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Jeremiah 6:1-8 open_in_new
His People Are To Prepare For Action Because The Invasion Is Upon Them (Jeremiah 6:1-8).
As the enemy approached from the north the tribe of Benjamin (his own tribe), who were to the north of Jerusalem, had fled for refuge to Jerusalem, and to help to defend the city. But now they are commanded to leave Jerusalem because its case is hopeless, and continue their southward journey in order to bring the southern cities to a state of readiness. Benjamin were well known as doughty fighters, and their skills would be needed there. And all this was because Jerusalem was no longer a safe place to be. She had prided herself on being ‘the comely and delicate one' but now she was to be cut off without mercy.
As a result the call then goes out to prepare for war, because the approaching enemy are filled with an eagerness that brooks no delay. This eagerness is because it is YHWH Who has ordered them into action, as a result of the corruption and waywardness of His people. But there is a touch of mercy here also, as He calls His people to learn and repent, lest this desolation come upon them. It is apparent that if only they will receive His instruction they may yet be saved.
“Flee for safety, you children of Benjamin,
Out of the midst of Jerusalem,
And blow the ram's horn in Tekoa,
And raise up a signal on Beth-haccherem,
For evil looks down from the north,
And a great destruction.”
The children of Benjamin, having come southwards seeking refuge in Jerusalem are now advised to move on for safety's sake. Jerusalem is no longer a safe place to be. But it will not be an act of cowardice, for the point is made that it will be their duty to warn and help the southern cities to prepare for what is coming. The Benjaminites were renowned fighters.
Thus in Teqo‘a, (a city sixteen or so kilometres (ten miles) south of Jerusalem) they are to tiqe‘u the ram's horn. Note the wordplay. The name is simply chosen for its assonance, not because Tekoa was of special importance. And in Beth-haccherem (the house of the vineyard) they are to set up the war signal, indicating that war has come to YHWH's vineyard. The fact that evil ‘looks down' from the north may indicate that the enemy have taken over a high point overlooking the doomed city, so that its ‘great destruction' is about to take place.
Some relate the mention of Benjamin to the fact that Jeremiah was a Benjaminite, with the thought being that he would feel more at home addressing his own tribe who would be more to receive his words in a friendly spirit, but the mention of safety makes our first suggestion more likely.
“The comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion, will I cut off,
Shepherds with their flocks will come to her,
They will pitch their tents against her round about,
They will feed every one in his place.”
‘The comely and delicate one.' YHWH is possibly here citing Jerusalem's verdict on itself as ‘the comely and delicate one, the daughter of Zion' (note the contrast with Jeremiah 4:31 where she is the destitute mother with child). This may well have been their view of themselves in terms of the Song of Solomon (Jeremiah 1:5; Jeremiah 1:8-10; Jeremiah 1:15-16; Jeremiah 2:14; Jeremiah 6:4; Jeremiah 7:1-6). Note especially Jeremiah 6:4, ‘comely as Jerusalem'. The idea then is that her view of herself will not save her, for she is to be cut off (compare Isaiah 1:8; Lamentations 1:6) to such an extent that she will become a pasturage for sheep. Her lovers have evidently turned against her. (She will, however, one day be restored (Isaiah 52:2), but that is not in mind here). In Deuteronomy 28:56 the woman suffering under siege was also described as ‘tender and delicate', and this may be in mind here, linking the coming destruction with the curses in Deuteronomy.
Others, however, see this instead as YHWH's benevolent view of Jerusalem, which would tie in with the description of Judah/Israel as His ‘beloved' in Jeremiah 11:15; Jeremiah 12:7, and the thought that she was once His lover (Jeremiah 2:1-3). But unless it is meant at least partially sarcastically (compare how her being called YHWH's ‘beloved' in Jeremiah 11:15 is also probably partially sarcastic), it is incompatible with the descriptions that have already been given of her and also with the judgment immediately described. Jerusalem has in fact been revealed as far from tender and delicate.
“Shepherds with their flocks will come to her; they will pitch their tents against her round about; they will feed every one in his place.” This may be seen as a follow up of the ‘great destruction' in Jeremiah 6:1, being seen as a picture of what would follow her ‘great destruction'. She would become so desolated that she would no longer be inhabited, shepherds would feed their flocks there, and pitch their tents around her, and each would feed his flock in his chosen place (compare Jeremiah 33:12-13). This would provide a vivid contrast with Jeremiah 6:2. “Having been ‘cut off' ‘the comely and delicate one' will become a ruined waste”.
