Jeremiah 15:9

She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

EXPOSITORY (ENGLISH BIBLE)

Ellicott's Commentary for English Readers

(9) She that hath borne seven.—In the picture of the previous verse the glory of the mother was found in the valour of her son, here in the number of her children. “Seven,” as the perfect number, represented, as in 1Samuel 2:5, Ruth 4:15, the typical completeness of the family.

Her sun is gone down while it was yet day.—The image of this eclipse of all joy and brightness may possibly have been suggested by the actual eclipse of the sun (total in Palestine), Sept. 30; B.C. 610, the year of the battle of Megiddo, just as the earthquake in the reign of Uzziah suggested much of the imagery of Isaiah and Amos (Isaiah 2:19; Amos 1:1-2; Amos 4:11; Zechariah 14:5). A like image meets us in Amos 8:9.

Benson Commentary

Jeremiah 15:9. She that hath borne seven languisheth — Seven is put for many, (see 1 Samuel 2:5,) and the multitude of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, the mother-city, is here alluded to; the prophet pursuing the metaphor of the former verse, and describing the mother-city under the figure of a woman that had been fruitful, but was now become feeble, and bore no children. He means that the people of Judah, which had been very numerous, were now greatly diminished. Her sun is gone down while it was yet day — In the midst of her prosperity she is reduced to this state of misery, being of a sudden overwhelmed with the greatest calamities, when she might have expected a long continuance of happiness. The expression is extremely strong, and denotes a sudden change from the highest dignity to the lowest abasement. She hath been ashamed and confounded — The judgments of God oppressed and confounded a part of the Jews before their captivity. And the residue of them — The remainder of them, saith God, shall be destroyed by the sword of the enemy.

Matthew Henry's Concise Commentary

15:1-9 The Lord declares that even Moses and Samuel must have pleaded in vain. The putting of this as a case, though they should stand before him, shows that they do not, and that saints in heaven do not pray for saints on earth. The Jews were condemned to different kinds of misery by the righteous judgment of God, and the remnant would be driven away, like the chaff, into captivity. Then was the populous city made desolate. Bad examples and misused authority often produce fatal effects, even after men are dead, or have repented of their crimes: this should make all greatly dread being the occasion of sin in others.

Barnes' Notes on the Bible

She hath been ashamed - Or, "is ashamed." To a Hebrew mother to be childless was a disgrace. Many consider that Jeremiah 15:7-9 refer to the battle of Megiddo, and depict the consternation of Jerusalem at that sad event. If so, in the sun going down while it was day, there will be a reference to the eclipse on September 30, 610 b.c.

Jamieson-Fausset-Brown Bible Commentary

9. borne seven—(1Sa 2:5). Seven being the perfect number indicates full fruitfulness.

languisheth—because not even one is left of all her sons (Jer 15:8).

sun is gone down while … yet day—Fortune deserts her at the very height of her prosperity (Am 8:9).

she … ashamed—The mothers (she being collective) are put to the shame of disappointed hopes through the loss of all their children.

Matthew Poole's Commentary

Seven signifies many, 1 Samuel 2:5 Job 5:19. The prophet complains that Jerusalem, or the country of Judah, that had been very numerous in people, now grew feeble, neither able to maintain those she had borne, nor yet to bear more.

Her sun is gone down while it was yet day; in the midst of her prosperity she became thus miserable.

She hath been ashamed and confounded: a part of them were confounded by the judgments of God, which came upon them before their captivity. For the remainder of them, (saith God,) they shall be destroyed by the sword of the enemy.

Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible

She that hath borne seven languisheth,.... Either the mother that has borne many children, seven being put for a large number, now being able to bear no more, and being bereaved of what she had, and who were her staff and support, and from whom she had her expectation, faints away, and dies through grief and trouble; or Jerusalem, which formerly abounded with young men, is now in a forlorn and destitute state; her children, the inhabitants of it, being slain with the sword, or dying of famine and the pestilence. In the Talmud (i), this is interpreted of seven wicked kings of Israel, as Jeroboam, Baasha, Ahab, Jehu, Pekah, Menahem, and Hoshea; and elsewhere of seven kings of Judah, thus reckoned, Jehoram, Joash, Ahaz, Manasseh, Amon, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah (k):

