(13) I will surely consume.--Literally, Gathering, I will sweep away--i.e., I will gather and sweep away, the two verbs being all but identical in sound and spelling, so that the construction has almost the force of the emphatic Hebrew reduplication.

There shall be.--These words are not in the Hebrew, and the verse describes, not the judgment of Jehovah on the state of Israel, but that state itself. There are no grapes on the vine, no figs on the fig-tree, the leaf fadeth. The words are figurative rather than literal, after the manner of Jeremiah 2:21; Isaiah 5:2. Israel is a degenerate vine, a barren fig-tree. Here, again, we find an echo of the teaching of Jeremiah in that of Jesus (Matthew 21:19; Luke 13:6-9). In Micah 7:1 we have another example of the same figurative language.

The things that I have given them . . .--The words have been differently rendered, (1) I gave them that which they transgress--i.e., the divine law of righteousness; and (2) therefore I will appoint those that shall pass over them--i.e., the invaders who shall overrun their country. The former seems on the whole best suited to the context.

Verse 13 - Jeremiah 9:1. - Further description of the judgment; grief of Jeremiah. Verse 13. - There shall be no grapes, etc.; rather, there are no grapes... and the leaf is faded. It is the actual condition of things which the prophet describes. Elsewhere Judah is compared to a vine with bad grapes (Jeremiah 2:21); here the vine does not even pretend to bear fruit. Another figure is that of a barren fig tree (comp. Matthew 21:19). And the things that I have given them, etc.; rather, and I gave them that which they transgress (viz. laws). The construction, however, which this rendering implies is not perfectly natural, though supported by most of the ancient versions (except the Septuagint, which omits the words), and it is better to alter a single vowel-point, and render "And I will give them to those who shall pass over them." The phrase to pass away is constantly used of an invading host; e.g. Isaiah 8:7; Daniel 11:10, 40.

8:4-13 What brought this ruin? 1. The people would not attend to reason; they would not act in the affairs of their souls with common prudence. Sin is backsliding; it is going back from the way that leads to life, to that which leads to destruction. 2. They would not attend to the warning of conscience. They did not take the first step towards repentance: true repentance begins in serious inquiry as to what we have done, from conviction that we have done amiss. 3. They would not attend to the ways of providence, nor understand the voice of God in them, ver. 7. They know not how to improve the seasons of grace, which God affords. Many boast of their religious knowledge, yet, unless taught by the Spirit of God, the instinct of brutes is a more sure guide than their supposed wisdom. 4. They would not attend to the written word. Many enjoy abundance of the means of grace, have Bibles and ministers, but they have them in vain. They will soon be ashamed of their devices. The pretenders to wisdom were the priests and the false prophets. They flattered people in sin, and so flattered them into destruction, silencing their fears and complaints with, All is well. Selfish teachers may promise peace when there is no peace; and thus men encourage each other in committing evil; but in the day of visitation they will have no refuge to flee unto.I will surely consume them, saith the Lord,.... Or, "gathering I will gather them" (k); into some one place, the city of Jerusalem, and there destroy them. The word is, , expressive of consumption and destruction, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe; and so the Targum,

"destroying I will destroy them, saith the Lord.''

There shall be no grapes on the vine, nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade; some understand this by way of complaint, that there were no fruit on the vine and fig tree, nor even leaves; which they allegorically interpret of the fruit of good works being wanting in them, which was the cause of their ruin. Others think there are metaphors which describe the manner of their destruction; and so the Targum,

"and they shall fall, as the grapes fall from the vine, and as the falling fruit from the fig tree, and as the leaf from the tree.''

Though it rather intends the sterility of the land, and in general the famine that should attend the siege of Jerusalem. Grapes and figs are mentioned only, as Kimchi observes, because they were the chief fruits, and they are put for the whole.

And the things that I have given them shall pass away from them; whatever they had in their barns and cellars, or were just becoming ripe in their fields, vineyards, and gardens, should either be blasted, or rather be taken away and devoured by their enemies, so that they themselves should not enjoy them. The Targum interprets it of the law transgressed by them, as the cause of their ruin, and paraphrases it thus,

"because I have given them my law from Sinai, and they have transgressed it;''

and so Jarchi,

"this shall be unto them, because I have given them statutes, and they have transgressed them.''

(k) "eolligendo colligam eos", Montanus, Tigurine version. So Piscator.