Alternately it may be seeing the commanders of the invading army as shepherds over their sheep, pitching their war tents around Jerusalem expecting to partake of her spoils. But while elsewhere invaders are sometimes likened to shepherds, they are nowhere spoken of in terms of sheep (see Jeremiah 12:10; Isaiah 31:4; Isaiah 44:28; Micah 5:5; Nahum 3:18). Invaders are more thought of in terms of lions. This fact in itself would appear to support the first suggestion.
“Prepare you war against her,
Arise, and let us go up at noon.
Woe to us! for the day declines,
For the shadows of the evening are stretched out.
Arise, and let us go up by night,
And let us destroy her palaces.”
In rather slick phrases Jeremiah conveys the idea of the invaders being ready to act by both day and night. It is made clear that nothing will be allowed to hold them back or delay them. They attack during the heat of the day, and then again at nightfall, even though a night raid of such a type during a siege would normally be unlikely, for they see the declining of the day as tragic because it might hinder their activity. They are so determined that nothing can be allowed to stop them that even the approach of night does not matter. No delay can be countenanced.
The word for ‘prepare' means ‘sanctify, make holy'. War was looked on very much as a religious venture. The omens would be consulted (Ezekiel 21:21), the gods would be called on (Isaiah 36:10), the priests would pray over the army, the guidance of astrologers would be sought to see if the portents were good. It is intended to be ironic that it was the enemies of Jerusalem, and not ‘God's people', who ‘made themselves holy', and who were so eager to obey their gods.
‘For thus has YHWH of hosts said,
“Hew you down trees,
And cast up a mound against Jerusalem,
This is the city to be visited,
She is wholly oppression in the midst of her.”
And the reason for their haste is that they are acting under YHWH's orders. It is YHWH Who has told them to hew down the trees and cast up a siege mound against Jerusalem, seeking to bring the attackers on a level with the defenders, because this is the city that He desires to visit in judgment, and that because she is so full of oppression. Note that the whole city is in fact seen by Him as filled with oppression. The judgment is not arbitrary. She is being ‘visited' by design. The detailed description of the siege tallies with what is depicted in inscriptions
“As a cistern (pit) casts forth its waters,
So does she cast forth her wickedness,
Violence and destruction is heard in her,
Before me continually is sickness and wounds.”
Indeed just as a cistern (compare Genesis 37:24; Leviticus 13:36) pours forth its somewhat soiled water (the rare verb indicates water obtained by digging - 2 Kings 19:24), so does Jerusalem pour forth iniquity, in terms of wickedness, violence and destruction. Evil has so taken over the city that as YHWH surveys it, all He can see continually is sickness and wounds. The city as a whole is like a sick and wounded man. Compare for this idea Isaiah 1:5-6.
“Be you instructed, O Jerusalem,
Lest my soul be alienated from you,
Lest I make you a desolation,
A land not inhabited.”
But even in spite of Judah's continued wickedness God would not give them up unless there was no alternative. So He calls on them to let Him instruct them and teach them so that they might return to Him and seek His face. He does not want to be permanently alienated from them. And one reason for this (apart from His great love and compassion) is that if that alienation takes place then they will become a desolation and their land will become uninhabited. So once again at the end of a message of judgment we find a message of hope, an appeal to Judah to respond, something which could solve all their problems, with the alternative being total desolation.
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Jeremiah 6:1-30 open_in_new
In View Of Judah's Failure To Respond To His Warnings YHWH Stresses That The Invasion Is Now Imminent (Jeremiah 6:1-30).
Chapter 4 had predicted that invasion was coming, and chapter 5 had given the reasons why it was coming. Now it is the imminence of the invasion that is stressed. It is seen as almost upon them, and it will be an invasion that is violent and complete, because YHWH has now finally rejected His people.
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Jeremiah 6:9-15 open_in_new
Jeremiah Is Called Once More To Sift Jerusalem For Righteous Men And His Response Demonstrates That He Is Despairing Of Ever Finding One As He Sums Up Their Fallen State And Calls On YHWH To Fulfil His Judgment On Them (Jeremiah 6:9-15).
