Jeremiah 14:22 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 14:22
Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art not thou he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
there is or are (or any other form of the verb to be · interrogative particle + cardinal number, both genders singular absolute
vanities
בְּהַבְלֵ֤יbe.hav.Lei
H1892
emptiness or vanity · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct
Gentiles
הַגּוֹיִם֙ha.go.Yim
H1471
a foreign nation · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
rain
מַגְשִׁמִ֔יםmag.shi.Mim
H1652
to shower violently · verb, hiphil active participle, masculine plural absolute
heavens
הַשָּׁמַ֖יִםha.sha.Ma.yim
H8064
the sky (as aloft · definite article + noun, common masculine plural absolute
give
יִתְּנ֣וּyi.te.Nu
H5414
to give · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
showers
רְבִבִ֑יםre.vi.Vim
H7241
a rain (as an accumulation of drops) · noun, common masculine plural absolute
LORD
יְהוָ֤הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
God
אֱלֹהֵ֙ינוּ֙'e.lo.Hei.nu
H430
gods in the ordinary sense · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
wait
וּ֨נְקַוֶּהU.ne.ka.veh-
H6960
to bind together (perhaps by twisting) · conjunction + verb, piel, 1st person common plural
made
עָשִׂ֖יתָ'a.Si.ta
H6213
to do or make · verb, qal perfect, 2nd person masculine singular
Strong's Exhaustive Concordance (James Strong, 1890/1894), public domain; digitized by Open Scriptures (CC BY-SA). KJV word tagging: eBible.org (public domain). Original-language text, parsing and brief lexicon: STEPBible.org data from Tyndale House, Cambridge (CC BY 4.0).
Cross-references
Joel 2:23 Be glad then, ye children of Zion, and rejoice in the LORD your God: for he hath given you the former rain moderately, and he will cause to…
Jeremiah 5:24 Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reser…
Psalms 135:7 He causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings for the rain; he bringeth the wind out of his treasuries.
Isaiah 30:23 Then shall he give the rain of thy seed, that thou shalt sow the ground withal; and bread of the increase of the earth, and it shall be fat…
Deuteronomy 32:21 They have moved me to jealousy with that which is not God; they have provoked me to anger with their vanities: and I will move them to jealo…
Deuteronomy 28:12 The LORD shall open unto thee his good treasure, the heaven to give the rain unto thy land in his season, and to bless all the work of thine…
1 Kings 17:1 And Elijah the Tishbite, who was of the inhabitants of Gilead, said unto Ahab, As the LORD God of Israel liveth, before whom I stand, there…
1 Kings 17:14 For thus saith the LORD God of Israel, The barrel of meal shall not waste, neither shall the cruse of oil fail, until the day that the LORD…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 14:17–end
The present deplorable state of Judah and Jerusalem is here made the matter of the prophet's lamentation (Jer 14:17, Jer 14:18) and the occasion of his prayer and intercession for them (Jer 14:19), and I am willing to hope that the latter, as well as the former, was by divine direction, and that these words (Jer 14:17), Thus shalt thou say unto them (or concerning them, or in their hearing), refer to the intercession, as well as to the lamentation, and then it amounts to a revocation of the directions given to the prophet not to pray for them, Jer 14:11. However, it is plain, by the prayers we find in these verses, that the prophet did not understand it as a prohibition, but only as a discou…
vanities--idols (Deu 32:21).
rain-- (Zac 10:1-2).
heavens--namely, of themselves without God (Mat 5:45; Act 14:17); they are not the First Cause, and ought not to be deified, as they were by the heathen. The disjunctive "or" favors CALVIN'S explanation: "Not even the heavens themselves can give rain, much less can the idol vanities."
art not thou he--namely, who canst give rain?
Next: Jeremiah Chapter 15
John Gill on Jeremiah 14:22
Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain?.... The blessing wanted; none of the idols of the Gentiles, called vanities, because it was a vain thing to apply to them, or hope for anything from them, none of these could give a shower of rain; though the name of one of their idols was Jupiter Imbrius (u), or Pluvius, the god of rain, yet he could not make nor give a single drop; as Baal, in the times of Ahab, when there was a drought, could not.
Or can the heavens give showers? from whence they descend, and which are the second causes of rain; even these could not of themselves, and much less Heathen deities.
