Jeremiah 9

Jeremiah Chapter Nine Verse 1 Jeremiah 9 LAMENT FOR FALLEN ISRAELThe theme of this whole chapter is given here in Jeremiah 9:1, which in the Hebrew Bible concludes Jeremiah 8, to which it also is appropriate. The pitifully wicked and immoral behavior of God’s Once Chosen People had at last reached its terminal extent; and the horrible punishment which their apostasy so richly deserved was soon to be executed upon the degenerate, reprobate nation. The lament expressed here was not only applicable to the fallen condition of ancient Israel; but the words are just as appropriate today for the millions of people who have forsaken their first love, and have chosen to wallow in the sensuous pleasures of sin for a season, rather than to live by the true standards of God’s Word. Halley’s thumbnail summary of this chapter is as good as any we have seen. “Jeremiah, a man of sorrows, in the midst of a people abandoned to everything vile (Jeremiah 9:2-9), weeping day and night at the thought of impending retribution, moved about among them, begging, pleading, persuading, threatening, entreating, imploring that they turn from their wickedness. But in vain.” Jeremiah 9:1“Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people.“Jeremiah had already wept over the condition of Israel as much as it was possible for him to weep; and here he expressed a wish for the ability to weep even more. Henry pointed out that in Hebrew the same word signifies “both the eye and a fountain, as if in this land of sorrows our eyes were designed rather for weeping than for seeing. And while we find our hearts such fountains of sin, it is fit that our eyes should be fountains of tears."[2]Verse 2 “Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people and go from them! for they are all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. And they bend their tongue, as it were their bow, for falsehood; and they are grown strong in the land, but not for truth: for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith Jehovah.““The blatant sins Jeremiah described here are literal; society was shot through and through with wickedness. The first sin mentioned in this indictment was universal adultery. This is called spiritual adultery,' or the worshipping of idols; but in that worship gross immoralities were practiced."[3]The speech of the people was loaded with falsehood, slander, and every evil; and Jeremiah here used the metaphor of a bow with arrows to describe it. The bow and arrow, of course, were weapons of warfare in that age. As Keil noted, "It was neither the tongue nor the bow which was lying, but that false speech which they shot with their tongue, as with a bow."[4]There existed in that society at that time, "An utter want of upright dealing between man and man."[5]Verse 4 "Take ye heed everyone of his neighbor, and trust ye not in any brother; for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbor will go about with slanders. And they will deceive everyone his neighbor, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves to commit iniquity. Thy habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith Jehovah.""Trust ye not in any brother ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/9/4" class="green-link">Jeremiah 9:4</a>). Some have been critical of advice such as this, pointing out such passages as <a href="/bible/parallel/1CO/13/7" class="green-link">1 Corinthians 13:7</a>, where the true man of God is represented as one who "believeth all things!" However, as Haley pointed out, There is no command’ here regarding the trust of a brother, but `advice,’ equivalent to saying, “Such is the state of public morals that if you trust any man you shall be deceived and betrayed."[6] The explanation of this advice is given in Jeremiah 9:6, where the whole society is referred to as “a habitation in the midst of deceit.” “Every brother will utterly supplant …” (Jeremiah 9:4). “The Hebrew here is a punning reference to Jacob (Genesis 27:36). God had transformed Jacob into Israel; but his descendants insisted on living the life of the unregenerate."[7] Cheyne did not accept this interpretation, affirming that, “There is nothing in the context so suggest an allusion to Genesis 27:36, or to Jacob”;[8] but, in our view, the only thing needed to suggest that connection is the word “supplanter.” “They weary themselves to commit iniquity …” (Jeremiah 9:5). “Lying, deceit, treachery, adultery, and idolatry were everyday sins in Judah, and the people had literally worn themselves out with perversions."[9]The gross indulgence of physical passions can and does result in the debilitation and weakening of the body. Verse 7 “Therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how else should I do, because of the daughter of my people? Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbor, but in his heart he layeth wait for him. Shall I not visit them for these things? saith Jehovah; shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this?““Shall I not … shall not my soul …” (Jeremiah 9:9)? The very raising of such questions, “Points up the legal aspects of breach of covenant."[10] The Jews of that period were just like the rest of humanity, no better, and no worse. Why, then, was God so outraged and disgusted with Judah? It all hinged upon the privileges of their covenant relationship with God!

