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The Linen Loincloth

Thus said the L ord to me, “Go and buy yourself a linen loincloth, and put it on your loins, but do not dip it in water.” ²So I bought a loincloth according to the word of the L ord, and put it on my loins. ³And the word of the L ord came to me a second time, saying, ⁴“Take the loincloth that you bought and are wearing, and go now to the Euphrates, and hide it there in a cleft of the rock.” ⁵So I went, and hid it by the Euphrates, as the L ord commanded me. ⁶And after many days the L ord said to me, “Go now to the Euphrates, and take from there the loincloth that I commanded you to hide there.” ⁷Then I went to the Euphrates, and dug, and I took the loincloth from the place where I had hidden it. But now the loincloth was ruined; it was good for nothing.

⁸ Then the word of the L ord came to me: ⁹Thus says the L ord: Just so I will ruin the pride of Judah and the great pride of Jerusalem. ¹⁰This evil people, who refuse to hear my words, who stubbornly follow their own will and have gone after other gods to serve them and worship them, shall be like this loincloth, which is good for nothing. ¹¹For as the loincloth clings to one’s loins, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, says the L ord, in order that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory. But they would not listen.

Symbol of the Wine-Jars

¹² You shall speak to them this word: Thus says the L ord, the God of Israel: Every wine-jar should be filled with wine. And they will say to you, “Do you think we do not know that every wine-jar should be filled with wine?” ¹³Then you shall say to them: Thus says the L ord: I am about to fill all the inhabitants of this land—the kings who sit on David’s throne, the priests, the prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem—with drunkenness. ¹⁴And I will dash them one against another, parents and children together, says the L ord. I will not pity or spare or have compassion when I destroy them.

Exile Threatened

Hear and give ear; do not be haughty,

for the L ord has spoken.

Give glory to the L ord your God

before he brings darkness,

and before your feet stumble

on the mountains at twilight;

while you look for light,

he turns it into gloom

and makes it deep darkness.

But if you will not listen,

my soul will weep in secret for your pride;

my eyes will weep bitterly and run down with tears,

because the L ord’s flock has been taken captive.

Say to the king and the queen mother:

“Take a lowly seat,

for your beautiful crown

has come down from your head.”

The towns of the Negeb are shut up

with no one to open them;

all Judah is taken into exile,

wholly taken into exile.

Lift up your eyes and see

those who come from the north.

Where is the flock that was given you,

your beautiful flock?

What will you say when they set as head over you

those whom you have trained

to be your allies?

Will not pangs take hold of you,

like those of a woman in labor?

And if you say in your heart,

“Why have these things come upon me?”

it is for the greatness of your iniquity

that your skirts are lifted up,

and you are violated.

Can Ethiopians change their skin

or leopards their spots?

Then also you can do good

who are accustomed to do evil.

I will scatter you like chaff

driven by the wind from the desert.

This is your lot,

the portion I have measured out to you, says the L ord,

because you have forgotten me

and trusted in lies.

I myself will lift up your skirts over your face,

and your shame will be seen.

I have seen your abominations,

your adulteries and neighings, your shameless prostitutions

on the hills of the countryside.

Woe to you, O Jerusalem!

How long will it be

before you are made clean?

New Revised Standard Version Bible, copyright 1989, Division of Christian Education of the National Council of the Churches of Christ in the United States of America. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

The Prophet is here bidden to address his discourse directly to King Jehoiakim and his mother; for the term lady is not to be taken for the queen, the wife of Jehoiakim, but for his mother, who was then his associate in the kingdom, and possessed great authority. ⁸⁶⁸⁶ So Gataker and Lowth; and they refer to 2 Kings 24:12, and to Jeremiah 22:26. From this circumstance it is gathered that this prophecy was delivered in the short reign of that king, which lasted only three months.
The word “queen,” in our version, is rendered “mistress or lady — domina,” by Calvin, but “potentates” by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic; “governess — dominatrix,” by the Vulgate; and “queen” by the Targum. The word means governess; it is rendered “mistress” in Genesis 16:4, 8; “lady” in Isaiah 47:5, 7; and “queen” in 2 Kings 10:13. — Ed. And there is no doubt but that God thus intended to rouse more fully the community in general; that is, by shewing that he would not spare, no, not the king nor the queen. But we may hence also learn what has already been observed, that the truth announced by the prophets is superior to all the greatness of the world. For it was said before to Jeremiah, “Reprove mountains and rebuke hills;” ⁸⁷⁸⁷ There is an oversight here; the passage referred to is in Micah 6:1; nor is it a right view of it. See vol. 3 on the Minor Prophets, p. 328. — Ed. and still farther,