In view of the coming thorough gleaning of the remnant of Israel, the gathering up by the invaders of the remains of what was once a fruitful vine, the call comes to Jeremiah from YHWH to check out the grapes in the baskets, presumably to take out those which belong to Him. But Jeremiah discovers that there are none who will hear, none who delight in the word of YHWH. And the discovery fills him with ‘the wrath of YHWH' as he begins to appreciate how God feels about His wayward people, so much so that he can no longer hold in his feelings but calls on Him to pour out His wrath (His revealed antipathy against sin) and carry out His judgment on them all. YHWH then confirms that their houses will be handed over to others, together with their fields and their wives, because of the total corruptness that is among them.
‘Thus says YHWH of hosts, “They will thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine, turn again your hand as a grape-gatherer into the baskets (or ‘to the twigs').”
Once again Israel/Judah are depicted as a vine (compare Jeremiah 2:21; Jeremiah 5:10), but this time as one which has so little fruit remaining on it that it is open to the gleaners, those who seek what remains once the main harvest has been gathered. The gleaners here are the final invaders, picking what remains of the remnant of Israel after others have first harvested it. The ‘remnant of Israel' are a depleted Judah after the northern kingdom had been destroyed and after what it has itself already suffered at the hands of its enemies. But among them may be some of YHWH's own and so Jeremiah is called on to put his hands into the gleaners' baskets to see if he can find any. This can be seen as tying in with YHWH's previous command to search the streets and squares of Jerusalem to see if there were any righteous (see Jeremiah 5:1).
Others see ‘turn again your hand as a grape-gatherer to the twigs' as a comment made by the invaders to each other as they encourage each other in the work of gleaning. The branches having been gleaned it is now the turn of the furthest twigs. But the general picture is clear. Israel/Judah is to be thoroughly gleaned.
‘To whom shall I speak and testify,
That they may hear?
Behold, their ear is uncircumcised,
And they cannot listen,
Behold, the word of YHWH is become to them a reproach,
They have no delight in it.'
Jeremiah's response is basically to ask which grapes he can gather. Who are there to whom he can testify and speak who would be willing to hear? For they all have uncircumcised ears (they have flaps over their ears) so that they cannot listen. This may be an indication that their ears are simply like those of foreign (uncircumcised) nations, or that they have a flap of unbelief over their ears which needs to be removed. It is a reminder that physical circumcision without a responsive heart is nullified. And he then points out that the word of YHWH has become a reproach to this people so that they had no delight in it. They did not want to hear preaching about their own sins and failures. They wanted to be told that all was well with them.
‘Therefore I am full of the wrath of YHWH,
I am weary with holding in,
Pour it out on the children in the street,
And on the assembly of young men together,
For even the man with the woman will be taken,
The aged with him who is full of days.'
As a result of his vain efforts to face men up with the word of YHWH Jeremiah has reached the end of his patience. From youngest to oldest none would listen. He thus felt that he could no longer hold in the wrath of YHWH. And so he calls on Him to pour it out on ‘the children in the street' and on ‘the young men as they collect together'. These would be some of the many whom he had found in the streets and squares who had refused to listen to him (Jeremiah 5:1). Nor would women be excluded, for what he said applied to both men and women, including the aged, and those in the prime of life. All were to lose out in the coming visitation.
‘And their houses will be turned to others,
Their fields and their womenfolk together
For I will stretch out my hand on the inhabitants of the land,
The word of YHWH (neum YHWH).'
And the consequence of the coming invasion will be that their houses will be possessed by others, together with their fields and their womenfolk (compare Deuteronomy 8:12-20; it is the converse of Deuteronomy 6:10-11). And this is because YHWH will stretch out His hand on them in order to punish them. This is the certain and sure word of YHWH, and will fulfil his previous word spoken in Deuteronomy.
‘For from the least of them even to the greatest of them,
Every one is given to covetousness (literally ‘is out to gain gain'),
And from the prophet even to the priest,
Every one deals falsely.
They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly,
Saying, Peace, peace; when there is no peace.'
But YHWH's wrath is not without reason. It has arisen because of the attitudes of ALL the people towards one another, and towards Him. They are all given to the breaking of the tenth commandment, being filled with covetousness and greed, all out to do each other so that they might become wealthier. And worst of all, those responsible for their spiritual welfare rather deal with them falsely. For they make out that there is nothing to worry about and that God is not concerned over their small sins, dismissing any concerns that they might have had as though they did not matter by saying ‘peace, peace', when in fact there is no peace, because YHWH is very displeased with them. Their cry was ‘all is certainly well' (the repetition stressing certainty), when all was certainly not well.
