Commentary and critical notes on the Bible/Jeremiah

by Adam Clarke

Introduction to the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah

The Prophet Jeremiah, son of Hilkiah, was of the sacerdotal race, and a native of Anathoth, a village in the tribe of Benjamin, within a few miles of Jerusalem, which had been appointed for the use of the priests, the descendants of Aaron, ^[1]. He was called to the prophetic office when very young; probably when he was fourteen years of age, and in the thirteenth of the reign of Josiah, A.M. 3375, b.c. 629. He continued to prophesy till after the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, which took place A.M. 3416; and it is supposed that about two years after he died in Egypt. Thus it appears that he discharged the arduous duties of the prophetic office for upwards of forty years.
Being very young when called to the prophetic office, he endeavored to excuse himself on account of his youth and incapacity for the work; but, being overruled by the Divine authority, he undertook the task, and performed it with matchless zeal and fidelity in the midst of a most crooked and perverse people, by whom he was continually persecuted, and whom he boldly reproved, often at the hazard of his life.
His attachment to his country was strong and fervent; he foresaw by the light of prophecy the ruin that was coming upon it. He might have made terms with the enemy, and not only saved his life, but have gained ease and plenty; but he chose rather to continue with his people, and take his part in all the disasters that befell them.
After the destruction of Jerusalem, Nebuchadnezzar having made Gedaliah governor of Judea, the fractious Jews rose up against him, and put him to death; they then escaped to Tahpanhes in Egypt, carrying Jeremiah with them; who, continuing to testify against their wickedness and idolatry, at length fell a victim to his faithfulness: they filled up the measure of their iniquity, as tradition reports, by stoning the prophet to death. God marked this murderous outrage by his peculiar displeasure; for in a few years after they were almost all miserably destroyed by the Chaldean armies which had invaded Egypt; and even this destruction had been foretold by the prophet himself, chap. 44: "They were consumed by the sword and by the famine until there was an end of them, a small remnant only escaping," ^[2], ^[3], ^[4].
The pitch of desperate wickedness to which the Jews had arrived previously to their captivity was truly astonishing. They had exhausted all the means that infinite mercy, associated with infinite justice, could employ for the salvation of sinners; and they became in consequence desperately wicked; no wonder, therefore, that wrath fell upon them to the uttermost. It seems that their hardness and darkness had proceeded to such lengths that they abandoned themselves to all the abominations of idolatry to avenge themselves on God, because he would not bear with their continual profligacy. Were ever people more highly favored, more desperately ungrateful, or more signally punished! What a lesson is their history to the nations of the earth, and especially to those who have been favored with the light of revelation!
I should have entered into a particular discussion relative to the history of those times mentioned by this prophet, had they not passed already in review in the Books of Kings and Chronicles; in which much of the historical parts of this prophet has been anticipated; and to which, in order to avoid repetition, I must refer my readers. What is farther necessary to be added will be found in the following notes.
As a writer, the character of Jeremiah has been well drawn by Bishop Lowth. On comparing him with Isaiah, the learned prelate says: "Jeremiah is by no means wanting either in elegance or sublimity; although, generally speaking, inferior to Isaiah in both. St. Jerome has objected to him a certain rusticity in his diction; of which, I must confess, I do not discover the smallest trace. His thoughts, indeed, are somewhat less elevated, and he is commonly more large and diffuse in his sentences; but the reason of this may be, that he is mostly taken up with the gentler passions of grief and pity, for the expressing of which he has a peculiar talent. This is most evident in the Lamentations, where those passions altogether predominate; but it is often visible also in his Prophecies; in the former part of the book more especially, which is principally poetical. The middle parts are for the most part historical; but the last part, consisting of six chapters, is entirely poetical; and contains several oracles distinctly marked, in which this prophet falls very little short of the loftiest style of Isaiah." It has often been remarked, that although several of the prophecies in this book have their dates distinctly noted, and most of the rest may be ascertained from collateral evidence; yet there is a strange disorder in the arrangement. "There is," says Dr. Blayney, "a preposterous jumbling together of the prophecies of the reigns of Jehoiakim and Zedekiah in the seventeen chapters which follow the twentieth, according to the Hebrew copies; so that, without any apparent reason, many of the latter reigns precede those of the former; and in the same reign, the last delivered are put first, and the first, last." In order to prevent the confusion arising from this, Dr. Blayney has transposed the chapters where he thought it needful, without altering the numerals as they stand in our common Bibles.
This defect has been noticed, and attempts made to remedy it, by others. Dr. John George Dahler, Professor of Theology in the Protestant seminary of Strasburg, has just now published the first volume of a work, entitled, Jeremie, traduit sur le Texte original, accompagne de Notes Explicatives, Historiques, et Critiques, 8vo., (antedated) Strasbourg, 1824. After a preface, and very judicious historical introduction, consisting, the first of twenty-two, the second of thirty-six pages, the text and notes follow. The poetical parts of the text are translated in the hemistich manner, as the original appears in the best copies; and the whole is divided into sections; each of which is introduced with judicious observations relative to time, place, circumstances, and the matter contained in that section. The discourses or prophecies delivered under a particular reign, are all produced under that reign in their chronological order. A table of this arrangement I shall here introduce, and refer to the use of it afterwards:
Table I Prophecies under Josiah 1:1-19 3:6-4:4 4, 5, ^{[5] [6]} -^{[7] [8]} Under Jehoiakim 7:1-9:25 ^[9] 26:1-24 23:9-40 ^[10] 35:1-19 10:1-16 25:1-38 14:1-15:21 36:1-32 16:1-17:18 ^[11] 18:1-23 ^[12] 19:1-20:13 ^[13] Under Jeconiah 13:1-27 Under Zedekiah 22:1-23:8 ^[14] 11:1-17 ^[15] 11:18-12:13 ^{[16] [17] [18]} 29:1-32 38:1-28 27:1-28:17 ^{[19] [20]} 32:1-44 ^[21] 33:1-26 ^{[22] [23]} After the destruction of Jerusalem ^[24] 42:1-43:7 40:1-41:18 30:1-31:40 Prophecies delivered in Egypt ^[25] 44:1-30 46:13-28 Prophecies relative to strange nations ^{[26] [27] [28] [29]} 48:1-47 50:1-51:64 49:7-22 Historical Appendix 52:1-34
The kings under whom Jeremiah prophesied succeeded each other in the following order:
1. Josiah;
2. Jehoahaz;
3. Jehoiachin, or Jeconiah;
4. Jehoiakim;
5. Zedekiah.
To render the transpositions evident which have taken place in these prophetical discourses, we have only to look at those which bear the date of their delivery.
Table II ^[30]. Delivered the thirteenth year of Josiah ^[31]. Under Jehoiakim ^[32]. Under Josiah ^[33]. Under Jehoiakim ^[34]. Under Zedekiah ^[35]. Under Zedekiah during the siege of Jerusalem ^[36]. After the carrying away of Jeconiah, son of Jehoiakim ^[37]. Under Zedekiah ^[38]. The fourth year of Jehoiakim ^[39]. Under Zedekiah ^[40]. The beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim ^[41]. Under Zedekiah while Jeremiah was in prison ^[42]. The beginning of the reign of Zedekiah ^[43]. The fourth year of Jehoiakim ^[44]. After the carrying away of Jeconiah ^[45]. The fourth year of Jehoiakim ^[46]. The tenth year of Zedekiah ^[47]. In the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah ^[48]. (Under Zedekiah) during the siege of Jerusalem ^[49]. The fourth year of Zedekiah ^[50]. (Under Zedekiah) when he had obliged his subjects to give liberty to the Israelites whom they had reduced to slavery
Taking into consideration the order of the reigns, a child may perceive that the above prophecies are not in the order of the times of their delivery; and that the sheets or skins on which the text of that MS. was written, from which the present copies have derived their origin, have been pitifully interchanged, huddled and tacked together, without connection or arrangement.
To remedy this defect, Dr. Blayney has arranged the chapters in the following order which he terms a new arrangement of the chapters in Jeremiah, from chap. 20, to chap. 46, inclusive: 20, 22, 23, 25, 26, 35, 36, 45, 24, 29, 30, 31, 27, 28, 21, 34, 37, 32, 33, 38, 39:15-18, 39:1-14, 40, 41, 42, 43, 44, 46, etc.
The preceding and subsequent chapters Dr. Blayney thought sufficiently correct for all the general purposes of chronology; and it is according to this order that he prints the text in his edition and translation of this prophet.
Dr. Dahler, as we have seen, is more circumstantial. Where he has dates, as are shown in the preceding table, he produces the text in that order; where there are not positive dates, he ascertains several by circumstantial intimations, which bear great evidence of accuracy; but there is a numerous class of discourses which he is obliged to insert in this work by critical conjecture. In such a case as this, when the arrangement of the common text is so evidently defective, and in many respects absurd, this procedure is quite allowable; for although the present text as to its arrangement has the sanction of antiquity, yet when a remedy is found, it would be absurd, if not sinful, to follow an order which we may rest satisfied never did proceed from the inspired writer.
I hope none will suppose that these observations detract any thing from the Divine inspiration of the book. The prophet delivered his discourses at particular times in select portions, during forty or forty-three years; these were afterwards gathered together and stitched up without any attention to chronological arrangement. Though the Spirit of the Lord directed the prophet, yet it would be absurd to suppose that it guided the hand of every collector or scribe into whose custody these several parcels might come. Suppose a man buy a copy of the Bible in sheets, and not knowing how to collate them, stitches the whole confusedly together, so that in many places the sense cannot be made out from a preceding to a following sheet, would it not be singularly foolish for any person to say, "As God is the Fountain of wisdom and Author of reason, such incongruities cannot proceed from him, therefore this book was not given by Divine revelation." A child in a printer's office might reply, "Cut the stitching asunder, that is man's work; collate the sheets and put them in their proper order, and you will soon see that every paragraph is in harmony with the rest, and contains the words of Divine wisdom." Many an ancient MS., which appeared mutilated and imperfect, I have restored to order and perfection by cutting the binding asunder, and restoring the sheets and leaves to those places from which the ignorance and unskilfulness of the binder had detached them. May we not be allowed to treat the dislocations in the writings of a prophet in the same way, when it is evident that in the lapse of time his work has suffered by the hand of the careless and ignorant.
But it may be asked, "After all the evidence I have, and the concessions I have made, why I have not transposed those disjointed chapters, and produced them in the order in which I think they should be read?" I answer, Were I to give a new translation with notes of this prophet separately, as Drs. Blayney and Dahler have done, I should feel it my duty to do what the objection states; but as my province as a general commentator requires me to take up all the books of the sacred volume in the order in which I find them in the present authorized version, though convinced that this arrangement is neither correct nor convenient; so I take up the parts of each, however transposed, in the same manner, directing the reader by tables and notes to regulate his use of the work so as to produce general edification with as little embarrassment as possible.
For general purposes, Dr. Blayney's chronological arrangement may be sufficient; but for greater accuracy Table I. may be preferred. These may at least be considered in the light of helps to a better understanding of these several prophecies; but no man is bound to follow either, farther than he is convinced that it follows what is specifically set down by the prophet himself, or fairly deducible from strong circumstantial evidence.
In my notes on this prophet I have availed myself, as far as my plan would permit, of the best helps within my reach. The various readings of Kennicott and De Rossi I have carefully consulted, and occasionally strengthened the evidence in behalf of those readings, more particularly recommended by collations from my own M,SS. I regret that I have not been able, for the reasons mentioned at the conclusion of the notes on Isaiah, to produce all the various readings of importance found in these ancient MSS., and especially in the Book of Lamentations, which is contained in five of them; but like the woman in the Gospels, I have done what I could, and must leave the rest to those who, with better abilities, may possess the greater advantages of youth and strength, with unimpaired sight.
Reader! God designs thee a blessing by every portion of his word: in thy reading seek for this; and if these notes be helpful to thee, give Him the glory.
A.C.
Eastcott, Nov. 1, 1824.

Chapter 1

Introduction

General title to the whole Book, ^[51]. Jeremiah receives a commission to prophesy concerning nations and kingdoms, a work to which in the Divine purpose he had been appointed before his birth, ^[52]. The vision of the rod of an almond tree and of the seething pot, with their signification, ^[53]. Promises of Divine protection to Jeremiah in the discharge of the arduous duties of his prophetical office, ^[54].

Verse 1

The words of Jeremiah - These three verses are the title of the Book; and were probably added by Ezra when he collected and arranged the sacred books, and put them in that order in which they are found in Hebrew Bibles in general. For particulars relative to this prophet, the times of his prophesying, and the arrangement of his discourses, see the introduction.
Eleventh year of Zedekiah - That is, the last year of his reign; for he was made prisoner by the Chaldeans in the fourth month of that year, and the carrying away of the inhabitants of Jerusalem was in the fifth month of the same year.

Verse 4

The word of the Lord came unto me - Then I first felt the inspiring influence of the Divine Spirit, not only revealing to me the subjects which he would have me to declare to the people, but also the words which I should use in these declarations.

Verse 5

Before I formed thee - I had destined thee to the prophetic office before thou wert born: I had formed my plan, and appointed thee to be my envoy to his people. St. Paul speaks of his own call to preach the Gospel to the Gentiles in similar terms, ^[55], ^[56].

Verse 6

I cannot speak - Being very young, and wholly inexperienced, I am utterly incapable of conceiving aright, or of clothing these Divine subjects in suitable language. Those who are really called of God to the sacred ministry are such as have been brought to a deep acquaintance with themselves, feel their own ignorance, and know their own weakness. They know also the awful responsibility that attaches to the work; and nothing but the authority of God can induce such to undertake it. They whom God never called run, because of worldly honor and emolument: the others hear the call with fear and trembling, and can go only in the strength of Jehovah. "How ready is the man to go,
Whom God hath never sent!
How timorous, diffident, and slow,
God's chosen instrument!"

Verse 7

Whatsoever I command thee - It is my words and message, not thine own, that thou shalt deliver. I shall teach thee; therefore thy youth and inexperience can be no hinderance.

Verse 8

Be not afraid of their faces - That is, the Jews, whom he knew would persecute him because of the message which he brought. To be fore-warned is to be half armed. He knew what he was to expect from the disobedient and the rebellious, and must now be prepared to meet it.

Verse 10

I have - set thee over the nations - God represents his messengers the prophets as doing what he commanded them to declare should be done. In this sense they rooted up, pulled down, and destroyed - declared God's judgments, they builder up and planted - declared the promises of his mercy. Thus God says to Isaiah, ^[57] : "Make the heart of this people fat - and shut their eyes." Show them that they are stupid and blind; and that, because they have shut their eyes and hardened their hearts, God will in his judgments leave them to their hardness and darkness.

Verse 11

A rod of an almond tree - שקד shaked, from שקד shakad, "to be ready," "to hasten," "to watch for an opportunity to do a thing," to awake; because the almond tree is the first to flower and bring forth fruit. Pliny says, Floret prima omnium amygdala mense Januario; Martio vero pomum maturat. It blossoms in January, when other trees are locked up in their winter's repose; and it bears fruit in March, just at the commencement of spring, when other trees only begin to bud. It was here the symbol of that promptitude with which God was about to fulfill his promises and threatening. As a rod, says Dahler, is an instrument of punishment, the rod of the almond may be intended here as the symbol of that punishment which the prophet was about to announce.

Verse 12

I will hasten my word - Here is a paronomasia. What dost thou see? I see שקד shaked, "an almond," the hastening tree: that which first awakes. Thou hast well seen, for (שקד shoked) I will hasten my word. I will awake, or watch over my word for the first opportunity to inflict the judgments which I threaten. The judgment shall come speedily; it shall soon flourish, and come to maturity.

Verse 13

A seething pot - toward the north - We find, from ^[58], etc., that a boiling pot was an emblem of war, and the desolations it produces. Some have thought that by the seething pot Judea is intended, agitated by the invasion of the Chaldeans, whose land lay north of Judea. But Dr. Blayney contends that מפני צפונה mippeney tsaphonah should be translated, From the face of the north, as it is in the margin; for, from the next verse, it appears that the evil was to come from the north; and therefore the steam, which was designed as an emblem of that evil, must have arisen from that quarter also. The pot denotes the empire of the Babylonians and Chaldeans lying to the north of Judea, and pouring forth its multitudes like a thick vapor, to overspread the land. Either of these interpretations will suit the text.

Verse 14

Shall break forth - תפתח tippathach, shall be opened. The door shall be thrown abroad, that these calamities may pass out freely.

Verse 15

Shall set every one his throne at the entering of the gates - As the gates of the cities were the ordinary places where justice was administered, so the enemies of Jerusalem are here represented as conquering the whole land, assuming the reins of government, and laying the whole country under their own laws; so that the Jews should no longer possess any political power: they should be wholly subjugated by their enemies.

Verse 16

I will utter my judgments - God denounced his judgments: the conquest of their cities, and the destruction of the realm, were the facts to which these judgments referred; and these facts prove that the threatening was fulfilled.
Worshipped the works of their own hands - Idolatry was the source of all their wickedness and was the cause of their desolations. For למעשי lemaasey, the works, more than a hundred MSS. of Kennicott's and De Rossi's, with many editions, have למעשה lemaaseh, the work. Idolatry was their One great Work, the business of their life, their trade.

Verse 17

Gird up thy loins - Take courage and be ready, lest I confound thee; take courage and be resolute, פן pen, lest by their opposition thou be terrified and confounded. God is often represented as doing or causing to be done, what he only permits or suffers to be done. Or, do not fear them, I will not suffer thee to be confounded. So Dahler, Ne crains pas que je te confonde a leurs yeux, "Do not fear that I shall confound thee before them." It is well known that the phrase, gird up thy reins, is a metaphor taken from the long robes of the Asiatics; which, on going a journey, or performing their ordinary work, they were obliged to truss up under their girdles, that the motions of the body might not be impeded.

Verse 18

I have made thee this day a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and, brazen walls - Though thou shalt be exposed to persecutions and various indignities, they shall not prevail against thee. To their attacks thou shalt be as an impregnable city; as unshaken as an iron pillar; and as imperishable as a wall of brass. None, therefore, can have less cause to apprehend danger than thou hast. The issue proved the truth of this promise: he outlived all their insults; and saw Jerusalem destroyed, and his enemies, and the enemies of his Lord, carried into captivity. Instead of חמות chomoth, walls, many MSS. and editions read חמת chomath, a wall, which corresponds with the singular nouns preceding.

Verse 19

They shall not prevail against thee - Because I am determined to defend and support thee against all thy enemies. One of the ancients has said, Θεου θελοντος, και επι ῥιπος πλεῃ Σωζῃ· Thestius, apud Theophil. ad Autolyc. lib. 2: "God protecting thee, though thou wert at sea upon a twig, thou shouldst be safe."

Chapter 2

Introduction

God expresses his continued regard for his people, long since chosen, ^[59]. He then expostulates with them on their ungrateful and worse than heathen return to his regard, ^[60]; at which even the inanimate creation must be astonished, ^[61], ^[62]. After this their guilt is declared to be the sole cause of the calamities which their enemies had power to inflict on them, ^[63]. They are upbraided for their alliances with idolatrous countries, ^[64], ^[65]; and for their strong propensity to idolatry, notwithstanding all the care and tender mercy of God, ^[66]. Even the chastenings of the Almighty have produced in this people no repentance, ^[67]. The chapter concludes with compassionately remonstrating against their folly and ingratitude in revolting so deeply from God, and with warning them of the fearful consequences, ^[68], ^[69].

Verse 2

I remember thee - The youth here refers to their infant political state when they came out of Egypt; they just then began to be a people. Their espousals refer to their receiving the law at Mount Sinai, which they solemnly accepted, ^[70], and which acceptance was compared to a betrothing or espousal. Previously to this they were no people, for they had no constitution nor form of government. When they received the law, and an establishment in the Promised Land, then they became a people and a nation.
Wentest after me - Receivedst my law, and wert obedient to it; confiding thyself wholly to my guidance, and being conscientiously attached to my worship. The kindness was that which God showed them by taking them to be his people, not their kindness to him.

Verse 3

Israel was holiness unto the Lord - Fully consecrated to his service.
The first fruits of his increase - They were as wholly the Lord's, as the first fruits were the property of the priests according to the law ^[71]. These the priests alone had a right to devote to their own use.
All that devour him shall offend - As they were betrothed to the Lord, they were considered his especial property; they therefore who injured them were considered as laying violent hands on the property of God. They who persecute God's children have a grievous burden to bear, an awful account to give.

Verse 5

What iniquity have your fathers found in me - Have they ever discovered any thing cruel, unjust, oppressive in my laws? Any thing unkind or tyrannical in my government? Why then have they become idolaters?

Verse 6

Through the wilderness - Egypt was the house of their bondage: the desert through which they passed after they came out of Egypt, was a place where the means of life were not to be found; where no one family could subsist, much less a company of 600, 000 men. God mentions these things to show that it was by the bounty of an especial providence that they were fed and preserved alive. Previously to this, it was a land through which no man passed, and in which no man dwelt. And why? because it did not produce the means of life; it was the shadow of death in its appearance, and the grave to those who committed themselves to it.

Verse 7

And I brought you into a plentiful country - The land of Canaan.
My land - The particular property of God, which he gave to them as an inheritance, they being his peculiar people.

Verse 8

They that handle the law - ותפשי vethophe shey, they that draw out the law; they whose office it is to explain it, draw out its spiritual meanings, and show to what its testimonies refer.
The pastors also - Kings, political and civil rulers.
Prophesied by Baal - Became his prophets, and were inspired with the words of lying spirits.

Verse 9

I will yet plead with you - אריב arib, I will maintain my process, vindicate my own conduct, and prove the wickedness of yours.

Verse 10

The isles of Chittim - This is the island of Cyprus, according to Josephus. In 1 Maccabees 8:5, it is taken for Macedonia. Besides this, how they (the Romans) had discomfited in battle Philip and Perseus, king of the Chittims. Chittim was the grandson of Japhet; and Bochart has made it appear that the countries inhabited by the Chittim were Italy and the adjacent provinces of Europe, lying along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea; and probably this is the prophet's meaning.
Send unto Kedar - The name of an Arabian tribe. See if nations either near or remote, cultivated or stupid, have acted with such fickleness and ingratitude as you have done! They have retained their gods to whom they had no obligation; ye have abandoned your God, to whom ye owe your life, breath, and all things!

Verse 12

Be astonished, O ye heavens - Or, the heavens are astonished. The original will admit either sense. The conduct of this people was so altogether bad, that among all the iniquities of mankind, neither heaven nor earth had witnessed any thing so excessively sinful and profligate.

Verse 13

Two evils - First, they forsook God, the Fountain of life, light, prosperity, and happiness. Secondly, they hewed out broken cisterns; they joined themselves to idols, from whom they could receive neither temporal nor spiritual good! Their conduct was the excess of folly and blindness. What we call here broken cisterns, means more properly such vessels as were ill made, not staunch, ill put together, so that the water leaked through them.

Verse 14

Is Israel a servant? - Is he a slave purchased with money, or a servant born in the family? He is a son himself. If so, then, why is he spoiled? Not because God has not shown him love and kindness; but because he forsook God, turned to and is joined with idols.

Verse 15

The young lions roared upon him - The Assyrians, who have sacked and destroyed the kingdom of Israel, with a fierceness like that of pouncing upon their prey.

Verse 16

The children of Noph and Tahapanes - Noph and Tahapanes were two cities of Egypt, otherwise called Memphis and Daphni. It is well known that the good king was defeated by the Egyptians, and slain in battle. Thus was the crown of Judah's head broken.

Verse 18

What hast thou to do in the way of Egypt - Why dost thou make alliances with Egypt?
To drink the waters of Sihor? - This means the Nile. See on ^[72] (note).
The way of Assyria - Why make alliances with the Assyrians? All such connections will only expedite thy ruin.
To drink the waters of the river? - The Euphrates, as נהר nahar or הנהר hannahar always means Euphrates, the country between the Tigris and Euphrates, is termed to this day Maher alnahar, "the country beyond the river," i.e., Mesopotamia.
Instead of cleaving to the Lord, they joined affinity and made alliances with those two nations, who were ever jealous of them, and sought their ruin. Egypt was to them a broken reed instead of a staff; Assyria was a leaky cistern, from which they could derive no help.

Verse 20

Of old time I have broken thy yoke - It is thought by able critics that the verbs should be read in the second person singular, Thou hast broken thy yoke, Thou hast burst thy bonds; and thus the Septuagint, συνετριψας τον ζυγον σου, "thou hast broken thy yoke." And the Vulgate, Confregisti jugum meum, rupisti, vincula mea; "Thou hast broken my yoke; thou hast burst my bonds;" and so the Arabic. But the Chaldee gives it a meaning which removes the difficulty: "I have broken the yoke of the people from thy neck; I have cut your bonds asunder." And when this was done, they did promise fair: for "thou saidst, I will not transgress;" but still they played the harlot - committed idolatrous acts in the high places, where the heathen had built their altars, pretending that elevation of this kind assisted their devotion.

Verse 21

I had planted thee a noble vine - I gave thee the fullest instruction, the purest ordinances, the highest privileges; and reason would that I should expect thee to live suitably to such advantages; but instead of this thou art become degenerate; the tree is deteriorated, and the fruit is bad. Instead of being true worshippers, and of a holy life and conversation, ye are become idolaters of the most corrupt and profligate kind. See ^[73], etc., where the same image is used.

Verse 22

For though thou wash thee with nitre - It should be rendered natar or natron, a substance totally different from our nitre. It comes from the root נתר nathar, to dissolve, loosen, because a solution of it in water is abstersive, taking out spots, etc., from clothes. It is still used in the east for the purpose of washing. If vinegar be poured on it, Dr. Shaw says, a strong effervescence is the immediate consequence, which illustrates ^[74] : "The singing of songs to a heavy heart is like vinegar upon natron;" that is, there is no affinity between them; opposition and strife are occasioned by any attempt to unite them.
Thine iniquity is marked before me - No washing will take out thy spots; the marks of thy idolatry and corruption are too deeply rooted to be extracted by any human means.

Verse 23

See thy way in the valley - The valley of Hinnom, where they offered their own children to Moloch, an idol of the Ammonites.
A swift dromedary traversing her ways - Dr. Blayney translates, "A fleet dromedary that hath taken to company with her." Dr. Dahler rather paraphrases, thus: -
Semblable a une dromedaire en chaleur,
Qui court d'une tote a l'autre. "Like to a dromedary in her desire for the male,
Which runs hither and thither."
This is an energetic comparison; and shows the unbridled attachment of those bad people to idolatry, and the abominable practices by which it was usually accompanied.

Verse 24

A wild ass used to the wilderness - Another comparison to express the same thing.
Snuffeth up the wind - In a high fever from the inward heat felt at such times, these animals open their mouths and nostrils as wide as possible, to take in large draughts of fresh air, in order to cool them.
In her mouth they shall find her - The meaning is, that although such animals are exceedingly fierce and dangerous when they are in this state; yet, as soon as they have found the male, the desire is satisfied, and they become quiet and governable as before. But it was not so with this idolatrous people: their desires were ever fierce and furious; they were never satiated, one indulgence always leading to an other. The brute beasts had only a short season in which this appetite prevailed; but they acted without restraint or limit.

Verse 25

Withhold thy foot from being unshod - When it was said to them, "Cease from discovering thy feet; prostitute thyself no more to thy idols."
And thy throat from thirst - Drink no more of their libations, nor use those potions which tend only to increase thy appetite for pollution. Thou didst say, There is no hope: it is useless to advise me thus; I am determined; I have loved these strange pods, and to them will I cleave.

Verse 26

As the thief is ashamed - As the pilferer is confounded when he is caught in the fact; so shalt thou, thy kings, princes, priests, and prophets, be confounded, when God shall arrest thee in thy idolatries, and deliver thee into the hands of thine enemies.

Verse 27

Thou art my father - By thee we have been produced, and by thee we are sustained. This was the property of the true God; for he is the Author and Supporter of being. How deeply fallen and brutishly ignorant must they be when they could attribute this to the stock of a tree!

Verse 28

According to the number of thy cities are thy gods - Among heathen nations every city had its tutelary deity. Judah, far sunk in idolatry, had adopted this custom. The Church of Rome has refined it a little: every city has its tutelary saint, and this saint has a procession and worship peculiar to himself. So here; not much of the old idolatry is lost.

Verse 31

Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? - Have I ever withheld from you any of the blessings necessary for your support?
A land of darkness - Have you, since you passed through the wilderness, and came out of the darkness of Egypt, ever been brought into similar circumstances? You have had food and all the necessaries of life for your bodies; and my ordinances and word to enlighten and cheer your souls. I have neither been a wilderness nor a land of darkness to you.
We are lords - We wish to be our own masters; we will neither brook religious nor civil restraint; we will regard no laws, human or Divine. It was this disposition that caused them to fall in so fully with the whole system of idolatry.

Verse 32

Can a maid forget her ornaments - This people has not so much attachment to me as young females have to their dress and ornaments. They never forget them and even when arrived at old age, look with pleasure on the dress and ornaments which they have worn in their youth.
Days without number - That is, for many years; during the whole reign of Manasses, which was fifty-five years, the land was deluged with idolatry, from which the reform by good King Josiah his grandson had not yet purified it.

Verse 33

Why trimmest thou thy way - Ye have used a multitude of artifices to gain alliances with the neighboring idolatrous nations.
Hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways - Ye have made even these idolaters worse than they were before. Dr. Blayney translates, "Therefore have I taught calamity thy ways." A prosopopoeia: "I have instructed calamity where to find thee." Thou shalt not escape punishment.

Verse 34

The blood of the souls of the poor innocents - We find from the sacred history that Manasseh had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; see ^[75], and ^[76].
I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these - Such deeds of darkness and profligacy are found only in Israel. Dr. Blayney translates, "I have not found it in a digged hole, but upon every oak." Others cover the blood that it may not appear; but ye have shed it openly, and sprinkled it upon your consecrated oaks, and gloried in it.

Verse 35

Because I am innocent - They continued to assert their innocence, and therefore expected that God's judgments would be speedily removed!
I will plead with thee - I will maintain my process, follow it up to conviction, and inflict the deserved punishment.

Verse 36

Why gaddest thou about - When they had departed from the Lord, they sought foreign alliances for support.
1. The Assyrians ^[77]; but they injured instead of helping them.
2. The Egyptians: but in this they were utterly disappointed, and were ashamed of their confidence.
See ^[78] (note), for the fulfillment of this prediction.

Verse 37

Thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head - Thou shalt find all thy confidence in vain, - thy hope disappointed; - and thy state reduced to desperation. The hand being placed on the head was the evidence of deep sorrow, occasioned by utter desolation. See the case of Tamar, when ruined and abandoned by her brother Amnon, ^[79].
Thou shalt not prosper in them - They shall all turn to thy disadvantage; and this as we shall see in the history of this people, was literally fulfilled. O what a grievous and bitter thing it is to sin against the Lord, and have him for an enemy!

Chapter 3

Introduction

The first five verses of this chapter allude to the subject of the last; and contain earnest exhortations to repentance, with gracious promises of pardon, notwithstanding every aggravation of guilt, ^[80]. At the sixth verse a new section of prophecy commences, opening with a complaint against Judah for having exceeded in guilt her sister Israel, already cast off for her idolatry, ^[81]. She is cast off, but not forever; for to this same Israel, whose place of captivity (Assyria) lay to the north of Judea, pardon is promised on her repentance, together with a restoration to the Church of God, along with her sister Judah, in the latter days, ^[82]. The prophet foretells the sorrow and repentance of the children of Israel under the Gospel dispensation, ^[83]. God renews his gracious promises, ^[84]; and they again confess their sins. In this confession their not deigning to name the idol Baal, the source of their calamities, but calling him in the abstract shame, or a thing of shame, is a nice touch of the perusal extremely beautiful and natural, ^[85].

Verse 1

If a man put away his wife - It was ever understood, by the law and practice of the country, that if a woman were divorced by her husband, and became the wife of another man, the first husband could never take her again. Now Israel had been married unto the Lord; joined in solemn covenant to him to worship and serve him only. Israel turned from following him, and became idolatrous. On this ground, considering idolatry as a spiritual whoredom, and the precept and practice of the law to illustrate this case, Israel could never more be restored to the Divine favor: but God, this first husband, in the plenitude of his mercy, is willing to receive this adulterous spouse, if she will abandon her idolatries and return unto him. And this and the following chapters are spent in affectionate remonstrances and loving exhortations addressed to these sinful people, to make them sensible of their own sin, and God's tender mercy in offering to receive them again into favor.

Verse 2

As the Arabian in the wilderness - They were as fully intent on the practice of their idolatry as the Arab in the desert is in lying in wait to plunder the caravans. Where they have not cover to lie in ambush, they scatter themselves about, and run hither and thither, raising themselves up on their saddles to see if they can discover, by smoke, dust, or other token, the approach of any travelers.

Verse 3

There hath been no latter rain - The former rain, which prepared the earth for tillage, fell in the beginning of November, or a little sooner; and the latter rain fell in the middle of April, after which there was scarcely any rain during the summer.

Verse 4

Wilt thou not - cry unto me, My father - Wilt thou not allow me to be thy Creator and Preserver, and cease thus to acknowledge idols? See on ^[86] (note).

Verse 5

Will he reserve his anger for ever? - Why should not wrath be continued against thee, as thou continuest transgression against the Lord?

Verse 6

The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king - This is a new discourse, and is supposed to have been delivered after the eighteenth year of the reign of Josiah. Here the prophet shows the people of Judah the transgressions, idolatry, obstinacy, and punishment of their brethren, the ten tribes, whom he calls to return to the Lord, with the most gracious promises of restoration to their own country, their reunion with their brethren of Judah, and every degree of prosperity in consequence. He takes occasion also to show the Jews how much more culpable they were than the Israelites, because they practiced the same iniquities while they had the punishment and ruin of the others before their eyes. He therefore exhorts them to return to God with all their hearts, that they might not fall into the same condemnation. See the following verses.

Verse 7

And I said - By the prophets Elijah, Elisha, Hosea, Amos, etc.; for all these prophesied to that rebellious people, and exhorted them to return to the Lord.

Verse 8

I had put her away - Given them up into the hands of the Assyrians.

Verse 9

The lightness of her whoredom - The grossness of her idolatry: worshipping objects the most degrading, with rites the most impure.

Verse 11

Backsliding Israel hath justified herself more - She was less offensive in my eyes, and more excusable, than treacherous Judah. So it is said, ^[87], the humbled publican went down to his house justified rather than the boasting Pharisee. The one was more to be pitied than the other, and more likely to receive the mercy of God.

Verse 12

Proclaim these words toward the north - The countries where the ten tribes were then in captivity, Mesopotamia, Assyria, Media, etc., see ^[88]; these lay north of Judea. How tender and compassionate are the exhortations in this and the following verses! Could these people believe that God had sent the prophet and yet prefer the land of their bondage to the blessings of freedom in their own country, and the approbation of their God?

Verse 14

I will take you one of a city, and two of a family - If there should be but one of a city left, or one willing to return, and two only of a whole tribe, yet will I receive these, and bring them back from captivity into their own land. I have heard these words most sinfully applied to show the nature of a fancied eternal decree of election, that has appointed in several cases one only out of a whole city, and two out of a whole family, to be eternally saved, leaving the rest, according to the decree of reprobation, to perish everlastingly! And yet these persons, who spoke thus of the Fountain of eternal goodness and mercy, professed to believe in Him who by the grace of God tasted death for every man.

Verse 15

I win give you pastors according to mine heart - The pastor means either the king or the prophet; and the pastors here promised may be either kings or prophets, or both. These shall be according to God's own heart; they shall be of his own choosing and shall be qualified by himself: and in consequence they shall feed the people with knowledge, דעה deah that Divine truth concerning the true God and the best interests of man, which was essentially necessary to their salvation; and understanding השכיל haskeil, the full interpretation of every point, that in receiving the truth they might become wise, holy, and happy.

Verse 16

The ark of the covenant of the Lord - This symbol of the Divine presence, given to the Jews as a token and pledge of God's dwelling among them, shall be no longer necessary, and shall no longer exist; for in the days of the Messiah, to which this promise seems to relate, God's worship shall not be confined either to one place or to one people. The temple of God shall be among men, and every where God be adored through Christ Jesus.
Neither shall that be done any more - The ark shall be no more established, nor carried from place to place, nor shall men go to visit it. All its ceremonies and importance shall cease; and, if lost, shall never be rebuilt.

Verse 17

They shall call Jerusalem the throne of the Lord - The new Jerusalem, the universal Church of Christ, shall be God's throne: and wherever he is acknowledged as the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world, there God sits on his throne, and holds his court.

Verse 18

The house of Judah shall walk with the house of Israel - That is, in those days in which the Jews shall be brought in with the fullness of the Gentiles.
Out of the land of the north - From Chaldea. This prophecy has two aspects: one refers to the return from the Babylonish captivity; the other, to the glorious days of Christianity. But the words may refer to that gathering together of the Jews, not only from Chaldea, but from the countries of their dispersion over the face of the whole earth, and uniting them in the Christian Church.

Verse 19

How shalt I put thee among the children - As if he had said, How can ye be accounted a holy seed, who are polluted? How can ye be united to the people of God, who walk in the path of sinners? How can ye be taken to heaven, who are unholy within, and unrighteous without?
And I said, Thou shalt call me, My father - This is the answer to the above question. They could not be put among the children unless they became legal members of the heavenly family: and they could not become members of this family unless they abandoned idolatry, and took the Lord for their portion. Nor could they be continued in the privileges of the heavenly family, unless they no more turned away from their heavenly Father.

Verse 21

A voice was heard upon the high places - Here the Israelites are represented as assembled together to bewail their idolatry and to implore mercy. While thus engaged, they hear the gracious call of Jehovah: -

Verse 22

Return, ye backsliding children - This they gladly receive, and with one voice make their confession to him: "Behold, we come unto thee, for thou art Jehovah our God;" and thence to the end of the chapter, show the reasons why they return unto God.
1. Because he is the true God.
2. Because the idols did not profit them: they could give no help in time of trouble.
3. Because it is the prerogative of God alone to give salvation.
4. Because they had no kind of prosperity since they had abandoned the worship of their Maker. And this was not only their case, but it was the case of their forefathers, who all suffered in consequence of their idolatry and disobedience.
5. These reasons are concluded with a hearty confession of sin, at the thought of which they are confounded; for the remembrance of their sin was grievous to them, and the burden was intolerable. This confession ended, God appears in the next chapter with gracious promises, and proper directions how they are to return, and how to conduct themselves in future.

Verse 24

For shame hath devoured - The word shame, here and in ^[89]; ^[90], is supposed to signify Baal, the idol which they worshipped. That thing or shame which has brought you into contempt, confusion, and ruin. Sooner or later every sinner must be ashamed of his conduct; next, confounded; and, lastly, ruined by it, unless by true faith and hearty repentance he returns to the Lord.

Chapter 4

Introduction

Sequel of the exhortations and promises addressed to Israel in the preceding chapter, ^[91], ^[92]. The prophet then addresses the people of Judah and Jerusalem, exhorting to repentance and reformation, that the dreadful visitation with which they were threatened might be averted, ^[93], ^[94]. He then sounds the alarm of war, ^[95], ^[96]. Nebuchadnezzar, like a fierce lion, is, from the certainty of the prophecy, represented to be on his march; and the disastrous event to have been already declared, ^[97]. And as the lying prophets had flattered the people with the hopes of peace and safety, they are now introduced, (when their predictions are falsified by the event), excusing themselves; and, with matchless effrontery, laying the blame of the deception upon God, ("And they said," etc., so the text is corrected by Kennicott), ^[98]. The prophet immediately resumes his subject; and, in the person of God, denounces again those judgments which were shortly to be inflicted by Nebuchadnezzar, ^[99]. The approaching desolation of Jerusalem lamented in language amazingly energetic and exquisitely tender, ^[100]. The incorrigible wickedness of the people the sole cause of these calamities, ^[101]. In the remaining verses the prophet describes the sad catastrophe of Jerusalem by such a beautiful assemblage of the most striking and afflictive circumstances as form a picture of a land "swept with the besom of destruction." The earth seems ready to return to its original chaos; every ray of light is extinguished, and succeeded by a frightful gloom; the mountains tremble, and the hills shake, under the dreadful apprehension of the wrath of Jehovah; all is one awful solitude, where not a vestige of the human race is to be seen. Even the fowls of heaven, finding no longer whereon to subsist, are compelled to migrate; the most fruitful places are become a dark and dreary desert, and every city is a ruinous heap. To complete the whole, the dolorous shrieks of Jerusalem, as of a woman in peculiar agony, break through the frightful gloom; and the appalled prophet pauses, leaving the reader to reflect on the dreadful effects of apostasy and idolatry, ^[102].

Verse 1

Shalt thou not remove - This was spoken before the Babylonish captivity; and here is a promise that if they will return from their idolatry, they shall not be led into captivity. So, even that positively threatened judgment would have been averted had they returned to the Lord.

Verse 2

Thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth - Thou shalt not bind thyself by any false god; thou shalt acknowledge Me as the Supreme. Bind thyself By me, and To me; and do this in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness.
The nations shall bless themselves in him - They shall be so fully convinced of the power and goodness of Jehovah in seeing the change wrought on thee, and the mercies heaped upon thee, that their usual mode of benediction shall be, May the God of Israel bless thee!

