Charles Ellicott Commentary Jeremiah 5:19

"And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore hath Jehovah our God done all these things unto us? then shalt thou say unto them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served foreign gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land that is not yours." — Jeremiah 5:19 (ASV)

When ye shall say. —The implied promise in Jeremiah 5:18 is explained. Then there shall come the backward glance at the past, which brings with it questionings and repentance.

Strange gods. —Stronger than the “other gods” of Jeremiah 1:16, “gods of an alien race.” The threats that they should “serve strangers” in a “land” that was not theirs points to the Chaldæan rather than to the Scythian invasion. With this ends the section which began in Jeremiah 5:14.