she hath given up the ghost; or, "blew out her soul (l)"; her breath departs; no life can be kept in her; she faints away at the calamities coming on her:

her sun is gone down while it was yet day; the darkness of affliction, and the evening of distress and calamity came upon her sooner than was expected, while in the midst of peace and prosperity that was promised, and hoped to be enjoyed for a long time to come; see Amos 8:9,

she hath been ashamed and confounded; of her vain hope, trust, and confidence:

and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord; that is; such who died not of the famine and pestilence, but at the breaking up of the city endeavoured to make their escape, these fell into the hands of the enemy, and perished by the sword, as the Lord here predicts; for whatsoever he says certainly comes to pass.

(i) T. Bab. Gittin, fol. 88. 1.((k) Vid. Jarchi & Abendana in loc. (l) "efflabit animam suam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "exspiravit animam suam", Cocceius.

Geneva Study Bible

She that hath borne {h} seven languisheth: she hath breathed her last; her sun is {i} gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the remnant of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

(h) She who had many lost all her children.

(i) She was destroyed in the midst of her prosperity.

EXEGETICAL (ORIGINAL LANGUAGES)

Cambridge Bible for Schools and Colleges

9. She that hath borne seven] and therefore, from the Jewish point of view, might have thought herself secure and prosperous. Seven was the perfect number. Cp. 1 Samuel 2:5.

hath given up the ghost] hath died.

while it was yet day] before she had reached the evening of her life. Cp. Amos 8:9.

Pulpit Commentary

Verse 9. - That hath borne seven; a proverbial expression (comp. 1 Samuel 2:5; Ruth 4:15). Her sun is gone down, etc. The figure is that of an eclipse (comp. Amos 9:9). She hath been ashamed, etc.; rather, she ashamed, etc. Ewald supposes the sun, which is sometimes feminine in Hebrew, to be the subject (comp. Isaiah 24:23); but the view of the Authorized Version is more probable. The shame of childlessness is repeatedly referred to (comp. Jeremiah 1:12; Isaiah 54:4; Genesis 16:4; Genesis 30:1, 23). Jeremiah 15:9

Keil and Delitzsch Biblical Commentary on the Old Testament

By the death of the sons, the women lose their husbands, and become widows. לי is the dative of sympathetic interest. "Sand of the sea" is the figure for a countless number. ימּים is poetic plural; cf. Psalm 78:27; Job 6:3. On these defenceless women come suddenly spoilers, and these mothers who had perhaps borne seven sons give up the ghost and perish without succour, because their sons have fallen in war. Thus proceeds the portrayal as Hitz. has well exhibited it. על אם בּחוּר is variously interpreted. We must reject the view taken by Chr. B. Mich. from the Syr. and Arab. versions: upon mother and young man; as also the view of Rashi, Cler., Eichh., Dahl., etc., that אם means the mother-city, i.e., Jerusalem. The true rendering is that of Jerome and Kimchi, who have been followed by J. D. Mich., Hitz., Ew., Graf, and Ng.: upon the mother of the youth or young warrior. This view is favoured by the correspondence of the woman mentioned in Job 6:9 who had borne seven sons. Both are individualized as women of full bodily vigour, to lend vividness to the thought that no age and no sex will escape destruction בּצּהרים, at clear noontide, when one least looks for an attack. Thus the word corresponds with the "suddenly" of the next clause. עיר, Aramaic form for ציר, Isaiah 13:8, pangs. The bearer of seven, i.e., the mother of many sons. Seven as the perfect number of children given in blessing by God, cf. 1 Samuel 2:5; Ruth 4:15. "She breathes to her life," cf. Job 31:39. Graf wrongly: she sighs. The sun of her life sets (בּאה) while it is still day, before the evening of her life has been reached, cf. Amos 8:9. "Is put to shame and confounded" is not to be referred to the son, but the mother, who, bereaved of her children, goes covered with shame to the grave. The Keri בּא for בּאה is an unnecessary change, since שׁמשׁ is also construed as fem., Genesis 15:17. The description closes with a glance cast on those left in life after the overthrow of Jerusalem. These are to be given to the sword when in flight before their enemies, cf. Micah 6:14.