Verse 3

Break up your fallow ground - Fallow ground is either that which, having been once tilled, has lain long uncultivated; or, ground slightly ploughed, in order to be ploughed again previously to its being sown. Ye have been long uncultivated in righteousness; let true repentance break up your fruitless and hardened hearts; and when the seed of the word of life is sown in them, take heed that worldly cares and concerns do not arise, and, like thorns, choke the good seed.

Verse 4

Circumcise yourselves - Put away every thing that has a tendency to grieve the Spirit of God, or to render your present holy resolutions unfruitful.

Verse 5

Blow ye the trumpet - Give full information to all parts of the land, that the people may assemble together and defend themselves against their invaders.

Verse 6

I will bring evil from the north - From the land of Chaldea.

Verse 7

The lion is come up - Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon. "The king (Nebuchadnezzar) is come up from his tower." - Targum.
The destroyer of the Gentiles - Of the nations: of all the people who resisted his authority. He destroyed them all.

Verse 8

Lament and howl - הילילו heililu. The aboriginal Irish had a funeral song called the Caoinian, still continued among their descendants, one part of which is termed the ulaloo: this is sung responsively or alternately, and is accompanied with a full chorus of sighs and groans. It has been thought that Ireland was originally peopled by the Phoenicians: if so, this will account for the similarity of many words and customs among both these people.

Verse 9

The heart of the king shall perish - Shall lose all courage.

Verse 10

Ah, Lord God! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people - The Targum paraphrases this verse thus: "And I said, Receive my supplication, O Lord God; for, behold, the false prophets deceive this people and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace." The prophet could not reconcile this devastation of the country with the promises already made; and he appears to ask the question, Hast thou not then deceived this people in saying there shall be peace, i.e., prosperity?
Whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul - That is, the life; the people being generally destroyed.

Verse 11

A dry wind - a fall wind - as clouds - as a whirlwind - All these expressions appear to refer to the pestilential winds, suffocating vapors, and clouds and pillars of sand collected by whirlwinds, which are so common and destructive in the east, (see on ^[103] (note)); and these images are employed here to show the overwhelming effect of the invasion of the land by the Chaldeans.

Verse 13

Wo unto us! - The people, deeply affected with these threatened judgments, interrupt the prophet with the lamentation - Wo unto us, for we are spoiled! The prophet then resumes: -

Verse 14

O Jerusalem, wash thine heart - Why do ye not put away your wickedness, that ye may be saved from these tremendous judgments? How long shall thy vain thoughts of safety and prosperity lodge within thee? Whilst thou continuest a rebel against God, and provokest him daily by thy abominations!

Verse 15

For a voice declareth from Dan - Dan was a city in the tribe of Dan, north of Jerusalem; the first city in Palestine, which occurs in the way from Babylon to Jerusalem.
Affliction from Mount Ephraim - Between Dan and Jerusalem are the mountains of Ephraim. These would be the first places attacked by the Chaldeans; and the rumor from thence would show that the land was invaded.

Verse 16

Watchers come from a far country - Persons to besiege fortified places.

Verse 17

As keepers of a field - In the eastern countries grain is often sown in the open country; and, when nearly ripe, guards are placed at different distances round about it to preserve it from being plundered. Jerusalem was watched, like one of these fields, by guards all round about it; so that none could enter to give assistance, and none who wished to escape were permitted to go out.

Verse 19

My bowels - From this to the twenty-ninth verse the prophet describes the ruin of Jerusalem and the desolation of Judea by the Chaldeans in language and imagery scarcely paralleled in the whole Bible. At the sight of misery the bowels are first affected; pain is next felt by a sort of stricture in the pericardium; and then, the heart becoming strongly affected by irregular palpitations, a gush of tears, accompanied with wailings, is the issue. - "My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart, (the walls of my heart); my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace." Here is nature, and fact also.

Verse 20

Destruction upon destruction - Cities burnt, and their inhabitants destroyed.
My tents spoiled - Even the solitary dwellings in the fields and open country do not escape.

Verse 23

I beheld the earth, (the land), and lo it was without form and void - תהו ובהו tohu vabohu; the very words used in Genesis to denote the formless state of the chaotic mass before God had brought it into order.

Verse 24

The mountains - hills - Princes, rulers, etc., were astonished and fled.

Verse 25

The birds of the heavens were fled - The land was so desolated that even the fowls of heaven could not find meat, and therefore fled away to another region. How powerfully energetic is this description!
See ^[104].

Verse 30

Though thou rentest thy face with painting - This probably refers to the custom of introducing stibium a preparation of antimony, between the eye and the lids, in order to produce a fine lustre, which occasions a distension of the eye-lid in the time of the operation. In order to heighten the effect from this some may have introduced a more than ordinary quantity, so as nearly to rend the eye-lid itself. Though thou make use of every means of address, of cunning, and of solicitation, to get assistance from the neighboring states, it will be all in vain. Reference is here particularly made to the practice of harlots to allure men.

Verse 31

Bringeth forth her first child - In such a case the fear, danger, and pain were naturally the greatest.
Spreadeth her hands - The gesture indicated by nature to signify distress, and implore help. We have met with this figure in other parts, and among the classic writers it is frequent.

Chapter 5

Introduction

The prophet, having described the judgments impending over his countrymen, enlarges on the corruptions which prevailed among them. Their profession of religion was all false and hypocritical, ^[105], ^[106]. Though corrected, they were not amended, but persisted in their guilt, ^[107]. This was not the case with the low and ignorant only, ^[108]; but more egregiously so with those of the higher order, from whose knowledge and opportunities better things might have been expected, ^[109]. God therefore threatens them with the most cruel enemies, ^[110]; and appeals to themselves if they should be permitted to practice such sins unpunished, ^[111]. He then commands their enemies to raze the walls of Jerusalem, ^[112]; that devoted city whose inhabitants added to all their other sins the highest contempt of God's word and prophets, ^[113]. Wherefore his word, in the mouth of his prophet, shall be as fire to consume them, ^[114]; the Chaldean forces shall cruelly addict them, ^[115]; and farther judgments await then as the consequence of their apostasy and idolatry, ^[116], ^[117]. The chapter closes with a most melancholy picture of the moral condition of the Jewish people at that period which immediately preceded the Babylonish captivity, ^[118].

Verse 1

Broad places - Market-places, and those where there was most public resort.
If ye can find a man - A certain philosopher went through the streets of Athens with a lighted lamp in his hand; and being asked what he sought, answered, "I am seeking to find a Man." So in Jerusalem none was found, on the most diligent search, who acted worthy the character of a rational being.
I will pardon it - I will spare the city for the sake of one righteous person. So at the intercession of Abraham, God would have spared Sodom if there had been ten righteous persons found in it; ^[119].

Verse 2

The Lord liveth - Though they profess to bind themselves by Jehovah, as if they acknowledged him their God and only Lord, yet they swore falsely; for not believing in him, they took a false oath; one by which they did not believe themselves bound, not acknowledging him as their Lord. See on ^[120] (note).

Verse 4

These are poor - They are ignorant; they have no education; they know no better.

Verse 5

I will get me unto the great men - Those whose circumstances and rank in life gave them opportunities of information which the others could not have, for the reasons already given.
These have altogether broken the yoke - These have cast aside all restraint, have acted above law, and have trampled all moral obligations under their feet, and into their vortex the lower classes of the people have been swept away. Solon said, "The laws are like cobwebs; they entangle the small fry, but the great ones go through them, and carry all away with them."

Verse 6

Wherefore a lion - Nebuchadnezzar, according to the general opinion; who is called here a lion for his courage and violence, a bear for his rapaciousness, and a leopard for his activity. Dahler supposes the Scythians to be intended, both here and in ^[121].

Verse 7

In the harlots' houses - In places consecrated to idolatry. In the language of the prophets, adultery generally signifies idolatry. This we have often seen.

Verse 8

After his neighbor's wife - This may have been literally true, as the abominations of idolatry, in which they were so deeply practiced, would necessarily produce such a state of things as that here mentioned.

Verse 10

Go ye up upon her walls - This is the permission and authority given to the Chaldeans to pillage Jerusalem.
Take away her battlements - Some translate נטישות netishoth, branches; others, vines. Destroy the branches, cut down the stem; but do not damage the root. Leave so many of the people that the state may be regenerated. The Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic, read, "Leave her foundations, for they are the Lord's;" and this agrees with "Destroy, but make not a full end."

Verse 12

They have belied the Lord - כחשו kichashu. They have denied or disavowed the Lord.
It is not he - לוא הוא lo hu, he is not; there is no such being; therefore this evil shall not come upon us. On their premises, this conclusion was just. There is no judge; therefore there shall be no judgment. Thus they denied the Lord. They were atheists at heart.

Verse 13

And the prophets shall become wind - What are the prophets?
Empty persons. Their words are wind; we hear the sound of their threatening but of the matter of the threatenings we shall hear no more.
And the word is not in them - There is no inspirer, but may their own predictions fall on their own heads! This seems the natural sense of this passage.

Verse 14

Because ye speak this word - Because ye thus treat my message, "I will make my words in thy mouth fire." They have said they are but air; but I will make them fire, and a fire too that shall devour them. And how this was to be done, and by whom, is mentioned in the next verse.

Verse 15

I will bring a nation - The Scythians, says Dahler; the Babylonians, whose antiquity was great, that empire being founded by Nimrod.
Whose language thou knowest not - The Chaldee, which, though a dialect of the Hebrew, is so very different in its words and construction that in hearing it spoken they could not possibly collect the meaning of what was said.

Verse 16

Their quiver is an open sepulcher - They are such exact archers as never to miss their mark; every arrow is sure to slay one man.

Verse 18

I will not make a full end - There are more evils in store for you. You shall not only be spoiled, and all your property destroyed, but ye shall be carried into captivity; and ye shall serve strangers in a land that is not yours, ^[122].

Verse 22

Which have placed the sand for the bound of the sea - What can I not do, who confine the sea, that enormous mass of waters, and prevent it from overflowing the earth; not by immense mountains and rocks, but by the sand, no particle of which is in cohesion with another? The most tremendous waves cannot displace nor pass over this simple barrier.

Verse 23

They are revolted and gone - They have abandoned me, and are gone farther and farther into transgression. They are gone entirely away from truth and righteousness.

Verse 24

Giveth rain, both the former and the latter - See the note on ^[123].
The appointed weeks of the harvest - As the early rains fell in the northern parts of Judea about the end of September, in the civil year of the Hebrews, so the latter rains fell before harvest, in the months of March and April. The appointed weeks of the harvest were those which fell between the passover and pentecost. In the southern parts the harvest was earlier than in the northern. Dr. Blayney translates, "A sufficiency of the appointed things of harvest he secureth to us."
If the word שבעת weeks, be read with a ש sin instead of a ש shin, it will signify fullness or sufficiency; and thus the Septuagint and Vulgate have read it. I think the present reading is much to be preferred. God appoints a harvest time, and in his good providence he generally gives harvest weather.

Verse 25

Your iniquities have turned away these things - When these appointed weeks of harvest do not come, should we not examine and see whether this be not in God's judgments? Have not our iniquities turned away these good things from us?

Verse 26

They lay wait, as he that setteth snares - A metaphor taken from fowlers, who, having fixed their nets, lie down and keep out of sight, that when birds come, they may be ready to draw and entangle them.

Verse 27

As a cage is full of birds - There is no doubt that the reference here is to a decoy or trap-cage, as Dr. Blayney has rendered it; in these the fowlers put several tame birds, which when the wild ones see, they come and light on the cage, and fall into the snare.

Verse 28

They judge not the cause, yet they prosper - Perhaps we might be justified in translating, "And shall they prosper?"

Verse 30

A wonderful and horrible thing is committed on the land - Dahler translates: "Strange crimes and horrible trespasses have been committed in the land." These have been already detailed; but this may refer to what follows.

Verse 31

The prophets prophesy falsely - The false prophets predict favorable things, that they may please both the princes and the people.
The priests bear rule by their means - The false prophets affording them all that their influence and power can procure, to enable them to keep their places, and feed on the riches of the Lord's house.
And my people love to have it so - Are perfectly satisfied with this state of things, because they are permitted to continue in their sins without reproof or restraint. The prophets and the priests united to deceive and ruin the people. The prophets gave out false predictions; by their means the priests got the government of the people into their own hands; and so infatuated were the people that they willingly abandoned themselves to those blind guides, and would not hearken to the voice of any reformer. In my Old Bible the words stand thus: - Stonyng and mervailis ben made in the erthe, prophets prophecieden lesing; and prestis flappiden with joye with ther bondes, and my peple lovid siche thingis. False prophets and worldly priests have been in all ages the bane of religion, and the ruin of many souls. When profligate people stand up on behalf of profligate priests, corruption must then be at its height.

Chapter 6

Introduction

Jeremiah, in the spirit of prophecy, seeing the Chaldeans on their march, bids his people set up the usual signals of distress, and spread the general alarm to betake themselves to flight, ^[124]. Then, by a beautiful allusion to the custom of shepherds moving their flocks to the richest pastures, Jerusalem is singled out as a place devoted to be eaten up or trodden down by the armies of the Chaldeans, who are called up against her, and whose ardor and impatience are so great that the soldiers, when they arrive in the evening, regret they have no more day, and desire to begin the attack without waiting for the light of the morning, ^[125]. God is then represented as animating and directing the besiegers against this guilty city, which sinned as incessantly as a fountain flows, ^[126], ^[127], although warned of the fatal consequence, ^[128]. He intimates also, by the gleaning of the grapes, that one invasion should carry away the remains of another, till their disobedience, hypocrisy, and other sins should end in their total overthrow, ^[129]. And to show that God is clear when he judgeth, he mentions his having in vain admonished and warned them, and calls upon the whole world to witness the equity of his proceedings, ^[130], in punishing this perverse and hypocritical people, ^[131], ^[132], by the ministry of the cruel Chaldeans, ^[133]. Upon this a chorus of Jews is introduced expressing their fears and alarm, ^[134], ^[135]; to which the prophet echoes a response full of sympathy and tenderness, ^[136]. The concluding verses, by metaphors taken from the process of refining gold and silver, represent all the methods hitherto used to amend them as wholly ineffectual, ^[137].

Verse 1

O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee - As the invading armies are fast approaching, the prophet calls on the inhabitants of Jerusalem to sound an alarm, and collect all the people to arm themselves and go against the invaders. They are called the children of Benjamin, because Jerusalem was in the tribe of Benjamin.
Tekoa - Was a city about twelve miles to the south of Jerusalem.
Beth-haccerem - Was the name of a small village situated on an eminence between Jerusalem and Tekoa. On this they were ordered to set up a beacon, or kindle a large fire, which might be seen at a distance, and give the people to understand that an enemy was entering the land.
Out of the north - From Babylon. The Scythians. - Dahler.

Verse 3

The shepherds with their flocks - The chiefs and their battalions. The invading army is about to spoil and waste all the fertile fields round about the city, while engaged in the siege.

Verse 4

Prepare ye war against her - The words of the invaders exciting each other to the assault, and impatient lest any time should be lost; lest the besieged should have time to strengthen themselves, or get in supplies.

Verse 5

Arise, and let us go by night - Since we have lost the day, let us not lose the night; but, taking advantage of the darkness, let us make a powerful assault while they are under the impression of terror.

Verse 6

Hew ye down trees - To form machines.
And cast a mount - That may overlook the city, on which to place our engines.
This is the city to be visited - We are sure of success, for their God will deliver it into our hands, for it is full of oppression, and he has consigned it to destruction.

Verse 7

As a fountain casteth out her waters - The inhabitants are incessant in their acts of iniquity; they do nothing but sin.

Verse 8

Be thou instructed - Still there is respite: if they would even now return unto the Lord with all their heart, the advancing Chaldeans would be arrested on their march and turned back.

Verse 9

They shall thoroughly glean the remnant of Israel as a vine: turn back thine hand - The Chaldeans are here exhorted to turn back and glean up the remnant of the inhabitants that were left after the capture of Jerusalem; for even that remnant did not profit by the Divine judgments that fell on the inhabitants at large.

Verse 10

The word of the Lord is unto them a reproach - It is an object of derision; they despise it.

Verse 11

I am full of the fury of the Lord - God has given me a dreadful revelation of the judgments he intends to inflict: my soul is burdened with this prophecy. I have endeavored to suppress it; but I must pour it forth upon the children, on the young people, on husbands and wives, on the old and the super-annuated. All must partake in these judgments.

Verse 14

They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of my people slightly - Of the daughter is not in the text, and is here improperly added: it is, however, in some MSS.
Peace, peace - Ye shall have prosperity - when there was none, and when God had determined that there should be none. Here the prophets prophesied falsely; and the people continued in sin, being deceived by the priests and the prophets.

Verse 16

Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the ways, and see - Let us observe the metaphor. A traveler is going to a particular city; he comes to a place where the road divides into several paths, he is afraid of going astray; he stops short, - endeavors to find out the right path: he cannot fix his choice. At last he sees another traveler; he inquires of him, gets proper directions - proceeds on his journey - arrives at the desired place - and reposes after his fatigue. There is an excellent sermon on these words in the works of our first poet, Geoffrey Chaucer; it is among the Canterbury Tales, and is called Chaucer's Tale. The text, I find, was read by him as it appears in my old MS. Bible: - Standith upon weies and seeth, and asketh of the olde pathes; What is the good weie? and goth in it, and gee schul fynden refreschimg to your soulis. The soul needs rest; it can only find this by walking in the good way. The good way is that which has been trodden by the saints from the beginning: it is the old way, the way of faith and holiness. Believe, Love, Obey; be holy, and be happy. This is the way; let us inquire for it, and walk in it. But these bad people said, We will not walk in it. Then they took another way, walked over the precipice, and fell into the bottomless pit; where, instead of rest, they find: - - a fiery deluge, fed
With ever-burning sulfur, unconsumed.

Verse 17

I set watchmen - I have sent prophets to warn you.

Verse 20

Incense frown Sheba - Sheba was in Arabian famous for the best incense. It was situated towards the southern extremity of the peninsula of Arabia; and was, in respect of Judea, a far country.
And the sweet cane from a far country - The calamus aromaticus, which, when dried and pulverized, yields a very fine aromatic smell; see on ^[138] (note). This was employed in making the holy anointing oil. See ^[139].

Verse 23

They shall lay hold on bow and spear - Still pointing out the Chaldeans: or according to Dahler, the Scythians, who had before their invasion of Palestine overrun many parts of Asia, and had spread consternation wherever their name was heard.

Verse 27

I have set thee for a tower and a fortress - Dr. Blayney translates, I have appointed thee to make an assay among my people. The words refer to the office of an assayer of silver and gold; and the manner of assaying here intended is by the cupel, a flat broad iron ring filled with the ashes of burnt bones. To separate the alloy from the silver they add a portion of lead; and when all is fused together, and brought into a state of ebullition, the cupel absorbs the lead, and with it the dross or alloy, and the silver is left pure and motionless on the top of the cupel. The people are here represented under the notion of alloyed silver. They are full of impurities; and they are put into the hands of the prophet, the assayer, to be purified. The bellows are placed, the fire is lighted up, but all to no purpose: so intensely commixed is the alloy with the silver, that it can not be separated. The nozzle of the bellows is even melted with the intensity of the fire used to effect the refinement; and the lead is carried off by the action of the heat; and the assayer melteth in vain, for the alloy still continues in union with the metal. The assayer gives up the process, - will not institute one more expensive or tedious - pronounces the mass unfit to be coined, and denominates it reprobate silver, ^[140]. Thus, the evil habits and dispositions of the Israelites were so ingrained that they would not yield to either the ordinary or extraordinary means of salvation. God pronounces them reprobate silver, - not sterling, - full of alloy; - having neither the image nor the superscription of the Great King either on their hearts or on their conduct. Thus he gave them up as incorrigible, and their adversaries prevailed against them. This should be a warning to other nations, and indeed to the Christian Church; for if God did not spare the natural branches, neither will he spare these.

Chapter 7

Introduction

Mere begins another section of prophecy, ending with the ninth chapter. It opens with exhorting to amendment of life, without which the confidence of the Jews in their temple is declared vain, ^[141]. God bids them take warning from the fate of their brethren the Israelites, who had been carried away captive on account of their sins without any regard to that sacred place, (Shiloh), where the ark of God once resided, ^[142]. The iniquities of Judah are so great in the sight of God that the prophet is commanded not to intercede for the people, ^[143]; the more especially as they persisted in provoking God by their idolatrous practices, ^[144]. The Jewish sacrifices, if not accompanied with obedience to the moral law, are of no avail, ^[145]. Notwithstanding the numerous messages of mercy from the time of the exodus, the people revolted more and more; and have added to their other sins this horrible evil, the setting up of their abominations in the temple of Jehovah; or, in other words, they have encumbered the Mosaic economy, which shadowed forth the glorious truths of Christianity, with a heterogeneous admixture of the idolatrous, impure, and cruel rites of heathenism; consequently, the whole land shall be utterly desolated, ^[146].

Verse 1

The word that came to Jeremiah - This prophecy is supposed to have been delivered in the first year of the reign of Jehoiakim, son of Josiah, who, far from following the example of his pious father, restored idolatry, maintained bad priests and worse prophets, and filled Jerusalem with abominations of all kinds.

Verse 2

Stand in the gate of the Lord's house - There was a show of public worship kept up. The temple was considered God's residence; the usual ceremonies of religion restored by Josiah were still observed; and the people were led to consider the temple and its services as sacred things, which would be preservatives to them in case of the threatened invasion.

Verse 4

The temple of the Lord - In the Chaldee the passage stands thus: - "Do not trust in the words of lying prophets, which say, Before the temple of the Lord ye shall worship; Before the temple of the Lord ye shall sacrifice; Before the temple of the Lord ye shall adore; thrice in the year ye shall appear before it." This the Targumist supposes to have been the reason why the words are here thrice repeated. They rather seem to express the conviction which the people had, that they should be safe while their temple service continued; for they supposed that God would not give it up into profane hands. But sacred places and sacred symbols are nothing in the sight of God when the heart is not right with him.

Verse 5

If ye throughly amend your ways - Literally, If in making good ye fully make good your ways. God will no longer admit of half-hearted work. Semblances of piety cannot deceive him; he will not accept partial reformation; there must be a thorough amendment.

Verse 9

Will ye steal, murder - Will you continue to commit such abominations, and pretend to worship me; and thus defile the place that is called by my name; and so make my house a den of robbers? I have seen this, - and can you expect to escape condign punishment? Ye shall not escape.

Verse 12

But go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh - See what I did to my tabernacle and ark formerly: after a long residence at Shiloh, for the iniquity of the priests and the people, I suffered it to fall into the hands of the Philistines, and to be carried captive into their land, and to be set up in the house of their idols. And because of your iniquities, I will deal with you and this temple in the same way; for as I spared not Shiloh, though my ark was there, but made it a victim of my wrath, so will I do to Jerusalem and her temple.

Verse 15

The whole seed of Ephraim - Taken here for all the ten tribes, that of Ephraim being the principal.

Verse 16

Therefore pray not thou for this people - They have filled up the measure of their iniquity, and they must become examples of my justice. How terrible must the state of that place be, where God refuses to pour out the spirit of supplication on his ministers and people in its behalf!

Verse 18

The children gather wood - Here is a description of a whole family gathered together, and acting unitedly in idolatrous worship.
1. The children go and collect wood, and bring it to the place of sacrifice.
2. The fathers lay it in order, and kindle a fire.
3. The mother and her maids knead dough, make their batch, and out of it form cakes, and bake them for the honor of the queen of heaven; most probably the moon, though perhaps not exclusive of the sun and planets, generally called the host of heaven.
Family worship is a most amiable and becoming thing when performed according to truth. What a pity that so few families show such zeal for the worship of God as those apostate Israelites did for that of their idols!

Verse 21

Put your burnt-offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh - I will receive neither sacrifice nor oblation from you; therefore you may take the beasts intended for sacrifice, and slay and eat them for your common nourishment. See on ^[147] (note).

Verse 23

This thing commanded I them - Obey my voice - It was not sacrifices and oblations which I required of your fathers in the wilderness, but obedience; it was to walk in that way of righteousness which I have commanded; then I should have acknowledged them for my people, and I should have been their God, and then it would have been well with them. But to my commands,
1. They hearkened not - paid no regard to my word.
2. They inclined not the ear - showed no disposition to attend to my counsels.
3. They walked in the imaginations of their evil heart - followed its irregular and impure motions, rather than the holy dictates of my Spirit.
4. They went backward and not forward. Instead of becoming more wise, obedient, and holy, they grew more corrupt; so that they became more profligate than their fathers.

Verse 28

Nor receiveth correction - They have profited neither by mercies nor by judgments: blessings and corrections have been equally lost upon them.

Verse 29

Cut off thine hair - גזי נזרך gozzi nizrech, shear thy nazarite. The Nazarite was one who took upon him a particular vow, and separated himself from all worldly connections for a certain time, that he might devote himself without interruption to the service of God; and during all this time no razor was to pass on his head, for none of his hair was to be taken off. After the vow was over, he shaved his head and beard, and returned to society. See ^[148] (note), etc., and the notes there. Jerusalem is here considered under the notion of a Nazarite, by profession devoted to the service of God: but that profession was empty; it was not accompanied with any suitable practice. God tells them here to cut off their hair; to make no vain pretensions to holiness or religion; to throw off the mask, and attempt no longer to impose upon themselves and others by their hypocritical pretensions. On the same ground he orders them, ^[149], to devote to common use the animals destined for sacrifice; and to make no more vain shows of religion while their hearts were not right with him. Dr. Blayney thinks the address is to the prophet, who was a Nazarite by virtue of his office, and who was called to cut off his hair as a token of mourning for the desolations which were coming upon his people. That cutting off the hair was a sign of distress and mourning may be seen, ^[150]; ^[151]; ^[152], etc. But I think the other the more natural construction.
On high places - That the lamentation may be heard to the greater distance.
The generation of his wrath - Persons exposed to punishment: used here as children of wrath, ^[153].

Verse 31

Tophet - in the valley of the son of Hinnom - Tophet was the place in that valley where the continual fires were kept up, in and through which they consecrated their children to Moloch.

Verse 32

The valley of slaughter - The place where the slaughtered thousands of this rebellious people shall be cast, in order to their being burnt, or becoming food for the beasts of the field and the fowls of the air, ^[154]. These words are repeated, and their meaning more particularly explained, ^[155].

Verse 34

Then will I cause to cease - the voice of mirth - There shall no longer be in Jerusalem any cause of joy; they shall neither marry nor be given in marriage, for the land shall be totally desolated. Such horrible sins required such a horrible punishment. And they must be horrible, when they move God to destroy the work of his own hands.

Chapter 8

Introduction

The judgments threatened in the last chapter are here declared to extend to the very dead, whose tombs should be opened, and the carcasses treated with every mark of indignity, ^[156]. From this the prophet returns to reprove them for their perseverance in transgression, ^[157]; and for their thoughtless stupidity, which even the instinct of the brute creation, by a beautiful contrast, is made to upbraid, ^[158]. This leads to farther threatening expressed in a variety of striking terms, ^[159]. Upon which a chorus of Jews is introduced, expressing their terror on the news of the invasion, ^[160], ^[161]; which is greatly heightened in the neat verse by the prophet's hearing the snorting of Nebuchadnezzar's horses even from Dan, and then seeing the devastation made by his army, ^[162], whose cruelties God himself declares no entreaties will soften, ^[163]. On this declaration the prophet laments most bitterly the fate of the daughter of his people, changing the scene unawares to the place of her captivity, where she is introduced answering in mournful responses to the prophet's dirge, ^[164]. The variety of images and figures used to diversify the same subject is equally pleasing and astonishing. The dress is generally new, always elegant.

Verse 1

They shall bring out the bones - This and the two following verses are a continuation of the preceding prophecy, and should not have been separated from the foregoing chapter.
In order to pour the utmost contempt upon the land, the victorious enemies dragged out of their graves, caves, and sepulchers, the bones of kings, princes, prophets, priests, and the principal inhabitants, and exposed them in the open air; so that they became, in the order of God's judgments, a reproach to them in the vain confidence they had in the sun, moon, and the host of heaven - all the planets and stars, whose worship they had set up in opposition to that of Jehovah. This custom of raising the bodies of the dead, and scattering their bones about, seems to have been general. It was the highest expression of hatred and contempt. Horace refers to it: -
Barbarus, heu, cineres insistet victor, et urbem
Eques sonante verberabit ungula:
Quaeque carent ventis et solibus ossa Quirini (Nefas videre) dissipabit insolens.
Epod. 16:11. "Barbarians fell shall wanton with success,
Scatter the city's flaming ruins wide;
Or through her streets in vengeful triumph ride,
And her great founder's hallowed ashes spurn,
That slept uninjured in the sacred urn."
Francis.
See this judgment referred to, Baruch 2:24, 25.

Verse 4

Moreover thou shalt say - Dr. Blayney very properly observes, "In that part of the prophecy which follows next, the difference of speakers requires to be attended to; the transition being quick and sudden, but full of life and energy. The prophet at first, in the name of God, reproves the people's incorrigibility; he charges their wise ones with folly, and threatens them with grievous calamities, ^[165]. In the three next verses he seems to apostrophize his countrymen in his own person, and as one of the people that dwelt in the open towns, advising those that were in the like situation to retire with him into some of the fortified cities, and there wait the event with patience, since there was nothing but terror abroad, and the noise of the enemy, who had already begun to ravage the country, ^[166]. God speaks, ^[167], and threatens to bring foes against them that should be irresistible. The prophet appears again in his own person, commiserating the daughter of his people, who is heard bewailing her forlorn case in a distant land; while the voice of God, like that of conscience, breaks in upon her complaints, and shows her that all this ruin is brought upon her by her own infidelities, ^[168]. The prophet once more resumes his discourse; he regrets that no remedy can be found to close up the wounds of his country, and pathetically weeps over the number of her slain, ^[169], ^[170]."
Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return? - That is, It is as possible for sinners to return from their sin to God, for his grace is ever at hand to assist, as it is for God, who is pouring out his judgments, to return to them on their return to him. But these held fast deceit, and refused to return; they would not be undeceived.

Verse 6

As the horse rusheth into the battle - This strongly marks the unthinking, careless desperation of their conduct.

Verse 7

The stork in the heaven - The birds of passage know the times of their going and return, and punctually observe them; they obey the dictates of nature, but my people do not obey my law.

Verse 8

The pen of the scribes is in vain - The deceitful pen of the scribes. They have written falsely, though they had the truth before them. It is too bold an assertion to say that "the Jews have never falsified the sacred oracles;" they have done it again and again. They have written falsities when they knew they were such.

Verse 10

Therefore will I give their wives - From this to the end of ^[171] is repeated from ^[172].

Verse 16

The snorting of his horses was heard from Dan - From this to the end of ^[173] is repeated from Babylon to Jerusalem; and it was by this city, after the battle of Carchemish, that Nebuchadnezzar, in pursuing the Egyptians, entered Palestine.
The whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing of his strong ones - Of his war horses. This is a fine image; so terrible was the united neighing of the cavalry of the Babylonians that the reverberation of the air caused the ground to tremble. This is better, and more majestic, than the celebrated line of Virgil: -
Quadrupe - dante pu - trem soni-tu quatit ungula campum.
It would be much easier to shake the ground with the prancings of many horses, than to cause an earthquake by the sound of the neighing of the troops of cavalry.

Verse 17

I will send serpents - These were symbols of the enemies that were coming against them; a foe that would rather slay them and destroy the land than get booty and ransom.

Verse 20

The harvest is past - The siege of Jerusalem lasted two years; for Nebuchadnezzar came against it in the ninth year of Zedekiah, and the city was taken in the eleventh; see ^[174]. This seems to have been a proverb: "We expected deliverance the first year - none came. We hoped for it the second year - we are disappointed; we are not saved - no deliverance is come."

Verse 22

Is there no balm in Gilead? - Yes, the most excellent in the world. "Is there no physician there?" Yes, persons well skilled to apply it. "Why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?" Because ye have not applied to the physician, nor used the balm. Ye die because ye will not use the remedy. But to apply this metaphor: - The Israelites are represented as a man dying through disease; and a disease for the cure of which the balm of Gilead was well known to be a specific, when judiciously applied by a physician. But though there be balm and a physician, the people are not cured; neither their spiritual nor political evils are removed. But what may all this spiritually mean? The people are morally diseased; they have sinned against God, and provoked him to destroy them. They are warned by the prophet to repent and turn to God: they refuse, and sin on. Destruction is come upon them. Might they not have avoided it? Yes. Was it the fault of God? No. Did he not send his prophets with the richest offers of mercy? Did he not give them time, the best instructions, and the most effectual means of returning to him? Has not mercy, the heavenly balm, been ever at hand? And has not God, the great Physician, been ever ready to apply it? Yes. Why then are they not converted and healed? Because they would not apply to the Divine Physician, nor receive the only remedy by which they could be spiritually healed. They, then, that sin against the only remedy must perish, because they might have had it, but would not. It is not because there is a deficiency of grace, nor of the means of grace, that men are not saved; but because they either make no use, or a bad use, of them. Jesus Christ, by the grace of God, has tasted death for every man; but few are saved, because they Will Not come unto him that they may have life.
In my old MS. Bible the text is rendered thus: -
Whether gumm is not in Galaad? Or a leche is not there? Why than the hid wounde of the daughter of my peple is not all helid?
How shall they escape who neglect so great a salvation? Reader, lay this to heart; and, while there is time, apply heartily to the great Physician for thy cure.

Chapter 9

Introduction

The prophet bitterly laments the terrible judgments about to be inflicted upon his countrymen, and points out some of the evils which have provoked the Divine Majesty, ^[175]. Judea shall be utterly desolated, and the inhabitants transplanted into heathen countries, ^[176]. In allusion to an ancient custom, a band of mourning women is called to lament over the ruins of Jerusalem, ^[177], ^[178]; and even the funeral dirge is given in terms full of beauty, elegance, and pathos, ^[179]. God is the fountain of all good; man, merely an instrument by which a portion of this good is distributed in the earth; therefore none should glory in his wisdom, might, or riches, ^[180], ^[181]. The judgments of God shall fall, not upon the land of Judea only, but also upon many heathen nations, ^[182], ^[183].

Verse 1

O that my head were waters - מי יתן ראשי מים mi yitten roshi mayim, "who will give to my head waters?" My mourning for the sins and desolations of my people has already exhausted the source of tears: I wish to have a fountain opened there, that I may weep day and night for the slain of my people. This has been the sorrowful language of many a pastor who has preached long to a hardened, rebellious people, to little or no effect. This verse belongs to the preceding chapter.

Verse 2

O that I had in the wilderness - In the eastern countries there are no such inns or houses of entertainment as those in Europe. There are in different places public buildings called caravanserais, where travelers may lodge: but they are without furniture of any kind, and without food. Indeed they are often without a root being mere walls for a protection against the wild beasts of the desert. I wish to hide myself any where, in the most uncomfortable circumstances, that I may not be obliged any longer to witness the abominations of this people who are shortly to be visited with the most grievous punishments. Several interpreters suppose this to be the speech of God. I cannot receive this. I believe this verse to be spoken by the prophet, and that God proceeds with the next verse, and so on to the ninth inclusive.

Verse 3

They bend their tongues like their bow for lies - And their lies are such that they as fully take away life as the keenest arrow shot from the best strung bow. The false prophets told the people that there was no desolation at hand: the people believed them; made no preparation for their defense; did not return to the Lord; and the sword came and destroyed them.
They are not valiant for the truth - They are bold in sin, and courageous to support their lies; but the truth they neither patronize nor support.

Verse 5

And weary themselves to commit iniquity - O, what a drudgery is sin! and how much labor must a man take in order to get to hell! The tenth part of it, in working together with God, would bring him to the gate of glory.

Verse 7

Behold, I win melt them - I will put them in the furnace of affliction, and see if this will be a means of purging away their dross. See on ^[184] (note).

Verse 10

Both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled - The land shall be so utterly devastated, that neither beast nor bird shall be able to live in it.

Verse 11

A den of dragons - תנים tannim is supposed to mean here jackals; the chakal is a beast frequent in the east, an attendant on the lion, the refuse of whose prey he devours. It is an animal that seems to have been bred originally between the wolf and the dog. The original is sometimes interpreted, dragons, whales, etc.

Verse 12

Who is the wise man - To whom has God revealed these things? He is the truly wise man. But it is to his prophet alone that God has revealed these things, and the speedy fulfillment of the predictions will show that the prophet has not spoken of himself.

Verse 15

I will feed them - with wormwood - They shall have the deepest sorrow and heaviest affliction. They shall have poison instead of meat and drink.

Verse 17

Call for the mourning women - Those whose office it was to make lamentations at funerals, and to bewail the dead, for which they received pay. This custom continues to the present in Asiatic countries. In Ireland this custom also prevails, which no doubt their ancestors brought from the east. I have often witnessed it, and have given a specimen of this elsewhere. See the note on ^[185]. The first lamentations for the dead consisted only in the sudden bursts of inexpressible grief, like that of David over his son Absalom, ^[186]. But as men grew refined, it was not deemed sufficient for the surviving relatives to vent their sorrows in these natural, artless expressions of wo, but they endeavored to join others as partners in their sorrows. This gave rise to the custom of hiring persons to weep at funerals, which the Phrygians and Greeks borrowed from the Hebrews. Women were generally employed on these occasions, because the tender passions being predominant in this sex, they succeeded better in their parts; and there were never wanting persons who would let out their services to hire on such occasions. Their lamentations were sung to the pipe as we learn from ^[187]. See the funeral ceremonies practiced at the burial of Hector, as described by Homer: - Οἱ δ' επει εισαγαγον κλυτα δωματα, τον μεν επειτα Τρητοις εν λεχεεσσι θεσαν, παρα δ' εἱσαν αοιδους, Θρηνων εξαρχους, οἱ τε στονοεσσαν αοιδην Οἱ μεν αρ' εθρηνεον, επι δε στεναχοντο γυναικες.
Il. lib. 24., ver. 719. "Arrived within the royal house, they stretched
The breathless Hector on a sumptuous bed,
And singers placed beside him, who should chant
The strain funereal; they with many a groan
The dirge began; and still at every close
The female train with many a groan replied."
Cowper.
St. Jerome tells us that even to his time this custom continued in Judea; that women at funerals, with dishevelled hair and naked breasts, endeavored in a modulated voice to invite others to lament with them. The poem before us, from the seventeenth to the twenty-second verse, is both an illustration and confirmation of what has been delivered on this subject, and worthy of the reader's frequent perusal, on account of its affecting pathos, moral sentiments, and fine images, particularly in the twenty-first verse, where death is described in as animated a prosopopoeia as can be conceived. See Lototh's twenty-second Prelection, and Dodd. The nineteenth verse is supposed to be the funeral song of the women. "How are we spoiled!
We are greatly confounded!
For we have forsaken the land;
Because they have destroyed our dwellings."

Verse 20

Teach your daughters - This is not a common dirge that shall last only till the body is consigned to the earth; it must last longer; teach it to your children, that it may be continued through every generation, till God turn again your captivity.

Verse 21

For death is come up into our windows - Here Death is personified, and represented as scaling their wall; and after having slain the playful children without, and the vigorous youth employed in the labors of the field, he is now come into the private houses, to destroy the aged and infirm; and into the palaces, to destroy the king and the princes.

Verse 22

And as the handful after the harvestman - The reapers, after having cut enough to fill their hand, threw it down; and the binders, following after, collected those handfuls, and bound them in sheaves. Death is represented as having cut down the inhabitants of the land, as the reapers do the corn; but so general was the slaughter, that there was none to bury the dead, to gather up these handfuls; so that they lay in a state of putrescence, as dung upon the open field.

Verse 23

Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom - Because God is the Fountain of all good, neither wisdom, nor might, nor riches, nor prosperity can come but from or through him. Nothing can be more rational than that the Source of all our blessings should be acknowledged. Riches cannot deliver in the day of death; strength cannot avail against him; and as a shield against him, our wisdom is foolishness.

Verse 24

But let him that glorieth - To glory in a thing is to depend on it as the means or cause of procuring happiness. But there can be no happiness but in being experimentally acquainted with that God who exercises loving-kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth. He who has God's mercy for his portion may well exult; for he need not fear the power of any adversary.
Sometimes the ancient heathen poets uttered sentiments of morality far beyond their dispensation. Witness Phocylides on this subject: - Μη γαυρου σοφιῃ, μητ' αλκῃ, μητ' ενι πλουτῳ· Εις Θεος εστι σοφος, δυνατος θ' ἁμα, και τολυολβος. "If wisdom, strength, or riches be thy lot,
Boast not; but rather think thou hast them not.
One God alone from whom those gifts proceed
Is wise, is mighty, and is rich indeed."

Verse 25

I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised - Do not imagine that you, because of your crimes, are the only objects of my displeasure; the circumcised and the uncircumcised, the Jew and the Gentile, shall equally feel the stroke of my justice, their transgressions being alike, after their advantages and disadvantages are duly compared. In like manner, other nations also were delivered into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, these he immediately enumerates: Egypt and Edom, and the Moabites and the Ammonites, and the Arabians of the desert. All these nations were uncircumcised in that way which God required that rite to be practiced as a sign of his covenant; and the Israelites, that did practice it as a sign of that covenant, did not attend to its spiritual meaning, for they were all uncircumcised in heart. And it may be remarked, that these people were in general confederated against the Chaldeans.