God had given them the Law of Moses; he had taught them the principles of truth and morality as carefully expounded in that Law; and God had every right to have expected a far better response to the privileges and blessings already conferred upon the nation than the indifference and disobedience which he actually received. It is impossible to understand anything in this prophecy without the perception of the “breach of the holy covenant” that was accomplished in the behavior of the Chosen People. Without that conception, God’s severe punishment of Israel amounted to no more than a capricious punishment of an unfortunate nation that was no worse than a dozen other peoples living in all directions from Israel! Back in Jeremiah 9:6, the prophet had revealed that “through deceit, the people refused to know the Lord”; and as Matthew Henry stated it, “Those who would not know the Lord as their lawgiver, would be compelled to know him as their judge!"[11]Verse 10 “For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the pastures of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none passeth through; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the birds of the heavens and the beasts are fled, they are gone. And I will make Jerusalem heaps, a dwelling place of jackals; and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation, without inhabitant.“The weeping and the wailing here are because of the forthcoming desolation upon Jerusalem and Judaea. The mountains, which once teemed with life, and the pasture lands (here called wilderness') which once supported numerous herds of sheep and cattle, all of this is to be destroyed; even the Holy City itself shall be without inhabitant, deserted, a den of jackals! The answer as to why it is necessary for God to bring such destruction against the land of his people is in the following verses. Verse 12 "Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of Jehovah hath spoken, that he may declare it? wherefore is the land perished and burned up like a wilderness? And Jehovah saith, because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein, but have walked after the stubbornness of their own heart, and after the Baalim which their fathers taught them; therefore thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I will scatter them also among the nations, whom neither they nor their fathers have known; and I will send the sword after them, till I have consumed them."These verses "are often referred to as the work of Deuteronomic editors";[12] but this critical fembu is unworthy of any attention. All of the redactors and editors of the radical critics are shadowy creatures of imagination, for whom there exists no dependable evidence whatever. They are the self-made crutches upon which unbelievers lean in their vain efforts to cast doubt upon the Word of God. The purpose of this paragraph is clearly that of giving God's reasons that required his severe punitive action against the remainder of Israel. The answer is specific and sufficient: (1) they had revolted against their legitimate sovereign, a great truth that denies the non-existence of the Mosaic Law at that time; (2) they had not only withdrawn their obedience from God, but they had also taken up arms against him; (3) they were worshipping the idols which their own hands had manufactured; (4) they were worshipping the fertility cults of the various Baalim, wallowing in the vulgar, sensuous rites of that orgiastic religion. It was for all of these things that God would destroy the nation and send the remnant of it into captivity, from which the vast majority would never return. "The King of Kings never made war against his own subjects except when they had treacherously rebelled against him and had made such punishment necessary."[13]"Who is the wise man, that may understand this ..." (<a href="/bible/parallel/JER/9/12" class="green-link">Jeremiah 9:12</a>)? Keil tells us that this question is given in the negative form, indicating that "There is no wise man"[14] who was either able or willing to tell them the Word of God; and that the word wherefore’ in this same verse makes that the fundamental reason behind God’s punishment of his people. “They have forsaken my law which I set before them …” (Jeremiah 9:13). The law mentioned here is the complete Law of Moses, not some small fragment of it found in the temple. Note also that God had set this law before the people, not Hilkiah who found that copy of it. It was the basic constitution of the nation of Israel; and their rebellion against the Covenant of God which was built into and around that law was the reason for the punishment coming upon them. “Ye have … walked after the Baalim …” (Jeremiah 9:14). “Many of the Ugaritic texts regarded the fertility god Baal as the actual head of the Canaanite pantheon,"[15] and so is he regarded in this commentary. There is absolutely nothing in the Holy Bible that supports the notion advocated by some that a certain “[~‘El]” was that head. It was Baal. This is proved by the fact that Baal’s name is linked with dozens of lesser gods, often associated with various local areas as in, “Baal-hazor, Baal-peor, Baal-sidon, Baal-lebanon, Baal-haram, Baal-berith; it is clear from the Ugaritic texts that many of the cultic practices associated with the Baal fertility cults were heavily oriented toward sexual immorality."[16] This shameful worship was exceedingly attractive to the Jewish people, beginning with the tragic conduct of the whole nation at Baal-peor (Numbers 24-26). “Wormwood… water of gall …” (Jeremiah 9:15). “Wormwood is a plant having a very bitter juice, and gall was a poisonous bitter herb. The terms were often used together to indicate bitter afflictions."[17]“I will scatter them also among the nations …” (Jeremiah 9:16). “This verse comes from Leviticus 26:33."[18] If, as some critics assert, the Pentateuch as we know it did not then exist, where on earth does one suppose that Jeremiah came up with this? Remember that our chapter here has already stated that God had given Israel his Law (the whole Pentateuch), a fact proved by this verse. The Dean of Canterbury’s comment on this is, “The captivity of Israel and the scattering of them among the heathen (the nations) was a fulfillment of this passage in Leviticus as the appointed determinate penalty for the violation of God’s covenant; and this is one of the most remarkable facts in proof that prophecy was something more than human foresight."