Jeremiah 15:1 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 15:1
Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
to say (used with great latitude) · conjunction + verb, qal sequential imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָה֙Yah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
Moses
מֹשֶׁ֤הmo.Sheh
H4872
Mosheh · proper noun, a man's name
Samuel
וּשְׁמוּאֵל֙u.she.mu.'El
H8050
Shemuel · conjunction + proper noun, a man's name
stood
יַעֲמֹ֨דya.'a.Mod
H5975
to stand · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine singular
before
לְפָנַ֔יle.fa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
mind
נַפְשִׁ֖יnaf.Shi
H5315
properly · noun, common feminine singular construct + pronominal suffix
people
הָעָ֣םha.'Am
H5971
a people (as a congregated unit) · definite article + noun, common masculine singular absolute
out
שַׁלַּ֥חsha.Lach
H7971
to send away · verb, piel imperative, 2nd person masculine singular
sight
פָּנַ֖יpa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
forth
וְיֵצֵֽאוּve.ye.Tze.'u
H3318
to go (causatively · conjunction + verb, qal, 3rd person masculine plural
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
Ezekiel 14:14 Though these three men, Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, they should deliver but their own souls by their righteousness, saith the Lord GO…
Ezekiel 14:20-21 Though Noah, Daniel, and Job, were in it, as I live, saith the Lord GOD, they shall deliver neither son nor daughter; they shall but deliver…
Jeremiah 14:11 Then said the LORD unto me, Pray not for this people for their good.
Jeremiah 11:14 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up a cry or prayer for them: for I will not hear them in the time that they cry unto m…
Psalms 106:23 Therefore he said that he would destroy them, had not Moses his chosen stood before him in the breach, to turn away his wrath, lest he shoul…
Jeremiah 7:15-16 And I will cast you out of my sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whole seed of Ephraim.
Exodus 32:11-14 And Moses besought the LORD his God, and said, LORD, why doth thy wrath wax hot against thy people, which thou hast brought forth out of the…
Psalms 99:6 Moses and Aaron among his priests, and Samuel among them that call upon his name; they called upon the LORD, and he answered them.
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 15:1-9
We scarcely find any where more pathetic expressions of divine wrath against a provoking people than we have here in these verses. The prophet had prayed earnestly for them, and found some among them to join with him; and yet not so much as a reprieve was gained, nor the least mitigation of the judgment; but this answer is given to the prophet's prayers, that the decree had gone forth, was irreversible, and would shortly be executed. Observe here,
I. What the sin was upon which this severe sentence was grounded. 1. It is in remembrance of a former iniquity; it is because of Manasseh, for that which he did in Jerusalem, Jer 15:4. What that was we are told, and that it was for it that Jerusale…
Then said the Lord unto me,.... In answer to his expostulations and entreaties, Jeremiah 14:19,
though Moses and Samuel stood before me; to pray before me, as the Targum; to make intercession for the people. Standing is a prayer gesture. The Jews say there is no standing but prayer, or that is meant when it is mentioned; See Gill on Matthew 6:5. Moses and Samuel were named, because they were eminent for prayer, and had success in it, for the people of Israel. Of Moses, see Exodus 32:11 and of Samuel, see 1 Samuel 7:9 and of both, Psalm 99:6. The Arabic version reads "Moses and Aaron", but wrongly. The Palmists make use of this text to prove the intercession of saints in heaven for those on…
Jeremiah 15:1-2
l. Then said the LORD unto me, Though Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this people: cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth.
1. Et dixit Jehova ad me, Si steterint Moses et Samuel coram facie mea, non est anima (id est cor meum) ad populum hunc; emitte a facie mea et exeant.
2. And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee, Whither shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith the LORD; Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity.