Verse 26

All that are in the utmost corners - כל קצוצי פאה col ketsutsey pheah. These words have been variously understood. The Vulgate translates: Omnes qui attonsi sunt in comam; "All who have their hair cut short." The Targum, Septuagint, Syriac, and Arabic have understood it nearly in the same way; and so our margin. Others think that the insular or peninsular situation of the people is referred to. Dr. Blayney thinks the Arabians are meant, who dwelt in the great desert, between Mesopotamia and Palestine. I really think our marginal reading should be preferred, as expressing the sense of all the ancient Versions.

Chapter 10

Introduction

The Jews, about to be carried into captivity, are here warned against the superstition and idolatry of that country to which they were going. Chaldea was greatly addicted to astrology, and therefore the prophet begins with warning them against it, ^[188], ^[189]. He then exposes the absurdity of idolatry in short but elegant satire; in the midst of which he turns, in a beautiful apostrophe, to the one true God, whose adorable attributes repeatedly strike in view, as he goes along, and lead him to contrast his infinite perfections with those despicable inanities which the blinded nations fear, ^[190]. The prophet again denounces the Divine judgments, ^[191], ^[192]; upon which Jerusalem laments her fate, and supplicates the Divine compassion in her favor, ^[193].

Verse 1

Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you - Dr. Dahler supposes this discourse to have been delivered in the fourth year of the reign of Jehoiakim. It contains an invective against idolatry; showing its absurdity, and that the Creator alone should be worshipped by all mankind.

Verse 2

Learn not the way of the heathen - These words are more particularly addressed to the ten tribes scattered among the heathen by the Assyrians, who carried them away captive; they may also regard those in the land of Israel who still had the customs of the former heathen settlers before their eyes.
Be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed - The Chaldeans and Egyptians were notoriously addicated to astrology; and the Israelites here are cautioned against it. The signs of the heavens may mean either the sun, moon, planets, and particular stars or constellations; or the figures or characters by which they represented these heavenly bodies.

Verse 3

The customs of the people are vain - חקות chukkoth; the statutes and principles of the science are vain, empty, and illusory. They are founded in nonsense, ignorance, idolatry, and folly.
One cutteth a tree out of the forest - See the notes on ^[194] (note), and ^[195] (note), etc., which are all parallel places and where this conduct is strongly ridiculed.

Verse 5

They are upright as the palm tree - As straight and as stiff as the trees out of which they are hewn.

Verse 7

Who would not fear thee - Who would not worship thee as the Author and Giver of all good? The fear of God is often taken for the whole of true religion.
Among all the wise men of the nation - Not even the wisest and most cultivated of the nations have ever found out any one equal to thee; but so exalted and holy art thou, that in all their wisdom and research they have never been able to find out the true God.

Verse 8

The stock is a doctrine of vanities - Dr. Blayney translates, - "The wood itself is a rebuker of vanities." The very tree out of which the god is hewn demonstrates the vanity and folly of the idolaters; for, can all the art of man make out of a log of wood an animate and intelligent being?

Verse 9

Brought from Tarshish - Some suppose this to be Tartessus in Spain, from which the Phoenicians brought much silver. Uphaz, Calmet thinks to be the river Pison; some think Ophir is intended.
Blue and purple is their clothing - These were the most precious dyes; very rare, and of high price.

Verse 10

But the Lord - The original word should be preserved, however we agree to pronounce it: יהוה Yehovah is the true God. He is without beginning, and without end. This is true of no being else.
He is the living God - His being is underived; and he gives life to all. He is the very Fountain whence all life is derived.
And an everlasting king - As he has made, so he governs, all things. His sway is felt both in the heavens and in the earth.
At his wrath the earth shall tremble - All storms, tempests, tornadoes, and earthquakes are the effects of his power; and when the nations are destroyed, or turned upside down, it is the effect of his displeasure.

Verse 11

Thus shall ye say unto them - This is the message you shall deliver to the Chaldean idolaters.
The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish - Both they and their worshippers shall be destroyed; and idolatry shall finally be destroyed from the earth; and the heavens shall look no more on so great an abomination. It is suffered for a while: but in the end shall be destroyed. This verse is written in a sort of Hebraeo-Syriaco-Chaldee; such a dialect as I suppose was spoken at that time in Babylon, or during the captivity. As it is a message to the Babylonians therefore, it is given in their own language. The Chaldee makes it the beginning of the copy of the epistle which the Prophet Jeremiah sent to the rest of the elders of the captivity who were in Babylon. All the ancient Versions acknowledge this verse; and it is found in all MSS. hitherto collated, except one of Dr. Kennicott's numbered 526; and he has included it between lines, as doubting its authenticity. Dr. Blayney supposes that some public teacher during the captivity, deducing it by direct inference from the prophet's words, had it inserted in the margin, and perhaps usually read together with this section, in the assemblies of the people, in order that they might have their answer always ready, whenever they were molested on the point of religion, or importuned to join the idolatrous worship of the Chaldeans.
Dahler has left it entirely out of the text, and introduces it in a note thus: - "After ^[196] the Hebrew text is interrupted by a verse written in the Chaldean or Babylonish tongue. It is thus expressed: -
Ye shall say unto them, Let the gods perish!
Who have not made the heavens and the earth.
Let them be banished from above the earth, and from under the heavens.
This verse can be considered only as a foreign insertion, not only on account of the difference of the language, but also because it interrupts the natural course of the ideas, and of the connection of the tenth and twelfth verses."
As a curiosity I shall insert it in Hebrew, which the reader may compare with the Chaldee text, which I also subjoin. כזאת תאמרו להם האלהים אשר לא עשו השמים והארץ יאבדו מן הארץ ומן תחת השמים אלה cazoth tomeru lahem; haelohim asher lo asu hashshamayim vehaarets, yobedu min haarets, umin tachath hashshamayim elleh. כדנא תאמרון להון אלהיא די שמיא וארקא לא עבדו יאבדו מארעא ומן תחות שמיא אלה kidna temerun lehon; elahaiya di shemaiya vearka la abadu, yebadu meara umin techoth shemaiya elleh.
The Hebrew is the translation of Leusden; the Chaldee is that of the common text. Had not all the ancient Versions acknowledged it, I also, principally on account of the strangeness of the language, as being neither Chaldee nor Syriac, should have doubted its authenticity.

Verse 13

When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters - This is a plain allusion to a storm of thunder and lightning, and the abundance of rain which is the consequence. Water is composed of two gases, hydrogen and oxygen: the electric or galvanic spark decomposes them, and they become air; when recomposed, they form water. The lightning acts upon the hydrogen and oxygen, which are found In the atmospheric air: they are decomposed, and water or rain is the consequence; which, being heavier than the air falls down in the form of rain.
This verse and the three following are the same in substance, and nearly in words, as ^[197], and following.

Verse 14

Every man is brutish - נבער nibar, is a boor, acts as a brute, who may suppose that a stock of a tree, formed like a man, may be an intellectual being; and therefore shuns the form as though it had life. See ^[198], ^[199]. Of which verses, by the way, Dr. Blayney gives the following version to correct that of Bishop Lowth: - ^[200]. Who hath formed a god? Or set up a graven image that profiteth not? ^[201]. Behold, all that are connected with it shall be ashamed, And the artificers, they above all men! They shall assemble all of them; they shall stand forth; They shall fear; they shall be ashamed at the same time. "That is, while they stand before the image they have set up, and worship it with a religious dread, the glaring absurdity of their conduct shall lead to their shame and disgrace."
With due deference to this learned man, I think this interpretation too refined.

Verse 16

The Portion of Jacob is not like them - Every nation had its tutelary god; this was its portion; in reference to this God says ^[202], "He has divided the sun, moon, and stars, to all the nations under the heaven." And the Lord had taken the Israelites to be his portion; for "the Lord's portion is his people," ^[203], and David says, "The Lord is the portion of mine inheritance," ^[204]; ^[205]. And hence Isaiah terms the smooth stones of the brook, to which Divine honors were paid, the portion of those idolaters, ^[206]. But in the text he says, "The Portion, i.e., the God of Jacob is not like them; for he is the former of all things," and they are formed by their foolish worshippers.

Verse 17

Gather up thy wares - Pack up your goods, or what necessaries of life your enemies will permit you to carry away; for,

Verse 18

I will sling out the inhabitants of the land - I will project you with violence from your country. I will send you all into captivity. This discourse, from ^[207], is supposed to have been delivered in the eleventh year of Jehoiakim.

Verse 19

This is a grief, and I must bear it - Oppressive as it is, I have deserved it, and worse; but even in this judgment God remembers mercy.

Verse 20

My tabernacle is spoiled - The city is taken, and all our villages ruined and desolated.

Verse 21

The pastors are become brutish - The king and his counselors, who, by refusing to pay the promised tribute to Nebuchadnezzar, had kindled a new war.

Verse 22

The noise of the bruit is come - How this silly French word bruit, which signifies noise, got in here, I cannot imagine. The simple translation is this: "The voice of the report! behold, it is come; yea, great commotion from the land of the north; (Chaldea); to make the cities of Judea a desolation, a habitation of wild beasts." That is, the report we had heard of the projected invasion of Judea by Nebuchadnezzar is confirmed. He has entered the land; the Chaldeans are at the doors, and the total desolation of Judea is their sole object.

Verse 23

O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself - I will not pretend to dispute with thee; thou dost every thing wisely and justly; we have sinned, and thou hast a right to punish; and to choose that sort of punishment thou thinkest will best answer the ends of justice. We cannot choose; thou hast appointed us to captivity; we must not repine: yet,

Verse 24

Correct me, but with judgment - Let not the punishment be to the uttermost of the demerit of the offense; else we shall be brought to nothing - totally and irrecoverably ruined.

Verse 25

Pour out thy fury upon the heathen - Even those who are now the executors of thy justice upon us will, in their turn, feel its scourge; for if judgment begins at us, who have been called thy house and thy people, shall they who have not acknowledged thee escape? It is impossible. The families and tribes which invoke thee not shall have thy fury poured out upon them, and especially they who "have eaten up Jacob and consumed him, and have made his habitation desolate." This was fulfilled in the Chaldeans. Nebuchadnezzar was punished with madness, his son was slain in his revels, and the city was taken and sacked by Cyrus; and the Babylonish empire was finally destroyed! This verse has been often quoted against those ungodly families who set not up the worship of God in their houses. These are spiritual Chaldeans, worse indeed than the Chaldeans ever were: they acknowledge God and his Christ; and yet neither worship nor serve him. How can that family expect the blessing of God, where the worship of God is not daily performed? No wonder their servants are wicked, their children profligate, and their goods cursed! What an awful reckoning shall such heads of families have with the Judge in the great day, who have refused to petition for that mercy which they might have had for the asking.

Chapter 11

Introduction

The prophet proclaims the tenor of God's covenant with the Jews of old, ^[208]; and then reproves them for their hereditary disobedience, ^[209]. In consequence of this the Almighty is introduced, declaring he will show them no pity, ^[210]; forbidding Jeremiah to intercede, ^[211]; rejecting their sacrifices, ^[212]; and in a word, condemning this fair but unfruitful tree to the fire, ^[213], ^[214]. In what remains of the chapter the prophet predicts evil to his neighbors of Anathoth, who had conspired against him, ^[215]. "Let us," said they, "destroy this tree, with the fruit thereof," etc., alluding to what Jeremiah had said in the sixteenth verse.

Verse 1

The word that came to Jeremiah - This discourse is supposed to have been delivered in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah. See Dahler.

Verse 2

Hear ye the words of this covenant - It is possible that the prophet caused the words of the covenant made with their fathers in the desert (^[216]) to be read to them on this occasion; or, at least, the blessings and the cursings which Moses caused to be pronounced to the people as soon as they had set foot in Canaan, Deuteronomy 27, 28.

Verse 3

Cursed be the man that obeyeth not - After the reading, the prophet appears to sum up the things contained in what was read to them; as if he had said, "Ye hear what the Lord saith unto you: remember, the sum of it is this: The man is cursed who obeyeth not; and he is blessed who obeys. From these declarations God will not depart."

Verse 5

So be it, O Lord - Let thy promises be fulfilled; and let the incorrigible beware of thy threatenings!

Verse 6

Proclaim all these words - Let the same covenant, with the blessings and cursings, be read in every city of Judah, and in all the streets of Jerusalem, that all the people may know their duty, their privileges, and their danger.

Verse 9

A conspiracy is found - They were all fratres conjurati, sworn brothers, determined to cast off the Divine yoke, and no longer to have God to reign over them.

Verse 10

They are turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers - A great reformation had taken place under the reign of Josiah, and the public worship of idols had been abolished, and most of the high places destroyed; but under the reign of his son and his successors, they had turned back again to idolatry, and were become worse than ever. It required a captivity to cure them of this propensity: and God sent one: after that, there was no idolatry among the Jews.

Verse 12

Go, and cry unto the gods - See ^[217].

Verse 14

Therefore pray not thou for this people - I am determined to give them up into the hands of their enemies; I will neither hear thy intercession, nor regard their prayers. Their measure is full.

Verse 15

What hath my beloved to do in mine house - This has been supposed to refer to Abraham, Moses, or such eminent servants of God, whose intercession was very powerful. Were even they to appear as intercessors, their prayer should not be regarded. Others think that this is an endearing expression which properly belonged to the Israelites. When God took them into covenant with himself, they were espoused to him, and therefore his beloved; but now that they have forsaken him, and joined themselves to another, what have they to do with his house or its ordinances, which they wish now to frequent with vows and sacrifices, when they see the evil fast coming upon them? This is probably the sense of this very obscure passage. Dr. Blayney translates, "What hath my beloved to do in my house whilst she practiseth wickedness? Shall vows and holy flesh (sacrifices) be allowed to come from thee? When thou art malignant, shalt thou rejoice?"

Verse 16

The Lord called thy name, A green olive tree - That is, he made thee like a green olive - fair, flourishing, and fruitful; but thou art degenerated, and God hath given the Chaldeans permission to burn thee up.

Verse 18

The Lord hath given me knowledge of it - The men of Anathoth had conspired against his life, because he reproved them for their sins, and denounced the judgments of God against them. Of this God had given him a secret warning, that he might be on his guard.

Verse 19

I was like a lamb or an ox - Dahler translates, "I was like a fattened lamb that is led to the slaughter." Blayney, "I was like a tame lamb that is led to slaughter." The word אלוף alluph, which we translate ox, is taken by both as an adjective, qualifying the noun כבש kebes, a lamb. It may probably signify a lamb brought up in the house-fed at home, (אלוף alluph), instructed or nourished at home; perfectly innocent and unsuspecting, while leading to the slaughter. This meaning the word will bear in Arabic, for alaf signifies accustomed, familiar, (to or with any person or thing); a companion, a comrade, an intimate friend. I therefore think that ככבש אלוף kechebes alluph signifies, like the familiar lamb - the lamb bred up in the house, in a state of friendship with the family. The people of Anathoth were Jeremiah's townsmen; he was born and bred among them; they were his familiar friends; and now they lay wait for his life! All the Versions understood אלוף alluph as an epithet of כבש kebes, a chosen, simple, innocent lamb.
Let us destroy the tree with the fruit - Let us slay the prophet, and his prophecies will come to an end. The Targum has, Let us put mortal poison in his food; and all the Versions understand it something in the same way.

Verse 20

Let me see thy vengeance on them - Rather, I shall see (אראה ereh) thy punishment indicted on them.

Verse 22

Behold, I will punish them - And the punishment is, Their young men shall die by the sword of the Chaldeans; and their sons and daughters shall die by the famine that shall come on the land through the desolations occasioned by the Chaldean army.

Verse 23

The year of their visitation - This punishment shall come in that year in which I shall visit their iniquities upon them.

Chapter 12

Introduction

This chapter is connected with the foregoing. The prophet expostulates with God concerning the ways of Providence in permitting the wicked to prosper, ^[218]. It is intimated to him that he must endure still greater trials, ^[219], from his false and deceitful brethren, ^[220]; but that still heavier judgments awaited the nation for their crimes, ^[221]. That God, however, would at length have compassion on them; restore them to their land; and turn his judgments against those that oppressed them, if not prevented by their becoming converts to the true religion, ^[222].

Verse 1

Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee - The prophet was grieved at the prosperity of the wicked; and he wonders how, consistently with God's righteousness, vice should often be in affluence, and piety in suffering and poverty. He knows that God is righteous, that every thing is done well; but he wishes to inquire how these apparently unequal and undeserved lots take place. On this subject he wishes to reason with God, that he may receive instruction.

Verse 2

Thou art near in their mouth - They have no sincerity: they have something of the form of religion, but nothing of its power.

Verse 3

But thou, O Lord, knowest me - I know that the very secrets of my heart are known to thee; and I am glad of it, for thou knowest that my heart is towards thee - is upright and sincere.

Verse 4

How long shall the land mourn - These hypocrites and open sinners are a curse to the country; pull them out, Lord, that the land may be delivered of that which is the cause of its desolation.

Verse 5

If thou hast run with the footmen - If the smallest evils to which thou art exposed cause thee to make so many bitter complaints, how wilt thou feel when, in the course of thy prophetic ministry, thou shalt be exposed to much greater, from enemies much more powerful? Footmen may here be the symbol of common evil events; horsemen, of evils much more terrible. If thou have sunk under small difficulties, what wilt thou do when great ones come?
And if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst - I believe the meaning is this, "If in a country now enjoying peace thou scarcely thinkest thyself in safety, what wilt thou do in the swellings of Jordan? in the time when the enemy, like an overflowing torrent, shall deluge every part of the land?"
The overflowing of Jordan, which generally happened in harvest, drove the lions and other beasts of prey from their coverts among the bushes that lined its banks; who, spreading themselves through the country, made terrible havoc, slaying men, and carrying off the cattle.
Perhaps by footmen may be meant the Philistines, Edomites, etc., whose armies were composed principally of infantry; and by the horses, the Chaldeans, who had abundance of cavalry and chariots in their army. But still the words are proverbial, and the above is their meaning.

Verse 6

For even thy brethren, and the house of thy father - Thou hast none to depend on but God: even thy brethren will betray thee when they have it in their power.
Believe them not - Do not trust to them, do not commit thyself to them; they are in heart thy enemies, and will betray thee.

Verse 7

I have forsaken mine house - I have abandoned my temple.
I have given the dearly beloved of my soul - The people once in covenant with me, and inexpressibly dear to me while faithful.
Into the hand of her enemies - This was a condition in the covenant I made with them; If they forsook me, they were to be abandoned to their enemies, and cast out of the good land I gave to their fathers.

Verse 8

Mine heritage is unto me as a lion - The people are enraged against me; they roar like a furious lion against their God. They have proceeded to the most open acts of the most flagrant iniquity.

Verse 9

Is unto me as a speckled bird - A bird of divers colors. This is a people who have corrupted the worship of the true God with heathenish rites and ceremonies; therefore, the different nations, (see ^[223]; whose gods and forms of worship they have adopted shall come and spoil them. As far as you have followed the surrounding nations in their worship, so far shall they prevail over your state. Every one shall take that which is his own; and wherever he finds his own gods, he will consider the land consecrated to them, and take it as his property, because those very gods are the objects of his worship. The fable of the daw and borrowed plumes is no mean illustration of this passage.
Dahler translates the whole verse thus: -
Birds of prey! inundate with blood my heritage.
Birds of prey! come against her from all sides.
Run together in crowds, ye savage beasts!
Come to the carnage!

Verse 10

Many pastors have destroyed my vineyard - My people have had many kinds of enemies which have fed upon their richest pastures; the Philistines, the Moabites, Ammonites, Assyrians, Egyptians. and now the Chaldeans.

Verse 11

No man layeth it to heart - Notwithstanding all these desolations, from which the land every where mourns, and which are so plainly the consequences of the people's crimes, no man layeth it to heart, or considereth that these are God's judgments; and that the only way to have them removed is to repent of their sins, and turn to God with all their hearts.

Verse 12

The sword of the Lord shall devour - It is the sword of the Lord that has devoured, and will devour: this is what no man layeth to heart. They think these things come in the course of events.

Verse 13

They have sown wheat, but shall reap thorns - All their projects shall fail: none of their enterprises shall succeed. They are enemies to God, and therefore cannot have his blessing.

Verse 14

Against all mine evil neighbors - All the neighboring nations who have united in desolating Judea shall be desolated in their turn: they also are wicked, and they shall be punished. If I make them executors of my justice, it is to them no proof of my approbation. God often uses one wicked nation to scourge another; and afterwards scourges the scourger by some other scourge. In some places a felon who was condemned to be hanged is made the common hangman for the county; he himself being still under the sentence of death, -
Till soon some trusty brother of the trade
Shall do for him what he has done for others.

Verse 15

I will return, and have compassion on them - This is a promise of restoration from the captivity, and an intimation also that some of their enemies would turn to the true God with them; learn the ways of his people; that is, would abjure idols, and take Jehovah for their God; and be built in the midst of his people, that is, Jew and Gentile forming one Church of the Most High.

Verse 17

I will - destroy that nation - Several of them did not obey, and are destroyed. Of the Moabites, Ammonites, and Chaldeans, not one vestige remains. The sixteenth verse is supposed to be a promise of the conversion of the Gentiles. See ^[224].
From the thirteenth verse to the end is a different discourse, and Dahler supposes it to have been delivered in the seventh or eighth year of the reign of Jehoiakim.

Chapter 13

Introduction

This chapter contains an entire prophecy. The symbol of the linen girdle, left to rot for a considerable time, was a type of the manner in which the glory of the Jews should be marred during the course of their long captivity, ^[225]. The scene of hiding the girdle being laid near the Euphrates, intimated that the scene of the nation's distress should be Chaldea, which that river waters. The next three verses, by another emblem frequently used to represent the judgments of God, are designed to show that the calamities threatened should be extended to every rank and denomination, ^[226]. This leads the prophet to a most affectionate exhortation to repentance, ^[227]. But God, knowing that this happy consequence would not ensue, sends him with an awful message to the royal family particularly, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem in general, declaring the approaching judgments in plain terms, ^[228]. The ardent desire for the reformation of Jerusalem, with which the chapter concludes, beautifully displays the compassion and tender mercy of God.

Verse 1

Thus saith the Lord unto me - This discourse is supposed to have been delivered under the reign of Jeconiah, the son and successor of Jehoiakim, who came to the throne in the eighteenth year of his age; when the Chaldean generals had encamped near to Jerusalem, but did not besiege it in form till Nebuchadnezzar came up with the great body of the army. In these circumstances the prophet predicts the captivity; and, by a symbolical representation of a rotten girdle, shows the people their totally corrupt state; and by another of bottles filled with wine, shows the destruction and madness of their counsels, and the confusion that must ensue.
Go and get thee a linen girdle - This was either a vision, or God simply describes the thing in order that the prophet might use it in the way of illustration.
Put it not in water - After having worn it, let it not be washed, that it may more properly represent the uncleanness of the Israelites; for they were represented by the girdle; for "as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel, and the whole house of Judah." And as a girdle is as well for ornament as use; God took them for a name, and for a praise, and for a glory, ^[229].

Verse 4

Go to Euphrates, and hide it there - Intending to point out, by this distant place, the country into which they were to be carried away captive.

Verse 7

And behold, the girdle was marred; it was profitable for nothing - This symbolically represented the state of the Jews: they were corrupt and abominable; and God, by sending them into captivity, "marred the pride of Judah, and the great pride of Jerusalem," ^[230].

Verse 12

Every bottle shall be filled with wine? - The bottles were made for the purpose of being filled with wine; and it is likely, from the promising appearance of the season and the grapes, that there was a great likelihood of a copious vintage; and this made them say, "Do we not certainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? Have we not every prospect that it will be so? Do we need a revelation to inform us of this?"

Verse 13

Behold, I will fill all the inhabitants of this land - with drunkenness - You pretend to take this literally, but it is a symbol. You, and your kings, and priests, and prophets, are represented by these bottles. The wine is God's wrath against you, which shall first be shown by confounding your deliberations, filling you with foolish plans of defense, causing you from your divided counsels to fall out among yourselves, so that like so many drunken men you shall reel about and jostle each other; defend yourselves without plan, and fight without order, till ye all fall an easy prey into the hands of your enemies. The ancient adage is here fulfilled: -
Quos Deus vult perdere, prius dementat. "Those whom God determines to destroy, he first renders foolish."

Verse 16

Give glory to - God - Confess your sins and turn to him, that these sore evils may be averted.
While ye look for light - While ye expect prosperity, he turned it into the shadow of death - sent you adversity of the most distressing and ruinous kind.
Stumble upon the dark mountains - Before you meet with those great obstacles, which, having no light - no proper understanding in the matter, ye shall be utterly unable to surmount.

Verse 17

My soul shalt weep in secret places - If you will not hearken to the Lord, there is no remedy: destruction must come; and there is nothing left for me, but to go in secret, and mourn and bewail your wretched lot.

Verse 18

Say unto the king and to the queen - Probably Jeconiah and his mother, under whose tutelage, being young when he began to reign, he was left, as is very likely.
Sit down - Show that ye have humbled yourselves; for your state will be destroyed, and your glorious crown taken from your heads.

Verse 19

The cities of the south shall be shut up - Not only the cities of the north, the quarter at which the Chaldeans entered, but the cities of the south also; for he shall proceed from one extremity of the land to the other, spreading devastation every where, and carrying off the inhabitants.

Verse 20

Where is the flock - thy beautiful flock? - Jerusalem is addressed. Where are the prosperous multitudes of men, women, and children? Alas! are they not driven before the Babylonians, who have taken them captive?

Verse 21

Thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over thee - This is said of their enemies, whether Assyrians or Chaldeans: for ever since Ahaz submitted himself to the king of Assyria, the kings of Judah never regained their independence. Their enemies were thus taught to be their lords and masters.

Verse 22

Are thy skirts discovered - Thy defenseless state is every where known; thou art not only weak, but ignominiously so. It is thy scandal to be in so depressed a condition; thou art lower than the basest of thy adversaries, and thou art so because of thy sin.

Verse 23

Can the Ethiopian change his skin - Can a black, at his own pleasure, change the color of his skin? Can the leopard at will change the variety of his spots? These things are natural to them, and they cannot be altered; so sin, and especially your attachment to idolatry, is become a second nature; and we may as well expect the Ethiopian to change his skin, and the leopard his spots, as you to do good, who have been accustomed to do evil. It is a matter of the utmost difficulty to get a sinner, deeply rooted in vicious habits, brought to the knowledge of himself and God. But the expression does not imply that the thing is as impossible in a moral as it is in a natural sense: it only shows that it is extremely difficult, and not to be often expected; and a thousand matters of fact prove the truth of this. But still, what is impossible to man is possible to God. See the note on ^[231].

Verse 24

The wind of the wilderness - Some strong tempestuous wind, proverbially severe, coming from the desert to the south of Judea.

Verse 25

Trusted in falsehood - In idols, and in lying prophets.

Verse 26

Therefore will I discover thy skirts upon thy face - It was the custom to punish lewd women by stripping them naked, and exposing them to public view; or by throwing their clothes over their heads, as here intimated. Was this the way to correct the evil?

Verse 27

I have seen thine adulteries - Thy idolatries of different kinds, practiced in various ways; no doubt often accompanied with gross debauchery.
Wo unto thee, O Jerusalem wilt thou not be made clean? - We see from this, that though the thing was difficult, yet it was not impossible, for these Ethiopians to change their skin, for these leopards to change their spots. It was only their obstinate refusal of the grace of God that rendered it impossible. Man cannot change himself; but he may pray to God to do it, and come to him through Christ, that he may do it. To enable him to pray and believe, the power is still at hand. If he will not use it, he must perish.

Chapter 14

Introduction

This chapter begins with foretelling a drought that should greatly distress the land of Judea, the effects of which are described in a most pathetic manner, ^[232]. The prophet then, in the people's name, makes a confession of sins, and supplication for pardon, ^[233]. But God declares his purpose to punish, forbidding Jeremiah to pray for the people, ^[234]. False prophets are then complained of, and threatened with destruction, as are also those who attend to them, ^[235]. The prophet, therefore, bewails their misery, ^[236], ^[237]; and though he had just now been forbidden to intercede for them, yet, like a tender pastor, who could not cease to be concerned for their welfare, he falls on the happy expedient of introducing themselves as supplicating in their own name that mercy which he was not allowed to ask in his, ^[238].

Verse 1

The word - that came - concerning the dearth - This discourse is supposed to have been delivered, after the fourth year of Jehoiakim. Concerning the dearth. We have no historic record of any dearth that may fall in with the time of this prophecy, and perhaps it does not refer to any particular dearth: but this was a calamity to which Judea was very liable. They had ordinarily very dry summers, for scarcely any rain fell from April to the middle of October; and during much of this time, the rivers were generally either very low or entirely dry. They kept the rain of the winter in tanks and reservoirs; and if little fell in winter, a dearth was unavoidable. See an account of a dearth in the time of Elijah, ^[239], through which almost all the cattle were lost.

Verse 2

The gates thereof languish - The gates being the places of public resort, they are put here for the people.
They are black unto the ground - Covered from head to foot with a black garment, the emblem of sorrow and calamity.

Verse 3

Their nobles have sent their little ones - So general was this calamity, that the servants no longer attended to their lords, but every one was interested alone for himself; and the nobles of the land were obliged to employ their own children to scour the land, to see if any water could be found in the tanks or the pits. In the dearth in the time of Elijah, Ahab the king, and Obadiah his counselor, were obliged to traverse the land themselves, in order to find out water to keep their cattle alive. This and the three following verses give a lively but distressing picture of this dearth and its effects.

Verse 4

The ground is chapt - The cracks in the earth before the descent of the rains are in some places a cubit wide, and deep enough to receive the greater part of a human body.

Verse 6

Snuffed up the wind like dragons - תנים tannim here probably means the hippopotamus, who, after feeding under the water, is obliged to come to the surface in order to take in fresh draughts of air; or it may mean the wild asses.

Verse 7

O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us - We deeply acknowledge that we have sinned, and deserve nothing but death. Yet act for thy name's sake - work in our behalf, that we perish not.

Verse 8

O the hope of Israel - O thou who art the only object of the hope of this people.
The Savior thereof in time of trouble - Who hast never yet abandoned them that seek thee.
Why shouldest thou be as a stranger in the land - As one who has no interest in the prosperity and safety of the country.
And as a way-faring man - A traveler on his journey.
That turneth aside to tarry for a night? - Who stays the shortest time he can; and takes up his lodging in a tent or caravanserai, for the dead of the night, that he may pursue his journey by break of day. Instead of dwelling among us, thou hast scarcely paid the most transient visit to thy land. O come once more, and dwell among us.

Verse 9

Yet thou, O Lord, art in the midst of us - Thy ark, temple, and sacred rites, are all here; and thou thyself, who art every where present, art here also: but alas! thou dost not reveal thyself as the Father of mercies, who forgivest iniquity, transgression, and sin.
We are called by thy name; leave us not - Let us call thee our Father, and say thou to us, "Ye are my sons and daughters!" O leave us not!

Verse 10

Thus have they loved to wander - And the measure of your iniquity being now full, ye must be punished.

Verse 11

Pray not for this people - They are ripe for destruction, intercede not for them. O, how dreadful is the state of that people in reference to whom the Lord says to his ministers, Pray not for them; or, what amounts nearly to a prohibition, withholds from his ministers the spirit of prayer and intercession in behalf of the people!

Verse 13

Ah, Lord God! behold, the prophets say unto them - True, Lord, they are exceedingly wicked; but the false prophets have deceived them; this is some mitigation of their offense. This plea God does not admit; and why? the people believed them, without having any proof of their Divine mission.

Verse 14

The prophets prophesy lies - They say they have visions, but they have them by divination, and they are false. The people should know their character, and avoid them but they love to have it so, and will not be undeceived.

Verse 15

By sword and famine shall those prophets be consumed - Jeremiah had told Jehoiakim that, if he rebelled against Nebuchadnezzar, he should be overthrown, and the land wasted by sword and famine: the false prophets said there shall be neither sword nor famine, but peace and prosperity. The king believed them, and withheld the tribute.
Nebuchadnezzar, being incensed, invaded and destroyed the land; and the false prophets fell in these calamities. See ^[240]; ^[241].

Verse 16

And the people - shall be cast out - They shall be destroyed, because they preferred their lying words to my truth, proclaimed by thee.

Verse 17

For the virgin daughter of my people is broken - First, the land was sadly distressed by Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt. Secondly, it was laid under a heavy tribute by Nebuchadnezzar. And, thirdly, it was nearly desolated by a famine afterwards. In a few years all these calamities fell upon them; these might be well called a great breach, a very grievous blow.

Verse 18

If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the sword - Every place presents frightful spectacles; the wounded, the dying, the starving, and the slain; none to bury the dead, none to commiserate the dying, none to bring either relief or consolation. Even the prophets and the priests are obliged to leave the cities, and wander about in unfrequented and unknown places, seeking for the necessaries of life. Dr. Blayney thinks that the going about of the prophets and priests of the land, is to be understood thus: - "They went trafficking about with their false doctrines and lying predictions, as peddlers do with their wares, seeking their own gain." I think the other sense preferable.

Verse 19

We looked for peace - We expected prosperity when Josiah purged the land of idolatry.
And there is no good - For we have relapsed into our former ways.

Verse 20

We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness - This the prophet did in behalf of the people; but, alas! they did not join him.

Verse 21

Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory - The temple. Let not this sacred place be profaned by impious and sacrilegious hands.
Break not thy covenant - See ^[242], ^[243]; ^[244]. They had already broken the covenant, and they wish God to fulfill his part. They ceased to be his people, for they abandoned themselves to idolatry; and yet they wished Jehovah to be their Lord; to defend, support, and fill them with all good things! But when the conditions of a covenant are broken by one of the contracting parties, the other party is not bound; and the covenant is necessarily annulled.

Verse 22

Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles - Probably the dearth was now coming, as there had been a long want of rain. It was the prerogative of the true God to give rain and send showers at the prayers of his people.
Therefore we will wait upon thee - If thou do not undertake for us, we must be utterly ruined.

Chapter 15

Introduction

God declares to Jeremiah that not even Moses and Samuel, whose prayers had been so prevalent, could divert him from his purpose of punishing so wicked a people, ^[245]. Accordingly their captivity is again announced in a variety of images so full of terror, ^[246], that the prophet complains of his own hard fate in being obliged to deliver such unwelcome messages, ^[247]; for which too he is reproved, ^[248]. Immediately he appeals to God for his sincerity, and supplicates pardon, ^[249]; and God tempers his reproof with promising again to protect him in the faithful discharge of his duty, ^[250].

Verse 1

Though Moses and Samuel - Moses had often supplicated for the people; and in consequence they were spared. See ^[251] and following verses, ^[252]. Samuel also had prayed for the people, and God heard him, ^[253]; but if these or the most holy men were now to supplicate for this people, he would not spare them.
Cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth - Do not bring them into my presence by your prayers; let them go forth into captivity.

Verse 2

Whither shall we go forth? - Such as are for death, to death - Some shall be destroyed by the pestilence, here termed death. See ^[254]. Others shall be slain by the sword in battle, and in the sackage of cities. Others shall perish by famine, shall be starved to death through the mere want of the necessaries of life; and the rest shall go into captivity. There shall be different sorts of punishments inflicted on them according to the nature of their transgressions. Some shall be punished in one way, and some in another.

Verse 3

I will appoint over them four kinds - There shall appear four instruments of my justice.
1. The sword to slay.
2. The dogs to tear what is slain.
3. The fowls of the heaven to feed on the dead carcasses. And,
4. The wild beasts to destroy all that the fowls have left.

Verse 4

I will cause them to be removed into an kingdoms of the earth - This seems to have respect to the succeeding state of the Jews in their different generations; and never was there a prophecy more literally fulfilled; and it is still a standing monument of Divine truth. Let infidelity cast its eyes on the scattered Jews whom it may meet with in every civilized nation of the world; and then let it deny the truth of this prophecy, if it can. The Jews are scattered through every nation, and yet are not a nation; nor do they form even a colony on any part of the face of the earth. Behold the truth and the justice of God!

Verse 5

Who shall go aside to ask how thou doest? - Perhaps there is not a more despised nor a more degraded people under the sun. Scarcely any one thinks himself called upon to do a kind office for a Jew. Their character is bad in society, and they are not at all solicitous to redeem it.

Verse 6

I am weary with repenting - With repeatedly changing my purpose. I have often, after purposing to punish, showed them mercy. I will do it no longer; it is useless. I took them often at their promise, and in every instance they have failed.

Verse 7

I will fan them with a fan - There is no pure grain; all is chaff.
In the gates of the land - The places of public justice: and there it shall be seen that the judgments that have fallen upon them have been highly merited. And from these places of fanning they shall go out into their captivity.

Verse 8

The mother of the young men - The metropolis or mother city, Jerusalem.

Verse 9

She that hath borne seven - She that hath had a numerous offspring; Jerusalem, the parent of so many cities, villages, and families in the land. Seven signifies a complete or full number.

Verse 10

A man of contention to the whole earth! - To the whole Land, to all his countrymen; though he had done nothing to merit their displeasure.

Verse 11

I will cause the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil - This was literally fulfilled; see ^[255], etc. Nebuchadnezzar had given strict charge to Nebuzaradan, commander in chief, to look well to Jeremiah, to do him no harm, and to grant him all the privileges he was pleased to ask.

Verse 12

Shall iron break the northern iron and the steel? - Shall our weak forces be able to oppose and overcome the powers of the Chaldeans? נחשת nechasheth, which we here translate steel, property signifies brass or copper united with tin, which gives it much hardness, and enables it to bear a good edge.

Verse 13

Thy substance - will I give to the spoil without price - Invaluable property shall be given up to thy adversaries. Or, without price - thou shalt have nothing for it in return.

Verse 15

O Lord - remember me, and visit me - Let me not be carried away into captivity; and it does not appear that he had ever been taken to Babylon. After the capture of the city he went into Egypt; and either died there, or was put to death by his countrymen.

Verse 16

Thy word was - the joy and rejoicing of mine heart - When I did receive the prophetic message, I did rejoice in the honor thou hadst done me; and I faithfully testified thy will to them. They have become mine enemies; not because there was any evil in me, but because I was faithful to thee.

Verse 18

Wilt thou be altogether unto me as - waters that fail? - Leaning either springs, which in the height of summer grow dry; or, like that phenomenon in the sandy desert, where, by a peculiar action of the air on the rising vapors, the resemblance of water is produced, so that the traveler, deceived, rejoices that he is come, in the sandy desert, to the verge of a beautiful lake; but the farther he travels, it is still at the same distance, and at last vanishes; and he finds the whole was an illusion, for the waters have failed. Nothing can exceed the disappointment of the farmer whose subsistence absolutely depends on the periodical rains, when these fail, or fall short of their usual quantity. Some times the rice is sown and springs up in the most promising manner; but the latter rains fail, and whole fields of young rice wither and perish.

Verse 19

If thou return - By repentance unto me, -
Then will I bring thee again - Restore thee to thy own country. But some think the words are spoken to the prophet in reference to his ministry. He had greatly repined because of the persecutions which he endured. The Lord reprehends him, and is about to take from him the prophetic gift; but exhorts him first to take the precious from the vile - not to attend to the deceitful words of the people, but boldly declare the message he had given him; not to return unto the people, but let the people return unto him. And then he should be as God's mouth - his words should appear to be what they were, the genuine words of God; and the people should be obliged to acknowledge them as such.

Verse 20

I will make thee - a fenced brazen wall - While thou art faithful to me, none of them shall be able to prevail against thee.

Verse 21

I will deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked - From the power of this evil people.
And I will redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible - Out of the power of the Chaldean armies. Every thing took place as God had promised, for no word of his can ever fall to the ground.

Chapter 16

Introduction

On account of the evils which threatened his country, the prophet is forbidden to encumber himself with a wife and family, or to bear any share in the little joys and sorrows of his neighbors, which were to be forgotten and absorbed in those public calamities, ^[256], which their sins should draw on them, ^[257]. A future restoration however is intimated, ^[258], ^[259], after these calamities should be endured, ^[260]; and the conversion of the Gentiles is foretold, ^[261].

Verse 1

The word of the Lord came also unto me - This discourse Dahler supposes to have been delivered some time in the reign of Jehoiakim.

Verse 2

Those shalt not take thee a wife - As it would be very inconvenient to have a family when the threatened desolations should come on the place. The reason is given in the following verses.

Verse 4

They shall die of grievous deaths - All prematurely; see ^[262].
As dung upon the face of the earth - See ^[263].
Be meat for the fowls - See ^[264].

Verse 5

Enter not into the house of mourning - The public calamities are too great to permit individual losses to come into consideration.

Verse 6

Nor cut themselves - A custom of the heathen forbidden to the Jews, ^[265]; ^[266], and which appears now to have prevailed among them; because, having become idolaters, they conformed to all the customs of the heathen. They tore their hair, rent their garments, cut their hands, arms, and faces. These were not only signs of sorrow but were even supposed to give ease to the dead, and appease the angry deities. The Hindoos, on the death of a relation, express their grief by loud lamentations, and not unfrequently bruise themselves in an agony of grief with whatever they can lay hold on.