[19]Verse 17 “Thus saith Jehovah of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for the skillful women, that they may come: and let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eye may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we ruined! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because they have cast down our dwellings. Yet hear the word of Jehovah, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth; and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbor lamentation.“This is a dramatic picture of the horrible destruction coming upon Jerusalem at the hands of the invaders. It is represented to readers of the Holy Bible as a destruction yet future at the time Jeremiah penned this prophecy; and we have no respect at all for the “scholars” who would like to make it a description " after the event.” Like many another prophecy, this one carries its own imprimature of truth. The thought here is that the people should enlist the aid of the weeping women, not just any weeping women, but “the skilled women,” that is, the women who were experts in providing the type of weeping and wailing which the Jews customarily employed upon the occasion of funerals. This custom prevailed down until the times of Christ, as indicated by the hired mourners who were bewailing the death of the daughter of Jairus (Luke 8:40-56). The thought in this paragraph is (1) that a terrible calamity of death and destruction is approaching for Israel, and (2) that the supply of skilled mourners will be insufficient properly to bewail the tragedy; therefore, enlist the skilled mourners and let everyone teach her neighbor in order to help supply the mourners that would be needed! Now was this an event that had already happened, or was it something Jeremiah prophesied for the future? Suppose, as some of the critics would have us believe, that he was talking about an event that had already happened. Can any intelligent person believe for a moment that, if it had already happened, God’s prophet would have been crying so vehemently for the people to train mourners to mourn it? To ask that question is to know the answer! We learned in the minor prophets, especially in Micah, that these great predictive prophecies of the Old Testament carry their own built-in proof of authenticity; and this is another example of the same thing. Green, quoting Skinner, in the Broadman Commentary, identified this passage as, “Perhaps the most brilliant example of a prophetic elegy which the Old Testament contains!"[20]Verse 21 “For death is come up into our windows, it is entered into our palaces; to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. Speak, thus saith Jehovah, The dead bodies of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman; and none shall gather them.“This is a continuation of the prophetic elegy, the saddest element of it being the wanton destruction of the children. This was the usual thing to be expected in the ancient conquest of a city as indicated in Nahum 3:10; Luke 19:44, etc. There also seems to be an echo here of Eve’s acceptance of Satan’s lie that, “Ye shall not surely die!” Death comes inexorably upon old men, young men, all men, little children, cities, cultures, generations and races of men. Men may bar their doors, but it comes in the windows; none can escape it. What a block-buster of a lie Satan persuaded Eve to believe! This tragic truth of the ravages of death upon the entire race of Adam seems to have triggered the next paragraph in which the sacred author attempted to turn men’s thoughts to eternal values instead of trusting in the things men generally love to trust. Verse 23 “Thus saith Jehovah, Let not the wise man . glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches; But let him glory in this, that he hath understanding, and knoweth me, that I am Jehovah who exerciseth loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness, in the earth: for in those things I delight, saith Jehovah.“The knowledge of God and his way of salvation is greatly to be preferred above all the honors, power, riches, and achievements of mankind. “Loving-kindness, justice, and righteousness …” (Jeremiah 9:24). As Green noted, “These are covenant words.” As we have repeatedly emphasized, it is impossible to understand God’s punishment of the Jews apart from its relation to the Mosaic covenant which the Jews had possessed for many generations, and which they had so wantonly violated. The only proper ground for anyone’s glorying is in the right relationship with God; this is the thing that supremely matters. Verse 25 “Behold, the days come, saith Jehovah, that I will punish all them that are circumcised in their uncircumcision: Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon and Moab, and all that have the corners of their hair cut off, that dwell in the wilderness; for all the nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in heart.“Due to certain ambiguities in the Hebrew text, some have challenged the implication here that all of the nations mentioned actually practiced circumcision. “The KJV asserts that circumcision was not practiced by any of these nations; whereas, all we can affirm is, that, except for a small class (of priests) in Egypt, there is no proof of the general acceptance of circumcision by the list of nations mentioned here."[21] We prefer theKJV rendition, because, generally, the translators who gave us that version of the scriptures believed they were translating the “Word of God,” whereas, it is evident that some more recent translators prefer to give us what they believe the prophet meant, or what they think he should have said, instead of what is written. With this view of the text, we agree with Robinson that, “Israel is here degraded to the level of other uncircumcised nations."[22] “The passage also teaches the glory of Israel’s religion, and the futility of physical without spiritual circumcision."[23]“Uncircumcised in heart …” (Jeremiah 9:26). This meant that physical circumcision alone, without the devoted and obedient heart that was supposed to accompany such a sign of the covenant, was worthless.

