Jeremiah 15:19 — meaning, Hebrew and Greek word study, commentary
Jeremiah 15:19
Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
to say (used with great latitude) · verb, qal perfect, 3rd person masculine singular
LORD
יְהוָ֗הYah.weh
H3068
Jehovah · proper noun, a title
return
תָּשׁ֤וּבta.Shuv
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
again
וַאֲשִֽׁיבְךָ֙va.'a.shi.ve.Kha
H7725
to turn back (hence · conjunction + verb, hiphil, 1st person common singular + pronominal suffix, 2nd person masculine singular
stand
תַּֽעֲמֹ֔דta.'a.Mod
H5975
to stand · verb, qal imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
before
לְפָנַ֣יle.fa.Nai
H6440
the face (as the part that turns) · preposition + noun, common masculine plural construct + pronominal suffix
forth
תּוֹצִ֥יאto.Tzi'
H3318
to go (causatively · verb, hiphil imperfect, 2nd person masculine singular
precious
יָקָ֛רya.Kar
H3368
valuable (objectively or subjectively) · adjective, masculine singular absolute
vile
מִזּוֹלֵ֖לmi.zo.Lel
H2151
to shake (as in the wind) · preposition + verb, qal active participle, masculine singular absolute
mouth
כְּפִ֣יke.Fi
H6310
the mouth (as the means of blowing) · preposition + noun, common masculine singular construct + pronominal suffix
return
יָשֻׁ֤בוּya.Shu.vu
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperfect, 3rd person masculine plural
return
תָשׁ֥וּבta.Shuv
H7725
to turn back (hence · verb, qal imperfect, 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
Zechariah 3:7 Thus saith the LORD of hosts; If thou wilt walk in my ways, and if thou wilt keep my charge, then thou shalt also judge my house, and shalt…
Luke 21:15 For I will give you a mouth and wisdom, which all your adversaries shall not be able to gainsay nor resist.
Leviticus 10:10 And that ye may put difference between holy and unholy, and between unclean and clean;
Ezekiel 44:23 And they shall teach my people the difference between the holy and profane, and cause them to discern between the unclean and the clean.
Ezekiel 22:26 Her priests have violated my law, and have profaned mine holy things: they have put no difference between the holy and profane, neither have…
Jude 1:24 Now unto him that is able to keep you from falling, and to present you faultless before the presence of his glory with exceeding joy,
Galatians 1:10 For do I now persuade men, or God? or do I seek to please men? for if I yet pleased men, I should not be the servant of Christ.
Hebrews 5:14 But strong meat belongeth to them that are of full age, even those who by reason of use have their senses exercised to discern both good and…
Cross-references from OpenBible.info (CC BY), in the lineage of the Treasury of Scripture Knowledge (public domain).
Commentary
Matthew Henry on Jeremiah 15:15–end
Here, as before, we have,
I. The prophet's humble address to God, containing a representation both of his integrity and of the hardships he underwent notwithstanding. It is a matter of comfort to us that, whatever ails us, we have a God to go to, before whom we may spread our case and to whose omniscience we may appeal, as the prophet here, "O Lord! thou knowest; thou knowest my sincerity, which men are resolved they will not acknowledge; thou knowest my distress, which men disdain to take notice of." Observe here,
1. What it is that the prophet prays for, Jer 15:15. (1.) That God would consider his case and be mindful of him: "O Lord! remember me; think upon me for good." (2.) That God woul…
God's reply to Jeremiah.
return . . . bring . . . again--Jeremiah, by his impatient language, had left his proper posture towards God; God saith, "If thou wilt return (to thy former patient discharge of thy prophetic function) I will bring thee back" to thy former position: in the Hebrew there is a play of words, "return . . . turn again" (Jer 8:4; Jer 4:1).
stand before me--minister acceptably to Me (Deu 10:8; Kg1 17:1; Kg1 18:15).