Verse 8

Thou shalt not also go into the house of feasting - Funeral banquets were made to commemorate the dead, and comfort the surviving relatives; and the cup of consolation, strong mingled wine, was given to those who were deepest in distress, to divert their minds and to soothe their sorrows. These kinds of ceremonies were common among almost all the nations of the world on funeral occasions. The Canaanites, the Jews, the Persians, Arabians, New Zealanders, Huns, etc., etc.

Verse 12

And ye have done worse than your fathers - The sins of the fathers would not have been visited on the children, had they not followed their example, and become even worse than they.

Verse 13

Will I cast you out of this land - See ^[267], and ^[268].

Verse 14

The Lord liveth, that brought up - See ^[269].

Verse 15

The land of the north - Chaldea: and their deliverance thence will be as remarkable as the deliverance of their fathers from the land of Egypt.

Verse 16

I will send for many fishers - for many hunters - I shall raise up enemies against them some of whom shall destroy them by wiles, and others shall ruin them by violence. This seems to be the meaning of these symbolical fishers and hunters.

Verse 18

The carcasses of their detestable - things - Either meaning the idols themselves, which were only carcasses without life; or the sacrifices which were made to them.

Verse 19

The Gentiles shall come - Even the days shall come when the Gentiles themselves, ashamed of their confidence, shall renounce their idols, and acknowledge that their fathers had believed lies, and worshipped vanities. This may be a prediction of the calling of the Gentiles by the Gospel of Christ; if so, it is a light amidst much darkness. In such dismal accounts there is need of some gracious promise relative to an amended state of the world.

Verse 20

Shall a man make gods unto himself? - Can any be so silly, and so preposterously absurd? Yes, fallen man is capable of any thing that is base, mean, vile, and wicked, till influenced and converted by the grace of Christ.

Verse 21

Therefore, behold, I will this once - I will not now change my purpose. They shall be visited and carried into captivity; nothing shall prevent this: and they shall know that my name is Jehovah. Since they would not receive the abundance of my mercies, they shall know what the true God can do in the way of judgment.

Chapter 17

Introduction

This chapter begins with setting forth the very strong bias which the people of Judah had to idolatry, with the fatal consequences, ^[270]. The happiness of the man that trusted in Jehovah is then beautifully contrasted with the opposite character, ^[271]. God alone knows the deceitfulness and wretchedness of the heart of man, ^[272], ^[273]. The comparison of a bird's hatching the eggs of another of a different species, which will soon forsake her, is highly expressive of the vanity of ill-acquired riches, which often disappoint the owner, ^[274]. The prophet continues the same subject in his own person, appeals to God for his sincerity, and prays that the evil intended him by his enemies may revert on their own heads, ^[275]. The remaining part of the chapter is a distinct prophecy relating to the due observance of the Sabbath, enforced both by promises and threatenings, ^[276].

Verse 1

The sin of Judah - Idolatry.
Is written with a pen of iron - It is deeply and indelibly written in their heart, and shall be as indelibly written in their punishment. Writing with the point of a diamond must refer to glass, or some vitrified substance, as it is distinguished here from engraving with a steel burine, or graver. Their altars show what the deities are which they worship. There may be reference here to the different methods of recording events in those days: -
1. A pen or stile of iron, for engraving on lead or wood.
2. A point of a diamond, for writing on vitreous substances.
3. Writing on tables of brass or copper.
4. Writing on the horns of the altars the names of the deities worshipped there. This is probable.
In several parts of India, and all through Ceylon, an iron or steel pen is used universally; with these the natives form the letters by incisions on the outer rind of the palm leaf. Books written in this way are very durable. This pen is broad at the top, has a very fine sharp point, and is sharp at one side as a knife, to shave and prepare the palm leaf. A pen of this description now lies before me.

Verse 2

Whilst their children remember - Even the rising generation have their imagination stocked with idol images, and their memories with the frantic rites and ceremonies which they saw their parents observe in this abominable worship.

Verse 3

O my mountain in the field - The prophet here addresses the land of Judea, which was a mountainous country, ^[277]; but Jerusalem itself may be meant, which is partly built upon hills which, like itself, are elevated above the rest of the country.

Verse 5

Cursed be the man that trusteth in man - This reprehends their vain confidence in trusting in Egypt, which was too feeble itself to help, and, had it been otherwise, too ill disposed towards them to help them heartily. An arm of flesh is put here for a weak and ineffectual support. And he who, in reference to the salvation of his soul, trusts in an arm of flesh - in himself or others, or in any thing he has done or suffered, will inherit a curse instead of a blessing.

Verse 6

Be shall be like the heath in the desert - כערער kearar; or, like a blasted tree, without moisture, parched and withered.
Shall not see when good cometh - Shall not be sensible of it: the previous drought having rendered it incapable of absorbing any more vegetable juices.
A salt land - Barren; and therefore unfit to be inhabited.

Verse 8

A s a tree planted by the waters - Which is sufficiently supplied with moisture, though the heat be intense, and there be no rain; for the roots being spread out by the river, they absorb from it all the moisture requisite for the flourishing vegetation of the tree.
Shall not see when heat cometh - Shall not feel any damage by drought, for the reason already assigned. It shall be strong and vigorous, its leaf always green; and shall produce plenty of fruit in its season.

Verse 9

The heart is deceitful - עקב הלב akob halleb, "the heart is supplanting - tortuous - full of windings - insidious;" lying ever at the catch; striving to avail itself of every favorable circumstance to gratify its propensities to pride, ambition, evil desire, and corruption of all kinds.
And desperately wicked - ואנש הוא veanush hu, and is wretched, or feeble; distressed beyond all things, in consequence of the wickedness that is in it. I am quite of Mr. Parkhurst's opinion, that this word is here badly translated as אנש anash is never used in Scripture to denote wickedness of any kind. My old MS. Bible translates thus: - Schrewid is the herte of a man: and unserchable: who schal knowen it?
Who can know it? - It even hides itself from itself; so that its owner does not know it. A corrupt heart is the worst enemy the fallen creature can have; it is full of evil devices, - of deceit, of folly, and abomination, and its owner knows not what is in him till it boils over, and is often past remedy before the evil is perceived. Therefore trust not in man whose purposes are continually changing, and who is actuated only by motives of self-interest.

Verse 10

I the Lord search the heart - The Lord is called by his apostles, ^[278], Καρδιογνωστης, the Knower of the heart. To him alone can this epithet be applied; and it is from him alone that we can derive that instruction by which we can in any measure know ourselves.

Verse 11

As the partridge - קרא kore. It is very likely that this was a bird different from our partridge. The text Dr. Blayney translates thus: - (As) the kore that hatcheth what it doth not lay (So is) he who getteth riches, and not according to right. "The covetous man," says Dahler, "who heaps up riches by unjust ways, is compared to a bird which hatches the eggs of other fowls. And as the young, when hatched, and able at all to shift for themselves, abandon her who is not their mother, and leave her nothing to compensate her trouble, so the covetous man loses those unjustly-gotten treasures, and the fruit of his labor."
And at his end shall be a fool - Shall be reputed as such. He was a fool all the way through; he lost his soul to get wealth, and this wealth he never enjoyed. To him also are applicable those strong words of the poet: - "O cursed lust of gold! when for thy sake
The wretch throws up his interest in both worlds.
First starved in this, then damned in that to come."
Blair.

Verse 12

A glorious high throne - As he is cursed who trusts in man, so he is blessed who trusts in God. He is here represented as on a throne in his temple; to him in the means of grace all should resort. He is the support, and a glorious support, of all them that trust in him.

Verse 13

Written on the earth - They shall never come to true honor. Their names shall be written in the dust; and the first wind that blows over it shall mar every letter, and render it illegible.

Verse 14

Heal me - and I shall be healed - That is, I shall be thoroughly healed, and effectually saved, if thou undertake for me.
Thou art my praise - The whole glory of the work of salvation belongs to thee alone.

Verse 15

Where is the word of the Lord? - Where is the accomplishment of his threatenings? Thou hast said that the city and the temple should both be destroyed. No such events have yet taken place. But they did take place, and every tittle of the menace was strictly fulfilled.

Verse 16

I have not hastened from being a pastor - Dr. Blayney translates thus: "But I have not been in haste to outrun thy guidance." I was obliged to utter thy prediction; but I have not hastened the evil day. For the credit of my prophecy I have not desired the calamity to come speedily; I have rather pleaded for respite. I have followed thy steps, and proclaimed thy truth. I did not desire to be a prophet; but thou hast commanded, and I obeyed.

Verse 17

Be not a terror unto me - Do not command me to predict miseries, and abandon me to them and to my enemies.

Verse 18

Let them be confounded - They shall be confounded. These words are to be understood as simple predictions, rather than prayers.

Verse 19

The gate of the children of the people - I suppose the most public gate is meant; that through which there was the greatest thoroughfare.

Verse 20

Ye kings of Judah, and all Judah - This last clause is wanting in eight of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., in the Arabic, and some copies of the Septuagint.

Verse 21

Take heed to yourselves and bear no burden - From this and the following verses we find the ruin of the Jews attributed to the breach of the Sabbath; as this led to a neglect of sacrifice, the ordinances of religion, and all public worship, so it necessarily brought with it all immorality. This breach of the Sabbath was that which let in upon them all the waters of God's wrath.

Verse 24

If ye diligently hearken unto me - So we find that though their destruction was positively threatened, yet still there was an unexpressed proviso that, if they did return to the Lord, the calamities should be averted, and a succession of princes would have been continued on the throne of David, ^[279], ^[280].

Verse 27

But if ye will not hearken - Then their sin lay at their own door. How fully were they warned; and how basely did they reject the counsel of God against themselves!

Chapter 18

Introduction

The type of the potter's vessel, and its signification, ^[281]. The inhabitants of Judah and Jerusalem exhorted to repentance, ^[282]; but on their refusal, (which is represented to be as unnatural as if a man should prefer the snowy Lebanon or barren rock to a fruitful plain, or other waters to the cool stream of the fountain), their destruction is predicted, ^[283]. In consequence of these plain reproofs and warnings of Jeremiah, a conspiracy is formed against him, ^[284]. This leads him to appeal to God for his integrity, ^[285], ^[286]; who puts a most dreadful curse in the mouth of his prophet, strongly indicative of the terrible fate of his enemies, ^[287].

Verse 1

The word which came to Jeremiah - This discourse is supposed to have been delivered some time in the reign of Jehoiakim, probably within the first three years.

Verse 2

Go down to the potter's house - By this similitude God shows the absolute state of dependence on himself in which he has placed mankind. They are as clay in the hands of the potter; and in reference to every thing here below, he can shape their destinies as he pleases. Again; though while under the providential care of God they may go morally astray, and pervert themselves, yet they can be reclaimed by the almighty and all-wise Operator, and become such vessels as seemeth good for him to make. In considering this parable we must take heed that in running parallels we do not destroy the free agency of man, nor disgrace the goodness and supremacy of God.

Verse 3

He wrought a work on the wheels - אל האבנים al haabnayim, upon the stones, the potter's wheel being usually made of such, the spindle of the moving stone being placed on a stone below, on which it turned, and supported the stone above, on which the vessel was manufactured, and which alone had a rotatory motion. The potter's wheel in the present day seems to differ very little from that which was in use between two and three thousand years ago.

Verse 4

The vessel - was marred in the hands of the potter - It did not stand in the working; it got out of shape; or some gravel or small stone having been incorporated with the mass of clay, made a breach in that part where it was found, so that the potter was obliged to knead up the clay afresh, place it on the wheel, and form it anew; and then it was such a vessel as seemed good to the potter to make it.

Verse 6

Cannot I do with you as this potter? - Have I not a right to do with a people whom I have created as reason and justice may require? If they do not answer my intentions, may I not reject and destroy them; and act as this potter, make a new vessel out of that which at first did not succeed in his hands?
It is generally supposed that St. Paul has made a very different use of this similitude from that mentioned above. See ^[288], etc. His words are, "Hath not the potter power over the clay, of the same lump to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor?" To this every sensible and pious man will answer, Undoubtedly he has. But would any potter make an exceedingly fair and good vessel on purpose to dash it to pieces when he had done? Surely no! And would or could, the God of infinite perfection and love make millions of immortal souls on purpose for eternal perdition, as the horrible decree of reprobation states? No! This is a lie against all the attributes of God. But does not the text state that he can, out of the same lump, the same mass of human nature, make one vessel to honor, and another to dishonor? Yes. But the text does not say, what the horrible decree says, that he makes one part, and indeed the greater, for eternal perdition. But what then is the meaning of the text? Why evidently this: As out of the same mass of clay a potter may make a flagon for the table and a certain utensil for the chamber, the one for a more honorable, the other for a less honorable use, though both equally necessary to the owner; so God, out of the same flesh and blood, may make the tiller of the field and the prophet of the Most High; the one in a more honorable, the other in a less honorable employ; yet both equally necessary in the world, and equally capable of bringing glory to God in their respective places. But if the vessel be marred in his hand, under his providential and gracious dealings, he may reject it as he did the Jews, and make another vessel, such as he is pleased with, of the Gentiles; yet even these marred vessels, the reprobate Jews, are not finally rejected; for all Israel shall be saved in (through) the Lord, i.e., Jesus Christ. And should the Gentiles act as the Jews have done, then they also shall be cut off, and God will call his Church by another name. See on ^[289] (note) and below.

Verse 7

At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation, etc. - If that nation, against whom, etc. - And at what instant, etc. - If it do evil, etc. - These verses contain what may be called God's decree by which the whole of his conduct towards man is regulated. If he purpose destruction against an offending person, if that person repent and turn to God, he shall live and not die. If he purpose peace and salvation to him that walketh uprightly, if he turn from God to the world and sin, he shall die and not live.

Verse 12

There is no hope - See ^[290].

Verse 13

The virgin of Israel - Instead of ישראל Yisrael, three of Kennicott's and De Rossi's MSS., with the Alexandrian copy of the Septuagint, have ירושלם Yerushalem, Jerusalem.

Verse 14

Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon - Lebanon was the highest mountain in Judea. Would any man in his senses abandon a farm that was always watered by the melted snows of Lebanon, and take a barren rock in its place? How stupid therefore and absurd are my people, who abandon the everlasting God for the worship of idols!

Verse 16

A perpetual hissing - שריקות sherikoth. a shrieking, hissing; an expression of contempt.

Verse 17

I will scatter them as with an east wind - It is the property of this wind, almost every where, to parch up, blast, and destroy grain and trees, and even cattle and men suffer from it. Hence the old metrical proverb: - "When the wind blows from the east, 'Tis good for neither man nor beast."

Verse 18

Come, and let us devise devices - Let us form a conspiracy against him, accuse him of being a false prophet, and a contradicter of the words of God, for God has promised us protection, and he says we shall be destroyed, and that God will forsake his people.
Let us smite him with the tongue - On the tongue; so it should be rendered. Lying and false testimony are punished in the eastern countries, to the present day, by smiting the person on the mouth with a strong piece of leather like the sole of a shoe. Sometimes a bodkin is run through the tongue. Blasphemy, calumny, and cursing of parents, are usually punished in that way among the Chinese.

Verse 20

They have digged a pit for my soul - For my life; this they wish to take away.
Stood before thee to speak good for them - I was their continual intercessor.

Verse 21

Therefore deliver up their children - The execrations in these verses should be considered as simply prophetic declarations of the judgments which God was about to pour out on them.
If we consider them in their grammatical meaning, then they are not directions to us to whom our Lawgiver has said, "Love your enemies."

Chapter 19

Introduction

By the significant type of breaking a potter's vessel, Jeremiah is directed to predict the utter desolation of Judah and Jerusalem, ^[291]. The prophets taught frequently by symbolic actions as well as by words.

Verse 1

Go and get a potter's earthen bottle - This discourse was also delivered some time in the reign of Jehoiakim. Under the type of breaking a potter's earthen bottle or jug, Jeremiah shows his enemies that the word of the Lord should stand, that Jerusalem should be taken and sacked, and they all carried into captivity.
Ancients of the priests - The chiefs of the twenty-four classes which David had established. See ^[292].

Verse 4

Estranged this place - Ye have devoted my temple to a widely different purpose from that for which it was erected.

Verse 5

Offerings unto Baal - A general name for all the popular idols; Baal, Moloch, Ashtaroth, etc.

Verse 7

I will make void the counsel of Judah - Probably this refers to some determination made to proclaim themselves independent, and pay no more tribute to the Chaldeans.
To be meat for the fowls - See on ^[293] (note).

Verse 9

I will cause them to eat the flesh of their sons - This was literally fulfilled when Jerusalem was besieged by the Romans. This also the prophet might have had in view.

Verse 11

Even so will I break this people and this city - The breaking of the bottle was the symbolical representation of the destruction of the city and of the state.
That cannot be made whole again - This seems to refer rather to the final destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, than to what was done by the Chaldeans. Jerusalem was healed after 70 years: but nearly 1800 years have elapsed since Jerusalem was taken and destroyed by the Romans; and it was then so broken, that it could not be made whole again.

Verse 12

And even make this city as Tophet - A place of slaughter and destruction.

Verse 14

Then came Jeremiah from Tophet - He had probably gone to the valley of Hinnom, and there repeated the discourse which he had a little before delivered to the chief priests and elders.

Verse 15

Because they have hardened their necks - A metaphor taken from unruly and unbroken oxen, who resist the yoke, break and run away with their gears. So this people had broken and destroyed the yoke of the law.

Chapter 20

Introduction

Jeremiah, on account of his prophesying evil concerning Judah and Jerusalem, is beaten and imprisoned by Pashur, chief governor of the temple, ^[294], ^[295]. On the following day the prophet is released, who denounces the awful judgments of God which should fall upon the governor and all his house, as well as upon the whole land of Judah, in the approaching Babylonish captivity, ^[296]. Jeremiah then bitterly complains of the reproaches continually heaped upon him by his enemies; and, in his haste, resolves to speak no more in the name of Jehovah; but the word of the Lord is in his heart as a burning flame, so that he is not able to forbear, ^[297]. The prophet professes his trust in God, whom he praises for his late deliverance, ^[298]. The remaining verses, which appear to be out of their place, contain Jeremiah's regret that he was ever born to a life of so much sorrow and trouble, ^[299]. This complaint resembles that of Job; only it is milder and more dolorous. This excites our pity, that our horror. Both are highly poetical, and embellished with every circumstance that can heighten the coloring. But such circumstances are not always to be too literally understood or explained. We must often make allowances for the strong figures of eastern poetry.

Verse 1

Pashur - chief governor - Pashur was probably one of the chief priests of the twenty-four classes.

Verse 2

Put him in the stocks - Probably such a place near the gate as we term the lock-up, the coal-hole; or it may mean a sort of dungeon.

Verse 3

The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur - Security on all sides. This name thou hast had, but not by Divine appointment.
But Magor-missabib - Fear on every side. This name hath God given thee; because, in the course of his providence, thou shalt be placed in the circumstances signified by it: thou shalt be a terror to thyself.

Verse 6

And thou, Pashur-shall go into captivity - Thou shalt suffer for the false prophecies which thou hast delivered, and for thy insults to my prophet.

Verse 7

O Lord, thou hast deceived me - Thou hast promised me protection; and, lo! I am now delivered into the hands of my enemies. These words were probably spoken when Pashur smote him, and put him in prison.
I think our translation of this passage is very exceptionable. My old Bible reads, Thou laddist me aside Lord; and I was lad aside. The original word is פתיתני pittithani, thou hast persuaded me, i.e., to go and prophesy to this people. I went, faithfully declared thy message, and now I am likely to perish by their cruelty. As the root פתה pathah signifies to persuade and allure as well as to deceive, the above must be its meaning in this place. Taken as in our Version it is highly irreverent. It is used in the same sense here as in ^[300] : God shall enlarge (persuade, margin) Japheth; and he shall dwell in the tents of Shem.

Verse 8

I cried violence and spoil - This was the burden of the message thou didst give me.

Verse 9

I wilt not make mention of him - I will renounce the prophetic office, and return to my house.
As a burning fire shut up in my bones - He felt stings of conscience for the hasty and disobedient resolution he had formed; he felt ashamed of his own weakness, that did not confide in the promise and strength of God; and God's word was in him as a strongly raging fire, and he was obliged to deliver it, in order to get rid of the tortures which he felt from suppressing the solemn message which God had given. It is as dangerous to refuse to go when called, as it is to run without a call. On this subject, see on ^[301] (note).

Verse 10

Report - and we will report it - Let us spread calumnies against him every where; or let us spread reports of dangers coming upon him, that we may intimidate him, and cause him to desist.

Verse 11

But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one - Thus was he, by his strong confidence in the strong God, delivered from all his fears, and enabled to go on comfortably with his work.

Verse 13

Sing unto the Lord - He was so completely delivered from all fear, that although he remained in the same circumstances, yet he exults in the Divine protection, and does not fear the face of any adversary.

Verse 14

Cursed be the day wherein I was born - If we take these words literally, and suppose them to be in their proper place, they are utterly inconsistent with that state of confidence in which he exulted a few minutes before. If they are the language of Jeremiah, they must have been spoken on a prior occasion, when probably he had given way to a passionate hastiness. They might well comport with the state he was in ^[302]. I really believe these verses have got out of their proper place, which I conjecture to be between the eighth and ninth verses. There they will come in very properly; and might have been a part of his complaint in those moments when he had purposed to flee from God as did Jonah, and prophesy no more in his name. Transpositions in this prophet are frequent; therefore place these five verses after the eighth, and let the chapter end with the thirteenth, and the whole will form a piece of exquisite poetry, where the state of despair and the hasty resolutions he had formed while under its influence, and the state of confidence to which he was raised by the succouring influence of God, will appear to be both illustrative of each other, and are touched with a delicacy and fervor which even a cold heart must admire. See ^[303] (note), and the notes there. The two passages are very similar.

Verse 15

A man child is born - Borun is to thee a knave child. - Old MS. Bible. This is the old English word for man or servant; and is so used by Wiclif, ^[304].

Verse 16

And let him hear the cry - Let him be in continual alarms.

Verse 18

Wherefore came I forth - It would have been well had I never been born, as I have neither comfort in my life, nor comfort in my work.

Chapter 21

Introduction

Nebuchadnezzar being come up against Jerusalem, Zedekiah sends Pashur and Zephaniah to the prophet to request him to intercede with God in behalf of his people, ^[305], ^[306]. But he is declared to be against Jerusalem, and the whole land of Judah; and the only mitigation of their punishment must proceed from their surrendering to the king of Babylon, ^[307]. Prophecy concerning the house of the king of Judah, ^[308], ^[309]. Notwithstanding the amazing fortifications round about Jerusalem, in which the people vainly trust, the Lord will most assuredly visit them for their iniquities; the city shall be taken by the Chaldeans, ^[310], ^[311].

Verse 1

The word which came unto Jeremiah - The chapters in the remaining parts of this prophecy seem strangely interchanged. This subject has been mentioned in the introduction, and some tables given; and to these the critical reader is requested to refer. The discourse here was delivered about the ninth year or the reign of Zedekiah. This chapter, observes Dr. Blayney, contains the first of those prophecies which were delivered by Jeremiah, subsequent to the revolt of Zedekiah, and the breaking out of the war thereupon; and which are continued on to the taking of Jerusalem, related in chap. 29, in the following order: ^[312], 34, 37, 32, 33, 38, 39.
Pashur the son of Melchiah - There can be little doubt that this Pashur was a different person from him who was called the son of Immur in the preceding chapter.

Verse 2

Inquire, I pray thee - See whether God intends to deliver us into or out of the hand of the Chaldeans.

Verse 4

I will turn back the weapons - Every attempt you make to repel the Chaldeans shall be unsuccessful.
I will assemble them into the midst of this city - I will deliver the city into their hands.

Verse 6

They shall die of a great pestilence - The sword may appear to be that of man, though I have given the Chaldeans their commission; but the pestilence shall appear to be the immediate act of God.

Verse 7

Nebuchadrezzar - This name is spelt as above in twenty-six places of this book; and in ten places it is spelt Nebuchadnezzar, which is the common orthography. The difference is only a ר resh for a נ nun; but the MSS. are various on this point. It is the same person who is intended by both names; and here all the Versions, except the Arabic, which omits the name, have it in the usual form.

Verse 8

Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the way of death - Meaning escape or destruction in the present instance. This is explained in the next verse.

Verse 10

He shall burn it with fire - What a heavy message to all; and especially to them who had any fear of God, or reverence for the temple and its sacred services!

Verse 12

Execute judgment in the morning - Probably the time for dispensing judgment was the morning, when the people were going to their work; but the words may mean, Do justice promptly, do not delay. Let justice be administered as soon as required.

Verse 13

O inhabitant of the valley, and rock of the plain - Dr. Blayney translates: "O thou inhabitant of the levelled hollow of a rock." With all his explanation I cannot see the good sense of this translation. Jerusalem itself, though partly on two hills, was also extended in the valley; and Zion, the city of David, was properly a rock, strongly fortified both by nature and art; and by its ancient possessors, the Jebusites, was deemed impregnable.
Who shall come down against us? - Probably the words of those courtiers who had persuaded Zedekiah to rebel against the king of Babylon.

Verse 14

I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof - I will send destruction into its center, that shall spread to every part of the circumference, and so consume the whole.
The beginning of the thirty-fourth chapter should follow here. See the arrangement on ^[313] (note).

Chapter 22

Introduction

This section of prophecy, extending to the end of the eighth verse of the next chapter, is addressed to the king of Judah and his people. It enjoins on them the practice of justice and equity, as they would hope to prosper, ^[314]; but threatens them, in case of disobedience, with utter destruction, ^[315]. The captivity of Shallum, the son of Josiah, is declared to be irreversible, ^[316]; and the miserable and unlamented end of Jeconiah, contemptuously called Coniah, is foretold, ^[317]. His family is threatened with the like captivity, and his seed declared to be for ever excluded from the throne, ^[318].

Verse 1

Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word - This is supposed by Dahler to have been published in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah.

Verse 2

O king of Judah - thou, and thy servants - His ministers are here addressed, as chiefly governing the nation; and who had counselled Zedekiah to rebel.

Verse 6

Thou art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon - Perhaps in allusion, says Dahler, to the oaks of Gilead, and the cedars of Mount Lebanon, of which the palace was constructed. Lebanon was the highest mountain in Israel, and Gilead the richest and most fertile part of the country; and were, therefore, proper emblems of the reigning family. Though thou art the richest and most powerful, I, who raised thee up, can bring thee down and make thee a wilderness.

Verse 7

They shall cut down thy choice cedars - The destruction of the country is expressed under the symbol of the destruction of a fine forest; a multitude of fellers come against it, each with his axe; and, there being no resistance, every tree is soon felled to the earth. "These destroyers," God says, "I have prepared, קדשתי kiddashti, I have sanctified - consecrated, to this work. They have their commission from me."

Verse 8

Many nations shall pass - These words seem borrowed from ^[319], etc.

Verse 10

Weep ye not for the dead - Josiah, dead in consequence of the wound he had received at Megiddo, in a battle with Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt; but he died in peace with God.
But weep sore for him that goeth away - Namely, Jehoahaz, the son of Josiah, called below Shallum, whom Pharaoh-necho had carried captive into Egypt from which it was prophesied he should never return, ^[320]. He was called Shallum before he ascended the throne, and Jehoahaz afterwards; so his brother Eliakim changed his name to Jehoiakim, and Mattaniah to Zedekiah.

Verse 13

Wo unto him that buildeth his house - These evils, charged against Jehoiakim, are nowhere else circumstantially related. We learn from ^[321], that he taxed his subjects heavily, to give to Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt: "He exacted the silver and gold of the people of the land, and did that which was evil in the sight of the Lord." The mode of taxation is here intimated; he took the wages of the hirelings, and caused the people to work without wages in his own buildings, etc.

Verse 15

Shalt thou reign, etc - Dost thou think thou art a great king, because thou dwellest in a splendid palace?

Verse 18

They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother! - These words were no doubt the burden of some funeral dirge. Alas! a brother, who was our lord or governor, is gone. Alas, our sister! his Queen, who has lost her glory in losing her husband. הדה hodah is feminine, and must refer to the glory of the queen.
The mournings in the east, and lamentations for the dead, are loud, vehement, and distressing. For a child or a parent grief is expressed in a variety of impassioned sentences, each ending with a burden like that in the text, "Ah my child!" "Ah my mother!" as the prophet in this place: הוי אחי hoi achi, "Ah my brother!" הוי אחות hoi achoth, "Ah sister!" הוי אדון hoi adon, "Ah lord!" הוי הדה hoi hodah "Ah the glory." Mr. Ward, in his Manners and Customs of the Hindoos, gives two examples of lamentation; one of a mother for the death of her son, one of a daughter for her departed mother. "When a woman," says he, "is overwhelmed with grief for the death of her child, she utters her grief in some such language as the following: -
Ah, my Hureedas, where is he gone? - 'Ah my child, my child!'
My golden image, Hureedas, who has taken? - 'Ah my child, my child!'
I nourished and reared him, where is he gone? - 'Ah my child, my child!'
Take me with thee. - 'Ah my child, my child!'
He played round me like a golden top. - 'Ah my child, my child!'
Like his face I never saw one. - 'Ah my child, my child!'
The infant continually cried, Ma Ma! - 'Ah my child, my child!'
Ah my child, crying, Ma! come into my lap. - 'Ah my child, my child!'
Who shall now drink milk? - 'Ah my child, my child!'
Who shall now stay in my lap? - 'Ah my child, my child!'
Our support is gone! - 'Ah my child, my child!' "The lamentations for a mother are in some such strains as these: -
Mother! where is she gone? - 'Ah my mother, my mother!'
You are gone, but what have you left for me? - 'Ah my mother, my mother!'
Whom shall I now call mother, mother? - 'Ah my mother, my mother!'
Where shall I find such a mother? - 'Ah my mother, my mother!'"
From the above we may conclude that the funeral lamentations, to which the prophet refers, generally ended in this way, in each of the verses or interrogatories.
There is another intimation of this ancient and universal custom in ^[322], where the old prophet, who had deceived the man of God, and who was afterwards slain by a lion, is represented as mourning over him, and saying, הוי אחי hoi achi, "Alas, my brother!" this being the burden of the lamentation which he had used on this occasion. Similar instances may be seen in other places, ^[323]; ^[324]; ^[325]; and particularly ^[326], ^[327], and ^[328].

Verse 19

With the burial of an ass - Cast out, and left unburied, or buried without any funeral solemnities, and without such lamentations as the above.

Verse 20

Go up to Lebanon - Probably Anti-Libanus, which, together with Bashan and Abarim, which we here translate passages, were on the way by which the captives should be led out of their own country.

Verse 21

I spake unto thee in thy prosperity - In all states and circumstances I warned thee by my prophets; and thou wilt only be ashamed of thy conduct when thou shalt be stripped of all thy excellencies, and reduced to poverty and disgrace, ^[329].

Verse 22

The wind shall eat up all thy pastors - A blast from God's mouth shall carry off thy kings, princes, prophets, and priests.

Verse 23

How gracious shalt thou be - A strong irony.

Verse 24

Though Coniah - Called Jeconiah, probably on ascending the throne. See on ^[330] (note).
The signet upon my right hand - The most precious seal, ring, or armlet. Though dearer to me than the most splendid gem to its possessor.

Verse 26

I will cast thee out, and thy mother - See all this fulfilled, ^[331], ^[332]. All were carried by Nebuchadnezzar into captivity together.

Verse 28

Is this man Coniah a despised broken idol? - These are probably the exclamations of the people, when they heard those solemn denunciations against their king and their country.

Verse 29

O earth - These are the words of the prophet in reply: O land! unhappy land! desolated land! Hear the judgment of the Lord!

Verse 30

Write ye this man childless - Though he had seven sons, ^[333], yet having no successor, he is to be entered on the genealogical tables as one without children for none of his posterity ever sat on the throne of David.

Chapter 23

Introduction

Sequel of the discourse which commenced in the preceding chapter. The prophet denounces vengeance against the pastors of Israel who have scattered and destroyed the flock of the Lord, ^[334], ^[335]. He concludes with gracious promises of deliverance from the Babylonish captivity, and of better times under the Messiah, when the converts to Christianity, who are the true Israel of God, shadowed forth by the old dispensation, shall be delivered, by the glorious light of the Gospel, from worse than Chaldean bondage, from the captivity of sin and death. But this prophecy will not have its fullest accomplishment till that period arrives which is fixed in the Divine counsel for the restoration of Israel and Judah from their various dispersions, of which their deliverance from the Chaldean domination was a type, when Jesus the Christ, the righteous Branch, the Root and Offspring of David, and the only legitimate Heir to the throne, shall take unto himself his great power, and reign gloriously over the whole house of Jacob, ^[336]. At the ninth verse a new discourse commences. Jeremiah expresses his horror at the great wickedness of the priests and prophets of Judah, and declares that the Divine vengeance is hanging over them. He exhorts the people not to listen to their false promises, ^[337]; and predicts the utter ruin that shall fall upon all pretenders to inspiration, ^[338], as well as upon all scoffers at true prophecy, ^[339].

Verse 1

Wo be unto the pastors - There shall a curse fall on the kings, princes, priests, and prophets; who, by their vicious conduct and example, have brought desolation upon the people.

Verse 2

Ye have scattered my flock - The bad government both in Church and State was a principal cause of the people's profligacy.

Verse 5

I will raise unto David a righteous Branch - As there has been no age, from the Babylonish captivity to the destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, in which such a state of prosperity existed, and no king or governor who could answer at all to the character here given, the passage has been understood to refer to our blessed Lord, Jesus Christ, who was a branch out of the stem of Jesse; a righteous king; by the power of his Spirit and influence of his religion reigning, prospering, and executing judgment and justice in the earth.

Verse 6

In his days Judah shall be saved - The real Jew is not one who has his circumcision in the flesh, but in the spirit. The real Israel are true believers in Christ Jesus; and the genuine Jerusalem is the Church of the first-born, and made free, with all her children, from the bondage of sin, Satan, death, and hell. All these exist only in the days of the Messiah. All that went before were the types or significators of these glorious Gospel excellencies.
And this is his name whereby he shall be called The Lord Our Righteousness - I shall give the Hebrew text of this important passage: וזה שמו אשר יקראו יהוה צדקנו vezeh shemo asher yikreo Yehovah tsidkenu, which the Septuagint translate as follows, Και τουτο το ονομα αυτον ὁ καλεσει αυτον Κυριος, Ιωσεδεκ, "And this is his name which the Lord shall call him Josedek." Dahler translates the text thus: -
Et voici le nom dont on l'appellera:
L'Eternel, Auteur de notre felicite. "And this is the name by which he shall be called;
The Lord, the Author of our happiness."
Dr. Blayney seems to follow the Septuagint; he translates thus, "And this is the name by which Jehovah shall call him, Our Righteousness."
In my old MS. Bible, the first English translation ever made, it is thus: -
And this is the name that thei schul clepen him: oure rigtwise Lord.
Coverdale's, the first complete English translation of the Scriptures ever printed, (1535), has given it thus: -
And this is the name that they shall call him: even the Lorde oure rightuous Maker.
Matthews (1549) and Becke (1549) follow Coverdale literally; but our present translation of the clause is borrowed from Cardmarden, (Rouen, 1566), "Even the Lord our righteousness."
Dr. Blayney thus accounts for his translation: - "Literally, according to the Hebrew idiom, 'And this is his name by which Jehovah shall call, Our Righteousness;' a phrase exactly the same as, 'And Jehovah shall call him so;' which implies that God would make him such as he called him, that is, our Righteousness, or the author and means of our salvation and acceptance. So that by the same metonymy Christ is said to 'have been made of God unto us wisdom, and righteousness and sanctification, and redemption,' ^[340]. "I doubt not that some persons will be offended with me for depriving them, by this translation, of a favourite argument for proving the Divinity of our Savior from the Old Testament. But I cannot help it; I have done it with no ill design, but purely because I think, and am morally sure, that the text, as it stands, will not properly admit of any other construction. The Septuagint have so translated before me, in an age when there could not possibly be any bias or prejudice either for or against the fore-mentioned doctrine, a doctrine which draws its decisive proofs from the New Testament only."
Dahler paraphrases, - "This Prince shall be surnamed by his people, 'The Lord, the author of our happiness.' The people shall feel themselves happy under him; and shall express their gratitude to him."
I am satisfied that both the translation from Cardmarden downwards, and the meaning put on these words, are incorrect. I prefer the translation of Blayney to all others; and that it speaks any thing about the imputed righteousness of Christ, cannot possibly be proved by any man who understands the original text. As to those who put the sense of their creed upon the words, they must be content to stand out of the list of Hebrew critics. I believe Jesus to be Jehovah; but I doubt much whether this text calls him so. No doctrine so vitally important should be rested on an interpretation so dubious and unsupported by the text. That all our righteousness, holiness, and goodness, as well as the whole of our salvation, come by Him, from Him, and through Him, is fully evident from the Scriptures; but this is not one of the passages that support this most important truth. See on Jeremiah 33 (note).

Verse 7

The Lord liveth which brought up - See on ^[341] (note), ^[342] (note).

Verse 9

Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets - The first word of this clause is לנבאים lannebiim, which we incorporate with the whole clause, and translate, "Because of the prophets." But as a new prophecy begins here, it is evident that the word is the title to this prophecy; and is thus distinguished both by Blayney and Dahler, Concerning The Prophets. This discourse was delivered probably in the reign of Jehoiakim.
All my bones shake - He was terrified even by his own message, and shocked at the profanity of the false prophets.

Verse 10

The land is full of adulterers - Of idolaters. Of persons who break their faith to ME, as an impure wife does to her husband.
The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up - He speaks here, most probably, in reference to dearth. Profane oaths, false swearing, evil courses, violence, etc., had provoked God to send this among other judgments; see ^[343].

Verse 11

In my house - They had even introduced idolatry into the Temple of God!

Verse 13

I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria - This was not to be wondered at, for their religion was a system of corruption.

Verse 14

I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem - That is, the prophets of Jerusalem, while professing a pure faith, have followed the ways, and become as corrupt as the prophets of Samaria.
They are all of them unto me as Sodom - Incorrigible, brutish sinners, who will as surely be destroyed as Sodom and Gomorrah were.

Verse 16

Hearken not unto the words of the prophets - That is, of those who promise you safety, without requiring you to forsake your sins and turn unto the Lord; see ^[344].

Verse 18

Who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord - Who of them has ever received a word of prophecy from me? My word is not in them.

Verse 19

Behold, a whirlwind - The simoom: the hot pestilential wind blowing from the south, frequently mentioned or referred to in the sacred writings; see ^[345].

Verse 20

In the latter days ye shall consider it - I give you warning: and this punishment which I now threaten shall surely take place; a short time will determine it; ye shall not escape.

Verse 21

I have not sent these prophets, yet they ran - Not to save souls, but to profit themselves.
I have not spoken to them, yet they prophesied - They never received the word at my mouth; yet they went, publishing their own deceits, and pretending them to be revelations from God. The churches which have legal emoluments are ever in danger of being overrun and ruined by worldly and self-interested priests.

Verse 23

Am I a God at hand, - and not a God afar off? - You act as if you thought I could not see you! Am I not omnipresent? Do not I fill the heavens and the earth? ^[346].

Verse 27

Bay their dreams - Dreams were anciently reputed as a species of inspiration; see ^[347]; ^[348]; ^[349]; ^[350]. In the Book of Genesis we find many examples; and although many mistook the workings of their own vain imaginations in sleep for revelations from God, yet he has often revealed himself in this way: but such dreams were easily distinguished from the others. They were always such as had no connection with the gratification of the flesh; they were such as contained warnings against sin, and excitements to holiness; they were always consecutive - well connected, with a proper beginning and ending; such as possessed the intellect more than the imagination. Of such dreams the Lord says, (^[351]): The prophet that hath a dream, let him tell a dream - permit him to show what he has thus received from the Lord: but let him tell it as a dream, and speak my word faithfully, lest he may have been deceived.

Verse 28

What is the chaff to the wheat? saith the Lord - Do not mingle these equivocal matters with positive revelations. Do not consider a dream, even from a prophet, as that positive inspiration which my prophets receive when their reason, judgment, and spiritual feelings are all in full and in regular exercise. Mix none of your own devices with my doctrines.