Jeremiah 9:1

Jeremiah 9:1. The “weeping pronhet” again expresses himself on behalf of his people because of the misfortunes soon to come upon them.. The reference to waters and fountains is figurative and indicates the intensity of his grief.

Jeremiah 9:2

Jeremiah 9:2. The deep grief of Jeremiah was not the kind that caused him to excuse the sins of the people. It was not mere sentiment or a fellow feeling for them in the suffering he knew they were destined to undergo, although he doubtless had that kind of grief also. But the chief motive for his sorrow was his disapproval of their sinful course. He was so disgusted with them that he wished he could get away out of their presence. So earnest was this feeling that he would have been willing to stay in a public lodging house in the wilderness in order to get away out of their sight.

Overindulgent parents sometimes allow their personal feeling to cause them to excuse or try to explain away the mistakes of their children. Such was not the case with Jeremiah for he used strong language in describing and condemning the conduct of the people of Judah. Bend their tongues is a figure of speech based on the use of a bow. If one were eager to shoot an arrow to some distant point he would bend or pull back the bow in order to send the arrow’ on its mission of destruction. In like manner the people (especially the leaders) were so eager to use their tongues for sending lies that the illustration is drawn from the act of pulling back a bow in preparation for the discharge of a deadly weapon. Valiant means strong and the prophet describes the inconsistency of his people by the illustration just mentioned.

Continuing the figure of a bow he shows them exerting themselves enough to pull back the instrument when an arrow of falsehood was to be discharged, but they would not use enough strength to bend it to send forth a truth. From evil to evil means they would go from one sinful practice to another; they were so devoted to the abominable way of life which they had adopted under the system of idolatry. Know is used in the sense of “recognition,” and the phrase know not me means the people of Judah were interested In the false gods of the heathen but refused to recognize the true God.

Jeremiah 9:3-4

Jeremiah 9:3-4. The corruption of the people was so general that no confidence could be had in anyone, hence the warning advice of this verse. The motive for the slate of iniquity was twofold; fleshly indulgence (v. 2) and desire for material gain (Jeremiah 8; Jeremiah 10). It seems that such a disposition of selfishness has been characteristic of the Jews all through ancient times. (See Matthew 10:21.) Walk with slanders indicates an association with those whp lie against others in order to get some advantage of them.