take . . . precious from . . . vile--image from metals: "If thou wilt separate what is precious in thee (the divine graces imparted) from what is vile (thy natural corruptions, impatience, and hasty words), thou shall be as My mouth": my mouthpiece (Exo 4:1…
Therefore thus saith the Lord, if thou return,.... From thine unbelief, diffidence, and impenitence, and repent of them; expressed in the preceding verses:
then will I bring thee again; or, "restore thee (s)"; pardon his sin, and return him to his post and place, to his office and ministry in it, and confirm and establish him therein:
and thou shalt stand before me; not only as a petitioner for the people; see Jeremiah 15:1, but as a servant of the Lord, attending to his word, and waiting his orders, and ready to execute them. It denotes his stability in his office:
and if thou wilt take forth the precious from the vile; take precious truths, comparable to gold, silver, and precious stone…
The Church Fathers
Let us catch them then by our mode of life; and by these souls let us build up the Church, and of these let us amass our wealth. There is nothing to weigh against a soul, not even the whole world. So that although thou give countless treasure unto the poor, thou wilt do no such work as he who converteth one soul. "For he that taketh forth the precious from the vile shall be as my mouth:" so He speaks. A great good it is, I grant, to have pity on the poor; but it is nothing equal to the withdrawing them from error.
Consider to what a dignity one exalts himself who esteems others' salvation to be of great importance. Such a person is imitating God as far as lies within the power of humankind. Hear what God says speaking through his prophet: "He who separates the worthy from the vile shall be as my mouth." What God says is that one who is eager to save a brother who has fallen into careless ways, one who hastens to snatch his brother from the jaws of the devil, that person imitates me as far as lies within human power. What could equal that? This is greater than all good deeds. This is the peak of all virtue.
Words full of gentleness and meekness, even as also He Himself used to speak, saying to them that were insulting Him, "I have not a devil;" and again, "If I have spoken evil, bear witness of the evil." If thou also speak in this way; if thou speak for thy neighbor's amendment, thou wilt obtain a tongue like that tongue. And these things God Himself saith; "For he that bringeth out the precious from the vile, shall be as my mouth;" such are His words. When therefore thy tongue is as Christ's tongue, and thy mouth is become the mouth of the Father, and thou art a temple of the Holy Ghost, then what kind of honor could be equal to this?
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
Blessing · CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE — CONTINGENT UPON OBEDIENCE
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 15:19
19. Therefore thus saith the LORD, If thou return, then will I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me: and if thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as my mouth: let them return unto thee; but return not thou unto them.
19. Propterea sic dixit Jehova,, Si conversus fueris, ego quoque convertam te; coram facie mea stabis [hoc est, ut stes coram me) et si separaveris (eduxeris ad verbum, hoc est, si discreveris) pretiosum a vili, tanquam os meum eris: convertantur ipsi ad te, et tu non convertaris ad eos.
From this answer of God we may gather more clearly the design of the Prophet, for his purpose was, in order more fully to prove the people guilt…
Complaint of the Prophet, and Soothing Answer of the Lord. - His sorrow at the rejection by God of his petition so overcomes the prophet, that he gives utterance to the wish: he had rather not have been born than live on in the calling in which he must ever foretell misery and ruin to his people, thereby provoking hatred and attacks, while his heart is like to break for grief and fellow-feeling; whereupon the Lord reprovingly replies as in Jer 15:11-14.
Jer 15:10
"Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast born me, a man of strive and contention to all the earth! I have not lent out, nor have men lent to me; all curse me. Jer 15:11. Jahveh saith, Verily I strengthen thee to thy good; verily I caus…
The Lord confronted Jeremiah with the need to make a decision. If Jeremiah decided to return to a disposition of service and submission, the Lord would restore him to further usefulness. If Jeremiah took care to utter good words of submission, faith, and obedience, and reject worthless ones (such as those that the false prophets spoke, 14:14-16), Jeremiah could continue to be the Lord’s spokesman.
Rashi on Jeremiah 15:19
Therefore Because I suffer from these troubles.
so said the Lord to me.
If you return You, Israel, through me, and I will return you to Him, He said to Me, “You will stand before Me.”
and if you take precious out of the vile If you take a pious man from a wicked man, i.e., if you bring him to repentance.
You shall be as my mouth For I make a decree and you annul it.
Let them return to you, but you shall not return to them Let them return to your word, but you shall not return to stray after them.