‘Peace, peace.' Compare Jeremiah 8:11. In this context this could refer either to peace between men and God (Jeremiah 16:5; Jeremiah 29:11; Psalms 85:8; Psalms 85:10; Psalms 119:165; Isaiah 26:3; Isaiah 27:5; Isaiah 53:5; Isaiah 57:19; Isaiah 57:21; Malachi 2:5-6), or to a state of well-being (Jeremiah 23:17; Jeremiah 33:6; Jeremiah 33:9; Jeremiah 38:4; Psalms 29:11; Isaiah 32:17-18; Isaiah 45:7; Isaiah 48:8; Isaiah 48:15; Isaiah 52:7), or to the prospect of peace in their relationship with other nations, suggesting that there would be no war and no invasion (Jeremiah 4:10; Jeremiah 8:11; Jeremiah 8:15; Jeremiah 12:5; Jeremiah 14:19; and often), although in many verses the meanings blend into each other. They had no peace with God, they had no hope of future well being, and they had no prospect of peace in respect of their enemies.
‘Were they ashamed when they had committed abomination?
No, they were not at all ashamed, nor could they blush,
Therefore they will fall among those who fall,
At the time that I visit them they will be cast down,
Says YHWH.'
Worst of all, however, was their lack of shame. Were they ashamed at their idolatry (abomination) and their sin? No, they were not ashamed, such things did not even make them blush. And once people can no longer blush it is a sign of how brazen they have become in sin. That is why they will fall among those who fall, and will be cast down at the visitation of YHWH. And this is what YHWH Himself says.
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Jeremiah 6:16-26 open_in_new
YHWH Now Describes The Total Intransigence Of His People And Dismisses Their Attempts To Pacify Him By Religious Ritual And Offerings, Confirming To Them The Judgment That Is Inevitably Coming On Them Because Of Their Sins (Jeremiah 6:16-26).
The intransigence of the people is now brought out by their response to YHWH's pleading. When He calls on them to walk in the old paths, they adamantly refuse. When He gives them watchmen in order to warn them of the consequences of their present behaviour they close their ears. It is not that they have not heard, it is because they have refused to listen. And that is why YHWH calls on the nations and the whole earth to witness the fact that He is bringing on them ‘evil, the fruit of their thoughts'. Because they have adamantly refused to listen to His words and have rejected His Instruction, they will reap what they have sown.
It is not that they have failed in the niceties of religious ritual. They still give the impression of desiring to worship Him by what they bring to His house. But it is all in vain if with it they are disobedient, for it reveals that they do not really know Him. That is why they will stumble and fall and a terrible enemy will come against them causing great grief and wailing, so that it will not even be safe to go outside the city walls. And the passage closes with Jeremiah's call on his people to mourn because of the destroyer who will suddenly come upon them.
Judah's Blatant Refusal To Obey YHWH.
‘Thus says YHWH, “Stand you in the ways and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good way, and walk within it, and you will find rest for your souls.” But they said, “We will not walk in it.”
Had the people been willing to respond they could still have escaped the coming judgments, for YHWH was still calling on them to take their stance in the ways, and seek the old paths where the good way is, being established in the good way, so that they could walk in it (thus fulfilling the requirements of the covenant, God's Law). And indeed He promised that if they did so they would find rest to their souls (true peace). But their only answer was to blatantly refuse, saying ‘we will not walk in it'. Their hearts were totally set against the requirements of the covenant.
This is the Old Testament equivalent of ‘take My yoke on you and learn of me -- and you will find rest to your souls' (Matthew 11:29), except that here in Jeremiah the idea is possibly more on physical well-being. The idea of ‘walking in the ways of YHWH' is a common one in Deuteronomy (Deuteronomy 5:33; Deuteronomy 8:6; Deuteronomy 10:12; Deuteronomy 11:22; Deuteronomy 19:9; Deuteronomy 26:17; Deuteronomy 28:9; Deuteronomy 30:16) and regularly linked with the idea of loving God. The two go together. We cannot claim to love God and refuse to walk in His ways.
‘And I set watchmen over you, saying, “Listen to the sound of the ram's horn,” but they said, “We will not listen.”
YHWH had then set watchmen over them, His true prophets, who had, as it were, sounded the warning on the ram's horn. But they had closed their ears saying, ‘we will not listen to your warnings'. So it was not that His people had not had every opportunity, it was that they had simply turned their backs on them.
The Inevitable Consequences Which Must Follow.