Jeremiah 9:5

Jeremiah 9:5. Mutual misLrust and false dealing is stili the subject of the prophet. The people not only dealt in falsehood but cultivated it for it is said they taught their tongue to speak lies. Weary themselves to commit iniquity means they were so persistent in their work of wickedness that they became tired over it.

Jeremiah 9:6

Jeremiah 9:6. The various terms used in these verses are for the purpose of describing the depth of Judah’s iniquity. Deceit denotes fraud In their dealing with each other. Their practice of this wickedness was so constant that the Lord called it their habitation. Good and evil never dwell together, hence the Lord accused the people of ignoring him so they could give their attention to the fraudulent practices.

Jeremiah 9:7

Jeremiah 9:7. Melt is from a word that means to refine such as the work of a smelter of ore. It was a prediction of the captivity that was near at hand which was destined to refine them by curing them of idolatry. For how shall I do means “for thus shall I do,” because nothing short of the captivity would refine them.

Jeremiah 9:8

Jeremiah 9:8. An arrow is Sharp, swift in flight, and strikes one before he is aware of its existence. In many Instances the arrow was pointed with a deadly poison so that the victim not only suffered from the mechanical wound, but would have to take the effect of the poison into his body. Such an instrument was referred to as an illustration of the falsifying tongues of these people.

Jeremiah 9:9

Jeremiah 9:9. Visit means to inflict some punishment of a severe character and the Lord declared that he would do so to such a nation as Judah had come to be. In making this visit the Lord declared he would he avenging his soul on the sinful nation. There would be nothing wrong in that because Paul has declared that vengeance belongs to God (Romans 12:19), and He always does the right thing with that which Is bis own.

Jeremiah 9:10

Jeremiah 9:10. This passage refers to the wasted condition in which the land was to be left after the Babylonian invasion. Burned up was not literal but. the territory was so ruined that all inducement for occupying it was removed.

Jeremiah 9:11

Jeremiah 9:11. The preceding verse has to do with the country in general while this one is concerned with Jerusalem especially because it was the capital of Judah. Heaps is from a word that is defined “ruins” in the lexicon, and it is a prediction of the disorder that will be wrought in the city by the enemy. The desolated condition in which the cities were to be left is the reason for mentioning the wild creatures that would live there. The Biblical account of the fulfillment is in 2 Kings 24:10-16.

Jeremiah 9:12

Jeremiah 9:12. This verse is In the form of a question which implies that inspiration was necessary to enable, a man to see what was coming on the nation. The people in general and even its leaders such as the priests and regular prophets (teachers) did not realize what was to be the fate of the country. The Lord therefore sent the spirit of divine foresight unto Jeremiah and other prophets like him that the predictions might be made. One purpose for making the predictions was that certain worthy individuals might be induced by the warning to repent of their part in the iniquity of the country. Should they do so they would be spared much personal humiliation even though they have to take their share of the national misfortunes. (See the note at 2 Kings 22:17 in Vol. 2 of this Commentary,

Jeremiah 9:13

Jeremiah 9:13. The Lord always has a reason for what he does though he does not reveal it to man In every case. In the present one, however, the reason is stated and has been many times, It was because of their rejection of Gods law that he was determined to expel his people out of their own land and cause them to languish many years in a foreign country.

Jeremiah 9:14

Jeremiah 9:14. It is wrong to disobey the word of the Lord even once, but it is much worse to icalk alter such a life, and that is what the people of Judah did. Imagination is rendered “stubbornness” in the margin and the lexicon defines the original word as “ obstinancy.” and both renderings truly describe the spirit and conduct of the people of Judah. The specific thing which their stubbornness Jed them to do was to worship the idolatrous gods of Baalim. They accepted the instructions and followed the example of their fleshly ancestors Instead of obeying their spiritual Father.