Verse 29

Is not my word like as a fire? - It enlightens, warms, and penetrates every part. When it is communicated to the true prophet, it is like a fire shut up in his bones; he cannot retain it, he must publish it: and when published, it is like a hammer that breaks the rock in pieces; it is ever accompanied by a Divine power, that causes both sinner and saint to feel its weight and importance.
In the original words there is something singular: הלוא כה דברי כאש halo coh debari kaesh, "Is not thus my word like fire?" I suspect, with Dr. Blayney, that כה coh, thus, was formerly written כח coach, strength or power; and so it was understood by the Targumist: "Are not all my words strong, like fire?" and probably the author of the Epistle to the Hebrews read it thus, and had it in view when he wrote: "For the word of God is quick and powerful, and sharper than any two-edged sword," ^[352]. This admitted, the text would read, "Is not my word powerful, like fire?" or, "Is not the power of my word like fire?" But however we understand the words, let us take heed lest we think, as some have thought and affirmed, that the sacred writings are quite sufficient of themselves to enlighten, convince, and convert the soul, and that there is no need of the Holy Spirit. Fire itself must be applied by an agent in order to produce its effects; and surely the hammer cannot break the rock in pieces, unless wielded by an able workman. And it is God's Spirit alone that can thus apply it; for we find it frequently read and frequently spoken, without producing any salutary effects. And by this very thing the true preachers of the word of God may be distinguished from the false, non-commissioned ones; those who run, though they are not sent, ^[353]. The word of him who has his commission from heaven shall be as a fire and as a hammer; sinners shall be convinced and converted to God by it. But the others, though they steal the word from their neighbor - borrow or pilfer a good sermon, yet they do not profit the people at all, because God did not send them, ^[354]; for the power of God does not in their ministry accompany the word.
There may be an allusion to the practice in some mining countries, of roasting stones containing ore, before they are subjected to the hammer, in order to pulverize them. In Cornwall I have seen them roast the tin stones in the fire, before they placed them under the action of the hammers in the stamp mill. The fire separated the arsenic from the ore, and then they were easily reduced to powder by the hammers of the mill; afterwards, washing the mass with water, the grains of tin sank to the bottom, while the lighter parts went off with the water, and thus the metal was procured clean and pure. If this be the allusion, it is very appropriate.

Verse 30

I am against the prophets - Three cases are mentioned here which excited God's disapprobation:
1. The prophets who stole the word from their neighbor; who associated with the true prophets, got some intelligence from them, and then went and published it as a revelation which themselves had received, ^[355].
2. The prophets who used their tongues; הלקחים לשונם hallokechim leshonam, who lick or smooth with their tongues - gave their own counsels as Divine revelations, flattering them in their sins, and promising peace, when God had not spoken; and prefaced them, "Thus saith the Lord," ^[356].
3. The prophets who made up false stories, which they termed prophecies, revealed to them in dreams; and thus caused the people to err, ^[357].

Verse 33

What is the burden of the Lord? - The word משא massa, here used, signifies burden, oracle, prophetic discourse; and is used by almost every prophet. But the persons in the text appear to have been mockers. "Where is this burden of the Lord?" - "What is the burden now?" To this insolent question the prophet answers in the following verses.
I will ever forsake you - I will punish the prophet, the priest and the people, that speak thus, ^[358]. Here are burdens.

Verse 36

Every man's word shall be his burden - Ye say that all God's messages are burdens, and to you they shall be such: whereas, had you used them as you ought, they would have been blessings to you.
For ye have perverted the words of the living God - And thus have sinned against your own souls.

Verse 39

I will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you and the city - Dr. Blayney translates: - I will both take you up altogether, and will cast you off together with the city. Ye are a burden to me: but I will take you up, and then cast you off. I will do with you as a man weary with his burden will do; cast it off his shoulders, and bear it no more.

Verse 40

I will bring an everlasting reproach upon you - And this reproach of having rebelled against so good a God, and rejected so powerful a Savior, follows them to this day through all their dispersions, in every part of the habitable earth. The word of the Lord cannot fail.

Chapter 24

Introduction

Under the emblem of the good and bad figs is represented the fate of the Jews already gone into captivity with Jeconiah, and of those that remained still in their own country with Zedekiah. It is likewise intimated that God would deal kindly with the former, but that his wrath would still pursue the latter, ^[359].

Verse 1

The Lord showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs - Besides the transposition of whole chapters in this book, there is not unfrequently a transposition of verses, and parts of verses. Of this we have an instance in the verse before us; the first clause of which should be the last. Thus: - "After that Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive Jeconiah, the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths from Jerusalem, and had brought them to Babylon, the Lord showed me, and, behold, two baskets of figs were set before the temple of the Lord." ^[360] - "One basket had very good figs, even like the figs that are first ripe; and the other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they were so bad."
This arrangement restores these verses to a better sense, by restoring the natural connection.
This prophecy was undoubtedly delivered in the first year of the reign of Zedekiah.
Under the type of good and bad figs, God represents the state of the persons who had already been carried captives into Babylon, with their king Jeconiah, compared with the state of those who should be carried away with Zedekiah. Those already carried away, being the choice of the people, are represented by the good figs: those now remaining, and soon to be carried into captivity, are represented by the bad figs, that were good for nothing. The state also of the former in their captivity was vastly preferable to the state of those who were now about to be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon. The latter would be treated as double rebels; the former, being the most respectable of the inhabitants, were treated well; and even in captivity, a marked distinction would be made between them, God ordering it so. But the prophet sufficiently explains his own meaning.
Set before the temple - As an offering of the first-fruits of that kind.
Very good figs - Or, figs of the early sort. The fig-trees in Palestine, says Dr. Shaw, produce fruit thrice each year. The first sort, called boccore, those here mentioned, come to perfection about the middle or end of June. The second sort, called kermez, or summer fig, is seldom ripe before August. And the third, which is called the winter fig, which is larger, and of a darker complexion than the preceding, hangs all the winter on the tree, ripening even when the leaves are shed, and is fit for gathering in the beginning of spring.
Could not be eaten - The winter fig, - then in its crude or unripe state; the spring not being yet come.

Verse 5

Like these good figs, so will I acknowledge - Those already carried away into captivity, I esteem as far more excellent than those who still remain in the land. They have not sinned so deeply, and they are now penitent; and, therefore, I will set mine eyes upon them for good, ^[361]. I will watch over them by an especial providence, and they shall be restored to their own land.

Verse 7

They shall be my people - I will renew my covenant with them, for they will return to me with them whole heart.

Verse 8

So will I give Zedekiah - I will treat these as they deserve. They shall be carried into captivity, and scattered through all nations. Multitudes of those never returned to Judea; the others returned at the end of seventy years.

Verse 10

I will send the sword - Many of them fell by sword and famine in the war with the Chaldeans, and many more by such means afterwards. The first received their captivity as a correction, and turned to God; the latter still hardened their hearts more and more, and probably very many of them never returned: perhaps they are now amalgamated with heathen nations. Lord, how long?

Chapter 25

Introduction

This chapter contains a summary of the judgments denounced by Jeremiah against Judah, Babylon, and many other nations. It begins with reproving the Jews for disobeying the calls of God to repentance, ^[362]; on which account their captivity, with that of her neighboring nations, during seventy years, is foretold, ^[363]. At the expiration of that period, (computing from the invasion of Nebuchadnezzar in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, to the famous edict of the first year of Cyrus), an end was to be put to the Babylonian empire, ^[364]. All this is again declared by the emblem of that cup of wrath which the prophet, as it should seem in a vision, tendered to all the nations which he enumerates, ^[365]. And for farther confirmation, it is a third time repeated in a very beautiful and elevated strain of poetry, ^[366]. The talent of diversifying the ideas, images, and language, even when the subject is the same, or nearly so, appears no where in such perfection as among the sacred poets.

Verse 1

The word that came to Jeremiah - to the fourth year - This prophecy, we see, was delivered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and the chapter that contains it is utterly out of its place. It should be between chapters 35 and 36.
The defeat of the Egyptians by Nebuchadnezzar at Carchemish, and the subsequent taking of Jerusalem, occurred in this year, viz., the fourth year of Jehoiakim.
The first year of Nebuchadrezzar - This king was associated with his father two years before the death of the latter. The Jews reckon his reign from this time, and this was the first of those two years; but the Chaldeans date the commencement of his reign two years later, viz., at the death of his father.

Verse 7

That ye might provoke - Ye would not hearken; but chose to provoke me with anger.

Verse 9

Behold, I will send - At this time Nebuchadrezzar had not invaded the land, according to this Version; but the Hebrew may be translated, "Behold I am sending, and have taken all the families;" that is, all the allies of the king of Babylon.
Instead of ואל reel, "and To Nebuchadrezzar," as in the common Hebrew Bible, seven MSS. of Kennicott's and De Rossi's, and one of my own, have ואת veeth, "And Nebuchadrezzar," which is undoubtedly the true reading.

Verse 10

I will take from them - See ^[367], and ^[368].
The sound of the mill-stones, and the light of the candle - These two are conjoined, because they generally ground the corn before day, by the light of the candle. Sir J. Chardin has remarked, that every where in the morning may be heard the noise of the mills; for they generally grind every day just as much as is necessary for the day's consumption. Where then the noise of the grill is not heard, nor the light of the candle seen, there must be desolation; because these things are heard and seen in every inhabited country.

Verse 11

Shall serve the king of Babylon seventy years - As this prophecy was delivered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, and in the first of Nebuchadnezzar, and began to be accomplished in the same year, (for then Nebuchadnezzar invaded Judea, and took Jerusalem), seventy years from this time will reach down to the first year of Cyrus, when he made his proclamation for the restoration of the Jews, and the rebuilding of Jerusalem. See the note on ^[369] (note), where the subject is farther considered in relation to the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and the city of Babylon.

Verse 12

And that nation - הגוי ההוא haggoi hahu. Dr. Blayney contends that this should be translated his nation, and that ההוא hahu is the substantive pronoun used in the genitive case. It is certainly more clear and definite to read, "I will punish the king of Babylon, and His nation."
Will make it perpetual desolations - See the note on ^[370], where the fulfillment of this prophecy is distinctly marked.

Verse 14

Many nations and great kings - The Medes and the Persians, under Cyrus; and several princes, his vassals or allies.

Verse 16

Take the wine cup of this fury - For an ample illustration of this passage and simile, see the note on ^[371].

Verse 17

Then took I the cup - and made all the nations to drink - This cup of God's wrath is merely symbolical, and simply means that the prophet should declare to all these people that they shall fall under the Chaldean yoke, and that this is a punishment inflicted on them by God for their iniquities. "Then I took the cup;" I declared publicly the tribulation that God was about to bring on Jerusalem, the cities of Judah, and all the nations.

Verse 19

Pharaoh king of Egypt - This was Pharaoh-necho, who was the principal cause of instigating the neighboring nations to form a league against the Chaldeans.

Verse 20

All the mingled people - The strangers and foreigners; Abyssinians and others who had settled in Egypt.
Land of Uz - A part of Arabia near to Idumea. See on ^[372] (note).

Verse 22

Tyrus and - Zidon - The most ancient of all the cities of the Phoenicians.
Kings of the isles which are beyond the sea - As the Mediterranean Sea is most probably meant, and the Phoenicians had numerous colonies on its coasts, I prefer the marginal reading, the kings of the region by the sea side.

Verse 23

Dedan - Was son of Abraham, by Keturah, ^[373].
Tema - Was one of the sons of Ishmael, in the north of Arabia, ^[374].
Buz - Brother of Uz, descendants of Nahor, brother of Abraham, settled in Arabia Deserta, ^[375].

Verse 24

The mingled people - Probably the Scenite Arabians.

Verse 25

Zimri - Descendants of Abraham, by Keturah, ^[376], ^[377].
Elam - Called Elymais by the Greeks, was on the south frontier of Media, to the north of Susiana, not far from Babylon.

Verse 26

The kings of the north, far and near - The first may mean Syria; the latter, the Hyrcanians and Bactrians.
And the king of Sheshach shall drink after them - Sheshach was an ancient king of Babylon, who was deified after his death. Here it means either Babylon, or Nebuchadnezzar the king of it. After it has been the occasion of ruin to so many other nations, Babylon itself shall be destroyed by the Medo-Persians.

Verse 27

Be drunken, and spue - Why did we not use the word vomit, less offensive than the other, and yet of the same signification?

Verse 29

The city which is called by my name - Jerusalem, which should be first given up to the destruction.

Verse 32

Evil shall go forth from nation to nation - One nation after another shall fall before the Chaldeans.

Verse 33

From one end of the earth - From one end of the land to the other. All Palestine shall be desolated by it.

Verse 34

Howl, ye shepherds - Ye kings and chiefs of the people.
Ye shall fall like a pleasant tresses - As a fall will break and utterly ruin a precious vessel of crystal, agate, etc., so your overthrow will be to you irreparable ruin.

Verse 38

As the lion - Leaving the banks of Jordan when overflowed, and coming with ravening fierceness to the champaign country.

Chapter 26

Introduction

Jeremiah, by the commend of God, goes into the court of the Lord's house; and foretells the destruction of the temple and city, if not prevented by the speedy repentance of the people, ^[378]. By this unwelcome prophecy his life was in great danger; although saved by the influence of Ahikam, the son of Shaphan, who makes a masterly defense for the prophet, ^[379]. Urijah is condemned, but escapes to Egypt; whence he is brought hack by Jehoiakim, and slain, ^[380]. Ahikam befriends Jeremiah, ^[381].

Verse 1

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim - As this prophecy must have been delivered in the first or second year of the reign of Jehoiakim, it is totally out of its place here. Dr. Blayney puts it before chap. 36.; and Dr. Dahler immediately after chap. ix., and before chap. 46.

Verse 4

If ye will not hearken - This and several of the following verses are nearly the same with those in ^[382], etc., where see the notes.

Verse 8

And all the people - That were in company with the priests and the prophets.

Verse 10

The princes of Judah - The king's court; his cabinet counsellors.

Verse 12

The Lord sent me to prophesy - My commission is from him, and my words are his own. I sought not this painful office. I did not run before I was sent.

Verse 13

Therefore now amend your ways - If ye wish to escape the judgment which I have predicted, turn to God, and iniquity shall not be your ruin.

Verse 14

As for me, behold, I am in your hand - I am the messenger of God; you may do with me what you please; but if you slay me, you will bring innocent blood upon yourselves.

Verse 16

This man is not worthy to die - The whole court acquitted him.

Verse 17

Certain of the elders - This is really a fine defense, and the argument was perfectly conclusive. Some think that it was Ahikam who undertook the prophet's defense.

Verse 18

Micah the Morasthite - The same as stands among the prophets. Now all these prophesied as hard things against the land as Jeremiah has done; yet they were not put to death, for the people saw that they were sent of God.

Verse 20

Urijah - who prophesied - The process against Jeremiah is finished at the nineteenth verse; and the case of Urijah is next brought on, for he was also to be tried for his life; but hearing of it he fled to Egypt. He was however condemned in his absence; and the king sent to Egypt, and brought him thence and slew him, and caused him to have an ignominious burial, ^[383].

Verse 24

The hand of Ahikam - was with Jeremiah - And it was probably by his influence that Jeremiah did not share the same fate with Urijah. The Ahikam mentioned here was probably the father of Gedaliah, who, after the capture of Jerusalem, was appointed governor of the country by Nebuchadnezzar, ^[384]. Of the Prophet Urijah, whether he was true or false, we know nothing but what we learn from this place.
That they should not give him into the hand of the people - Though acquitted in the supreme court, he was not out of danger; there was a popular prejudice against him, and it is likely that Ahikam was obliged to conceal him, that they might not put him to death. The genuine ministers of God have no favor to expect from those who are His enemies.

Chapter 27

Introduction

Ambassadors being come from several neighboring nations to solicit the king of Judah to join in a confederacy against the king of Babylon, Jeremiah is commanded to put bands and yokes upon his neck, (the emblems of subjection and slavery), and to send them afterwards by those ambassadors to their respective princes; intimating by this significant type that God had decreed their subjection to the Babylonian empire, and that it was their wisdom to submit. It is farther declared that all the conquered nations shall remain in subjection to the Chaldeans during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, and those of his son and grandson, even till the arrival of that period in which the Babylonians shall have filled up the measure of their iniquities; and that then the mighty Chaldean monarchy itself, for a certain period the paramount power of the habitable globe, shall be voted with a dreadful storm of Divine wrath, through the violence of which it shall be dashed to pieces like a potter's vessel, the fragments falling into the hands of many nations and great kings, ^[385]. Zedekiah, particularly, is admonished not to join to the revolt against Nebuchadnezzar, and warned against trusting to the suggestions of false prophets, ^[386]. The chapter concludes with foretelling that what still remained of the sacred vessels of the temple should be carried to Babylon, and not restored till after the destruction of the Chaldean empire, ^[387].

Verse 1

In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim - It is most evident that his prophecy was delivered about the fourth year of Zedekiah, and not Jehoiakim, as in the text. See ^[388]. Three of Kennicott's MSS. (one in the text, a second in the margin, and the third upon a rasure) have Zedekiah; so likewise have the Syriac and the Arabic. Houbigant, Lowth, Blayney, Dahler, and others declare for this reading against that in the present text. And it is clear from the third and twelfth verses, where Zedekiah is expressly mentioned, that this is the true reading.

Verse 2

Make thee bonds and yokes - Probably yokes with straps, by which they were attached to the neck. This was a symbolical action, to show that the several kings mentioned below should be brought under the dominion of the Chaldeans.

Verse 5

I have made the earth - I am the Creator and Governor of all things, and I dispose of the several kingdoms of the world as seemeth best to me.

Verse 6

And now have I given - These kingdoms are at my sovereign disposal; and at present, for the punishment of their rulers and people, I shall give them into the hands of Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon.

Verse 7

And all nations shall serve him (Nebuchadnezzar), and his son, (Evil-merodach ^[389]), and his son's son, (Belshazzar, ^[390].) All which was literally fulfilled.

Verse 9

Therefore hearken not ye to your prophets - Who pretend to have a revelation from heaven.
Nor to your diviners - קסמיכם kosemeychem, from קסם kasam, to presage or prognosticate. Persons who guessed at futurity by certain signs in the animate or inanimate creation.
Nor to your dreamers - חלמתיכם chalomotheychem, from חלם chalam, to break in pieces; hence חלום chalom, a dream, because it consists of broken fragments. Dream-interpreters, who, from these broken shreds patch up a meaning by their own interpolations.
Nor to your enchanters - ענניכם oneneychem, from ענן anan, a cloud - cloud-mongers. Diviners by the flight, color, density, rarity, and shape of clouds.
Nor to your sorcerers - כשפיכם cashshapheychem, from כשף kashaph, to discover; the discoverers, the finders out of hidden things, stolen goods, etc. Persons also who use incantations, and either by spells or drugs pretend to find out mysteries, or produce supernatural effects. Every nation in the world had persons who pretended to find out hidden things, or foretell future events; and such were gladly encouraged by the ignorant multitude; and many of them were mere apes of the prophets of God. Man knows that he is short-sighted, feels pain at the uncertainty of futurity, and wishes to have his doubts resolved by such persons as the above, to put an end to his uncertainty.

Verse 13

Why will ye die - If ye resist the king of Babylon, to whom I have given a commission against you, ye shall be destroyed by the sword and by famine; but if ye submit, ye shall escape all these evils.

Verse 16

The vessels of the Lord's house - Which had been carried away by Nebuchadnezzar under the reigns of Jehoiakim and Jeconiah, ^[391].
Shall now shortly be brought again - This is a lie. They shall not be restored till I bring them up, ^[392], which was after the captivity, when they were sent back by Cyrus, the Lord inclining his heart to do it, ^[393], and ^[394].

Verse 19

Concerning the pillars - Two brazen columns placed by Solomon in the pronaos or portico of the temple, eighteen cubits high, and twelve in circumference, ^[395]; ^[396].
The sea - The brazen sea, ten cubits in diameter, and thirty in circumference. It contained water for different washings in the Divine worship, and was supported on twelve brazen oxen. Perhaps these are what are called the bases here. See the parallel places at ^[397] (note), etc.; ^[398] (note), ^[399] (note), and the notes on them.

Verse 22

They shall be carried to Babylon - Far from those already taken being brought back, those which now remain shall be carried thither, unless ye submit to the Chaldeans. They did not submit, and the prophecy was literally fulfilled; see ^[400]; ^[401], ^[402].

Chapter 28

Introduction

One of those pretended prophets spoken of on the preceding chapter, having contrasted and opposed Jeremiah, receives an awful declaration that, as a proof to the people of his having spoken without commission, he should die in the then current year; which accordingly came to pass its the seventh month, vv. 1-17.

Verse 1

And it came to pass the same year - the fifth month - Which commenced with the first new moon of August, according to our calendar. This verse gives the precise date of the prophecy in the preceding chapter; and proves that Zedekiah, not Jehoiakim, is the name that should be read in the first verse of that chapter.
Hananiah the son of Azur the prophet - One who called himself a prophet; who pretended to be in commerce with the Lord, and to receive revelations from him. He was probably a priest; for he was of Gibeon, a sacerdotal city in the tribe of Benjamin.

Verse 2

Thus speaketh the Lord - What awful impudence! when he knew in his conscience that God had given him no such commission.

Verse 3

Within two full years - Time sufficient for the Chaldeans to destroy the city, and carry away the rest of the sacred vessels; but he did not live to see the end of this short period.

Verse 6

Amen; the Lord do so - O that it might be according to thy word! May the people find this to be true!

Verse 8

The prophets that have been before me - Namely, Joel, Amos, Hosea, Micah, Zephaniah, Nahum, Habakkuk, and others; all of whom denounced similar evils against a corrupt people.

Verse 9

When the word of the prophet shall come to pass - Here is the criterion. He is a true prophet who specifies things that he says shall happen, and also fixes the time of the event; and the things do happen, and in that time.
You say that Nebuchadnezzar shall not overthrow this city; and that in two years from this time, not only the sacred vessels already taken away shall be restored, but also that Jeconiah and all the Jewish captives shall be restored, and the Babylonish yoke broken, see ^[403], ^[404], ^[405]. Now I say that Nebuchadnezzar will come this year, and destroy this city, and lead away the rest of the people into captivity, and the rest of the sacred vessels; and that there will be no restoration of any kind till seventy years from this time.

Verse 10

Then Hananiah - took the yoke - and brake it - He endeavored by this symbolical act to persuade them of the truth of his prediction.

Verse 13

Yokes of iron - Instead of Nebuchadnezzar's yoke being broken, this captivity shall be more severe than the preceding. All these nations shall have a yoke of iron on their neck. He shall subdue them and take all their property, even the beasts of the field.

Verse 15

Hear now, Hananiah; the Lord hath not sent thee - This was a bold speech in the presence of those priests and people who were prejudiced in favor of this false prophet, who prophesied to them smooth things. In such cases men wish to be deceived.

Verse 16

This year thou shalt die - By this shall the people know who is the true prophet. Thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord, and God will cut thee off; and this shall take place, not within seventy years, or two years, but in this very year, and within two months from this time.

Verse 17

So Hananiah - died the same year in the seventh month - The prophecy was delivered in the fifth month, (^[406]), and Hananiah died in the seventh month. And thus God, in mercy, gave him about two months, in which he might prepare to meet his Judge. Here, then the true prophet was demonstrated, and the false prophet detected. The death of Hananiah thus predicted, was God's seal to the words of his prophet; and must have gained his other predictions great credit among the people.

Chapter 29

Introduction

This chapter contains the substance of two letters sent by the prophet to the captives in Babylon. In the first he recommends to them patience and composure under their present circumstances, which were to endure for seventy years, ^[407]; in which, however, they should fare better than their brethren who remained behind, ^[408]. But, finding little credit given to this message, on account of the suggestions of the false prophets, Ahab the son of Kolaiah, and Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, who flattered them with the hopes of a speedy end to their captivity, he sends a second, in which he denounces heavy judgments against those false prophets that deceived them, ^[409]; as he did afterwards against Shemaiah the Nehelamite, who had sent a letter of complaint against Jeremiah, in consequence of his message, ^[410].

Verse 1

Now these are the words of the letter - This transaction took place in the first or second year of Zedekiah. It appears that the prophet had been informed that the Jews who had already been carried into captivity had, through the instigations of false prophets, been led to believe that they were to be brought out of their captivity speedily. Jeremiah, fearing that this delusion might induce them to take some hasty steps, ill comporting with their present state, wrote a letter to them, which he entrusted to an embassy which Zedekiah had sent on some political concerns to Nebuchadnezzar. The letter was directed to the elders, priests, prophets, and people who had been carried away captives to Babylon.

Verse 4

Thus saith the Lord of hosts - This was the commencement of the letter.

Verse 5

Build ye houses - Prepare for a long continuance in your present captivity. Provide yourselves with the necessaries of life, and multiply in the land, that ye may become a powerful people.

Verse 7

Seek the peace of the city - Endeavor to promote, as far as you can, the prosperity of the places in which ye sojourn. Let no disaffection appear in word or act. Nothing can be more reasonable than this. Wherever a man lives and has his nourishment and support, that is his country as long as he resides in it. If things go well with that country, his interest is promoted by the general prosperity, he lives at comparative ease, and has the necessaries of life cheaper; and unless he is in a state of cruel servitude, which does not appear to have been the case with those Israelites to whom the prophet writes, (those of the first captivity), they must be nearly, if not altogether, in as good a state as if they had been in the country that gave them birth. And in this case they were much better off than their brethren now in Judea, who had to contend with famine and war, and scarcely any thing before them but God's curse and extermination.

Verse 8

Neither hearken to your dreams - Rather, dreamers; for it appears there was a class of such persons, who not only had acquired a facility of dreaming themselves, but who undertook to interpret the dreams of others.

Verse 10

For thus saith the Lord - It has been supposed that a very serious transposition of verses has taken place here; and it has been proposed to read after ^[411] the sixteenth to the nineteenth inclusive; then the tenth, and on to the fourteenth inclusive; then the twentieth, the fifteenth, the twenty-first, and the rest regularly to the end.
That after seventy years be accomplished - לפי מלאת lephi meloth, "at the mouth of the accomplishment," or "fill to the mouth." Seventy years is the measure which must be filled; - fill this to the brim; - complete this measure, and then you shall be visited and released. The whole seventy must be completed; expect no enlargement before that time.

Verse 11

Thoughts of peace - Here God gives them to understand,
1. That his love was moved towards them.
2. That he would perform his good word, his promises often repeated, to them.
3. That for the fulfillment of these they must pray, seek, and search.
4. That he would hearken, and they should find him; provided,
5. They sought him with their whole heart, ^[412].

Verse 14

I will gather you from all the nations - A quotation from ^[413], and see also ^[414].

Verse 15

Because ye have said - The Septuagint very properly insert this verse between the twentieth and the twenty-first, and thus the connection here is not disturbed, and the connection below completed.

Verse 17

Behold, I will send upon them the sword - Do not envy the state of Zedekiah who sits on the throne of David, nor that of the people who are now in the land whence ye have been carried captive, (^[415]), for "I will send the sword, the pestilence, and the famine upon them;" and afterwards shall cause them to be carried into a miserable captivity in all nations, (^[416]); but ye see the worst of your own case, and you have God's promise of enlargement when the proper time is come. The reader will not forget that the prophet is addressing the captives in Babylon.

Verse 20

Hear ye therefore the word - Dr. Blayney thinks there were two letters written by the prophet to the captives in Babylon, and that the first ends with this verse. That having heard, on the return of the embassy (Elasah and Gemariah, whom Zedekiah had sent to Babylon, and to whom the prophet entrusted the above letter, ^[417]), that the captives had not received his advises favourably, because they were deceived by false prophets among them, who promised them a speedier deliverance, he therefore wrote a second letter, beginning with the fifteenth verse, and going on with the twenty-first, etc., in which he denounces God's judgments on three of the chief of those, Ahab, Zedekiah, and Shemaiah.

Verse 21

He shall slay them before your eyes - Nebuchadnezzar would be led by political reasons to punish these pretended prophets, as their predictions tended to make his Israelitish subjects uneasy and disaffected, and might excite them to rebellion. He therefore slew them; two of them, it appears, he burnt alive, viz., Ahab and Zedekiah, who are supposed by the rabbins to be the two elders who endeavored to seduce Susanna, see ^[418]. Burning alive was a Chaldean punishment, ^[419], and ^[420]. From them other nations borrowed it.

Verse 23

Have committed adultery with their neighbors' wives - This is supposed to refer to the case of Susanna. See above.

Verse 24

Speak to Shemaiah - Zephaniah was the second priest, sagan, or chief priest's deputy, and Seraiah, high priest, when Jerusalem was taken. See ^[421]. Shemaiah directs his letter to the former, and tells him that God had appointed him to supply the place of the high priest, who was probably then absent. His name was either Azariah or Seraiah his son, but called Jehoiada from the remarkable zeal and courage of that pontiff. See the passages in the margin. - Dodd. After the taking of Jerusalem, Zephaniah was put to death by Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, see ^[422]. The history of Jehoiada may be seen ^[423], etc.

Verse 26

For every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet - Mad, משגע meshugga, in ecstatic rapture; such as appeared in the prophets, whether true or false, when under the influence, the one of God, the other of a demon. See ^[424]; ^[425].

Verse 32

I will punish Shemaiah -
1. He shall have no posterity to succeed him.
2. His family, i.e., relations, etc., shall not be found among those whom I shall bring back from captivity.
3. Nor shall he himself see the good that I shall do for my people.
And all this shall come upon him and his because he hath taught rebellion against the Lord. He excited the people to reject Jeremiah, and to receive the lying words of the false prophets; and these led them to rebel.

Chapter 30

Introduction

This and the following chapter must relate to a still future restoration of the posterity of Jacob from their several dispersions, as no deliverance hitherto afforded them comes up to the terms of it; for, after the return from Babylon, they were again enslaved by the Greeks and Romans, contrary to the prediction in the eighth verse; in every papistical country they have labored under great civil disabilities, and in some of them have been horribly persecuted; upon the ancient people has this mystic Babylon very heavily laid her yoke; and in no place in the world are they at present their own masters; so that this prophecy remains to be fulfilled in the reign of David, i.e., the Messiah; the type, according to the general structure of the prophetical writings, being put for the antitype. The prophecy opens by an easy transition from the temporal deliverance spoken of before, and describes the mighty revolutions that shall precede the restoration of the descendants of Israel, ^[426], who are encouraged to trust in the promises of God, ^[427], ^[428]. They are, however, to expect corrections; which shall have a happy issue in future period, ^[429]. The great blessings of Messiah's reign are enumerated, ^[430]; and the wicked and impenitent declared to have no share in them, ^[431], ^[432].

Verse 1

The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord - This prophecy was delivered about a year after the taking of Jerusalem; so Dahler. Dr. Blayney supposes it and the following chapter to refer to the future restoration of both Jews and Israelites in the times of the Gospel; though also touching at the restoration from the Babylonish captivity, at the end of seventy years. Supposing these two chapters to be penned after the taking of Jerusalem, which appears the most natural, they will refer to the same events, one captivity shadowing forth another, and one restoration being the type or pledge of the second.

Verse 2

Write thee all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book - The book here recommended I believe to be the thirtieth and thirty-first chapters; for among the Hebrews any portion of writing, in which the subject was finished, however small, was termed ספר sepher, a Book, a treatise or discourse.

Verse 3

The days come - First, After the conclusion of the seventy years. Secondly, Under the Messiah.
That I will bring again the captivity of Israel - The ten tribes, led captive by the king of Assyria, and dispersed among the nations.
And Judah - The people carried into Babylon at two different times; first, under Jeconiah, and, secondly, under Zedekiah, by Nebuchadnezzar.

Verse 5

We have heard a voice of trembling - This may refer to the state and feelings of the people during the war which Cyrus carried on against the Babylonians. Trembling and terror would no doubt affect them, and put an end to peace and all prosperity; as they could not tell what would be the issue of the struggle, and whether their state would be better or worse should their present masters fall in the conflict. This is well described in the next verse, where men are represented as being, through pain and anguish, like women in travail. See the same comparison ^[433].

Verse 7

Alas! for that day is great - When the Medes and Persians with all their forces shall come on the Chaldeans, it will be the day of Jacob's trouble - trial, dismay, and uncertainty; but he shall be delivered out of it - the Chaldean empire shall fall, but the Jews shall be delivered by Cyrus. Jerusalem shall be destroyed by the Romans, but the Israel of God shall be delivered from its ruin. Not one that had embraced Christianity perished in the sackage of that city.

Verse 8

I will break his yoke - That is, the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar.
Of him - Of Jacob, (^[434]), viz., the then captive Jews.

Verse 9

But they shall serve the Lord their God, and David their King - This must refer to the times of the Messiah and hence the Chaldee has, "They shall obey the Lord their God, וישת מאון למשיחה בר דוד veyishta meun limschicha bar David, and they shall obey the Messiah, the Son of David." This is a very remarkable version; and shows that it was a version, not according to the letter, but according to their doctrine and their expectation. David was long since dead; and none of his descendants ever reigned over them after the Babylonish captivity, nor have they since been a regal nation. Zerubbabel, under the Persians, and the Asmoneans, can be no exception to this. They have been no nation since; they are no nation now; and it is only in the latter days that they can expect to be a nation, and that must be a Christian nation.
Christ is promised under the name of his progenitor, David, ^[435], ^[436]; ^[437], ^[438]; ^[439], ^[440]; ^[441].

Verse 11

Though I make a full end of all nations - Though the Persians destroy the nations whom they vanquish, yet they shall not destroy thee.

Verse 12

Thy bruise is incurable - אנוש anush, desperate, not incurable; for the cure is promised in ^[442], I will restore health unto thee, and I will heal thee of thy wounds.

Verse 13

There is none to plead thy cause - All thy friends and allies have forsaken thee.

Verse 15

Thy sorrow is incurable - אנוש anush, desperate. See ^[443].

Verse 16

They that devour thee - The Chaldeans.
Shall be devoured - By the Medes and Persians.
All that prey upon thee will I give for a prey - The Assyrians were destroyed by the Babylonians; the Babylonians, by the Medes and Persians; the Egyptians and Persians were destroyed by the Greeks, under Alexander. All these nations are now extinct, but the Jews, as a distinct people, still exist.

Verse 18

The city shall be builded upon her own heap - Be re-edified from its own ruins. See the book of Nehemiah, passim.
And the palace shall remain - Meaning, the king's house shall be restored; or, more probably, the temple shall be rebuilt; which was true, for after the Babylonish captivity it was rebuilt by Nehemiah, etc. By the tents, distinguished from the dwelling-places of Jacob, we may understand all the minor dispersions of the Jews, as well as those numerous synagogues found in large cities.

Verse 19

I will multiply them - They shall be very numerous; even where at present they have but tents.
I will also glorify them - I will put honor upon them every where, so that they shall be no longer contemptible. This will be a very great change, for they are now despised all over the earth.

Verse 20

Their children also - They shall have the education of their own children as formerly.
And their congregation - Their religious assemblies.
Shall be established - Being, in the latter days, incorporated with those "who serve the Lord their God, and worship the Messiah, the son of David."

Verse 21

Their nobles shall be of themselves - Strangers shall not rule over them; and -
Their governor shall proceed from the midst of them - Both Nehemiah and Zerubbabel, their nobles and governors after the return from Babylon, were Jews.

Verse 22

Ye shall be my people - The old covenant shall be renewed.

Verse 23

The whirlwind of the Lord - A grievous tempest of desolation, -
Shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked - On Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans.

Verse 24

In the latter days ye shall consider it - By the latter days the Gospel dispensation is generally meant; and that restoration which is the principal topic in this and the succeeding chapter refers to this time. Had the Jews properly considered this subject, they would long ere this have been brought into the liberty of the Gospel, and saved from the maledictions under which they now groan. Why do not the Jews read their own prophets more conscientiously?

Chapter 31

Introduction

This chapter continues the subject of the preceding in a beautiful vision represented at a distant period. God is introduced expressing his continual regard for Israel, and promising to restore them to their land and liberty, ^[444]. Immediately heralds appear, proclaiming on Mount Ephraim the arrival of the great year of jubilee, and summoning the people to gather unto Zion, ^[445]. Upon which God resumes the speech; and makes such gracious promises both of leading them tenderly by the way, and making them happy in their own land, that all the nations of the world are called upon to consider with deep attention this great salvation, ^[446]. The scene is then diversified by a very happy invention. Rachel, the another of Joseph and Benjamin, is represented as risen from her tomb, in a city of Benjamin near Jerusalem, looking about for her children, and bitterly lamenting their fate, as none of them are to be seen in the land of their fathers, ^[447]. But she is consoled with the assurance that they are not lost, and that they shall in due time be restored, ^[448], ^[449]. To this another tender and beautiful scene immediately succeeds. Ephraim, (often put for the Ten tribes), comes in view. He laments his past errors, and expresses the most earnest desires of reconciliation; upon which God, as a tender parent, immediately forgives him, ^[450]. The virgin of Israel is then directed to prepare for returning home, ^[451], ^[452]; and the vision closes with a promise of abundant peace and security to Israel and Judah in the latter days, ^[453]. The blessed condition of Israel under the Messiah's reign is then beautifully contrasted with their afflicted state during the general dispersion, ^[454], ^[455]. In the remaining part of the chapter the promises to the posterity of Jacob of the impartial administration of justice, increasing peace and prosperity, the universal diffusion of righteousness, and stability in their own land after a general restoration in Gospel tines, are repeated, enlarged on, and illustrated by a variety of beautiful figures, ^[456].
Dr. Blayney has introduced this and the preceding chapter with the following excellent observations: - "There are many prophecies," says he, "in various parts of the Old Testament, which announce the future restoration of Israel to their own land, and the complete re-establishment of both their civil and religious constitution in the latter days, meaning the times of the Gospel dispensation. These two chapters contain a prophecy of this kind; which must necessarily be referred to these times, because it points out circumstances which certainly were not fulfilled at the return of the Jews from the Babylonish captivity, nor have hitherto had their completion. For the people who returned from Babylon were the people of Judah only, who had been carried away captive by Nebuchadnezzar; but here it is foretold, that not only should the captivity of Judah be restored, but the captivity of Israel also, meaning those ten tribes which were carried away before, by Shalmaneser king of Assyria; and who still remain in their several dispersions, having never returned, in a national capacity at least, to their own land, whatever some few individuals have done. But the terms of the prophecy entitle us to expect, not an obscure and partial, but a complete and universal, restoration; when God will manifest himself, as formerly, the God and Patron of all the families of Israel, and not of a few only. Again it is promised that, after this restoration, they should no more fall under the dominion of foreigners, but be governed by princes and magistrates of their own nation, independently of any but God, and David their king. But this was not the case with the Jews who returned from Babylon. They then indeed had a leader, Zerubbabel, one of their own nation, and also of the family of David; but both the nation and their leader continued still in a state of vassalage, and the most servile dependence upon the Persian monarchy. And when the Grecian monarchy succeeded, they changed their masters only, but not their condition; till at length under the Asmonean princes they had for a while an independent government of their own, but without any title to the name of David. At last they fell under the Roman yoke; since which time their situation has been such as not to afford the least ground to pretend that the promised restoration has yet taken place. It remains therefore to be brought about in future under the reign of the Messiah, emphatically distinguished by the name of David; when every particular circumstance predicted concerning it will no doubt be verified by a distinct and unequivocal accomplishment. There is no particular date annexed to this prophecy, whereby to ascertain the precise time of its delivery. But it may not unreasonably be presumed to have followed immediately after the preceding one in which the restoration of the people from their Babylonish captivity is in direct terms foretold. From hence the transition is natural and easy to the more glorious and general restoration which was to take place in a more distant period, and was designed for the ultimate object of the national hopes and expectations. Both events are frequently thus connected together in the prophetic writings; and perhaps with this design, that when that which was nearest at hand should be accomplished, it might afford the clearest, and strongest, and most satisfactory kind of evidence that the latter, how remote soever its period, would in like manner be brought about by the interposition of Providence in its due season. But though this prophecy relates wholly to one single subject, it seems naturally to divide itself into three distinct parts.
The first part, after a short preface, in which the prophet is required to commit to writing the matters revealed to him, commences with representing, in a style of awe and energy, the consternation and distress which, in some future day of visitation, should fall upon all nations, preparatory to the scene of Jacob's deliverance, ^[457]. Israel is encouraged to confide in the Divine assurance of restoration and protection, ^[458], ^[459]. He is prepared previously to expect a severe chastisement for the multitude of his sins; but consoled with the prospect of a happy termination, ^[460]. This is followed by an enumeration at large of the blessings and privileges to which the Jews should be restored upon their re-admission into God's favor, ^[461]. Again, however, it is declared that the anger of Jehovah would not subside till his purposed vengeance against the wicked should have been fully executed; and then, but not till then, an entire reconciliation would take place between him and all the families of Israel, ^[462], ^[463].
The second part of this prophecy begins chap. ^[464], and is marked by a sudden transition to a distant period of time, represented in a vision, and embellished with a variety of beautiful scenes and images. God announces the renewal of his ancient love for Israel; and promises, in consequence thereof, a speedy restoration of their former privileges and happiness, ^[465]. Already the heralds have proclaimed on Mount Ephraim the arrival of the joyful day; they summon the people to re-assemble once more in Zion; and promulge by special command the glad tidings of salvation which God had accomplished for them. God himself declares his readiness to conduct home the remnant of Israel from all parts of their dispersion, to compassionate and relieve their infirmities, and to provide them with all necessary accommodations by the way, ^[466]. The news is carried into distant lands; and the nations are summoned to attend to the display of God's power and goodness in rescuing his people from their stronger enemies, and in supplying them after their return with all manner of good things to the full extent of their wants and desires, ^[467]. Here the scene changes; and two new personages are successively introduced, in order to diversify the same subject, and to impress it more strongly. Rachel first; who is represented as just risen from the grave, and bitterly bewailing the loss of her children; for whom she anxiously looks about, but none are to be seen. Her tears are dried up; and she is consoled with the assurance that they are not lost for ever, but shall in time be brought back to their ancient borders, ^[468]. Ephraim comes next. He laments his past undutifulness with great contrition and penitence, and professes an earnest desire of amendment. These symptoms of returning duty are no sooner discerned in him, than God acknowledges him once more as a darling child and resolves with mercy to receive him, ^[469]. The virgin of Israel is then earnestly exhorted to hasten the preparations for their return; and encouraged with having the prospect of a signal miracle wrought in her favor, ^[470], ^[471]. And the vision closes at last with a promise that the Divine blessing should again rest upon the land of Judah; and that the men of Judah should once more dwell there, cultivating it according to the simplicity of ancient institutions, and fully discharged from every want, ^[472]. In the third part, by way of appendix to the vision, the following gracious promises are specifically annexed: That God would in time to come supply all the deficiencies of Israel and Judah; and would be as diligent to restore as he had ever been to destroy them; and would not any more visit the offenses of the fathers upon the children, ^[473]. That he would make with them a better covenant than he had made with their forefathers, ^[474]. That they should continue his people by an ordinance as firm and as lasting as that of the heavens, ^[475]. And that Jerusalem should again be built, enlarged in its extent, and secure from future desolation, ^[476]."