“Behold, I have set thee over kingdoms and nations, to pull down and to pluck up,” etc., (Jeremiah 1:10)

This ought to be carefully noticed; for kings and those who are eminent in the world, think that they are not only, by a singular privilege, exempt from all laws, but also free from every obligation to observe modesty and to avoid shame. Hence it is, that they from their elevation despise God and his prophets. Here God shews, that he supplied the prophets with his word for this end, — that they might close their eyes to all the splendor of the world, and shew no respect of persons, but pull down every height, and bring to order everything that is elevated in this world. Paul also teaches us, that ministers of the gospel are endued with this power;

“Given to us,” he says, “is power against every height that exalteth itself against Christ.”
(2 Corinthians 10:5)

And hence we must observe, that all who are chosen to the office of teaching, cannot faithfully discharge their duty except they boldly, and with intrepid spirit, dare to reprove both kings and queens; for the word of God is not to be restricted to the common people or men in humble life, but it subjects to itself all, from the least to the greatest. This prophecy was no doubt very bitter to the king as well as to the common people; but it behooved Jeremiah to discharge faithfully his office; and this was also necessary, for the king Jehoiakim and his mother thought that they could not possibly be dethroned.

He therefore bids them to descend and to lie down; that is, he bids them to forget their ancient greatness. He does not simply exhort them to repent, but shews, that as they had been so refractory in their pride, the punishment of disgrace was nigh at hand, for the Lord would with a strong hand lay them prostrate. It is not then an exhortation that the Prophet gives; but he only foretells what they little thought of, — that they in vain flattered themselves, for the Lord would in a short time expose them to reproach by casting them down.

And this is evident from what is added, For descend shall the crown of your honor; that is, it shall be taken away from your highnesses, or from your eminencies, or from your heads; for the word ראשה, rashe, means sometimes the head. ⁸⁸⁸⁸     All the early versions render the words, “Fallen from your head has the crown of your glory.” Our version is that of Montanus. If מ be a formative, then the word, in every instance in which it occurs, means bolsters or pillows, things for the head to rest on. The word for head has commonly a masculine termination in the plural number; but here it is feminine. The most literal rendering is the following: —
   For bring down from your heads will he the crown of your glory.
   The latter words mean “your glorious crown,” the expression being an Hebraism.
   Our common version, as Blayney observes, violates grammar; for the gender of the verb ירד, (which, the same author thinks, ought to be יורד, future in Hiphil) is masculine, while the noun made its nominative is feminine. — Ed But some think that it means here eminencies, and that “the magnificent crown” is put here in apposition.

I have omitted, if I mistake not, to notice one thing; that is, the pride mentioned by the Prophet; except ye hear, weep will my soul in secret on account of pride Interpreters render it “your pride;” that is, the pride with which the Jews were filled; but I am inclined to take a different view, that the Prophet speaks here of the pride or the great power of those enemies whom the Jews then did not in any degree fear. “Since then,” says the Prophet, “ye are so secure, I will retire and weep by myself, and my soul by mourning shall mourn, yea, my eye shall flow down with tears, on account of the pride of the enemies, who are now so much despised by you;” Let us now proceed —

⁸⁶ So Gataker and Lowth; and they refer to 2 Kings 24:12, and to Jeremiah 22:26. From this circumstance it is gathered that this prophecy was delivered in the short reign of that king, which lasted only three months. The word “queen,” in our version, is rendered “mistress or lady — domina,” by Calvin, but “potentates” by the Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic; “governess — dominatrix,” by the Vulgate; and “queen” by the Targum. The word means governess; it is rendered “mistress” in Genesis 16:4, 8; “lady” in Isaiah 47:5, 7; and “queen” in 2 Kings 10:13. — Ed.

⁸⁷ There is an oversight here; the passage referred to is in Micah 6:1; nor is it a right view of it. See vol. 3 on the Minor Prophets, p. 328. — Ed.

⁸⁸ All the early versions render the words, “Fallen from your head has the crown of your glory.” Our version is that of Montanus. If מ be a formative, then the word, in every instance in which it occurs, means bolsters or pillows, things for the head to rest on. The word for head has commonly a masculine termination in the plural number; but here it is feminine. The most literal rendering is the following: — For bring down from your heads will he the crown of your glory. The latter words mean “your glorious crown,” the expression being an Hebraism. Our common version, as Blayney observes, violates grammar; for the gender of the verb ירד, (which, the same author thinks, ought to be יורד, future in Hiphil) is masculine, while the noun made its nominative is feminine. — Ed