiah 30:18. |