Jeremiah 13:6

And it came to pass after many days, that the LORD said unto me, Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, which I commanded thee to hide there. AFTER MANY DAYS - time enough was given for the girdle to become unfit for use. So in course of time the Jews became corrupted by the pagan idolatries around, so as to cease to be witnesses of Yahweh: they must therefore be cast away as a "married" or spoiled girdle....

1-11 It was usual with the prophets to teach by signs. And we have the explanation, ver. Jeremiah 13:9. The people of Israel had been to God as this girdle. He caused them to cleave to him by the law he gave them, the prophets he sent among them, and the favours he showed them. They had by their idolatries and sins buried themselves in foreign earth, mingled among the nations, and were so corrupted that they were good for nothing. If we are proud of learning, power, and outward privileges, it is just with God to wither them. The minds of men should be awakened to a sense of their guilt and danger; yet nothing will be effectual without the influences of the Spirit....

MANY DAYS - The seventy years’ captivity....

EXPOSITION The chapter falls into two parts—the one describing a divinely commanded action of the prophet, symbolical of the approaching rejection of the Jewish people, the other announcing in literal language the ruin especially of the king and the queen-mother, and emphasizing the inveterate corruption which rendered such a blow necessary. The mention of the queen-mother (see Jeremiah 13:18) renders it probable that Jehoiachin is the king under whom the prophecy was composed. It is true that other kings besides Jehoiachin ascended the throne in the lifetime of their mother; but the express and repeated mention of the queen-mother in the account of Jehoiachin (2 Kings 24:12, 2 Kings 24:15; comp....

AND IT CAME TO PASS AFTER MANY DAYS,.... When the girdle had lain long in the hole, by the side of Euphrates; this denotes the length of the Babylonish captivity, which was seventy years: THAT THE LORD SAID UNTO ME, ARISE, GO TO EUPHRATES, AND TAKE THE GIRDLE FROM THENCE, WHICH I COMMANDED THEE TO HIDE THERE; which may denote the return of these people from captivity, according to the prophecy of Jeremiah; see Jeremiah 25:11, though this seems to be visionally done, in order to express the wretched state and condition these people were in; either before the captivity, which was the cause of it; or at their return from it, when they were no better for it....

CHAPTER 13 Signs, Warnings, and Exhortations _ 1. The linen girdle and the filled bottles (Jeremiah 13:1) _ 2. Hear and give glory (Jeremiah 13:15) 3. The justice of the judgment (Jeremiah 13:22) Jeremiah 13:1. The prophet enacts a sign, that of the linen girdle. After he had put on the girdle, he was told to hide it in a hole of the rock of the Euphrates. After many days, he was commanded to dig for the girdle. It was found marred and profitable for nothing. Was this only a vision, or did the prophet actually make the long journey to the Euphrates and then repeat it after many

THE SYMBOL OF THE WAIST-CLOTH, its removal signifying the rejection and ruin of Judah, as a consequence of her disobedience. The prophet buys and wears a linen waist-cloth, not yet put in water, as a declaration of Yahweh's adoption of His people into closest intimacy. The prophet then removes it, and buries it in a rocky cleft where it is spoilt by damp, the removal being a sign that Yahweh puts His people from Him into the ruin of exile. Such symbolism as this, so frequent on the part of Hebrew prophets (for Jeremiah, _cf._ Jeremiah 16:5 ff., Jeremiah 27:2 ff; Jeremiah 28:10 ff., Jeremiah 32:6 ff.,...

Jeremiah 13:1-11. The acted symbol of the linen girdle This ch. consists of five sections, quite independent of one another. The first two are in poetic prose, and the remaining in Ḳinah metre. Three questions arise in respect to this first section: (i) Does it relate a real transaction or a vision? (ii) What is the application of the symbol? (iii) To what date may we refer it? As regards (i) we may state that Du. rejects with scorn the passage, as non-Jeremianic, considering it as childish, and as a later insertion. Most commentators, however, refuse to accept this view. If we accept the view that the transaction was real, where was it carried out? Some think that the Heb. _Pěrath_, rendered elsewhere Euphrates (though generally "the river" is prefixed to it), may have here meant Parah (Jo

VI. THE PRIDE OF THE NATION Jeremiah 13:1-27 Arrogant, willful, stubborn pride was at the root of all Judah's sins. In chapter thirteen Jeremiah issues five stern warnings concerning pride and its consequences. Pride results in deterioration (Jeremiah 13:1-11), drunkenness (Jeremiah 13:12-14), darkness (Jeremiah 13:15-17), dishonor (Jeremiah 13:18-19), and disgrace (Jeremiah 13:20-27). A. WARNI

JEREMIAH'S SEVENTH PROPHECY (REIGN OF JEHOIACHIN). THE LINEN GIRDLE The date of this prophecy is shown pretty clearly by the word 'queen' (Jeremiah 13:18), which means queen-mother, namely, Nehushta, mother of Jehoiachin. The queen-mother had always a high position, and in Jehoiachin's case this would be specially so, owing to his tender years. 1-11. The symbol of the linen girdle....