Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 18:17

"I will scatter them as with an east wind before the enemy; I will show them the back, and not the face, in the day of their calamity." — Jeremiah 18:17 (ASV)

With an east wind. — Manuscripts vary, some giving “with” and some “as an east wind.” The difference does not much affect the meaning.

The east wind, blowing from the desert, was the wind of storms, tempests, and parching heat (Jonah 4:8; Psalms 48:7; Isaiah 27:8).

I will show them the back, and not the face.—The figure is boldly anthropomorphic.

The light of God’s countenance is the fullness of joy (Numbers 6:25). To turn away that light was to leave the people to the darkness of their misery.

What was thus done by Jehovah was but a righteous retribution on the people who had turned their back and not their face to Him (Jeremiah 2:27).