‘Therefore hear, you nations, and know, O congregation, what is among them. Hear, O earth. Behold, I will bring evil on this people, even the fruit of their thoughts, because they have not listened to my words, and as for my law, they have rejected it.'
The seriousness and solemnity of the situation is brought out by God's wide appeal to witnesses as to what He is going to do, and why He is going to do it. He calls on the nations as witnesses, and on ‘the congregation'. And then He calls on the earth itself. The ‘congregation' is a word commonly used to represent the whole of Israel, but it cannot mean that here, unless it refers to the congregation in exile, for they are to be witnesses of what is among the people of Judah. It is possible therefore that the appeal is to the congregation of God that stands in judgment (Psalms 82:1). This would tie in with the contrast with ‘earth'. Alternatively it could be seen as referring to the righteous remnant (Christ would build His congregation on the righteous remnant - Matthew 16:18).
What is to be witnessed is ‘what is among them', their sin and its consequences. For He is bringing evil on this people, as the ‘fruit of their thoughts'. What they have sown in their thoughts, so will they reap. It will be the consequence of their having set their minds against Him by saying, ‘we will not walk in it' and ‘we will not listen' (Jeremiah 6:16-17). It is because they have not listened to His words and warnings, and because they have rejected His Instruction (torah, law, instruction), in other words have rejected His covenant, that evil and judgment must come on them.
God Cannot Be ‘Buttered Up'.
‘To what purpose comes frankincense to me from Sheba,
And the sweet cane from a far country?
Your burnt-offerings are not acceptable,
Nor your sacrifices pleasing to me.
And in view of their rejection of the requirements of the covenant, and of His Law, there is little purpose in their bringing to Him expensive gifts. Frankincense from Sheba, and sweet cane from a far country may be all very well. But they do not replace good, old-fashioned obedience. Nor in those circumstances are offerings and sacrifices pleasing to Him. We have here the constantly repeated assertion by the prophets that ritual offerings are not sufficient in themselves, unless they are accompanied by love and obedience (compare 1 Samuel 15:22; Isaiah 1:11-18; Hosea 6:6; Amos 5:21-22).
Sheba was in Arabia to the east, and a source of perfumes and scents. Frankincense was required for the preparation of the holy incense (Exodus 30:34) and the holy anointing oil, while the ‘far country' is probably India from where would come the aromatic calamus that was also required.
‘Therefore thus says YHWH, “Behold, I will lay stumbling-blocks before this people, and the fathers and the sons together will stumble against them, the neighbour and his friend will perish.”
Having called on His witnesses YHWH now gives His verdict. He is going to fill their way with grave difficulties which will cause ‘this people', who have sinned so greatly, to stumble totally against them, and they will all, both father and son, and the friend with his neighbour, perish together. They all got along together, and now they would all perish together.
The Invaders From The North.
‘Thus says YHWH, “Behold, a people come from the north country, and a great nation will be stirred up from the uttermost parts of the earth. They lay hold on bow and spear, they are cruel, and have no mercy, their voice roars like the sea, and they ride on horses, every one set in array, as a man to the battle, against you, O daughter of Zion.”
The nature of the cause of stumbling is then described. YHWH will call from the north a people, a great nation (compare Jeremiah 5:15; Jeremiah 50:41), from the uttermost parts of the earth. Opinion is divided as to whether this refers to the Scythian hordes mentioned by Herodotus or to the Babylonians, or indeed to both for they sometimes operated together. They are described as laying hold of bow and spear, as cruel, as merciless, as advancing with loud war-cries (roaring like the sea), while riding on horses, and as well armed, all in all presenting a fearsome picture. And these fearsome warriors have banded together against the comely and delicate daughter of Zion, Jerusalem.
Whilst they either came from the Black Sea area or from Babylon, or from both, to most of the people of Judah this was the ‘uttermost parts of the earth' for their knowledge of the world was very limited and these nations were at the furthest horizons of their world.
‘Cruel.' The harshness of the Assyrians and Babylonians is well attested. It made the Palestinian nations, whose bloodthirstiness appals us, look like angels. They were pitiless and merciless, a trait brought out by Nebuchadnezzar's later treatment of Zedekiah when he first slew his sons before his eyes and then gouged out his eyes. They would cut off hands and noses, put out eyes, flay their victims alive, and cast them alive into furnaces (compare Daniel 3:11).
Judah's Fearful And Mournful Response To Their Advance.
