This section (Jeremiah 5:10–19) continues the theme of the Lord’s judgment coming against Judah in the form of an enemy from afar
( Jeremiah 5:15). What marks the section out is that it begins and ends with the Lord saying that he will not make a full end
to Judah (Jeremiah 5:10, Jeremiah 5:18).
The section begins by describing the Lord’s judgment using the metaphor of the pruning of a vine. The enemy that is spoken of in the rest of this section is invited by the Lord to Go up through her vine rows and destroy.
The Hebrew word sahat is translated as destroy,
but it does not necessarily mean total destruction. It does involve something being so spoiled that it can no longer function the way it should.1
10 “Go up through her vine rows and destroy, but make not a full end; strip away her branches, for they are not the LORD’s.