Jeremiah 9:15

Jeremiah 9:15. Wormwood and gall are used figuratively to represent the awful experiences the people of Judah were to have in Babylon. Of the first word Smith’s Bible Dictionary says the following: “The word occurs frequently in the Bible, and generally in a metaphorical [figurative] sense. In Jeremiah 9:15; Jeremiah 23:15; Lamentations 3:15; Lamentations 3:19, wormwood is symbolical of bitter calamity and sorrow; unrighteous judges are said to ’turn judgment to wormwood.’ Amos 5:7, The Orientals [people of the East] typified sorrow, cruelties and calamities of any kind by plants of a poisonous or bitter nature.” Gall is from rowsh, which Strong defines, “A poisonous plant, probably the poppy (from its conspicuous head); generally poison (even of serpents).” In the King James version the word has been rendered by gall, hemlock, poison and venom. Tile sorrowful existence which the people of God went through while in captivity was certainly very bitter and might well be likened to poison for it just about killed their morale. (See Psalms 137 and Ezekiel 37:11 for a description of their suffering.)

Jeremiah 9:16

Jeremiah 9:16. Some of the bitterness predicted in the preceding verse came upon the people while yet in their home land. This verse has more direct bearing on the captivity in Babylon which was accomplished in part by the use of the sword.

Jeremiah 9:17

Jeremiah 9:17. Josephus mentions “ hired mourners” who were employed in ancient times by unfortunate people who thought their circumstances were unusually distressing. It was in allusion to this practice that Jeremiah mentioned the mourning women, though he uses it figuratively and in prediction of the sad state of affairs soon to come upon the nation. Cunning is from Chakam, which Strong defines, “ wise, (i.e., intelligent, skillful or artful).” The idea is that the condition awaiting the nation will be so pitiable that it will require a wise person to describe it fully.

Jeremiah 9:18

Jeremiah 9:18. Make haste means to be prompt in forming a wailing for the people for the captivity js but a few years in the future. The reference to fears and the eyes is just another figurative prediction of the distress about to come.

Jeremiah 9:19

Jeremiah 9:19. Voice Of wailing is heard is present tense hut is a prediction of things to come though not very far off. Have forsaken and have cast is past or present tense but refers to the exile soon to happen to the kingdom of Judah.

Jeremiah 9:20

Jeremiah 9:20. Yet is used in the sense of “also, furthermore,” etc,, meaning a call to attention of these “mourning women.” They made a profession of their mourning exercises, but they were admonished to hear the word of the Lord and then make their mourning a genuine expression of grief. They were also told to pass the sorrowful word on to their daughters and neighbors.

Jeremiah 9:21-22

Jeremiah 9:21-22. Windows is used figuratively to indicate the activity of death at invading the homes. It will not wait for an open door to admit the black monster but will come through the perforations (which was the kind of windows they had in ancient times) of these openings to the houses.

Jeremiah 9:23

Jeremiah 9:23. All human accomplishments and talents are failures when the might of the Lord is turned against them. The most Influential men in the kingdom of Judah had been dominating the common people for many years and they had led them into sin. Now they themselves were destined to feel the wrath of God whose law they had broken.

Jeremiah 9:24

Jeremiah 9:24. The man who trusts in God and respects his laws may be considered very ordinary in the opinion of human beings, yet even his weakness will prove too much for the unrighteous oppressor if he puts his reliance in divine support.

Jeremiah 9:25

Jeremiah 9:25. God often used heathen nations as instruments with which to punish his own people. But he likewise chastised those heathen groups because of their cruelty upon the unfortunate nation, and because of the personal satisfaction they took from the service. Hence the prediction in this verse threatens vengeance upon the various nations whom God had been using and intended yet to use. The terms circumcised and uncircumcised are used to classify all of the peoples to be involved in the chastisement of the Lord; the first Of the terms refers to the Jews.

Jeremiah 9:26

Jeremiah 9:26, This verse groups all of the people together that were involved regardless of race or nationality because all nf them were uncircumcised in one sense or another. The foreign nations were uncircumcised physically and the people of Israel were uncircumcised (unconsecrated) spiritually.