Verse 1

At the same time - This discourse was delivered at the same time with the former; and, with that, constitutes the Book which God ordered the prophet to write.
Will I be the God of all the families of Israel - I shall bring back the ten tribes, as well as their brethren the Jews. The restoration of the Israelites is the principal subject of this chapter.

Verse 2

The people which were left of the sword - Those of the ten tribes that had escaped death by the sword of the Assyrians.
Found grace in the wilderness - The place of their exile; a wilderness, compared to their own land. - Dahler. See ^[477]

Verse 3

I have loved thee with an everlasting love - ואהבת עולם אהבתיך veahabath olam ahabtich, "and with the old love I have loved thee." "Also, with a love of long standing have I loved thee." - Blayney. "But I love thee always." - Dahler. I still bear to the Jewish people that love which I showed to their fathers in Egypt, in the wilderness, and in the promised land. Can it be supposed, by any person seriously considering the context, that these words are spoken of God's decree of election in behalf of the Jews? Those who make it such, act most injudiciously on their own principle; for, how few of the Jews have ever given evidence that they were the children of God, from their restoration from Babylon to the present day! The words refer simply to their state as a people, most wondrously preserved by the providence and mercy of God, as a standing proof of the Divine authority of the Scriptures, and as an evidence of God's displeasure against sin.
Therefore with loving-kindness have I drawn thee - "Therefore have I lengthened out mercy to thee." - Blayney,
C'est pourquoi je t'ai conserve ma grace.
Dahler. "Therefore I have preserved my grace to thee."
The exiles, who had not for a long time received any proofs of the Divine protection, are represented as deploring their state; but God answers, that though this may seem to be the case, he has always loved them; and this continued love he will show by bringing them out of their captivity. However creeds may fare, this is the sense of the passage; all the context proves this.

Verse 4

O virgin of Israel - Israelites in general; now called virgin, because restored to their ancient purity.
With thy tabrets - Women in general played on these; they were used in times of rejoicing, and accompanied with dancing. To these customs, still preserved, the prophet alludes.

Verse 5

Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of Samaria - This was the regal city of the Israelites, as Jerusalem was of the Jews.
Shall eat them as common things - By the law of Moses no man was permitted to eat of the fruit of his vineyard till the fifth year after planting. For the first three years it was considered uncircumcised, unclean, not fit to be eaten; in the fourth year it was holy to the Lord, the fruit belonged to Him; in the fifth year he might use it for himself, ^[478]. But in the time here mentioned the fruit should be considered common - lawful at all times to be eaten.

Verse 6

For there shall be a day - Literally, for this is the day, or the day is come. The watchmen - the prophets.
Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion - Let both Israelites and Jews join together in the worship of the Lord.

Verse 7

The chief of the nations - The same as Jacob or Israel; for most certainly this people was once the most honorable on the face of the earth.
O Lord, save thy people - Let the Jews earnestly intercede in behalf of their Israelitish brethren; or let them rejoice and praise the Lord, who hath saved the remnant of Israel. So Dr. Blayney thinks the clause should be understood.

Verse 8

I will bring them from the north country - From Babylon.
From the coasts of the earth - The ten tribes were carried away partly into Assyria by Tiglath-pileser, and partly into Mesopotamia and Media by Shalmaneser, ^[479]; ^[480]. Assyria and Media, being very distant from Palestine, might have been called, in prophetic language, the coasts of the earth.
The blind and the lame - I will so effectually remove all difficulties out of the way, so provide for them on the journey, so supernaturally support their bodies and minds, that the veriest invalids shall safely proceed to, and happily arrive at, the end of their journey.

Verse 9

They shall come with weeping - Duly penetrated with a sense of their sins, they shall deeply deplore them; and, while weeping for them, earnestly supplicate God to have mercy upon them.
By the rivers of waters - I will so guide and provide for them in the arid deserts, that they shall find streams of water whenever necessary. Every one knows of how much consequence water is to travelers in the eastern deserts.
Ephraim is my first-born - Ephraim, being the most considerable, is often put for the whole of the ten tribes.

Verse 12

And shall flow together - Perhaps this may refer to their assembling at the three great national feasts, the passover, pentecost, and tabernacles.
Their soul shall be as a watered garden - Full of the light, life, and power of God; so that they shall rejoice evermore, pray without ceasing, and give thanks in every thing.

Verse 14

And I will satiate the soul of the priests - The worship of God being restored, they shall have their proper share of the victims brought to the temple.

Verse 15

A voice was heard in Ramah - The Ramah mentioned here, (for there were several towns of this name), was situated in the tribe of Benjamin, about six or seven miles from Jerusalem. Near this place Rachel was buried; who is here, in a beautiful figure of poetry, represented as coming out of her grave, and lamenting bitterly for the loss of her children, none of whom presented themselves to her view, all being slain or gone into exile. St. Matthew, who is ever fond of accommodation, applies these words, ^[481], ^[482], to the massacre of the children at Bethlehem. That is, they were suitable to that occasion, and therefore he so applied them; but they are not a prediction of that event.

Verse 16

They shall come again from the land of the enemy - This could not be said of the murdered innocents at Bethlehem; they never came again; but the Jews, who had gone into captivity, did come again from the land of their enemy to their own border.

Verse 18

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself - The exiled Israelites are in a state of deep repentance.
Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised - I was at first like an unbroken and untoward steer, the more I was chastised the more I rebelled; but now I have benefited by thy correction.
Turn thou me - I am now willing to take thy yoke upon me, but I have no power. I can only will and pray. Take the matter into thy own hand, and fully convert my soul.

Verse 19

After that I was turned - Converted from my sin, folly, and idolatry.
I repented - To conviction of sin, I now added contrition for sin. Conviction, in this sense of the word, must precede contrition or repentance. As soon as a man sees himself lost and undone, he is convicted of sin; when convicted, he begins to mourn. Thus contrition follows conviction.
I smote upon my thigh - My sorrow grew deeper and deeper; I smote upon my thigh through the extremity of my distress. This was a usual sign of deep affliction. See ^[483]. It was the same among the ancient Greeks. So Homer: - Ως εφατ' αυταρ Αρης θαλερω πεπληγετο μηρω Χερσι καταπρηνεσσ,ολοφυρομενος δε προσηυδα.
IL. lib. 15:113. "She spake: and with expanded arms, his thighs
Smiting, thus sorrowful, the god exclaimed."
Cowper. - αυταρ Αχιλλευς Μηρω πληξαμενος Πατροκληα προσεειπεν.
IL. lib. 16:124. "Achilles saw it, smote his thigh, and said."
Cowper.
I have often seen persons in deep grief act thus.

Verse 20

Is Ephraim my dear son? - It is impossible to conceive any thing more tenderly affectionate than this. Let us consider the whole account. The ten tribes, called here Ephraim, for the reason before alleged, are represented as acknowledging their sins. I have heard Ephraim bemoaning himself; and in his lamentation he says,
1. Thou hast chastised me.
2. Though he at first rebelled against the chastisement, yet at last he submitted and acknowledged his offenses.
3. He turned from all his offenses; he was converted.
4. After his conversion, (שובי shubi), he repented; after conviction came contrition, as before stated.
5. Being in a state of godly sorrow, he was instructed, הודעי hivvadei, he got a thorough knowledge of the desperate wickedness of his heart and life.
6. Having received this instruction, he was filled with excessive grief; which is signified here by smiting on his thigh. See above.
7. He finds that from his youth up he had been sinning against God; and although his youthful sins had long passed from his memory, yet the light of God brought them back, and he was ashamed and confounded at the sight of them.
8. In this state of confusion and distress God sees him; and, commiserating his state, thus speaks: -
1. Is Ephraim my dear son? Bad as he is in his own sight, and in the sight of my justice, he is now a penitent, and to me is precious.
2. However loathsome and disfigured he may be with sin and sorrow, he is to me a pleasant child - a child of delights; one in whose conversion I delight, and my angels rejoice.
3. I did speak against him: כי מדי דברי בו ki middey dabberi bo, for "from the abundance of my speaking in him;" accusing, threatening, promising, exhorting, encouraging; "I do still earnestly remember him." God has taken much pains with him, and is unwilling to give him up; but now that he repents, he has not received the grace of God utterly in vain.
4. God feels a yearning desire towards him; המו מעי לו hamu meai lo, "my bowels are agitated for him." I feel nothing towards him but pity and love. When a sinner turns to God, God ceases to be angry with him.
5. God expresses his determination to save him; ארחמנו רחם rachem arachamennu, "I will be affectionately merciful to him, with tender mercy, saith the Lord." He shall find that I treat him as a father does a returning prodigal son. So every penitent is sure to find mercy at the hand of God.

Verse 21

Set thee up waymarks - Alluding to stones, or heaps of stones, which travelers in the desert set up to ascertain the way, that they may know how to return. Mark the way to Babylon: thither ye shall certainly go; but from it ye shall as certainly return.

Verse 22

A woman shall compass a man - נקבה תסובב גבר nekebah tesobeb gaber, "A weak woman shall compass or circumvent a strong man." This place has given much trouble to Biblical critics. By many Christian writers it is considered a prophecy of the miraculous conception of the holy virgin; but as I am sure no such meaning is in the words, nor in the context, so I am satisfied no such meaning can be fairly brought out of them. Houbigant thinks there is a small error in the text, i.e., תשובב teshobeb, shall return, and not תסובב tesobeb, shall compass. This reading is found in two of Kennicott's MSS., and he contends that the passage should be read, "The wife shall return to her husband;" alluding to the conversion of the Jewish people, called above a backsliding daughter. This makes a good sense; but I do not see why this should be called a new thing in the earth. After all, I think it likely that the Jews in their present distressed circumstances are represented under the similitude of a weak defenseless female נקבה nekebah; and the Chaldeans under that of a fierce strong man, גבר gaber, who had prevailed over and oppressed this weak woman. But, notwithstanding the disparity between them, God would cause the woman - the weak defenseless Jews, to compass - to overcome, the strong man - the powerful Babylonians. And this the prophet says would be a new thing in the land; for in such a case the lame would take the prey. The context favors both these meanings. Dr. Blayney gives a sense very near to this: "A weak woman shall repulse a strong or mighty man." It is most likely a proverbial expression.

Verse 23

The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice - After their return they shall De remarkably prosperous. Piety and industry shall go hand in hand; they shall have their husbandmen, their shepherds, and neatherds, ^[484]. And Jerusalem shall become a righteous city, and the temple shall be a place of holiness; so the weary there shall have rest, and the sorrowful shall be abundantly comforted, ^[485], ^[486].

Verse 26

Upon this I awaked - It appears that the prophecy, commencing with ^[487] and ending with ^[488] of this chapter, was delivered to the prophet in a dream. Dahler supposes it to be a wish; that the prophet, though he could not hope to live to that time, might be permitted to awake up from his tomb; and, having seen this prosperity, would be content to return to his grave.

Verse 27

I will sow - with the seed of man and with the seed of beast - I will multiply both men and cattle.

Verse 29

The fathers have eaten a sour grape - A proverbial expression for, "The children suffer for the offenses of their parents." This is explained in the next verse: "Every one shall die for his own iniquity." No child shall suffer Divine punition for the sin of his father; only so far as he acts in the same way can he be said to bear the sins of his parents.

Verse 31

A new covenant - The Christian dispensation.

Verse 33

After those days - When vision and prophecy shall be sealed up, and Jesus have assumed that body which was prepared for him, and have laid down his life for the redemption of a lost world, and, having ascended on high, shall have obtained the gift of the Holy Spirit to purify the heart; then God's law shall, by it, be put in their inward parts, and written on their hearts; so that all within and all without shall be holiness to the Lord. Then God will be truly their God, received and acknowledged as their portion, and the sole object of their devotion; and they shall be his people, filled with holiness, and made partakers of the Divine nature, so that they shall perfectly love him and worthily magnify his name.

Verse 34

And they shall teach no more - It shall be a time of universal light and knowledge; all shall know God in Christ, from the least to the greatest; the children shall be taught to read the New Covenant, and to understand the terms of their salvation.
I will forgive their iniquity - It shall be a time of General Pardon; multitudes shall be daily in the Christian Church receiving the witness of God's Spirit, and in their life and conversation witnessing a good confession. How wonderfully is this prophecy fulfilled in the age of Bibles, Sunday schools, and village preaching.

Verse 36

If those ordinances - As sure as the sun shall give light to the day, and the moon to the night, so surely shall the Jews continue to be a distinct people. The same thing is expressed in other words in the next verse. Hitherto this prophecy has been literally fulfilled; the Jews are still a distinct people from all the dwellers upon earth. Every attempt that has been made in any country to naturalize and unite them with the people of that country, has proved abortive. The well-circumstanced attempt made this year (1830) in England, when the strongest interest was excited in their behalf, has also utterly failed. And why? Because of God's purpose expressed in ^[489] of the Book of the Prophet Jeremiah.

Verse 38

The city shall be built to the Lord - This cannot mean the city built after the return from Babylon, for two reasons:
1. This is to be much greater in extent;
2. It is to be permanent, never to be thrown down, ^[490]. It must therefore mean, if taken literally at all, the city that is to be built by them when they are brought in with the fullness of the Gentiles.
The tower of Hananeel - This stood in the northeast part of the city; from thence the wall proceeded to the corner gate, (probably the same as the old gate), thus named from its running out into an angle in that part.

Verse 39

Upon the hill Gareb - Gareb and Goath are out of the limits of this city. The latter is supposed to be Golgotha; that is, the heap of Gotha, which, being the place where our Lord was crucified, was without the city. These hills were a little to the north-west of the old city walls: but are destined to be within the new city. See Dr. Blayney on all these verses.

Verse 40

The whole valley of the dead bodies - The valley of the son of Hinnom.
And all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, unto the corner of the horse-gate toward the east - All these places, the fuller's field, etc., shall be consecrated to the Lord, and become a part of this new city; so that this will appear to be a city much more extensive than the city of Jerusalem ever was; and to be suited to that time, when the people shall have the law written in their hearts, and God shall have filled the land with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. Talia saecla currite! "Make speed, ye happy times!"

Chapter 32

Introduction

Jeremiah, now confined for his faithful admonitions, foretells the fate of the king and city, ^[491]. According to the direction of God, he buys of his cousin Hanameel a field in Anathoth; the contract, or deed of sale, being subscribed, sealed, and witnessed, and delivered to Baruch, together with a duplicate not sealed, who is commanded to put them into an earthen vessel that they may remain there for many days, ^[492]. This transaction of the prophet, which is entered and subscribed in the public register, God constitutes a sign or pledge of the Jews' return from the Babylonish captivity, and of their again possessing houses, fields, and vineyards, in their own land, and by their own right, according to their tribes and families, ^[493]. Jeremiah's prayer, in which he recounts God's marvellous acts towards the children of Israel, and deeply deplores the lamentable state of the country, and the numerous provocations which have led to it, ^[494]. After which God is introduced declaring his purpose of giving up his people into the hands of their enemies, ^[495]; promising, however, to restore them in due time to their ancient possessions, and to make with them an everlasting covenant, ^[496].

Verse 1

The word that came - This prophecy bears its own date: it was delivered in the tenth year of Zedekiah, which answered to the eighteenth of Nebuchadnezzar. It appears from ^[497], that the eleventh year of Zedekiah was the nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar; and consequently, that the eighteenth of that monarch must have been the tenth of the Jewish king.

Verse 2

Then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem - The siege had commenced the year before, and continued a year after ending in the fifth month of the following year; consequently, the siege must have lasted about eighteen months and twenty-seven days. See ^[498].

Verse 4

And shall speak with him mouth to mouth - He shall be reduced to a state of the most abject servitude. The slave was obliged to fix his eyes on every motion of the master whilst giving his orders, who often condescended to give them only by dumb signs.

Verse 7

The right of redemption is thine - The law had established that the estates of a family should never be alienated. If, therefore, a man through poverty was obliged to sell his patrimony, the nearest relative had a right to purchase it before all others, and even to redeem it, if it had been sold to another. This is what is called the right of goel, or kinsman, ^[499]. And in the year of jubilee the whole reverted to its ancient master ^[500].

Verse 8

This was the word of the Lord - It was by his appointment that I was to make this purchase. The whole was designed as a symbolical act, to show the people that there would be a return from Babylon, that each family should re-enter on its former possessions, and that a man might safely purchase on the certainty of this event.

Verse 9

Weighed him the money - It does not appear that there was any coined or stamped money among the Jews before the captivity; the Scripture, therefore, never speaks of counting money, but of weighing it.
Seventeen shekels of silver - The shekel at this time must have been a nominal coin; it was a thing of a certain weight, or a certain worth. Seventeen shekels was the weight of the silver paid: but it might have been in one ingot, or piece. The shekel has been valued at from two shillings and threepence to two shillings and sixpence, and even at three shillings; taking the purchase-money at a medium of the value of the shekel, it would amount only to about two pounds two shillings and sixpence. But as estates bore value only in proportion to the number of years before the jubilee, and the field in question was then in the hands of the Chaldeans, and this cousin of Jeremiah was not likely to come back to enjoy it after seventy years, (nor could he then have it, as a jubilee would intervene and restore it to the original family), and money must now be very scarce and high in its value, the seventeen shekels might have been a sufficient sum for a field in those circumstances, and one probably not large in its dimensions.

Verse 10

I subscribed the evidence - We have here all the circumstances of this legal act:
1. An offer is made of the reversion of the ground, till the jubilee, to him who would then of right come into possession.
2. The price is agreed on, and the silver weighed in the balances.
3. A contract or deed of sale is drawn up, to which both parties agreeing,
4. Witnesses are brought forward to see it signed and sealed; for the contract was both subscribed and sealed.
5. A duplicate of the deed was drawn, which was not to be sealed, but to lie open for the inspection of those concerned in some public place where it might be safe and always to be seen.
6. The original, which was sealed up, was put in an earthen pitcher in order to be preserved from accidents.
7. This was delivered by the purchaser into the hands of a third party, to be preserved for the use of the purchaser, and witnesses were called to attest this delivery.
8. They subscribed the book of the purchase, perhaps a town book, or register, where such purchases were entered. Baruch was a scribe by profession; and the deeds were delivered into his hands, before witnesses, to be preserved as above.
Perhaps the law, in this case, required that the instrument should be thus lodged. But, in the present case, both the deeds, the original and the duplicate, were put into the earthen pitcher because the city was about to be burnt; and if lodged as usual, they would be destroyed in the general conflagration. See ^[501].

Verse 15

Houses and fields - shall be possessed again - That is, this is an evidence that the captivity shall not last long: houses, etc., shall here be possessed again, either by their present owners or immediate descendants.
The young might return; at least, all under ten years of age: there was no natural impossibility that they should not live till they should be fourscore.

Verse 16

I prayed unto the Lord - And what a prayer! What weight of matter, sublimity of expression, profound veneration, just conception, Divine unction, powerful pleading, and strength of faith! Historical, without flatness; condensed, without obscurity; confessing the greatest of crimes against the most righteous of Beings, without despairing of his mercy, or presuming on his goodness: a confession that, in fact, acknowledges that God's justice should smite and destroy, had not his infinite goodness said, I will pardon and spare.

Verse 19

Thine eyes are open upon all the ways of - men - Thou art omniscient, and knowest all things; thou art omnipresent, and seest all things.

Verse 24

Behold the mounts - The huge terraces raised up to plant their engines on, that they might throw darts, stones, etc., into the city.
Because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence - The city was now reduced to extreme necessity; and from the siege continuing nearly a year longer, we may conclude that the besieged made a noble defense.

Verse 29

With the houses, upon whose roofs - As it is most probable that Baal was the sun, they might have chosen the tops of the houses, which were always flat, with battlements around, to offer incense and sacrifice to him at his rising, and while he was in sight above the horizon.

Verse 30

For the children of Israel and the children of Judah have only done evil - They have all been transgressors from their earliest history.
For the children of Israel - The ten tribes.
Have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands - They have been sinners beyond all others, being excessive idolaters. Their hands have formed the objects of their worship.

Verse 33

Though I taught them, rising up early and teaching them - From the frequent reference to this, we may naturally conclude that morning preaching prevailed much in Judea.

Verse 37

Behold, I will gather them out of all countries - A promise often repeated. See ^[502], and the notes on ^[503] (note), etc.

Verse 39

I will give them one heart - And that a clean one.
And one way - And that a holy and safe one: and to have this clean heart, and to walk in this good way, will be for the good of them and their children after them. God's blessing is a profitable inheritance. They shall have but one object of worship, and one way of salvation; and being saved from sin, idolatry, and destruction, they must necessarily be happy within and happy without.

Verse 41

Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good - Nothing can please God better than our coming to him to receive the good which, with his whole heart and his whole soul, he is ready to impart. How exceedingly condescending are these words of God!

Verse 42

Will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised - God's word cannot fail. The Jews have never yet received the good that God has promised. Nothing like the fulfillment of these promises took place after their return from Babylon; therefore there remaineth yet a rest for these ancient people of God; and it is under the Christian dispensation that they are to have it.

Verse 44

Men shall buy fields for money - This is a reference to the symbolical purchase mentioned at the beginning of the chapter; that may be considered by them as a sure sign of their restoration, not only to the same land, but to their respective inheritances in that land. This the power of God could alone perform.

Chapter 33

Introduction

In this chapter the prophet predicts a restoration of Israel and Judah to the favor of God, attended with such glorious circumstances as shall astonish all the world, ^[504]. Their prosperity from that period is then described by a beautiful enumeration of circumstances, ^[505]. Thus leads to the promise of the Messiah, the grand subject of the prophetical writings, and the happiness and stability which the children of Israel shall enjoy under his government; promises which, in so far as they respect the great body of the Jews, remain still to be fulfilled, ^[506].

Verse 1

Moreover the word of the Lord - This was in the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, Jeremiah being still shut up in prison: but he was now in the court of the prison, where the elders and the king's officers, etc., might consult him with the greater ease; for they continued to inquire, foolishly thinking, that if he would but prophesy good things, that these must come, or that he had sufficient power with God to induce him to alter his mind, - destroy the Chaldeans, and deliver the city.

Verse 2

Thus saith the Lord the Maker thereof - עשה osah, the doer of it. That is, he who is to perform that which he is now about to promise.
Thus translated by Dahler. -
Voici ce que dit l'Eternel, qui fait ce qu'il a dit. - "Thus saith the Lord, who doth that which he hath said."
The word Jehovah, not Lord, should be used in all such places as this.

Verse 3

Call unto eve, and I will answer thee - To me alone it belongs to reveal what is future; and the stupendous things which are now coming are known only to myself. These idolaters go to their gods to get information relative to the issue of the present commotions; but there is no light in them. Ask thou, O Jeremiah, and I will tell thee the great and mighty things which even thou knowest not.

Verse 4

Thus saith the Lord - This is a new confirmation of what has already been said, viz., The city shall fall, a number of the inhabitants shall perish, the rest shall be carried into captivity; but the nation shall be preserved, and the people return from their captivity.

Verse 6

Behold I will bring it health and, cure - ארכה aruchah, an extensive plaister; or, as we phrase it, a plaister as large as the sore. I will repair the losses of families by numerous births, and bless the land with fertility.

Verse 7

The captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel - This must respect the latter times, for the ten tribes did not return with the Jews at the termination of the seventy years.

Verse 8

I will cleanse them - These promises of pardon and holiness must be referred to their state under the Gospel, when they shall have received Jesus as the promised Messiah.

Verse 9

They shall fear and tremble - The surrounding nations shall be persuaded that it is the hand of the Almighty that has wrought this change in your behalf; and shall fear to molest you, and tremble lest they should incur the displeasure of your God by doing you any kind of evil.

Verse 11

The voice of them that shall say, Praise the Lord of hosts - That is, the voice of the Levites in the sacred service: intimating that the temple should be rebuilt, and the public service restored.

Verse 12

A habitation of shepherds - See on ^[507] (note).

Verse 14

Behold the days come - See ^[508], and ^[509].
That good thing which I have promised - By my prophets: for those who have predicted the captivity have also foretold its conclusion, though not in such express terms as Jeremiah did. See ^[510], etc.; ^[511], etc.; ^[512], etc.; ^[513], etc., and ^[514], etc. The end of the captivity has been foretold by Micah, ^[515], etc.; Zephaniah, ^[516], etc.; and by Jeremiah, ^[517]; ^[518]; ^[519]; ^[520]. The Targum explains ^[521], ^[522], and ^[523] of the Messiah.

Verse 16

And this is the name wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our Righteousness - See what has been said on ^[524] (note), which is generally supposed to be a strictly parallel passage: but they are very different, and I doubt whether they mean exactly the same thing. As to our translation here, it is ignorant, and almost impious; it says that Jerusalem, for that is the antecedent, shall be called The Lord our Righteousness. The pronoun לה lah, which is translated her, is the masculine affix, in the Chaldaic form, which frequently occurs; and Dr. Blayney translates, "And this is He whom Jehovah shall call our righteousness," or Justification. Perhaps there is a sense which these words will bear far more congenial to the scope of the place. I will give the original, as before: וזה אשר יקרא לה יהוה צדקנו vezeh asher yikra lah, Yehovah tsidkenu, "And this one who shall call to her is the Lord our Justification;" that is, the salvation of the Jews shall take place when Jesus Christ is proclaimed to them as their Justifier, and they receive him as such.
Instead of לה lah, her or him, Chaldaice, the Vulgate, Chaldee, and Syriac have read לו lo, him, less ambiguously; and this reading is supported by one or two MSS. This emendation renders the passage here more conformable to that in ^[525]; but if the translation above be admitted, all embarrassment is gone.
One of my own MSS. has לה loh, with the masculine points, and no mappik on the ה he; and for tsidkenu has צדקינו tsidkeynu, the contracted plural form, our righteousness: but this may be a mistake. The passages in this and the twenty-third chapter were not, I am satisfied, intended to express the same thing. I suppose that above refers to the preaching or proclaiming Christ crucified to the Jews, when the time shall arrive in which they shall be incorporated with the Gentile Church. Dahler translates this as he did that in chap. 23, which is a perfect oversight: but paraphrastic renderings are too often introduced by this learned foreigner.

Verse 18

Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man - This is a repetition of the promise made to Phinehas, ^[526].

Verse 20

If ye can break my covenant of the day - See the note on ^[527].

Verse 22

So will I multiply the seed of David - This must be understood of the spiritual David, Jesus Christ, and his progeny, genuine Christians. The two families which God chose for the priesthood, that of Aaron and Phinehas, or, on its being taken away from him, that of Ithamar, ^[528], are both extinct. Nor has the office of high priest, or priest of any kind offering sacrifice, been exercised among the Jews for nearly eighteen hundred years; therefore what is said here of the priesthood must refer to the spiritual priesthood, at the head of which is Jesus Christ.

Verse 24

The two families which the Lord hath chosen - Some think these refer to the two kingdoms of Israel and Judah; but they never can be considered as two distinct families, being of one and the same race. Others think that the families of Jacob and David are intended; but neither were these distinct. If the two families which had the priesthood be not meant, then the regal family of David, and the sacerdotal family of Jacob through Levi, may be designed. See ^[529]. Following the spiritual interpretation, neither the regal nor sacerdotal family has failed; for Jesus is a King and a Priest, and all true believers in him are kings and priests unto God and the Lamb. And the highest King that ever reigned is He who is the seed of David, King of kings and Lord of lords, who has all power in heaven and in earth.

Chapter 34

Introduction

This chapter contains two prophecies: the first, delivered during the siege of Jerusalem, predicts to Zedekiah the taking and burning of the city, with his own peaceful death and honorable burial, ^[530]. The second was delivered when the Chaldeans had for some time broken up the siege. It reproves the Jews for their conduct towards their brethren of the poorer sort, whom they released, by a solemn covenant, from bondage, in the extremity of their danger; but compelled to return to it when they thought that danger over, ^[531]. For this God threatens them with the sword, pestilence, and famine; and with the return of the Chaldeans, who should take the city, destroy it and the other cities by fire, and make an utter desolation of the whole land of Judea, ^[532].

Verse 1

The word which came unto Jeremiah - This discourse was delivered in the tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah. The chapter contains two discourses; one, ^[533], which concerns the taking of the city, and Zedekiah's captivity and death; the other, ^[534], which is an invective against the inhabitants of Jerusalem for having Hebrew male and female slaves. These, having been manumitted at the instance of the prophet, were afterwards brought back by their old masters, and put in the same thraldom; for which God threatens them with severe judgments.
Nebuchadnezzar - and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion - That is, his army was composed of soldiers gathered out of Babylon, and out of all his tributary dominions: one hundred and twenty provinces.

Verse 2

He shall burn it with fire - This was a newly-added circumstance. Among many ancient nations they burned the bodies of the more illustrious dead. Odours were used in the burning: they then gathered the ashes, and put them into an urn or pitcher, sometimes into a strong vessel, and buried them. Many of these have been digged up in different parts of England, where the Romans had stations.

Verse 3

Thou shalt not escape - This, however, he had attempted, but was taken in his flight. See ^[535], and ^[536], etc.

Verse 5

Thou shalt die in peace - Thou shalt not die a violent death; and at thy death thou shalt have all those funereal solemnities which were usual at the demise of kings. See ^[537].
So shall they burn odours for thee - Scented wood and other odoriferous substances are placed on the funeral pile of the rich Hindoos, and burned with the body.
And they will lament thee, saying, Ah lord! - They will recite the funeral dirge that begins with those words. See the note on ^[538] (note).

Verse 6

Spake all these Words unto Zedekiah - He delivered this message at the hazard of his life. Jeremiah feared God, and had no other fear.

Verse 7

Against Lachish, and against Azekah - These were two cities of Judah of considerable importance: they had been strongly fortified by Rehoboam, ^[539]; ^[540].

Verse 8

The word that came unto Jeremiah - Here the second discourse begins, which was delivered probably a short time, even a few days, after the former.
Zedekiah had made a covenant - We find no account elsewhere of this covenant: "Every man should let his man-servant and his maid-servant go free;" i.e., as we learn from ^[541], on the sabbatical year; for the seventh year was the year of release. See ^[542].

Verse 11

But afterward they turned - They had agreed to manumit them at the end of the seventh year; but when the seventh year was ended, they recalled their engagement, and detained their servants. This, I believe, is what is here meant.

Verse 16

Ye - polluted my name - Had made the covenant in my name, calling me to witness it; now ye have dishonored my name, by breaking that covenant, and acting contrary to my law.

Verse 17

I proclaim a liberty for you - Ye proclaimed liberty to your slaves, and afterward resumed your authority over them; and I had in consequence restrained the sword from cutting you off: but now I give liberty to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine, and to the captivity, to destroy and consume you, and enslave you: for ye shall be removed to all the kingdoms of the earth. The prophet loves to express the conformity between the crime and its punishment. You promised to give liberty to your enslaved brethren; I was pleased, and bound the sword in its sheath. You broke your promise, and brought them again into bondage; I gave liberty to the sword, pestilence, and famine, to destroy multitudes of you, and captivity to take the rest. Thus you are punished according to your crimes, and in the punishment you may see the crime. Sword, pestilence, and famine are frequently joined together, as being often the effects of each other. The sword or war produces famine; famine, the pestilence.

Verse 18

When they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof - This was the ancient and most solemn way of making a covenant.
1. A calf as sacrifice was offered to God to secure his approbation and support.
2. The victim was then exactly divided from the nose to the rump; the spinal marrow being divided longitudinally, in the most careful manner, that the half of it might remain on each side.
3. These divided parts were laid opposite to each other, a passage being left between them.
4. The contracting parties entered this passage at each end, met in the middle, and there took the covenant oath; adjudging themselves to death should they break this covenant.
5. Then they both feasted on the victim. In reference to this last circumstance, God says he will give their bodies for meat to the fowls of heaven and to the beasts. This is a farther conformity between the crime and the punishment. See my notes on ^[543] (note).

Verse 21

The king of Babylon's army, which are gone up from you - Nebuchadnezzar, hearing that there was an Egyptian army coming to the relief of Jerusalem, raised the siege, went out, and met and defeated the Egyptians. It was in the interim this prophecy was delivered.

Verse 22

I will - cause them to return - They did return; re-invested the city; and, after an obstinate defense, took it, plundered it, and burned it to the ground, taking Zedekiah and his princes captive.

Chapter 35

Introduction

Jeremiah is commanded to go to the Rechabites, who, on the approach of the Chaldean army, took refuge in Jerusalem; and to try their obedience to the command of Jonadab, (or Jehonadab, ^[544], ^[545]), their great progenitor, who lived in the reign of Jehu, king of Israel, upwards of two hundred and fifty years before this time, offers them wine to drink, which they refuse, ^[546]. Hence occasion is taken to upbraid the Jews with their disobedience to God, their heavenly Father, ^[547]; and a blessing is pronounced on the Rechabites, ^[548], ^[549].

Verse 1

The word which came - in the days of Jehoiakim - What strange confusion in the placing of these chapters! Who could have expected to hear of Jehoiakim again, whom we have long ago buried; and we have now arrived in the history at the very last year of the last Jewish king.
This discourse was probably delivered in the fourth or fifth year of Jehoiakim's reign.

Verse 2

The house of the Rechabites - The Rechabites were not descendants of Jacob; they were Kenites, ^[550], a people originally settled in that part of Arabia Petroea, called the land of Midian; and most probably the descendants of Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses. Compare ^[551], with ^[552]; ^[553].
Those mentioned here seem to have been a tribe of Nomades or Scenite Arabs, who fed their flocks in the deserts of Judea; they preserved the simple manners of their ancestors, considering the life of the inhabitants of cities and large towns as the death of liberty; believing that they would dishonor themselves by using that sort of food that would oblige them to live a sedentary life. Jonadab, one of their ancestors, had required his children and descendants to abide faithful to the customs of their forefathers; to continue to live in tents, and to nourish themselves on the produce of their flocks; to abstain from the cultivation of the ground, and from that particularly of the vine and its produce. His descendants religiously observed this rule, till the time when the armies of the Chaldeans had entered Judea; when, to preserve their lives, they retired within the walls of Jerusalem. But even there we find, from the account in this chapter, they did not quit their frugal manner of life: but most scrupulously observed the law of Jonadab their ancestor, and probably of this family.
When the children of Hobab, or Jethro, the father-in-law of Moses, were invited by him to accompany them in their journeying to the Promised Land, it is very likely that they continued their ancient usages, and lived a patriarchal life. Their property, consisting in nothing but their cattle and tents, was easily removable from place to place; and their manner of living was not likely to excite the envy or jealousy of those who had learnt to relish the luxuries of life; and therefore we may naturally conclude that as they were enemies to none, so they had no enemies themselves. Nature has few wants. Most of those which we feel are factitious; and howsoever what we call civilization may furnish us with the conveniences and comforts of life, let us not deceive ourselves by supposing that these very things do not create the very wants which they are called in to supply; and most certainly do not contribute to the comfort of life, when the term of life is considerably abridged by their use. But it is time to return to the case of the Rechabites before us.

Verse 3

The whole house of the Rechabites - That is, the family - the chiefs of which are here specified.

Verse 4

Igdaliah, a man of God - A prophet or holy man, having some office in the temple.

Verse 5

Pots full of wine, and cups - The cups were to draw the wine out of the pots, in order to drink it.

Verse 6

We will drink no wine - The reason is given above. Their whole religious and political institution consisted in obedience to three simple precepts, each of which has an appropriate spiritual meaning: -
1.
Ye shall drink no wine - Ye shall preserve your bodies in temperance, shall use nothing that would deprive you of the exercise of your sober reason at any time; lest in such a time ye should do what might be prejudicial to yourselves, injurious to your neighbor, or dishonorable to your God.
2.
Neither shall ye build house - Ye shall not become residents in any place; ye shall not court earthly possessions; ye shall live free from ambition and from envy, that ye may be free from contention and strife.
3.
But - ye shall dwell in tents - Ye shall imitate your forefathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the rest of the patriarchs, who dwelt in tents, being strangers and pilgrims upon earth, looking for a heavenly country, and being determined to have nothing here that would indispose their minds towards that place of endless rest, or prevent them from passing through temporal things so as not to lose those that are eternal.
There must necessarily be more in these injunctions than meets the eye in the letter of this account.

Verse 8

Thus have we obeyed the voice - We have considered these precepts so very reasonable, so very useful, so conducive to the health of both body and mind, and sanctioned by such a respectable antiquity that we scrupulously and religiously observe them.

Verse 11

But - when Nebuchadnezzar - came up - If at present we appear to be acting contrary in any respect to our institutions, in being found in the city, necessity alone has induced us to take this temporary step. We have sought the shelter of the city for the preservation of our lives; so now we dwell at Jerusalem.

Verse 14

The words of Jonadab - are performed - but ye hearkened not unto me - The Lord, knowing the fidelity of this people, chose to try them in this way, that he might, by their conscientious obedience to the precepts of their forefathers, show the Jews, to their confusion, their ingratitude to him, and their neglect of his precepts, which if a man do, he shall live by them.

Verse 17

I will bring upon Judah and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil - Having, by the conduct of the Rechabites, clearly and fully convicted them of ingratitude and rebellion, he now proceeds to pronounce sentence against them.

Verse 19

Thus saith the Lord - Jonadab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever - His name shall ever be honorable, and his posterity shall enjoy my continual protection, and there shall never be found a time in which men of his spirit shall be wanting as patterns of genuine simplicity, filial obedience, purity of manners, and deadness to the world. True Christians may be considered as the genuine successors of these ancient Rechabites; and some suppose that the Essenes, in our Lord's time, were literally their descendants and that these were they who followed our Lord particularly, and became the first converts to the Gospel. If so, the prophecy is literally fulfilled: they shall never want a man to stand before God, to proclaim his salvation, and minister to the edification and salvation of others, as long as the earth shall endure.

Chapter 36

Introduction

God commands Jeremiah to write down in one roll or volume all the predictions he had uttered against Israel and Judah, and all the surrounding nations, from the day of his vocation to the prophetic office, that the house of Judah might have abundant warning of the dreadful calamities with which their country was about to be visited, if not prevented by a timely repentance, ^[554]. The prophet employs Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah, to write from his mouth all the words of the Lord, and then to read them publicly upon a fast day in the Lord's house, ^[555]. A general fast is proclaimed in the following year, viz., the fifth year of the reign of Jehoiakim; upon which occasion Baruch, in obedience to the prophet's command, reads the words of Jeremiah to all the people at the entry of the new gate of the temple, ^[556], ^[557]. The princes, hearing of this, send for Baruch, who reads the roll to them; at the contents of which they are greatly alarmed, and solemnly resolve to give information to the king, at the same time advising both the prophet and his scribe to hide themselves, ^[558]. Jehoiakim likewise having sent for the roll, Jehudi reads to him a part; and then the king, though advised to the contrary by some of has princes, having cut the leaves, throws the whole into the fire, ^[559], and orders Jeremiah and Baruch to be seized; but they could not be found, because a special providence of God had concealed them, ^[560]. Jeremiah is commanded to re-write his prophecies, and to denounce the judgments of God against the king who had destroyed the first roll, ^[561]. Baruch accordingly writes from the mouth of Jeremiah a new copy, with numerous additions, ^[562].

Verse 1

And it came to pass in the fourth year - About the end of this year, see ^[563]. This discourse also bears its own date, and was probably delivered at a time when the people enjoyed peace, and were about to celebrate one of their annual fasts.

Verse 2

Take thee a roll of a book - Take a sufficient quantity of parchment; cut and stitch it together, that it may make a roll on which to write the words that I have already spoken, that they may serve for a testimony to future generations. The Jewish rolls, several of which now lie before me, were made of vellum, or of sheep-skins dressed in the half-tanned or Basil manner. These were cut into certain lengths, and those parts were all stitched together, and rolled upon a roller. The matter was written on these skins in columns or pages. Sometimes two rollers are used, that as the matter is read from the roll in the left hand, the reader may coil it on the roller in his right. In this form the Pentateuch is written which is read in the synagogues.

Verse 3

It may be that the house of Judah will hear - It was yet possible to avert the judgments which had been so often denounced against them. But in order to this they must -
1. Hear what God has spoken.
2. Every man turn from his evil way.
3. If they do so, God graciously promises to forgive their iniquity and their sin.

