Jeremiah12chapter 12

Jeremiah 12:1-4

Wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper: The second confession opens where the first left off, righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee, but presses the plea into the oldest complaint of the wisdom books, wherefore doth the way of the wicked prosper, the very men of Anathoth apparently thriving while pursuing his life. Verse 2 sharpens the complaint with a plant image the chapter will return to, thou hast planted them, they grow, they bring forth fruit, but thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins, worship on the lips only. Verses 3-4 ask what was asked in chapter 11, pull them out like sheep for the slaughter, while naming the wider cost, the land itself mourns and the beasts and birds are consumed for the wickedness of them that dwell therein.

Jeremiah 12:5-6

If thou hast run with the footmen: The Lord's reply refuses comfort and raises the stakes instead, if thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied thee, then how canst thou contend with horses, worse trouble ahead of the trouble already wearing him down, and the swelling of Jordan names the river's flood season as the harder test still to come. Verse 6 identifies the betrayal as coming from inside the family, even thy brethren, and the house of thy father, have dealt treacherously with thee, closing the circle the men of Anathoth opened in chapter 11 and widening it to kin nearer than a hometown.

Jeremiah 12:7-9

I have forsaken mine house: The Lord speaks now in his own grief, using language as intimate as the prophet's, I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage, the dearly beloved of my soul given into the hand of her enemies. The heritage turns hostile in two pictures, a lion in the forest crying out against its own owner and a speckled bird set upon by other birds, images the bench reads as Judah's own strangeness making her prey rather than an outside enemy inventing a grievance.

Jeremiah 12:10-13

Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard: Many pastors continues the shepherd charge from 10:21, foreign kings and their armies named as the very shepherds who have trodden the pleasant portion into a desolate wilderness, the vineyard image widening the tent and flock pictures already used for the same ruin. Verse 13 states the futility bluntly, they have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns, labor spent for nothing because of the fierce anger of the Lord, and no man layeth it to heart in verse 11 names the desolation's deepest cause as much as its outcome, a land ruined with no one left who feels it.

Jeremiah 12:14-17

mine evil neighbours: Judgment turns outward to the neighboring nations who touched Judah's inheritance, pluck them out of their land alongside the house of Judah, a sentence carried in full through the oracles of chapters 46-51 including the Moab oracle. Verse 15 promises the same nations compassion after the plucking, every man to his heritage, every man to his land, and verse 16 attaches a condition, if they will diligently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, an offer that reaches Moab by name at 48:47, yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days, the same restoration formula extended even to a nation this book has cursed at length.