Kommentar zu Jirmejahu 10:29

Of the way of the nations you shall not learn Of the way of the nations you shall not learnand then, from the signs of the heavens you will not be dismayed, from the eclipse of the sun or the eclipse of the luminaries.

a carpenter Heb. חרש, a craftsman.

a small axe Dolodojjre in O.F.

with nails clous in French.

and with sledge hammers A hammer, marteau in French.

it does not bend Heb. יפיק, it does not kneel with its knees. Comp. (I Sam. 25:31) “a stumbling block (פוקה)”; (Nahum 2:11) “and tottering (ופיק) of the knees.”

Like a palm tree they are beaten He hammers them with a hammer until it has an upright stature like a palm tree.

fear them not if you separate from them for they will not harm you.

neither is it in them to do good If you worship them. היטיב is like להיטיב to do good.

for it befits You It is proper for you.

But with one thing they are brutish i.e., the heathens, and what is that one thing? Their vanities of wood for which they will be punished, and they will be punished for it. יבערו is an expression of foolishness, so is ויכסלו.

Silver beaten into plates Heb. מרקע.

But the Lord God is true Why? Because He is a living God and the King of the world. Therefore, He can make His words come true. A mortal person, however, plans to do something and dies or becomes weak or loses his property, and has no ability to execute his plans.

So shall you say to them This is a letter that Jeremiah sent to Jeconiah and those exiled with him in exile, to reply to the Chaldees in Aramaic, a reply if they tell them to worship idols.

"And thus shall you say to them" (Ashuri: כִּדְנָה֙ תֵּאמְר֣וּן לְה֔וֹם) – This is a letter that God sent Jeremiah for the Babylonian exiled people to answer thus to the Chaldæans when they told them to worship their gods, answer them, "The gods who did not make heaven and earth will perish from earth and from below these heavens." And he wrote the letter for them in the Aramaic language so that they could say it to the Chaldæns in their tongue. And why does it say "and thus you shall say to them?" Because it's a warning to Israel. And that's also in Aramaic so as not to split the verse that it's half in Hebrew and half in Aramaic. And it says "to them" לְה֔וֹם with a mem ם because it appears twice as a mem - it's found in Ezra 5:3 "And thus, say to them" וְכֵן֙ אָמְרִ֣ין לְהֹ֔ם, even though it almost always comes with a nun ן.

These (Ashuri: אֵֽלֶּה). In both the Hebrew and Aramaic languages. This is also found in Ezra - "these vessels" (Ashuri: אלה מָֽאנַיָּ֔א - Ezra 5:15) written as אלה, and read as אֵ֚ל – and אל and אלה are one and the same, as in "these lands" (Ashuri: הָֽאֲרָצֹ֣ת הָאֵ֔ל - Genesis 26:3). And it says "these" because they are visible to humans, although they are high.

"And earth" (Ashuri: וְאַרְקָ֖א) meaning, "earth" (Ashuri: ארץ). And in the words of the Rabbis of blessed memory (Genesis Rabbah 13:12): Four names earth was called corresponding to its four corners - Eretz אֶרֶץ, Tevel תֵּבֵל, Adama אֲדָמָה, Arqa אַרְקָא. And Targum Jonathan translates the verse thus as it is, and does not elongate it in Aramaic. This is because the whole passage up to "The LORD of Hosts is His name" (Ashuri יְהוָ֥ה צְבָא֖וֹת שְׁמֽוֹ׃ – Jeremiah 10:16) is an answer that the children of Israel will say to them – "For we will not serve these gods who did not make heaven and earth, but rather the God who made earth in His might." And the Israelites will understand the Hebrew, and say it to the Chaldæans in Aramaic. But Jeremiah began the words sent to them in Aramaic, and Jonathan explains it in this regard: "He who made the earth in his might (Jeremiah 10:12)" = "And thus also you will say to them: We worship the one who made earth in his might! (Targum Jonathan on Jeremiah 10:12)" The truth is that Israel did not worship idols when exiled, and when they bowed to the image that Nebuchadnezzar had put up (see Daniel 3), they were forced. But even so, they were liable in the days of Haman, had God not had pity on them, as it is said (Megillah 12a) "Why was Israel in that generation liable for destruction? Because they had bowed to the image."

He stretched out Tendre in French.

At the sound of His giving At the time the sound comes that He is giving a multitude of water in the heavens.

clouds Heb. נשאים, clouds.

lightning plaindres in old French.

brutish Heb. נבער. Comp. (Psalms 92:7) “a brutish (בער) man”; also here (infra 10:21), “the shepherds have become brutish (נבערו).”

his molten images Heb. נסכו. An expression of מסכה, a molten image.

at the time of their visitation When I will visit retribution upon them.

Gather in from the land your merchandise Heb. כנעתך. Hide, gather in from the land your merchandise. Comp. (Hos. 12:8) “The trafficker (כּנען) in his hand are deceitful scales.” Menahem explains כנעתך as an expression of humility (הכנעה) and lowliness. And אספי is an expression of bending down. Bend down and humble yourself more than the lowliness of the earth, you Jerusalem, that dwells now in a fortified city (Machbereth p. 107).

sling as one slings a stone with a slingshot.

that they may find their just deserts.

grievous Heb. נחלה, an expression of sickness (חלי).

and I will bear it Heb. ואשאנו. Jonathan renders. And I will bear it ([a]souffrir lui in O.F.).

have left me Heb. יצאוני, have left me, Jerusalem says this.

For the shepherds The kings.

they have not prospered They have not prospered in their kingdom. Comp. (Prov. 17:8) “To all that he turns, he will prosper (ישכיל).

their flocks Heb. מרעיתם, lit. their pasture, the flocks of their pasture.

man’s way is not his For the evil inclination that You created in him leads him astray from the way. Another explanation is: I know, O Lord, that man’s way is not his; not every man has the power to make his way prosper, and if it were not for Your command, the enemy would have no power to destroy Your Temple.

but with justice With chastisements.

with justice (justice in French).

but with justice Jonathan renders: but with mild judgment.

not with Your wrath lest there be complete destruction.

they have devoured (devorerent in French). The same applies to “and consumed him” (ואכלהוּ).