‘We have heard the report of them,
Our hands grow feeble,
Anguish has taken hold of us,
Birth-pains as of a woman in labour.”
The reaction of Judah to this news is then described. They were filled with fear, and anguish, and, in modern parlance, they went weak at the knees. Their hands began to shake and they lost their strength, anguish seized hold of them. They felt themselves as being like a woman undergoing her labour pains in expectancy of what was to come. The pictures vividly bring out the panic that takes hold of a nation in the face of an invincible and cruel enemy.
‘Do not go forth into the field,
Nor walk by the way,
For the sword of the enemy,
Terror is on every side (magor misabib).'
So desperate will the situation be, and so close the enemy, that it will no be longer safe to go out into the countryside, or walk along local roads outside the shelter of the cities, because the sword, and their enemy, and terror will be everywhere. This would at times be a repeated experience during the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, but would come to finalisation at the end of Zedekiah's reign.
‘Terror is on every side.' This became a watchword to Jeremiah, so much so that he would even give this appellation to his bitter enemy (Jeremiah 20:3), and would have it thrown at him by the people (Jeremiah 20:10). See also Jeremiah 46:5; Jeremiah 49:29.
‘O daughter of my people, gird yourself with sackcloth, and wallow yourself in ashes, make you mourning, as for an only son, most bitter lamentation, for the destroyer will suddenly come upon us.'
The passage ends with a lament by Jeremiah, and a call to the people to go into serious mourning ‘as for an only son', because the Destroyer is soon to come among them. They are not only to put on ashes but are to wallow in them. The wearing of sackcloth and pouring on the head of ashes was a regular evidence of grief and mourning, and here it was to be with ‘most bitter lamentation'. What greater grief indeed than that for an only son, who was the perpetuator of the family name, the heir to the inheritance and the one to whom the whole family would in future look for protection and provision. His death would be a devastating loss.
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Jeremiah 6:27-30 open_in_new
Jeremiah Learns That YHWH Has Established Him As An Assayer Of His People, As Well As Their Fortress, Although All That He Will Discover Will Be That They Are A Mixture Of Base Metal And Dross (Jeremiah 6:27-30).
YHWH declares that He has made Jeremiah both a metal assayer and a fortress to His people, in order that he may test their ways so as to discover what they are made of. And what he will discover when he does this is that they are grievous rebels (‘revolters of the revolters', rebels above all rebels) who continually indulge in slanders and deal corruptly. Rather than being silver and gold they are discovered to be merely bronze and iron, and even then all attempts at refinement could only fail, because all are wicked and it is thus not possible to separate the wicked out from among the good. Men will therefore call them ‘refuse silver', ore which has so little silver in it that it is not worth bothering about (we might say ‘fool's gold'), because they will see that YHWH has rejected them.
“A tester I have made you,
A fortress among my people,
That you may know,
And try their way.”
Jeremiah has been appointed for two purposes. On the one hand he is to test out the metal of the people, and on the other he is to be a fortress for believers. For he is called on to know their ways and to test them out. Thus God is making provision for all His supposed people. Through Jeremiah He will uphold the righteous, and through him He will sift out the wicked.
Alternately some would repoint mibtser (fortress) as mebatser (tester of metals) to produce, ‘An assayer I made you among my people, a tester of metal --.'
‘They are all grievous rebels,
Going about with slanders,
They are bronze and iron,
They all of them deal corruptly.'
And what he will discover about the vast majority is that they are grievous rebels (‘rebels of the rebels'), and that rather than being silver and gold they are bronze and iron. They are of inferior quality, something evidenced by the fact that they go about destroying other people's reputations falsely (compare Leviticus 19:16), and are unreliable in their dealings.
‘The bellows blow fiercely,
The lead is consumed by the fire,
In vain do they go on refining,
For the wicked are not plucked away.'
Indeed they are so all so evil that there is no way of refining them. The fiercely blowing bellows will heat up the furnace to such an extent that the lead being used for refining is burned up (during refining lead is placed in a crucible with the silver ore and heated, and when the lead becomes oxidized it serves as a flux to collect impurities), but even such heat will not be sufficient to refine His people because when the attempt is made the wicked are not removed, simply because all are wicked.
‘Men will call them refuse (reject) silver,
Because YHWH has rejected them.'
Thus because they have been tested and rejected by YHWH men will call them ‘refuse silver', poor quality silver ore which is thrown away because it is unrefinable. In other words it will be seen that there is no good in them.