2. Et erit, si dixerint tibi, Quo exibimus? (vel, egred…
The Church Fathers
(Chapter 15, Verse 1) And the Lord said to me: If Moses and Samuel stood before me (or against me), my soul would not be for this people. For we read that these men resisted the anger of the Lord for the people and turned away the impending judgment. Although, he says, if they were to stand, either in my presence or against me, to whom God said: Let me alone, and I will destroy this people (Exodus 32:10): yet I will not listen, because the sins of the guilty people have been completed. Drive them (or send them away) from my presence, and let them depart. Sinners do not depart from God by place, but by will: although we read that both Adam and Cain were driven away from the presence of God (Gen. III and VIII).
Hence the Truth says: "When you stand to pray, forgive if you have anything in your hearts." We show the virtue of forgiveness more clearly if we bring forward one testimony from the Old Testament. Certainly when Judea had offended the justice of its Creator through its demanding sins, the Lord, forbidding His prophet from prayer, says: "Do not take up praise and prayer for them. If Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not be toward this people." What is it that, with so many fathers passed over and left aside, Moses and Samuel alone are brought forward, whose wondrous power of obtaining is shown, while even they are said to be unable to intercede? As if the Lord were saying openly: I do not even hear those whom I by no means despise on account of the great merit of their petition. What then is it that Moses and Samuel are preferred to the other fathers in petition, except that these two alone in the entire sequence of the Old Testament are read to have prayed even for their enemies? One is assailed with stones by the people, and yet he entreats the Lord for the one who stoned him; the other is cast down from leadership, and yet when asked to pray, he confesses saying: "Far be this sin from me against the Lord, that I should cease to pray for you." "If Moses and Samuel stood before me, my soul would not be toward this people." As if He were saying openly: I do not even now hear those on behalf of friends, whom I know by the merit of their great virtue to pray even for enemies. Therefore the power of true prayer is the loftiness of charity. And then each person obtains what he rightly asks, when his mind in petition is not darkened by hatred of an enemy.
The Church Fathers: public-domain translations (Ante-Nicene and Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers), verse-indexed by SermonIndex (CC BY 4.0).
Dictionary and topics
Samuel — Heard of God. The peculiar circumstances connected with his birth are recorded in 1 Sam. 1:20. Hannah, one of the two wives of Elkanah, who came up to Shiloh to worship before the Lord, earnestly…
Intercession · OF MAN WITH GOD — OF MAN WITH GOD
Reprobacy · General scriptures concerning — General scriptures concerning
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).
"And Jahveh said unto me: If Moses and Samuel stood before me, yet would not my soul incline to this people. Drive them from my face, that they go forth. Jer 15:2. And if they say to thee: Whither shall we go forth? then say to them: Thus hath Jahveh said - Such as are for death, to death; and such as are for the sword, to the sword; and such as are for the famine, to the famine; and such as are for the captivity, to the captivity. Jer 15:3. And I appoint over them four kinds, saith Jahveh: the sword to slay and the dogs to tear, the fowls of the heaven and the cattle of the earth, to devour and destroy. Jer 15:4. And I give them up to be abused to all kingdoms of the earth, for Manasseh's s…
The Lord’s reply to Jeremiah’s prayer (14:19-22) was that Judah’s destruction was inevitable.
15:1 Moses and Samuel were noted for their intercessory prayer. Several times, when they prayed for the rebellious Israelites, the Lord withdrew his threatened punishment (see Exod 32:11-14; Num 14:13-20; 1 Sam 7:8-10). But now, even their intervention would have been ineffective.
Rashi on Jeremiah 15:1
Moses and Samuel Both were needed to beg mercy for Israel, but first they induced them to repent, and afterwards they prayed on their behalf, but they had no idea of turning away My wrath until they had induced them to repent. Moses said (Exodus 32:27), “Let each man put his sword...” (v. 20) “and he scattered it on the surface of the water, etc.” And afterwards (v. 30), “I will ascend to the Lord, perhaps I will atone.” Samuel in Mizpah (I Samuel 7:4,5) “And the children of Israel removed the Baalim,” and afterwards, “‘Gather all Israel to Mizpah, and I shall pray to the Lord on your behalf (sic).’” But you cannot bring them back to Me, therefore do not pray for them.
desire Heb. נַפְֹשִי…
