John Gill's Bible Commentary Ver. 6. For I will no more pity the inhabitants of the land, saith the Lord , etc.] Or spare them; but cause his wrath to come upon them to the uttermost, as it did at the time of Jerusalem’s destruction by the Romans; but, lo, I will deliver the men everyone into his neighbour’s hand ; this seems to refer to the factions and divisions among themselves during the siege of Jerusalem, when multitudes fell into the hands of the zealots, and heads of parties, and perished by them: and into the hand of his king ; Vespasian the Roman emperor; the Jews having declared, long before this time, that they had no king but Caesar, ( John 19:15) and now into his hands they were delivered up: and they shall smite the land ; that is, the Romans shall lay waste the land of Judea: and out of their hand I will not deliver [them] ; as formerly out of the hands of their neighbours, the Philistines, Ammonites, etc. and out of the captivity of Babylon. It denotes that their destruction would be an utter one; nor have they been delivered yet, though it has been over 1900 years ago.
Matthew Henry Commentary
Verses 4-14 - Christ came into this world for judgment to the Jewish church an nation, which were wretchedly corrupt and degenerate. Those have their minds wofully blinded, who do ill, and justify themselves in it; but God will not hold those guiltless who hold themselves so. How can we go to God to beg a blessing on unlawful methods of getting wealth, or to return thanks for success in them? There was a general decay of religion among them, and they regarded it not. The Good Shepherd woul feed his flock, but his attention would chiefly be directed to the poor. As an emblem, the prophet seems to have taken two staves; Beauty denoted the privileges of the Jewish nation, in their nationa covenant; the other he called Bands, denoting the harmony whic hitherto united them as the flock of God. But they chose to cleave to false teachers. The carnal mind and the friendship of the world ar enmity to God; and God hates all the workers of iniquity: it is easy to foresee what this will end in. The prophet demanded wages, or a reward and received thirty pieces of silver. By Divine direction he cast it to the potter, as in disdain for the smallness of the sum. This shadowe forth the bargain of Judas to betray Christ, and the final method of applying it. Nothing ruins a people so certainly, as weakening the brotherhood among them. This follows the dissolving of the covenan between God and them: when sin abounds, love waxes cold, and civi contests follow. No wonder if those fall out among themselves, who have provoked God to fall out with them. Wilful contempt of Christ is the great cause of men's ruin. And if professors rightly valued Christ they would not contend about little matters.
Original Hebrew כי3588 לא3808 אחמול2550 עוד5750 על5921 ישׁבי3427 הארץ776 נאם5002 יהוה3068 והנה2009 אנכי595 ממציא4672 את853 האדם120 אישׁ376 ביד3027 רעהו7453 וביד3027 מלכו4428 וכתתו3807 את853 הארץ776 ולא3808 אציל5337 מידם׃3027