Art not thou he, O Lord our God? the everlasting and unch…
What a state the person is in who has deserted the easy yoke and the light burden of Christ to subject himself once again to the yoke of demons and to bear the burden of the heaviest sin! How can this be after we have known that the heart of those who worship idols is ashes and their life more worthless than clay, and after we have said, "Our ancestors possessed false idols, and none of them can bring rain"?
After many and various thoughts, he returns to the prophecy's title, in which it is written, "What the word of the Lord gave to Jeremiah concerning the drought." This is why he says, in effect: "Because the idols of demons are unable to make it rain, and the heavens are unable to give showers in and of themselves, therefore give us rain, O Lord our God, on whom we always wait and toward whom we have turned our hope and devotion. For everything is yours, and whatever is good cannot be given without you, to whom it belongs." Let us speak this word also against the heretics who are unable to grant rain showers of doctrine. Although they prefer themselves to be the heavens and thus glory in themselves, concerning what is written, "the heavens tell forth the glory of God," they are nonetheless incapable of providing rain showers of doctrine. For it is God alone who instructs people and grants a diversity of graces to those who wait on him.
(Verse 22.) Are there any among the idols of the nations that can make it rain? Or can the heavens themselves give showers? Are you not the Lord our God, whom we have waited for? For you have made all these things. After many and various discourses, he returns to the title of the prophecy, in which it is written: that the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah concerning the words of drought. Therefore, what he says is this: because the idols of demons cannot make it rain, nor can the heavens themselves give their own shower, you, Lord our God, whom we have always waited for, in whom we turn our hopes and desires, give us your rain. For all things are yours; and whatever good exists, without you, to whom it belongs, cannot be given. Let us say this also against the heretics, who cannot bestow the rain of doctrine; and although they promise themselves to be heavens and boast about themselves: The heavens declare the glory of God (Psalm 19:1): yet they cannot give the downpour of doctrine. For God alone is the one who instructs his people and grants different graces to those who await him.
Dictionary and topics
Famine · Sent as a — Sent as a
Idolatry · Objects of described as: Vanities of the Gentiles — Objects of described as: Vanities of the Gentiles
Rain · Sent by God — Sent by God
Waiting · .As the God of provi — .As the God of provi
Waiting Upon God · As the God of providence — As the God of providence
Dictionary: Easton's (1897) and Smith's (1863), public domain. Topics: Nave's Topical Bible (1896) and Torrey's Topical Textbook (1897), public domain. Both as parsed by NEUU (CC BY 4.0).
Jeremiah 14:22
22. Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can cause rain? or can the heavens give showers? art thou not he, O LORD our God? therefore we will wait upon thee: for thou hast made all these things.
22. An in idolis (vel, vanitatibus) gentium, qui pluere faciat? et an coeli dabunt pluviam (vel, et an ex coelis dabunt pluviam) an non tu ipse Jehova Deus noster? et speravimus in te (expectavimus ad te:) quoniam tu fecisti omnia haec.
In order to conciliate the favor of God, Jeremiah says here, that with him is the only remedy in extremities; and it is the same as though by avowing despair he wished to turn God to mercy; as if he had said, "What will become of us,…
Renewed supplication and repeated rejection of the same. - Jer 14:19. "Hast thou then really rejected Judah? or doth thy soul loathe Zion? Why hast Thou smitten us, so that there is no healing for us? We look for peace, and there is no good; for the time of healing, and behold terror! Jer 14:20. We know, Jahveh, our wickedness, the iniquity of our fathers, for we have sinned against Thee. Jer 14:21. Abhor not, for Thy name's sake; disgrace not the throne of Thy glory; remember, break not Thy covenant with us! Jer 14:22. Are there among the vain gods of the Gentiles givers of rain, or will the heavens give showers? Art not Thou (He), Jahveh our God? and we hope in Thee, for Thou hast made all…
Worship of other gods is useless. Only the Creator of the universe has the power to make nature do his bidding.
Rashi on Jeremiah 14:22
Does the heaven give raindrops? by itself, except by Your command? This is the interrogative form. In every double question, the first question is preceded by a ‘heh’ and the second one with אִם, like (Num. 13:19) “Are they in open cities (הַבְּמַחֲנִים) or in fortresses (אִם בְּמִבְצָרִים)?”(Ibid. 13:19) “It is good (הֲטוֹבָה) or bad (אִם רָעָה)?” (verse 19) “Have You indeed rejected (הֲמָאֹס) Judah, or has Your soul despised (אִם...גָּעֲלָה) Zion?” Here, too, “are there among the vanities of the nations those who give rain? Does the heaven...?”