Verse 4

Then Jeremiah called Baruch - This man, so useful to the prophet, and so faithfully attached to him, was by office a scribe; which signifies, not only a writer, but also a man in office; a chancellor, secretary, etc., a learned man; one acquainted with laws and customs.

Verse 6

Upon the fasting day - A day when multitudes of people would be gathered together from all parts to implore the mercy of God. This was a favorable time to read these tremendous prophecies.

Verse 7

Present their supplication - "Let their supplication fall," that they may fall down before God, and deplore their sins.

Verse 9

In the ninth month - Answering to a part of our December.

Verse 10

In the chamber of Gemariah - He was one of the princes of Judah. See ^[564].

Verse 17

How didst thou write all these words? - At his mouth? - So the text should be pointed. They wished to know whether he had not copied them, or whether he wrote as Jeremiah prophesied.

Verse 19

Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah - They saw that the king would be displeased, and most probably seek their lives; and as they believed the prophecy was from God, they wished to save both the prophet and his scribe; but they were obliged to inform the king of what they had heard.

Verse 22

Winterhouse - A warm apartment suited to the season of the year, (December), when in Palestine there is often snow upon the ground, though it does not last long. A fire on the hearth - a pan or brazier of burning coals. This is the case to the present day. In cold weather the rich burn wood in brass or earthen pans, placed in any part of the room; the indigent burn sticks on the floor.

Verse 23

When Jehudi had read three or four leaves - Rather columns; for the law, and the sacred Hebrew Books, are written in columns of a certain breadth. דלתות delathoth, signifies gates or openings between column and column, or between section and section.
He cut it with the penknife - בתער הספר bethaar hassopher, "the knife of the scribe," properly enough penknife.
And cast it into the fire - To show his contempt for God's words.

Verse 25

Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah - Three of the princes wished to save the roll, and entreated the king that it might not be burnt. They would have saved it out of the fire, but the king would not permit it to be done.

Verse 26

But the Lord hid them - They had, at the counsel of some of the princes hidden themselves, ^[565]. And now, though a diligent search was made, the Lord did not permit them to be found.

Verse 28

Take thee again another roll - There was no duplicate of the former preserved; and now God inspired the prophet with the same matter that he had given him before; and there is to be added the heavy judgment that is to fall on Jehoiakim and his courtiers.

Verse 30

He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David - He shall have no successor and himself shall have an untimely end, and shall not even be buried, but his body be exposed to the open air, both night and day. He who wishes to hide his crimes, or take away the evidence which is against him, adds thereby to his iniquities, and is sure in consequence to double his punishment. See the threatening against Jehoiakim, ^[566] (note), and the note there.

Verse 32

There were added - many like words - All the first roll, with many other threatening and perhaps more minute declarations which were merely of a temporary importance and local application; and the Holy Spirit did not think proper to record them here.

Chapter 37

Introduction

Zedekiah succeeds Coniah, the son of Jehoiakim, in the Jewish throne, and does that which is evil in the sight of the Lord, ^[567], ^[568]. The king sends a message to Jeremiah, ^[569]. God suggests an answer; and foretells the return of the Chaldean army, who should most assuredly take and burn the city, ^[570]. Jeremiah, in attempting to leave this devoted city, and retire to his possession in the country, is seized as a deserter, and cast into a dungeon, ^[571]. The king, after a conference with him, abates the rigour of his confinement, ^[572].

Verse 1

And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah - Of the siege and taking of Jerusalem referred to here, and the making of Zedekiah king instead of Jeconiah, see ^[573] (note), etc., and the notes there.

Verse 3

Zedekiah - to the prophet Jeremiah - He was willing to hear a message from the Lord, provided it were according to his own mind. He did not fully trust in his own prophets.

Verse 4

Now Jeremiah came in and went out - After the siege was raised, he had a measure of liberty; he was not closely confined, as he afterwards was. See ^[574].

Verse 5

Then Pharaoh's army - This was Pharaoh-hophra or Apries, who then reigned in Egypt in place of his father Necho. See ^[575], etc. Nebuchadnezzar, hearing that the Egyptian army, on which the Jews so much depended, was on their march to relieve the city, suddenly raised the siege, and went to meet them. In the interim Zedekiah sent to Jeremiah to inquire of the Lord to know whether they might consider themselves in safety.

Verse 7

Pharaoh's army - shall return to Egypt - They were defeated by the Chaldeans; and, not being hearty in the cause, returned immediately to Egypt, leaving Nebuchadnezzar unmolested to recommence the siege.

Verse 10

For though ye had smitten the whole army - Strong words; but they show how fully God was determined to give up this city to fire and sword, and how fully he had instructed his prophet on this point.

Verse 12

Jeremiah went forth - At the time that Nebuchadnezzar had raised the siege, and gone to meet the Egyptian army.
Go into the land of Benjamin - To Anathoth, his native city.
To separate himself thence - "To receive a portion thereof among the people;" - Blayney: who supposes that Jeremiah went to receive a portion of the proceeds of his patrimony at Anathoth, which had, previously to the siege, been in the hands of the Chaldeans. The siege being now raised, he thought of looking thus after his own affairs. The Chaldee is to the same sense. "He went that he might divide the inheritance which he had there among the people." Dahler translates, 'He went to withdraw himself from the siege, as many others of the inhabitants." I believe he went to withdraw himself from a city devoted to destruction, and in which he could no longer do any good.

Verse 13

Thou fallest away to the Chaldeans - Thou art a deserter, and a traitor to thy country. As he had always declared that the Chaldeans should take the city, etc., his enemies took occasion from this to say he was in the interest of the Chaldeans, and that he wished now to go to them, and betray the place.

Verse 15

And smote him - Without any proof of the alleged treachery, without any form of justice.
In prison to the house of Jonathan - In Asiatic countries there is an apartment in the houses of the officers of the law, to confine all the accused that are brought before them. Jonathan was a scribe or secretary, and had a prison of this kind in his house.

Verse 16

Entered into the dungeon, and into the cabins - The dungeon was probably a deep pit; and the cabins or cells, niches in the sides, where different malefactors were confined. See Blayney.

Verse 17

Is there any word from the Lord? - Is there any farther revelation?
There is: - thou shalt be delivered - What bold faithfulness! And to a king, in whose hands his life now lay.

Verse 19

Where are now your prophets - They told you that the Chaldeans should not come; I told you they would. According to my word the Chaldeans are come, and are departed only for a short time.

Verse 20

Cause me not to return to the house of Jonathan - He had been ill used in this man's custody, so as to endanger his life, the place being cold, and probably unhealthy.

Verse 21

Then Zedekiah - the court of the prison - Was contiguous to the king's house, where the prisoners could readily see their friends.
Give him daily a piece of bread out of the bakers' street - From the public stores; which he received till all the provisions were spent.

Chapter 38

Introduction

The princes of Judah, taking offense at Jeremiah on account of his predicting the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple by the Chaldeans, cause him to be cast into a deep and miry dungeon, ^[576]. Ebed-melech, an Ethiopian, gets the king's permission to take him out, ^[577]. Jeremiah advises the king, who consulted him privately, to surrender to the Chaldeans, ^[578]. The king promises the prophet that he will not put him to death, and requires him not to reveal what had passed to the princes; to whom he accordingly gives an evasive answer, telling them only so much of the conference as related to his request for his life, ^[579].

Verse 1

Then Shephatiah - This was the faction - what Dahler terms the Antitheocratic faction - who were enemies to Jeremiah, and sought his life.

Verse 3

This city shall surely be given - This was a testimony that be constantly bore: he had the authority of God for it. He knew it was true, and he never wavered nor equivocated.

Verse 4

Let this man be put to death - And they gave their reasons plain enough: but the proof was wanting.

Verse 5

He is in your hand - Ye have power to do as you please; I must act by your counsel. Poor weak prince! you respect the prophet, you fear the cabal, and you sacrifice an innocent man to your own weakness and their malice!

Verse 6

So Jeremiah sunk in the mire - Their obvious design was, that he might be stifled in that place.

Verse 7

Ebed-melech - The servant of the king one of the eunuchs who belonged to the palace. Perhaps it should be read, "Now, a servant of the king, a Cushite, one of the eunuchs," etc.
The king then sitting in the gate of Benjamin - To give audience, and to administer justice. We have often seen that the gates of cities were the places of public judicature.

Verse 9

My lord the king, these men have done evil - He must have been much in the king's confidence, and a humane and noble spirited man, thus to have raised his voice against the powerful cabal already mentioned.
There is no more bread in the city - They had defended it to the last extremity; and it appears that bread had been afforded to the prophet according to the king's commandment, as long as there was any remaining. See ^[580].

Verse 10

Take from hence thirty men - The king was determined that he should be rescued by force, if the princes opposed.

Verse 11

Went into the house of the king - and took thence - The eastern kings had their wardrobes always well furnished; as garments were a usual present to ambassadors, etc. I cannot think that, in the proper acceptation of the words, these were in any part of the king's house.
Old cast clouts, and old rotten rags - The fact seems to be this: there were several garments that had been used, and would not be used again; and there were others which, through continuing long there, had by insects, etc., been rendered useless. These he took, tied to the cord, let down to the prophet, that he might roll them round the ropes, and place them under his arm-pits, so that in being hauled up he might not suffer injury from the ropes, which in this case must sustain the whole weight of his body.

Verse 14

Into the third entry - A place to enter which two others must be passed through.

Verse 16

As the Lord liveth, that made us this soul - He is the living God, and he is the Author of that life which each of us possesses; and as sure as he lives, and we live by him, I will not put thee to death, nor give thee into the hands of those men who seek thy life. A very solemn oath; and the first instance on record of the profane custom of swearing by the soul.

Verse 17

Wilt assuredly go - On the king's obedience to the advice of the prophet the safety of the city depended.
Unto the king of Babylon's princes - The generals of the army then returning to the siege from the defeat of the Egyptians; for Nebuchadnezzar himself was then at Riblah, in Syria, ^[581], ^[582].

Verse 19

They mock me - Insult me, and exhibit me in triumph.

Verse 22

All the women - brought forth - I think this place speaks of a kind of defection among the women of the harem; many of whom had already gone forth privately to the principal officers of the Chaldean army, and made the report mentioned in the end of this verse. These were the concubines or women of the second rank.

Verse 23

They shall bring out all thy wives and thy children - These were the women of the first rank, by whom the king had children. These had no temptation to go out to the Chaldeans, nor would they have been made welcome; but the others being young, and without children, would be well received by the Chaldean princes.

Verse 26

I presented my supplication - This was telling the truth, and nothing but the truth, but not the whole truth. The king did not wish him to defile his conscience, nor did he propose any thing that was not consistent with the truth.

Verse 27

The matter was not perceived - They did not question him farther; and the king's commandment to remove him from the house of Jonathan being well known, they took for granted that they had all the information that they sought. And he was most certainly not obliged to relate any thing that might embroil this weak king with his factious but powerful princes, or affect his own life. He related simply what was necessary, and no more.

Chapter 39

Introduction

This chapter gives an account of the siege and taking of Jerusalem; the flight, capture, and punishment of Zedekiah; the burning of the city; and the carrying away of the people, (a few of the meanest excepted), to Babylon, ^[583]; also of the release of Jeremiah, and the special orders of Nebuchadnezzar concerning him, ^[584]. The remaining verses relate to the subject of the preceding chapter; and contain promises of personal safety to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian amidst the public calamities, on account of his piety, and his humanity to the prophet, ^[585].

Verse 1

In the ninth year of Zedekiah - in the tenth month - This month is called Tebeth in ^[586]. It began with the first new moon of our January, and it was on the tenth day of this month that Nebuchadnezzar invested the city.

Verse 2

The eleventh year - in the fourth month - This month in the Hebrew calendar is called Thammuz, and commences with the first new moon of our July. The siege had lasted just eighteen months.
The city was broken up - A breach was made in the wall by which the Chaldeans entered.

Verse 3

Sat in the middle gate - The city of Jerusalem stood upon two hills, Sion to the south, and Acra to the north, with a deep valley between them. The gate of the center, as the term seems plainly to import, was a gate of communication in the middle of the valley, between the two parts of the city, sometimes called the higher and the lower city. The Chaldeans entered the city on the north side by a breach in the walls, and rushing forward and posting themselves in this gate, in the very heart or center of the city, became thereby masters at will of the whole. Zedekiah with his troop, perceiving this, fled out of the opposite gate on the south side. See Blayney. This is likely; but we know nothing positively on this subject.
Nergal-sharezer - These were the principal commanders; but Dr. Blayney thinks that instead of six persons, we have in reality but three, as the name that follows each is a title of office. Thus, Nergal-sharezer, who was Samgar; Nebusarsechim, who was Rab-saris; and Nergal-sharezer, who was Rab-mag. As Nergal-sharezer occurs twice here, and we know that Nebuzaradan was general-in-chief, the first Nergal-sharezer is probably a mistake for Nebuzar-adan, or some other of the commanders. But these things are as uncertain as they are unimportant.

Verse 4

Went forth out of the city by night - Probably there was a private passage under ground, leading without the walls, by which Zedekiah and his followers might escape unperceived, till they had got some way from the city.
The way of the plain - There were two roads from Jerusalem to Jericho. One passed over the mount of Olives; but, as this might have retarded his flight, he chose the way of the plain, and was overtaken near Jericho, perhaps about sixteen or eighteen miles from Jerusalem. He had probably intended to have passed the Jordan, in order to escape to Egypt, as the Egyptians were then his professed allies.

Verse 5

To Riblah - This city was situated on the northern frontier of Palestine, and Hamath was a large city belonging also to Syria. See ^[587].

Verse 7

Bounds him with chains - Margin: "Two brazen chains;" one for his hands, and the other for his feet.

Verse 9

Those that fell away - That deserted to the Chaldeans during the siege.

Verse 10

Left of the poor of the people - The very refuse of the inhabitants, who were not worthy of being carried away; and among them he divided the fields and vineyards of those whom he took away.

Verse 12

Take him - look well to him - Nebuchadnezzar had heard that this prophet had foretold his capture of the city, and had frequently used all his influence to induce Zedekiah to pay the tribute, and not rebel against him; and on this account would be inclined to show the prophet especial favor.

Verse 16

Go and speak to Ebed-melech - The king's servant, the Cushite.

Verse 18

I will surely deliver thee - Thou hast feared the Lord, and not the king, nor his princes, and thou hast taken the part of the prophet, and become his intercessor. Thou shalt not be slain. Thou hast put thy trust in me; thou shalt therefore be safe whithersoever thou goest. They that fear God need fear nothing besides.

Chapter 40

Introduction

This and the four following chapters contain a distinct account of what passed in the land of Judah from the taking of Jerusalem to the retreat of the remnant of the people to Egypt; together with the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning that place, whither he himself accompanied them. In this chapter we have an account of the enlargement of Jeremiah by Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, who advises him to put himself under the jurisdiction of Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, whom the king of Babylon had made governor over the land of Judea, ^[588]. The prophet and many of the dispersed Jews repair to Gedaliah, ^[589]. Johanan acquaints the governor of a conspiracy against him, but is not believed, ^[590].

Verse 1

The word that came to Jeremiah - This and the four following chapters contain a particular account of what passed in the land of Judea from the taking of the city to the retreat of the people into Egypt, and the prophecies of Jeremiah concerning them there.
Had let him go from Ramah - This has embarrassed most of the commentators. Dr. Blayney has thrown much light upon it by his translation and note: - "The word that came to Jeremiah from Jehovah, after that Nebu-Zaradan captain of the guards had taken him, and let him go from Ramah: for he had been bound with chains among all the captives of Jerusalem and Judah, who were carried away captive to Babylon." "Had Taken Him, and Let Him Go. - Most interpreters have understood בקחתו אתו bekachto otho of Nebuchadnezzar's having first taken Jeremiah as a captive unto Ramah. But if the order of the sentence be well observed, as well as the more common use of the verb לקח lakach, it will, I think, rather appear that those words relate to his taking or having him brought to him, in order to give him his discharge."

Verse 2

The Lord thy God hath pronounced - I know that thou art a true prophet, for what thou hast predicted from thy God is come to pass.

Verse 4

Come; and I will look well unto thee - Thou art now at full liberty to do as thou pleasest; either to come to Babylon or to stay in thy own land.

Verse 5

Go back also to Gedaliah - If thou wilt stay in thy own land, thou hadst best put thyself under the protection of thy countryman Gedaliah, whom the King of Babylon has made governor of the land.

Verse 8

Ishmael the son of Nethaniah - This is he who afterwards murdered Gedaliah. He had been employed to do this by Baalis, king of the Ammonites, with whom he appears to have taken refuge during the siege. See ^[591].

Verse 14

But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam believed then not - The account given of this man proves him to have been a person of uncommon greatness of soul. Conscious of his own integrity and benevolence, he took the portrait of others from his own mind; and therefore believed evil of no man, because he felt none towards any in his own breast. He may be reproached for being too credulous and confident: but any thing of this kind that may be justly charged against him serves only to show the greatness of his mind. A little soul is ever suspicious, and ready to believe the worst of every person and thing. A great mind acts always on the contrary.

Verse 16

Thou shalt not do this thing - He cannot be so base.
Thou speakest falsely of Ishmael - He thought it quite possible that the man who was capable of becoming an assassin was capable of telling a lie; and therefore he would not credit what he said. Had he been a little more distrustful, he would have saved his own life. The next chapter shows that Johanan's information was too true. So noble Gedaliah lost his life by not believing that evil of others of which he himself was incapable.

Chapter 41

Introduction

Ishmael executes his conspiracy against Gedaliah the governor and his companions, and attempts to carry away the Jews who were with him captives to the Ammonites, ^[592]; but Johanan recovers them, and purposes to flee into Egypt, ^[593].

Verse 1

Now - in the seventh month - Answering to the first new moon in our month of October.
There they did eat bread together - This was the same as making a solemn covenant; for he who ate bread with another was ever reputed a friend.

Verse 2

Smote Gedaliah - See the preceding chapter, ^[594].

Verse 5

Having their beards shaven - All these were signs of deep mourning, probably on account of the destruction of the city.

Verse 6

Weeping all along as he went - This felonious hypocrite pretended that he also was deeply afflicted, and wished to bear them company in their sorrow.
Come to Gedaliah - He will appoint you vineyards and fields.

Verse 7

Slew them - He kept the murder of Gedaliah secret, and no doubt had a band of his assassins lodged in Mizpah; and he decoyed these fourscore men thither that he might have strength to slay them. He kept ten alive because they told him they had treasures hidden in a field, which they would show him. Whether he kept his word with them is not recorded. He could do nothing good or great; and it is likely that, when he had possessed himself of those treasures, he served them as he had served their companions. Grain is preserved to the present day in subterranean pits, called mattamores, in different parts of the east.

Verse 9

Now the pit - was it which Asa the king had made for fear of Baasha - See ^[595]. Asa made this cistern as a reservoir for water for the supply of the place; for he built and fortified Mizpah at the time that he was at war with Baasha, king of Israel.

Verse 10

Carried away captive - He took all these that he might sell them for slaves among the Ammonites.

Verse 14

Went unto Johanan - They were weary of the tyranny of Ishmael, and were glad of an opportunity to abandon him.

Verse 16

The women - children, and the eunuchs - These were all most probably, persons who belonged to the palace and harem of Zedekiah: some of them his own concubines and their children.

Verse 17

Dwelt in the habitation of Chimham - The estate that David gave Chimham, the son of Barzillai. See ^[596], etc. He took this merely as a resting-place; as he designed to carry all into Egypt, fearing the Chaldeans, who would endeavor to revenge the death of Gedaliah.

Chapter 42

Introduction

Johanan and the remnant of the people desire Jeremiah to ask counsel of God what they should do, ^[597]. The prophet assures them of safety in Judea, but destruction in Egypt, ^[598]; and reproves their hypocrisy in asking counsel with which they had no intention to comply, ^[599].

Verse 1

The captains of the forces - The different leaders of the small bands or companies, collected from different parts of the land. The principal are those here named.

Verse 3

That the Lord thy God may show us - They all thought there was no safety in Jerusalem or in Judea, and therefore determined to leave the land: but they did not know which might be the safest direction to take; for though they inclined to Egypt, yet they wished to know the mind of God on that point.

Verse 5

The Lord be a true and faithful Witness - The Lord is such; and as ye have bound yourselves to obey his voice, he will register the covenant, and bless or curse according as ye shall conduct yourselves in this matter.

Verse 7

After ten days - All this time he was waiting upon God; for it is evident the prophets could not prophesy when they pleased, any more than the disciples of our Lord could work miracles when they wished. The gift of prophecy and the gift of miracles were both dependent on the will of the Most High, and each of them was given only for the moment; and when the necessity was over, the influence ceased.

Verse 10

For I repent me of the evil - The meaning is, As I have punished you only because you continued to be rebellious, I will arrest this punishment as soon as you become obedient to my word. You need not fear the king of Babylon if you have me for your helper; and I will so show mercy to you that he shall see it, and cease from afflicting you, as he shall see that I am on your side.

Verse 15

If ye - set your faces to enter into Egypt, etc - Every evil that ye dreaded by staying in your own land shall come upon you in Egypt.

Verse 16

The sword - and the famine - shall follow close after you - Shall be at your heels; shall overtake and destroy you; for there ye shall die.

Verse 19

Go ye not into Egypt - Why? Because God knew, such was their miserable propensity to idolatry, that they would there adopt the worship of the country, and serve idols.

Verse 20

For ye dissembled in your hearts - What a most miserable and incorrigible people! Ingratitude, hypocrisy, rebellion, and cruelty seem to have been enthroned in their hearts! And what are they still? Just what their fathers were, except in the mere article of idolatry; and that they do not practice because they are indifferent to their own religion and to that of all others. Examine their devotions and their lives, and see whether Charity herself can say they believe in the God of Abraham!

Verse 21

Ye have not obeyed the voice - Though ye have requested to have this particular revelation of the Divine will, and promised obedience, yet have ye not done one thing for which ye sent me to inquire of the Lord.

Verse 22

Now therefore know certainly - As ye have determined to disobey, God has determined to punish. Ye may now follow the full bent of your wicked devices, and I will follow the requisitions of my justice. Ye shall die by the sword, by the pestilence, and by the famine, in the place whither ye desire to go to sojourn. Thus was their doom sealed.
With such dispositions and with such rebellion of heart, it is strange that they should put themselves to any trouble to inquire of the Lord relative to their future operations. They did not intend to obey; but as a matter of curiosity they would inquire to hear what the prophet might say; and if according to their own inclination, they would obey.

Chapter 43

Introduction

The leading men, discrediting Jeremiah's prophecy, carry the people into Egypt, ^[600]. Jeremiah, by a type, foretells the conquest of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar, ^[601]. This mode of conveying instruction by actions was very expressive, and frequently practiced by the prophets. The image of Nebuchadnezzar arraying himself with Egypt, as a shepherd puts on his garment, is very noble. Egypt at this time contended with Babylon for the empire of the east; yet this mighty kingdom, when God appoints the revolution, shifts its owner with as much ease as a shepherd removes his tent or garment, which the new proprietor has only to spread over him. See ^[602].

Verse 2

Thou speakest falsely - They had no other color for their rebellion than flatly to deny that God had spoken what the prophet related.

Verse 6

Men, and women, and children, and the king's daughters - See the note on ^[603] (note). It is truly surprising that the Chaldeans should have left behind any of the royal family of Judah! But,
1. Perhaps they knew not there were any.
2. If they did know, they might think, being children of concubines, they could not inherit. Or,
3. That being females, they were not eligible. And they had taken care to seize all Zedekiah's sons, and slay them before his eyes.

Verse 7

Came they even to Tahpanhes - This city was called Daphne by the Greeks, and was situated at the extremity of Lower Egypt, near to Heliopolis. It was called Daphne Pelusiaca. They halted at this place, most probably for the purpose of obtaining the king's permission to penetrate farther into Egypt. It was at this place that, according to St. Jerome, tradition says the faithful Jeremiah was stoned to death by these rebellious wretches; for whose welfare he had watched, prayed, gone through many indignities, and suffered every kind of hardship. And now he sealed the truth of his Divine mission with his blood.

Verse 9

Take great stones - This discourse seems to have been delivered about a year after the destruction of Jerusalem. They pretended that they dared not stay in Judea for fear of the Chaldeans. The prophet here assures them that Nebuchadnezzar shall come to Egypt, extend his conquests in that kingdom, and place his tent over the very place where these stones were laid up, and destroy them. How these prophecies were fulfilled, see at the end of ^[604] (note).

Verse 11

Such as are for death to death - See the note on ^[605].

Verse 12

He shall burn them, and carry them away captives - Some of these gods, such as were of wood, he will burn; those of metal he will carry away. Some of them were of gold. See below.
Shall array himself with the land of Egypt - Shall take all its wealth, and all its grandeur; shall take all its spoils.
As a shepherd putteth on his garment - With as much ease, and with as little opposition; and with as full a confidence that it is now his own.
He shall go forth from thence in peace - He shall suffer no interruption, nor endure any disaster in his return from his Egyptian expedition. See the proof of all this in the notes at the end of ^[606] (note).

Verse 13

He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh - בית שמש beith shemesh is, literally, the house or temple of the sun; which was worshipped here, and whose images are said to have been of solid gold. These Nebuchadnezzar was to break and carry away; and the houses of the gods - all the temples of Egypt, he was to burn with fire. Beth-shemesh is the same as Heliopolis.

Chapter 44

Introduction

Jeremiah reproves the Jews in Egypt for continuing in idolatry after the exemplary judgments indicted by God on their nation for that sin, ^[607]; and, upon their refusing to reform, denounces destruction to them, and to that kingdom wherein they sought protection, vv. 15-30.

Verse 1

The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews - Dahler supposes this discourse to have been delivered in the seventeenth or eighteenth year after the taking of Jerusalem.
Which dwell at Migdol - A city of Lower Egypt, not far from Pelusium.
Tahpanhes - Daphne Pelusiaca, the place to which the emigrant Jews first went.
Noph - מפס Maphes, Targum. Memphis. a celebrated city of Middle Egypt, and the capital of its district.
The country of Pathros - A district of Upper Egypt, known by the name of the Thebais. See Bochart, Lib. Phaleg, lib. iv., c. 22. Thus we find that the Jews were scattered over the principal parts of Egypt.

Verse 2

No man dwelleth therein - The desolation of the land of Judea must have been exceedingly great when this, in almost any sense, could be spoken of it.

Verse 4

O, do not this abominable thing - A strong specimen of affectionate entreaty. One of the finest figures of poetry, when judiciously managed, the anthropopathia, the ascribing human passions to God, is often used by this prophet: so God is said to grieve, to mourn, to have his bowels moved with compassion, to repent, to be angry, etc. Here he is represented as tenderly expostulating: O, do not; or, I entreat you, do not that abominable thing which I hate.
1. Do it not: your God commands.
2. O, do it not: your Father entreats.
3. It is an abominable thing, and should not be done.
4. I hate it, and on that account ye should abstain from it.

Verse 5

But they hearkened not -
1. They disregarded the authority of their God.
2. They were not moved by the entreaties of their most affectionate Father.
3. In abominations they delighted. And,
4. They loved that which God hated; and, apparently, because he hated it.

Verse 7

This great evil against your souls - Will not self-interest weigh with you? See what ruin your conduct has brought upon your country. Your fathers sinned as you are doing; and where are they now? Either destroyed, or in captivity. And you are now taking the same way to your own destruction.

Verse 9

Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers - It seems that the women were principal agents in idolatrous practices; for the queens - the wives, of rulers and of common people, burnt incense to the queen of heaven, (the moon), ^[608], and poured out drink-offerings to her.

Verse 15

Then all the men - and all the women - We have not seen the women in determined rebellion before. Here they make a common cause with their idolatrous husbands.

Verse 19

And when we burned incense to the queen of heaven - The Moon seems to have been called מלכת melecheth, as the sun was called מלך molech. The Hindoos pour out water to the sun thrice a day; and to the moon whenever they worship her.
The idolatrous worship of these people was a sort of imitation of the worship of the true God; only sacrifice was not common in it. The factious women here tell us in what it consisted.
1. They burnt incense to the moon, and perhaps to the sun and the planets.
2. They poured out libations to her.
3. They made and consecrated cakes to her.
All these were prescribed in the worship of the true God. See, among others, ^[609], etc.; ^[610]; ^[611]; and ^[612]. And the women vindicate their conduct by asserting that they did all this by the consent of their husbands: "Did we worship her without our men?"

Verse 22

Therefore is your land a desolation - I grant that ye and your husbands have joined together in these abominations; and what is the consequence? "The Lord could no longer bear because of your evil doings; and therefore is your land a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an inhabitant, this day."

Verse 30

Behold I will give Pharaoh-hophra - That is, Pharaoh Apries. How this and the prophecies in the preceding chapter were fulfilled, we learn from ancient historians. The sum of such information is this: the subjects of Pharaoh Apries rebelling, he sent Amasis, one of his generals, to reduce them to their duty. But no sooner had Amasis begun to make his speech, than they fixed a helmet on his head, and proclaimed him king. Amasis accepted the title, and confirmed the Egyptians in their revolt; and the greater part of the nation declaring for him, Apries was obliged to retire into Upper Egypt; and the country being thus weakened by intestine war, was attacked and easily overcome by Nebuchadnezzar, who on quitting it left Amasis his viceroy. After Nebuchadnezzar's departure, Apries marched against Amasis; but, being defeated at Memphis, was taken prisoner, carried to Sais, and was strangled in his own palace, thus verifying this prophecy. See Herodotus in Euterpe.
Thus Nebuchadnezzar made an easy conquest of the land. He conquered it as easily as "a shepherd puts on his cloak: he went thence in peace," having clothed himself with its spoils; and left all quiet under a viceroy of his own choosing. The rebellion of Pharaoh's subjects was the "fire that God kindled in Egypt," ^[613]. And thus was he "delivered into the hands of his enemies," his revolted people; and "into the hand of him who sought his life," i.e., Amasis his general. And thus the whole prophecy was literally fulfilled.

Chapter 45

Introduction

This chapter is evidently connected with the subject treated of in the thirty-sixth. Baruch, who had written the prophecies of Jeremiah, and read them publicly in the temple, and afterwards to many of the princes, is in great affliction because of the awful judgments with which the land of Judah was about to be visited; and also on account of the imminent danger to which his own life was exposed, in publishing such unwelcome tidings, ^[614]. To remove Baruch's fear with respect to this latter circumstance, the prophet assures him that though the total destruction of Judea was determined because of the great wickedness of the inhabitants, yet his life should be preserved amidst the general desolation, ^[615], ^[616].

Verse 1

The word that Jeremiah - spake unto Baruch - This is another instance of shameless transposition. This discourse was delivered in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, several years before Jerusalem was taken by the Chaldeans. It is a simple appendage to chap. 36, and there it should have been inserted.

Verse 3

Thou didst say, Wo is me now! - All that were the enemies of Jeremiah became his enemies too; and he needed these promises of support.
The Lord hath added grief to my sorrow - He had mourned for the desolations that were coming on his country, and now he mourns for the dangers to which he feels his own life exposed; for we find, from ^[617], that the king had given commandment to take both Baruch and Jeremiah, in order that they might be put to death at the instance of his nobles.

Verse 4

Behold, that which I have built - I most certainly will fulfill all those threatenings contained in the roll thou hast written; for I will destroy this whole land.

Verse 5

And seekest thou great things for thyself? - Nothing better can be expected of this people: thy hopes in reference to them are vain. Expect no national amendment, till national judgments have taken place. And as for any benefit to thyself, think it sufficient that God has determined to preserve thy life amidst all these dangers.
But thy life will I give unto thee for a prey - This is a proverbial expression. We have met with it before, ^[618], ^[619], ^[620]; and it appears to have this meaning. As a prey or spoil is that which is gained from a vanquished enemy, so it is preserved with pleasure as the proof and reward of a man's own valor. So Baruch's life should be doubly precious unto him, not only on account of the dangers through which God had caused him to pass safely, but also on account of those services he had been enabled to render, the consolations he had received, and the continual and very evident interposition of God in his behalf. All these would be dearer to him than the spoils of a vanquished foe to the hero who had overcome in battle.
Spoil may signify unlooked-for gain. The preservation of his life, in such circumstances, must be more than he could reasonably expect; but his life should be safe, and he should have it as a spoil, whithersoever he should go. This assurance must have quieted all his fears.

Chapter 46

Introduction

The difference between the preceding and the subsequent prophecies in point of composition is very remarkable; the last excelling much in majesty and elegance. This chapter (of which the first verse forms a general title to this and the five chapters following) contains two distinct prophecies relating to Egypt. The first was delivered previous to an engagement between Pharaoh-necho, king of Egypt, and Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon; in which the Egyptians were routed in Carchemish with great slaughter, as here predicted. The prophet sees the mighty preparations; but they are all declared to be of no avail, as God had decreed their fall, ^[621]. The King of Egypt, however, is represented as marching with all the confidence of victory, like a river overflowing its banks, and threatening all around with its inundation, ^[622], ^[623]. But this immense armament of Pharaoh-necho, consisting of various nations, shall, by a righteous judgment of God, receive such a signal overthrow near the river Euphrates, that the political consequence of Egypt shall be thereby irretrievably ruined, and its remaining power become contemptible in the sight of the nations, ^[624]. The other prophecy, beginning at the thirteenth verse, relates to the memorable overthrow of the Egyptians by Nebuchadnezzar, subsequent to his siege of Tyre, in the sixteenth year after the destruction of Jerusalem, ^[625]. The promise, in the conclusion of the chapter, of preservation to the Jews, (who have for many ages continued a distinct people, when the various nations of antiquity who oppressed them, or with whom they had any intercourse, have long ago ceased to have any separate and visible existence), has been most remarkably fulfilled; and is a very signal act of providence, and a pledge of the restoration of Israel to the Divine favor, when the time of the Gentiles shall be fulfilled, ^[626], ^[627].

Verse 1

The word of the Lord - against the Gentiles - This is a general title to the following collection of prophecies, written concerning different nations, which had less or more connection with the Jews, either as enemies, neighbors, or allies.
They were not written at the same time; and though some of them bear dates, yet it would be difficult to give them any chronological arrangement. Dahler's mode of ascertaining the times of their delivery may be seen in the table in the introduction.

Verse 2

Pharaoh-necho - This was the person who defeated the army of Josiah, in which engagement Josiah received a mortal wound, of which he died, greatly regretted, soon after at Megiddo. After this victory, he defeated the Babylonians, and took Carchemish; and, having fortified it, returned to his own country. Nabopolassar sent his son Nebuchadnezzar with an army against him, defeated him with immense slaughter near the river Euphrates, retook Carchemish, and subdued all the revolted provinces, according to the following prophecies.

Verse 3

Order ye the buckler - This is the call to the general armament of the people against the Chaldeans.

Verse 4

Furbish the spears - Cleanse, brighten, and sharpen them; from the Franco-Gallic fourbir, to polish, brighten.
Brigandines - A coat of mail, especially that which was made scale fashion; one plate overlapping the other, like the scales of fish.

Verse 5

Wherefore have I seen them dismayed - What! such a numerous, formidable, and well-appointed army panic-struck? So that they have turned back - fled apace, and looked not round; while their mighty ones - their generals and commanders, striving to rally them, are beaten down.

Verse 6

Let not the swift flee away - Even the swiftest shall not be able to escape.
They shall - fall toward the north - By the Euphrates, which was northward of Judea. Here the Egyptian army was routed with great slaughter.

Verse 7

Who is this that cometh up as a flood - The vast concourse of people is here represented as a river: for instance, the Jordan, suddenly swollen with the rains in harvest, rolling its waters along, and overflowing the whole country. A fine image to represent the incursions of vast armies carrying all before them. Such was the army of Pharaoh-necho in its march to Carchemish.

Verse 9

The Ethiopians - Hebrews Cush, Phut, and the Ludim. This army was composed of many nations. Cush. which we translate Ethiopians, almost invariably means the Arabians; and here, those Arabs that bordered on Egypt near the Red Sea. Phut probably means the Libyans; for Phut settled in Libya, according to Josephus. Phut and Cush were two of the sons of Ham, and brothers to Mitsraim, the father of the Egyptians, ^[628]; and the Ludim were descended from Mitsraim; see ^[629]. Bochart contends that the Ludim were Ethiopians, and that they were famous for the use of the bow. Phaleg, lib. 4:26.

Verse 10

For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts - The prophet represents this as a mighty sacrifice, where innumerable victims were slain.

Verse 11

Go up into Gilead, and take balm - An irony. Egypt is so completely enfeebled by this overthrow, that her political wound is utterly incurable. This figure is used with the more propriety here, as the Egyptians have been celebrated from the remotest antiquity for their knowledge of medicine.

Verse 12

The nations have heard of thy shame - Of thy disgrace, by this prodigious slaughter of thy troops.

Verse 13

How Nebuchadrezzar - should come and smite the land of Egypt - See on Jeremiah 44 (note). This was after Amasis had driven Pharaoh-necho into Upper Egypt. See ^[630].

Verse 14

Migdol - Magdolum, a city of Lower Egypt. Noph, Memphis. Tahpanhes, Daphne. See before, ^[631] (note).
Round about thee - The Phoenicians, Philistines, Ammonites, Moabites, and Edomites, all prostrated by the arms of the Chaldeans.

Verse 15

They stood not, because the Lord did drive them - The Lord panic-struck them, and drove them back.

Verse 16

One fell upon another - In their terror and confusion ranks fell on ranks, and overturned each other.
Let us go again to our own people - Let us flee to our own country with all possible speed. These were the auxiliaries.

Verse 17

They did cry there - Dr. Blayney translates this cry thus: - - "O Pharaoh, king of Egypt, A tumult hath frustrated the appointed meeting."
These allies sent their excuse to Pharaoh, that the disasters they had met with had prevented them from joining him as they had intended.

Verse 18

As Tabor is among the mountains - This mountain is situated in the plain of Esdraelon in Galilee, on the confines of the tribes of Zebulun and Issachar, ^[632]. It stood by itself, separated from all the other mountains by deep valleys, and is the highest of the whole.
And as Carmel by the sea - Carmel is a mountain on the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, on the southern frontier of the tribe of Asher. Were the Egyptians as distinguished for valor and strength as the mountains Tabor and Carmel are for height among the other mountains in their vicinity, they should not be able to stand the shock of the Chaldean army.

Verse 19

Furnish thyself to go into captivity - The thing is unavoidable; prepare for this calamity.

Verse 20

Egypt is like a very fair heifer - Fruitful and useful; but destruction cometh out of the north, from Chaldea. It may be that there is an allusion here to Isis, worshipped in Egypt under the form of a beautiful cow.

Verse 21

Are fled away together - Perhaps there is a reference here to the case of a cow stung with gnats. She runs hither and thither not knowing where to go; so shall it be with this scattered people.

Verse 22

The voice - shall go like a serpent - See ^[633] (note), and the note there.

Verse 23

They shall cut down her forest - Supposed to mean her cities, of which Egypt had no fewer than one thousand and twenty.

Verse 24

The hand or the people of the north - The Chaldeans.

Verse 25

The multitude of No - אמון מנא Amon minno, the Amon of No, called by the Greeks Διοσπολις, or Jupiter's city. It was the famous Thebes, celebrated anciently for its hundred gates. Amon was the name by which the Egyptians called Jupiter, who had a famous temple at Thebes.
The word Pharaoh is twice repeated here; and Dr. Dahler thinks that one may design Pharaoh Hophrah, and the other Amasis, the new king.

Verse 26

Afterward it shall be inhabited - That is, within forty years, as Ezekiel had predicted, ^[634].

Verse 27

Fear not - my servant Jacob - In the midst of wrath God remembers mercy. Though Judah shall be destroyed, Jerusalem taken, the temple burnt to the ground, and the people carried into captivity, yet the nation shall not be destroyed. A seed shall be preserved, out of which the nation shall revive.

Verse 28

I will make a full end of all the nations whither I have driven thee; but I will not make a full end of thee - The Jews still remain as a distinct people, while the Assyrians, Chaldeans, Egyptians, etc., are no more!
On this subject, I cannot withhold from my readers the following very judicious remarks of Bp. Newton, in his Dissertations on the Prophecies. "The preservation of the Jews through so many ages, and the total destruction of their enemies, are wonderful events; and are made still more wonderful by being signified beforehand by the spirit of prophecy, as particularly in the passage before us. Their preservation is really one of the most illustrious acts of Divine Providence. They are dispersed among all nations, yet not confounded with any. The drops of rain which fall, nay the great rivers which flow into the ocean, are soon mingled with and lost in that immense body of waters. And the same, in all human probability, would have been the fate of the Jews; they would have been mingled and lost in the common mass of mankind: but, on the contrary, they flow into all parts of the world, mix with all nations, and yet keep separate from all. They still live as a distinct people; and yet they nowhere live according to their own laws, nowhere elect their own magistrates, nowhere enjoy the full exercise of their religion. Their solemn feasts and sacrifices are limited to one certain place; and that hath been now for many ages in the hands of strangers and aliens, who will not suffer them to come thither. No people have continued unmixed so long as they have done; not only of those who have sent colonies into foreign countries, but even of those who have remained in their own country. The northern nations have come in swarms into the more southern parts of Europe: but where are they now to be discerned and distinguished? The Gauls went forth in great bodies to seek their fortune in foreign parts; but what traces or footsteps of them are now remaining any where? In France, who can separate the race of the ancient Gauls from the various other people who from time to time have settled there? In Spain, who can distinguish between the first possessors, the Spaniards, and the Goths and Moors, who conquered and kept possession of the country for some ages? In England, who can pretend to say certainly which families are derived from the ancient Britons, and which from the Romans, Saxons, Danes, and Normans? The most ancient and honorable pedigrees can be traced up only to a certain period; and beyond that there is nothing but conjecture and uncertainty, obscurity and ignorance. But the Jews can go up higher than any nation; they can even deduce their pedigree from the beginning of the world. They may not know from what particular tribe or family they are descended; but they know certainly that they all sprang from the stock of Abraham. And yet the contempt with which they have been treated, and the hardships they have undergone in almost all countries, should, one would think, have made them desirous to forget or renounce their original: but they profess it; they glory in it; and after so many wars, massacres, and persecutions, they still subsist; they are still very numerous. And what but a supernatural power could have preserved them in such a manner as no other nation upon earth has been preserved? Nor is the providence of God less remarkable in the destruction of their enemies, than in their own preservation. For, from the beginning, who have been the great enemies and oppressors of the Jewish nation, removed them from their own land, and compelled them into captivity and slavery? The Egyptians afflicted them much, and detained them in bondage several years. The Assyrians carried away captive the ten tribes of Israel; and the Babylonians, afterwards, the two remaining tribes of Judah and Benjamin. The Syro-Macedonians, especially Antiochus Epiphanes, cruelly persecuted them; and the Romans utterly dissolved the Jewish state, and dispersed the people so as that they have never been able to recover their city and country again. And where are now those great and famous monarchies, which in their turn subdued and oppressed the people of God? Are they not vanished as a dream; and not only their power, but their very names, lost in the earth? The Egyptians, Assyrians, and Babylonians were overthrown and entirely subjugated by the Persians; and the Persians, it is remarkable, were the restorers of the Jews as well as the destroyers of their enemies. The Syro-Macedonians were swallowed up by the Romans; and the Roman empire, great and powerful as it was, was broken into pieces by the incursions of the northern nations; while the Jews are subsisting as a distinct people at this day. And what a wonder of providence is it, that the vanquished should so many ages survive the victors; and the former be spread all over the world, while the latter are no more! Nay, not only nations have been punished for their cruelties to the Jews, but Divine vengeance has pursued even single persons who have been their persecutors and oppressors. The first-born of Pharaoh was destroyed; and he himself with his host, drowned in the sea. Nebuchadnezzar was stricken with madness, and the crown was transferred from his family to strangers. Antiochus Epiphanes and Herod died in great agonies, with ulcers and vermin issuing from them. Flaccus, governor of Egypt, who barbarously plundered and oppressed the Jews of Alexandria, was afterwards banished and slain; and Caligula, who persecuted the Jews for refusing to do Divine honors to his statue, was murdered in the flower of his age, after a short and wicked reign. But where are now, - since they have absolutely rejected the Gospel. and been no longer the peculiar people of God, - where are now such visible manifestations of a Divine interposition in their favor? The Jews would do well to consider this point; for, rightly considered, it may be an effectual means of opening their eyes, and of turning them to Christ our Savior." See Bp. Newton on the prophecies, dissert. 8 sect. 2. And see the notes on Ezekiel, where the calamities of these miserable people are largely detailed.

Chapter 47

Introduction

Among the nations doomed to suffer from the hostilities of Nebuchadnezzar are the Philistines, (see ^[635].) And the calamities predicted in this chapter befell them probably during the long siege of Tyre, when their country was desolated to prevent their giving Tyre or Sidon any assistance, ^[636]. The whole of this chapter is remarkably elegant. The address to the sword of Jehovah, at the close of it, is particularly a very beautiful and bold personification, ^[637], ^[638].

Verse 1

The word of the Lord - against the Philistines - The date of this prophecy cannot be easily ascertained. Dr. Blayney thinks it was delivered about the fourth year of Zedekiah, while Dahler assigns it some time in the reign of Josiah.
Before that Pharaoh smote Gaza - We have no historical relation of any Egyptian king smiting Gaza. It was no doubt smitten by some of them; but when, and by whom, does not appear either from sacred or profane history.

Verse 2

Waters rise up out of the north - Waters is a common prophetic image for a multitude of people. The north here, as in other places of this prophecy, means Chaldea.

Verse 3

The stamping of the hoofs - At the galloping sound, -
Quadrupedante putrem sonitu quatit ungula campum, is a line of Virgil, (Aen. 8:596), much celebrated; and quoted here by Blayney, where the galloping sound of the horses' hoofs is heard. In the stamping of the horses, the rushing of the chariots, and the rumbling of the wheels, our translators intended to convey the sense by the sound of the words, and they have not been unsuccessful. Their translation of the original is at the same time sufficiently literal.
The fathers shall not look back - Though their children are left behind, they have neither strength nor courage to go back to bring them off.

Verse 4

To spoil all the Philistines - These people, of whom there were five seignories, occupied the coast of the Mediterranean Sea, to the south of the Phoenicians.
Tyrus and Zidon - Places sufficiently remarkable both in the Old and New Testament, and in profane history. They belonged to the Phoenicians; and at this time were depending on the succor of their allies, the Philistines. But their expectation was cut off.
The remnant of the country of Caphtor - Crete, or Cyprus. Some think it was a district along the coast of the Mediterranean, belonging to the Philistines; others, that the Cappadocians are meant.

Verse 5

Baldness is come upon Gaza - They have cut off their hair in token of deep sorrow and distress.
Ashkelon is cut off - Or put to silence; another mark of the deepest sorrow. Ashkelon was one of the five seignories of the Philistines, Gaza was another.
The remnant of their valley - Or plain; for the whole land of the Philistines was a vast plain, which extended along the coast of the Mediterranean Sea from Phoenicia to the frontiers of Egypt. The whole of this plain, the territory of the Philistines, shall be desolated.

Verse 6

O thou sword of the Lord - This is a most grand prosopopoeia - a dialogue between the sword of the Lord and the prophet. Nothing can be imagined more sublime.
Put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still - Shed no more blood, destroy no more lives, erase no more cities, desolate no more countries. Rest: - hast thou not been long enough at this work of judgment? O be still: - let wars and desolations cease for ever.

Verse 7

How can it be quiet - This is the answer of the Sword. I am the officer of God's judgments, and he has given me a commission against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore; all the coast where the Philistines have their territories. The measure of their iniquities is full; and these God hath appointed this sword to ravage. The Philistines were ever the implacable enemies of the Jews, and the basest and worst of all idolaters. On these accounts the sword of the Lord had its commission against them; and it did its office most fearfully and effectually by the hand of the Chaldeans.

Chapter 48

Introduction

The following prophecy concerning the Moabites is supposed to have had its accomplishment during the long siege of Tyre in the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. The whole of this chapter is poetry of the first order. The distress of the cities of Moab, with which it opens, is finely described. The cries of one ruined city resound to those of another, ^[639]. The doleful helpless cry of the children is heard, ^[640]; the highways, on either hand, resound with the voice of weeping, ^[641]; and the few that remain resemble a blasted tree in the wide howling waste, ^[642]. Chemosh, the chief god of the Moabites, and the capital figure in the triumph, is represented as carried off in chains, with all his trumpery of priests and officers, ^[643]. The desolation of the country shall be so general and sudden that, by a strong figure, it is intimated that there shall be no possibility of escape, except it be in the speediest flight, ^[644], ^[645]. And some idea may be formed of the dreadful wickedness of this people from the consideration that the prophet, under the immediate inspiration of the Almighty, pronounces a curse on those who do the work of the Lord negligently, in not proceeding to their utter extermination, ^[646]. The subject is then diversified by an elegant and well-supported comparison, importing that the Moabites increased in insolence and pride in proportion to the duration of their prosperity, ^[647]; but this prosperity is declared to be nearly at an end; the destroyer is already commissioned against Moab, and his neighbors called to sing the usual lamentation at his funeral, ^[648]. The prophet then represents some of the women of Aroer and Ammon, (the extreme borders of Moab), standing in the highways, and asking the fugitives of Moab, What intelligence? They inform him of the complete discomfiture of Moab, ^[649], and of the total annihilation of its political existence, ^[650]. The Divine judgments about to fall upon Moab are farther represented under the expressive metaphor of a cup of intoxicating liquor, by which he should become an object of derision because of his intolerable pride, his magnifying himself against Jehovah, and his great contempt for the children of Israel in the day of their calamity, ^[651], ^[652]. The prophet then points out the great distress of Moab by a variety of striking figures, viz., by the failure of the customary rejoicings at the end of harvest, by the mournful sort of music used at funerals, by the signs which were expressive among the ancients of deep mourning, as shaving the head, clipping the beard, cutting the flesh, and wearing sackcloth; and by the methods of catching wild beasts in toils, and by the terror and pitfall, vv. 28-46. In the close of the chapter it is intimated that a remnant shall be preserved from this general calamity whose descendants shall be prosperous in the latter days, ^[653].

Verse 1

Against Moab - This was delivered some time after the destruction of Jerusalem. The Moabites were in the neighborhood of the Ammonites, and whatever evils fell on the one would naturally involve the other. See ^[654] and ^[655] on this same subject.
Wo unto Nebo! for it is spoiled - This was a city in the tribe of Reuben, afterwards possessed by the Moabites. It probably had its name from Nebo, one of the principal idols of the Moabites.
Kiriathaim - Another city of the Moabites.
Misgab is confounded - There is no place of this name known, and therefore several learned men translate המשגב hammisgab, literally, The high tower, or fortress, which may apply to Kiriathaim, or any other high and well-fortified place.

Verse 2

No more praise of Moab - "The glory of Moab, that it had never been conquered," (Dahler), is now at an end. Dr. Blayney translates: - "Moab shall have no more glorying in Heshbon; They have devised evil against her (saying.)"
And this most certainly is the best translation of the original. He has marked also a double paronomasia in this and the next verse, a figure in which the prophets delight; בחשבון חשבו becheshbon chashebu "in Cheshbon they have devised," and מדמן תדמי madmen tiddommi, "Madmena, thou shalt be dumb."

Verse 3

Horonaim - Another city of Moab, near to Luhith. At this latter place the hill country of Moab commenced. "It is a place," says Dahler, "situated upon a height between Areopolis and Zoar."

Verse 6

Flee, save your lives - The enemy is in full pursuit of you.
Be like the heath - כערוער caaroer, "like Aroer;" which some take for a city, others for a blasted or withered tree. It is supposed that a place of this name lay towards the north, in the land of the Ammonites, on a branch of the river Jabbok; surrounded by deserts. Save yourselves by getting into the wilderness, where the pursuing foe will scarcely think it worth his while to follow you, as the wilderness itself must soon destroy you.

Verse 7

Chemosh shall go forth into captivity - The grand national idol of the Moabites, ^[656]; ^[657]. Ancient idolaters used to take their gods with them to the field of battle. This was probably in imitation of the Israelites, who took the ark with them in such cases.

Verse 9

Give wings unto Moab - There is no hope in resistance, and to escape requires the speediest flight. I cannot conceive how Dahler came to translate thus: Tirez Moab par les chevaux, "Drag Moab away by the hair of the head."

Verse 10

Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceitfully - Moab is doomed to destruction, and the Lord pronounces a curse on their enemies if they do not proceed to utter extirpation. God is the Author of life, and has a sovereign right to dispose of it as he pleases; and these had forfeited theirs long ago by their idolatry and other crimes.

Verse 11

Moab hath been at ease - The metaphor here is taken from the mode of preserving wines. They let them rest upon their lees for a considerable time, as this improves them both in strength and flavour; and when this is sufficiently done, they rack, or pour them off into other vessels. Moab had been very little molested by war since he was a nation; he had never gone out of his own land. Though some had been carried away by Shalmaneser forty years before this, he has had neither wars nor captivity.
Therefore his taste remained in him - Still carrying on the allusion to the curing of wines; by resting long upon the lees, the taste and smell are both improved. See the note on ^[658].

Verse 12

I will send unto him wanderers that shall cause him to wander - Dr. Blayney renders צעים tsaim, tilters; those who elevate one end of the wine cask when nearly run out that the remains of the liquor may be the more effectually drawn off at the cock. And this seems to be well supported by the following words, -
And shall empty his vessels - I will send such as will carry the whole nation into captivity.

Verse 13

Beth-el their confidence - Alluding to the golden calves which Jeroboam had there set up, and commanded all the Israelites to worship.

Verse 17

How is the strong staff broken - The scepter. The sovereignty of Moab is destroyed.

Verse 18

That dost inhabit Dibon - This was anciently a city of the Reubenites, afterwards inhabited by the Moabites, about two leagues north of the river Arnon, and about six to the east of the Dead Sea. - Dahler.

Verse 19

O inhabitant of Aroer - See the note on ^[659] (note). This place, being at a greater distance, is counselled to watch for its own safety, and inquire of every passenger, What is done? that it may know when to pack up and be gone.

Verse 20

Tell ye it in Arnon - Apprize the inhabitants there that the territories of Moab are invaded, and the country about to be destroyed, that they may provide for their own safety.

Verse 21

Upon Holon, etc. - All these were cities of the Moabites, but several of them are mentioned in no other place.

Verse 25

The horn of Moab is cut off, and his arm is broken - His political and physical powers are no more.

Verse 27

Was not Israel a derision unto thee? - Didst thou not mock my people, and say their God was no better than the gods of other nations? See ^[660].
Was he found among thieves? - Did the Israelites come to rob and plunder you? Why then mock them, and rejoice at their desolation, when their enemies prevailed over them? This the Lord particularly resents.

Verse 28

Dwell in the rock - Go to the most inaccessible places in the mountains.
The hole's mouth - And into the most secret eaves and holes of the earth.

Verse 29

The pride of Moab - See on ^[661] (note).

Verse 32

O vine of Sibmah - See on ^[662] (note).

Verse 34

As a heifer of three years old - Which runs lowing from place to place in search of her calf, which is lost or taken from her.

Verse 37

For every head shall be bald - These, as we have seen before, were signs of the deepest distress and desolation.

Verse 40

He shall fly as an eagle - The enemy will pounce upon him, carry him off, and tear him to pieces.

Verse 42

Moab shall be destroyed from being a people - They shall not have a king or civil governor: and I doubt whether there be any evidence that they were ever reinstated in their national character. They were captivated by the Chaldeans; and probably many returned with the Jews on the edict of Cyrus: but as to their being an independent nation after this, where is the positive proof?

Verse 43

Fear, and the pit, and the snare - See the note on ^[663], ^[664].

Verse 45

They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon - Heshbon being a fortified place, they who were worsted in the fight fled to it, and rallied under its walls; but, instead of safety, they found themselves disappointed, betrayed, and ruined. See ^[665] (note), and the note there.
But a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon - Jeremiah has borrowed this part of his discourse from an ancient poet quoted by Moses, ^[666] (note); where see the notes.
The crown of the head - The choicest persons of the whole nation.

Verse 46

The people of Chemosh - The Moabites, who worshipped Chemosh as their supreme god.

Verse 47

Will I bring again the captivity of Moab in the latter days - I have already expressed doubts (see ^[667]) whether the Moabites were ever restored to their national distinction. The expressions in this chapter, relative to their total destruction as a people, are so strong and so frequent, that they leave little room for a limited interpretation. That many of them returned on the edict of Cyrus by virtue of which the Jews were restored, I doubt not; but neither the Ammonites, Moabites, Philistines, nor even the Jews themselves were ever restored to their national consequence. Perhaps the restoration spoken of here which was to take place in the latter days, may mean the conversion of these people, in their existing remnants, to the faith of the Gospel. Several judicious interpreters are of this opinion. The Moabites were partially restored; but never, as far as I have been able to learn, to their national consequence. Their conversion to the Christian faith must be the main end designed by this prophecy.

Chapter 49

Introduction

This chapter is a collection of prophecies relating to several nations in the neighborhood of Judea; and, like those preceding, are supposed to have been fulfilled by the ministry of Nebuchadnezzar during the thirteen years' siege of Tyre. The chapter opens with a prophecy concerning the Ammonites, whose chief city, Rabbah, shall be destroyed; and Malcom, the supreme divinity of the people, with all his retinue of priests and officers, carried into captivity, ^[668]. Promise that the Ammonites shall be restored to their liberty, ^[669]. Prophecy against the Edomites, (very like that most dreadful one in the thirty-fourth chapter of Isaiah against the same people), who shall be utterly exterminated, after the similitude of Sodom and Gomorrah, vv. 7-22. Prophecy against Damascus, ^[670]; and against Kedar, ^[671], ^[672]. Utter desolation of the kingdoms of Hazor foretold, ^[673]. The polity of the Elamites shall be completely dissolved, and the people dispersed throughout the nations, ^[674]. The Elamites shall be delivered from their captivity in the latter days, ^[675]. It wilt be proper here to observe that these predictions should not be so explained as if they admitted of merely a private interpretation; for, as Bishop Lowth remarks upon Isaiah's prophecy concerning the Idumeans, "by a figure very common in the prophetical writings, any city or people, remarkably distinguished as enemies of the people and kingdom of God, is put for those enemies in general;" therefore, it is under the Gospel dispensation that these prophecies shall be accomplished to their fullest extent upon all the antichrtstian nations that have sinned after the similitude of the ancient enemies of the people of God under the Mosaic economy.

Verse 1

Concerning the Ammonites - This prophetic discourse was also delivered after the capture of Jerusalem.
Hath Israel no sons? - no heir? - The Ammonites, it appears, took advantage of the depressed state of Israel, and invaded their territories in the tribe of Gad, hoping to make them their own for ever. But the prophet intimates that God will preserve the descendants of Israel, and will bring them back to their forfeited inheritances.
Why then doth their king - מלכם Malcom or Milcom, the chief idol of the Ammonites. That the idol Milcom is here meant is sufficiently evident from ^[676], where it is said: "Milcom (not their king) shall go into captivity; his Priests and his princes together." Milcom is also called Molech. Malcom is put here for the Ammonites, as the people of Chemosh in the preceding chapter are put for the Moabites in general.

Verse 3

Run to and fro by the hedges - It is supposed that this may refer to the women making lamentations for the dead, that were in general buried by the walls of their gardens; but others think that it refers to the smaller cities or villages, called here the daughters of Rabbah, the metropolis; the inhabitants of which are exhorted to seek safety somewhere else, as none can be expected from them, now that the enemy is at hand.

Verse 4

Wherefore gloriest thou - Though thy valleys be fruitful, yet glory not in them. Though thou have much political and military power, do not trust in them, nor in the multitude of thy cities; a stronger than thou is coming against thee.

Verse 6

Afterward I will bring again - The Ammonites are supposed to have returned with the Moabites and Israelites, on permission given by the edict of Cyrus.

Verse 7

Concerning Edom - This is a new and separate discourse.
Teman - A part of Idumea, put here for the whole country.

Verse 8

Dwell deep - An allusion to the custom of the Arabs, who, when about to be attacked by a powerful foe, strike their tents, pack up their utensils, lade their camels, which they can do in a couple of hours, and set off to the great desert, and so bury themselves in it that no enemy either will or can pursue, as it is the Arabs alone that know the deserts, and can find water and provender for their support.
Dedan - Was a city of Idumea, not far from Teman.

Verse 9

If grape-gatherers - Both in vintage and harvest every grape and every stalk are not gathered; hence the gleaners get something for their pains: but your enemies shall not leave one of you behind; all shall be carried into captivity.

Verse 10

I have made Esau bare - I have stripped him of all defense, and have discovered his hiding-places to his enemies.

Verse 11

Leave thy fatherless children - The connection of this with the context is not easy to be discerned; but, as a general maxim, it is of great importance. Widows and orphans are the peculiar care of God. He is as the best of fathers to the one, and the most loving of husbands to the other. Even the widows and orphans of Esau, who escape the general destruction, shall be taken care of by the Lord.

Verse 12

Art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? - A similar form of speech appears, ^[677]. Others, less wicked than thou, have been punished and canst thou expect to escape? Thou shalt not escape.

Verse 13

Bozrah shall become a desolation - Bozrah, a city of Idumea, is here put for the whole country.

Verse 14

I have heard a rumor - The Lord has revealed to me what he is about to do to the Edomites.
An ambassador is sent - I believe this means only that God has given permission, and has stirred up the hearts of these nations to go against those whom he has doomed to destruction.

Verse 16

O thou that dwellest - All Idumea is full of mountains and rocks, and these rocks and mountains full of caves, where, in time of great heats, and in time of war, the people take shelter.

Verse 18

As in the overthrow of Sodom - The destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah and the neighboring cities was so terrible, that, when God denounces judgments against incorrigible sinners, he tells them they shall be like Sodom and Gomorrah.
No man shall abide there - It shall be so desolate as not to be habitable. Travellers may lodge on the ground for a night; but it cannot become a permanent dwelling.

Verse 19

Behold, he shall come up like a lion - See the note on ^[678]. The similitude used here is well illustrated by Dr. Blayney: "When I shall occasion a like commotion in her (Idumea) as a fierce and strong lion may be supposed to do in the sheep-folds, then I will cause him (the man of whom it is said in the preceding verse that he should not dwell in it) to run away from her as the affrighted shepherds and their flocks run from the lion."
A chosen man - Nebuchadnezzar. That is, God has chosen this man, and given him a commission against Idumea.

Verse 20

The inhabitants of Teman - Taken here for the whole of Idumea. These are a kind of synonyms which prevent monotony, and give variety to the poet's versification.
Surely the least or the flock shall draw them out - They shall be like timid sheep; the weakest foe shall overcome them.

Verse 21

The earth is moved - The whole state is represented here as a vast building suddenly thrown down, so as to cause the earth to tremble, and the noise to be heard at a great distance.

Verse 22

He shall come up and fly as the eagle - Nebuchadnezzar. See ^[679].

Verse 23

Concerning Damascus - This is the head or title of another prophecy. Damascus was one of the principal cities of Syria. It was taken by David, ^[680], was retaken in the reign of Solomon, ^[681], etc., and regained its independence. Its kings were often at war with the ten tribes, and once it joined with them for the destruction of Judah. To defend himself against these powerful enemies Ahaz made a league with the king of Assyria, who besieged Damascus, took, and demolished it. From that time we hear nothing of Damascus till we meet with it in this prophecy. It appears to have been rebuilt and restored to some consequence. It made an obstinate resistance to Nebuchadnezzar; but was at last taken and sacked by him. At present it is both a large and populous city, with considerable commerce.
Hamath is confounded - This is a city of Syria, on the Orontes. The Greeks called it Epiphania.
Arpad - Not far from Damascus.
Sorrow on the sea - They are like the troubled sea, that cannot rest.

Verse 25

How is the city of praise not left - Damascus is so ruined that she can no more be called a praiseworthy or happy city.

Verse 27

The palaces of Ben-hadad - Damascus was a seat of the Syrian kings, and Ben-hadad was a name common to several of its kings.

Verse 28

Concerning Kedar, and Concerning the Kingdoms of Hazor - This is the title of another new prophecy.
Kedar was the name of one of the sons of Ishmael (^[682]) who settled in Arabia, and who gave name to a powerful tribe of Arabs who used to traffic with the Tyrians in cattle. It appears from this prophecy that Nebuchadnezzar got a commission to go against and reduce them to great misery.

Verse 29

Their tents and their flocks - This description of property shows that they were Scenite or Nomad Arabs; persons who dwell in tents, and whose principal property was cattle, especially camels, of the whole of which they were plundered by the Chaldeans.

Verse 30

Dwell deep - Retire into the depths of the desert. See on ^[683] (note).
Inhabitants of Hazor - I cannot find this place. It was no doubt in Arabia, and a place of considerable importance; but it is now no more.

Verse 31

The wealthy nation - גוי שליו goi sheleiv, "the peaceable nation" -
Have neither gates nor bars - The Arabs, who had nothing but their tents; no cities, nor even permanent villages.

Verse 32

The utmost corners - Even in these utmost inaccessible recesses the sword and pillage shall reach them. "'The utmost corners;' insulated coasts; the peninsula of Arabia." - Blayney.

Verse 33

Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons - Shall be turned into a wilderness.
A desolation for ever - Never to be repeopled.
There shalt no man abide there - It may occasionally be visited, but never made a permanent abode.

Verse 34

The Word - Against Elam - Another new head of prophecy. As this was delivered in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah, it can have no natural nor historical connection with the other prophecies in this various chapter. Some think that by Elam Persia is always meant; but this is not at all likely. It was a part of the Babylonian empire in the time of Daniel, (^[684]), and is most probably what is called Elymais by the Greeks. This, with Susiana, Nebuchadnezzar subdued, and took from Astyages, king of Media.

Verse 35

I will break the bow of Elam - They were eminent archers; and had acquired their power and eminence by their dexterity in the use of the bow. See ^[685]. Strabo, Livy, and others speak of their eminence in archery.

Verse 36

Will I bring the four winds - Nebuchadnezzar and his armies, gathered out of different provinces, and attacking this people at all points in the same time.
There shall be no nation, etc. - They shall be scattered through the one hundred and twenty-seven provinces of which the Babylonish empire is composed.

Verse 38

I will set my throne in Elam - This is spoken either of Nebuchadnezzar or Cyrus. It is certain that Cyrus did render himself master of Elymais and Media, which are in the land of Elam.

Verse 39

I will bring again the captivity of Elam - As this is to be in the latter days, probably it may mean the spiritual freedom which these people would receive under the Gospel dispensation. Under Cyrus, the Elamites, collected out of all quarters, were united with the Persians, their neighbors, and became, with them, masters of the east. See Calmet and Dahler. There are still, however, difficulties on this subject. Who the Elamites were is still a question. That which appears to be nearest the truth is, that the Elamites and Persians were two distinct people, and continued so till blended together under Cyrus. It is in this light that I have considered the subject in the preceding notes. Neighboring people are frequently confounded in history, and sometimes the name of a people is given to those who have the same character.

Chapter 50

Introduction

This and the following chapter contain a prophecy relating to the fall of Babylon, interspersed with several predictions relative to the restoration of Israel and Judah, who were to survive their oppressors, and, on their repentance, to be pardoned and brought to their own land. This chapter opens with a prediction of the complete destruction of all the Babylonish idols, and the utter desolation of Chaldea, through the instrumentality of a great northern nation, ^[686]. Israel and Judah shall be reinstated in the land of their forefathers after the total overthrow of the great Babylonish empire, ^[687], ^[688]. Very oppressive and cruel bondage of the Jewish people during the captivity, ^[689], ^[690]. The people of God are commanded to remove speedily from Babylon, because an assembly of great nations are coming out of the north to desolate the whole land, ^[691]. Babylon, the hammer of the whole earth, the great desolator of nations, shall itself become a desolation on account of its intolerable pride, and because of the iron yoke it has rejoiced to put upon a people whom a mysterious Providence had placed under its domination, vv. 11-34. The judgments which shall fall upon Chaldea, a country addicted to the grossest idolatry, and to every species of superstition, shall be most awful and general, as when God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, ^[692]. Character of the people appointed to execute the Divine judgments upon the oppressors of Israel, ^[693]. Great sensation among the nations at the very terrible and sudden fall of Babylon, ^[694].

Verse 1

The Word that the Lord Spake Against Babylon - This is also a new head of discourse.
The prophecy contained in this and the following chapter was sent to the captives in Babylon in the fourth year of the reign of Zedekiah. They are very important; they predict the total destruction of the Babylonish empire, and the return of the Jews from their captivity. These chapters were probably composed, with several additions, out of the book that was then sent by Jeremiah to the captives by the hand of Seraiah. See ^[695].

Verse 2

Declare ye among the nations - God's determination relative to this empire.
Set up a standard - Show the people where they are to assemble.
Say, Babylon is taken - It is a thing so firmly determined, that it is as good as already done.
Bel - The tutelar deity of Babylon is confounded, because it cannot save its own city.
Merodach - Another of their idols, is broken to pieces; it was not able to save itself, much less the whole empire.
Her idols are confounded - It is a reproach to have acknowledged them.
Her images - Great and small, golden and wooden, are broken to pieces; even the form of them no longer appears.

Verse 3

Out of the north there cometh up a nation - The Medes, who formed the chief part of the army of Cyrus, lay to the north or north-east of Babylon.
Shall make her land desolate - This war, and the consequent taking of the city, began those disasters that brought Babylon in process of time to complete desolation; so that now it is not known where it stood, the whole country being a total solitude.

Verse 4

In those days, and in that time - In the times in which Babylon shall be opposed by the Medes and Persians, both Israel and Judah, seeing the commencement of the fulfilling of the prophecies, shall begin to seek the Lord with much prayer, and broken and contrite hearts. When the decree of Cyrus comes, they shall be ready to set off for their own country, deploring their offenses, yet rejoicing in the mercy of God which has given them this reviving in their bondage.

Verse 5

Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant - All our former covenants have been broken; let us now make one that shall last for ever. He shall be the Lord Our God, and We will no more worship idols. This covenant they have kept to the present day; whatever their present moral and spiritual state may be, they are no idolaters, in the gross sense of the term.
The description that is here given of the state of this people, their feelings and their conduct, finely exhibit the state of real penitents, who are fervently seeking the salvation of their souls.
1. In those days when Jesus Christ is manifested in the flesh; and in that time, when through him is preached the remission of sins, and the people who hear are pricked in their conscience.
2. The children of Israel and the children of Judah together. - No distinctions being then felt or attended to; for all feel themselves sinners, who have come short of the glory of God. Even national distinctions and religious differences, which bind men fastest, and hold them longest, are absorbed in the deep and overpowering concern they feel for their eternal interests.
3. Going and weeping shall they go. - Religious sorrow does not preclude activity and diligence. While they are weeping for their sins, they are going on in the path of duty, seeking the Lord while he may be found, and calling upon him while he is near.
4. They shall ask the way to Zion. - Real penitents are the most inquisitive of all mortals; but their inquiries are limited to one object, they ask the way to Zion. What shall we do to be saved? How shall we shun the perdition of ungodly men, etc.
5. With their faces thitherward. - They have turned from sin, and turned To God. They have left the paths of the destroyer, and their hearts are towards God, and the remembrance of his name. Thus they are profiting by that light which has convinced them of sin, righteousness, and judgment.
6. Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord. - Religion is a social principle, and begets a social feeling in the soul. No man who feels his own sore, and the plague of his heart, wishes to venture alone in the way to heaven. He feels he wants counsel, support, comfort and the company of those who will watch over him in love. Like David, the true penitent is a companion of all those who fear the Lord. These heavenly feelings come from one and the same Spirit, and lead to the same end; hence they say, -
7. Let us join ourselves to the Lord in a perpetual covenant. It is said, that to be undecided, is to be decided. They who are not determined to go to heaven, will never reach it. If the heart be not laid under obligation, it will do nothing. "I hope I am in earnest; I trust I shall be in earnest about the salvation of my soul, it is very proper I should be so;" and such like, show an irresolute soul. Such persons are ever learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth.
Let us therefore bind ourselves. We have trifled too long; been indecisive too long; have halted too long between two opinions. We know now that Jehovah is God; let us, therefore, enter into a covenant with him. Let this covenant be a perpetual one: let us not make it for a day, for any particular time, but for ever; and let it never be broken. Let our part be kept inviolable: we Are and Will Be thy people; and God's part will never fail, I Am and Will Be your God.
The covenant requires a sacrifice. - Hence ברית berith signifies both. Christ crucified is the great covenant sacrifice. By him God becomes united to us, and through him we become united to God.

Verse 6

My people hath been lost sheep - He pities them; for their pastors, kings, and prophets have caused them to err.
They have gone from mountain to hill - In all high places they have practiced idolatry.

Verse 7

Their adversaries said, We offend not - God has abandoned them; we are only fulfilling his designs in plaguing them.

Verse 8

Remove out of the midst of Babylon - The sentence of destruction is gone out against it; prepare for your flight, that ye be not overwhelmed in its ruin.
Be as the he-goats before the flocks - Who always run to the head of the flock, giving the example for others to follow. This may be addressed to the elders and persons of authority among the people.

Verse 9

An assembly of great nations - The army of Cyrus was composed of Medes, Persians, Armenians, Caducians, Sacae, etc. Though all these did not come from the north; yet they were arranged under the Medes, who did come from the north, in reference to Babylon.
Their arrows - They are such expert archers, that they shall never miss their mark.

Verse 10

Chaldea shall be a spoil - She has been a spoiler, and she shall be spoiled. They had destroyed Judea, God's heritage; and now God shall cause her to be destroyed.

Verse 11

As the heifer at grass - Ye were wanton in the desolations ye brought upon Judea.

Verse 12

Your mother - Speaking to the Chaldeans: Babylon, the metropolis, or mother city, shall be a wilderness, a dry land, a desert, neither fit for man nor beast.

Verse 15

Shout against her round about - Encompass her with lines and with troops; let none go in with relief, none come out to escape from her ruin.

Verse 16

Cut off the sower - Destroy the gardens and the fields, that there may be neither fruits nor tillage.

Verse 17

Israel - All the descendants of Jacob have been harassed and spoiled, first by the Assyrians, and afterwards by the Chaldeans. They acted towards them as a lion to a sheep which he has caught; first he devours all the flesh, next he breaks all the bones to extract the marrow.

Verse 18

As I have punished the king of Assyria - The Assyrians were overthrown by the Medes and the Chaldeans. The king is here taken for all their kings, generals, etc., Tiglath-pileser, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, Esar-haddon, etc. To them succeeded the Chaldean or Babylonish kings. Nebuchadnezzar came against Judea several times; and at last took the city and burnt it, profaned and demolished the temple, wasted the land, and carried the princes and people into captivity.

Verse 19

I will bring Israel again - This seems to refer wholly to the ten tribes; for Carmel, Bashan, Mount Ephraim, and Gilead, were in their territories.

Verse 20

In those days and in that time - This phrase appears to take in the whole of an epoch, from its commencement to its end. See ^[696].
I will pardon them - So as to deliver them from their captivity, and exact no more punishment from them whom I reserve, namely, the remnant left in the Babylonish captivity.

Verse 21

Go up against the land of Merathaim - and against the inhabitants of Pekod - No such places as these are to be found any where else; and it is not likely that places are at all meant. The ancient Versions agree in rendering the first as an appellative, and the last as a verb, except the Chaldee, which has Pekod as a proper name. Dr. Blayney translates: - "Against the land of bitternesses, go up:
Upon it, and upon its inhabitants, visit, O sword!"
Dr. Dahler renders thus: - "March against the country doubly rebellious,
And against its inhabitants worthy of punishment."
The latter of these two versions I take to be the most literal. The words are addressed to the Medes and Persians; and the country is Chaldea, doubly rebellious by its idolatry and its insufferable pride. In these two, it was exceeded by no other land.

Verse 23

The hammer of the whole earth - Nebuchadnezzar dashed to pieces the nations against whom he warred. He was the scourge of the Lord.

Verse 24

I have laid a snare for thee - It was not by storm that Cyrus took the city. The Euphrates ran through it; he dug a channel for the river in another direction, to divert its stream; he waited for that time in which the inhabitants had delivered themselves up to debauchery: in the dead of the night he turned off the stream, and he and his army entered by the old channel, now void of its waters. This was the snare of which the prophet here speaks. See Nerodotus, lib. i., c. 191.

Verse 26

Open her store-houses - At the time that Cyrus took the city, it was full of provisions and treasures of all kinds; the walls had suffered no injury; and when the inhabitants heard that the enemy was within, they thought they must have arisen out of the earth in the center of the city!

Verse 27

Slay all her bullocks - Princes, magistrates, etc., etc.

Verse 28

Declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord - Zion was desolated by Babylon; tell Zion that God hath desolated the desolator.
The vengeance of his temple - Which Nebuchadnezzar had pillaged, profaned, and demolished, transporting its sacred vessels to Babylon, and putting them in the temple of his god Bel.

Verse 29

Call together the archers - The preceding verses are the prediction: here, God calls the Medes and Persians to fulfill it.

Verse 31

O thou most proud - זדון zadon. Pride in the abstract; proudest of all people.

Verse 32

And the most proud - זדון zadon, as before. Here pride is personified and addressed, as if possessing a being and rational powers.

Verse 34

Their Redeemer is strong - And it was not that he wanted power, and that Nebuchadnezzar had much, that Jerusalem was taken; but because the people had sinned, and would not return; and therefore national sins called for national punishments. These have taken place; and now the Lord of hosts shows them that the power of the Chaldeans is mere weakness against his might.

Verse 35

A sword - War and its calamities, or any grievous plague; and so in the following verses.

Verse 38

A drought is upon her waters - May not this refer to the draining of the channel of the Euphrates, by which the army of Cyrus entered the city. See on ^[697] (note). The original is, however, חרב chereb, a sword, as in the preceding verses, which signifies war, or any calamity by which the thing on which it falls is ruined.

Verse 39

The wild beasts of the desert - Dahler translates these various terms, "The wild cats, the jackals, and the ostriches." And Blayney the same. Wicklif, "Dragons, woodewoses, and ostriches." Coverdale, "Wild beestes, apes, and estriches."

Verse 40

As God overthrew Sodom - As the very ground on which these cities stood, with all the plain, now lies under the Dead Sea; so Babylon and the adjacent country shall be rendered totally barren and unfruitful, and utterly incapable of being inhabited. And this is the fact concerning both countries. See ^[698].

Verse 41

Behold, a people shall come from the north - This and the two following verses are nearly the same with ^[699]. But here, destroyers against Babylon are intended; there, destroyers against Jerusalem.

Verse 44

Behold, he shall came up like a lion - The same words as in ^[700] (note), etc., where see the note.

Verse 46

At the noise of the taking of Babylon - See the note on the parallel place, ^[701] (note). In the forty-ninth chapter, these words are spoken of Nebuchadnezzar; here, of Cyrus. The taking of Babylon was a wonder to all the surrounding nations. It was thought to be impregnable.

Chapter 51

Introduction

Sequel of the prophecies of Jeremiah against Babylon. The dreadful, sudden, and final ruin that shall fall upon the Chaldeans, who have compelled the nations to receive their idolatrous rites, (see an instance in the third chapter of Daniel), set forth by a variety of beautiful figures; with a command to the people of God, (who have made continual intercession for the conversion of their heathen rulers), to flee from the impending vengeance, ^[702]. Jehovah, Israel's God, whose infinite power, wisdom and understanding are every where visible in the works of creation, elegantly contrasted with the utterly contemptible objects of the Chaldean worship, ^[703]. Because of their great oppression of God's people, the Babylonians shall be visited with cruel enemies from the north, whose innumerable hosts shall fill the land, and utterly extirpate the original inhabitants, vv. 20-44. One of the figures by which this formidable invasion is represented is awfully sublime. "The Sea is come up upon Babylon; she is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof." And the account of the sudden desolation produced by this great armament of a multitude of nations, (which the prophet, dropping the figure, immediately subjoins), is deeply afflictive. "Her cities are a desolation, a dry land, and a wilderness; a land wherein no man dwelleth, neither doth any son of man pass thereby." The people of God a third time admonished to escape from Babylon, lest they be overtaken with her plagues, ^[704], ^[705]. Other figures setting forth in a variety of lights the awful judgments with which the Chaldeans shall be visited on account of their very gross idolatries, ^[706]. The significant emblem with which the chapter concludes, of Seraiah, after having read the book of the Prophet Jeremiah against Babylon, binding a stone to it, and casting it into the river Euphrates, thereby prefiguring the very sudden downfall of the Chaldean city and empire, ^[707], is beautifully improved by the writer of the Apocalypse, ^[708], in speaking of Babylon the Great, of which the other was a most expressive type; and to which many of the passages interspersed throughout the Old Testament Scriptures relative to Babylon must be ultimately referred, if we would give an interpretation in every respect equal to the terrible import of the language in which these prophecies are conceived.

Verse 1

Thus saith the Lord - This chapter is a continuation of the preceding prophecy.
A destroying wind - Such as the pestilential winds in the east; and here the emblem of a destroying army, carrying all before them, and wasting with fire and sword.

Verse 2

And will send - fanners - When the corn is trodden out with the feet of cattle, or crushed out with a heavy wheel armed with iron, with a shovel they throw it up against the wind, that the chaff and broken straw may be separated from it. This is the image used by the prophet; these people shall be trodden, crushed, and fanned by their enemies.

Verse 5

For Israel hath not been forsaken - God still continued his prophets among them; he had never cast them wholly off. Even in the midst of wrath - highly deserved and inflicted punishment, he has remembered mercy; and is now about to crown what he has done by restoring them to their own land. I conceive אשם asham, which we translate sin, as rather signifying punishment, which meaning it often has.

Verse 7

Made all the earth drunken - The cup of God's wrath is the plenitude of punishment, that he inflicts on transgressors. It is represented as intoxicating and making them mad.

Verse 8

Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed - These appear to be the words of some of the spectators of Babylon's misery.

Verse 9

We would have healed Babylon - Had it been in our power, we would have saved her; but we could not turn away the judgment of God.

Verse 10

The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness - This is the answer of the Jews. God has vindicated our cause.

Verse 11

Make bright the arrows - This is the prophet's address to Babylon.
The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the Medes - Of Cyaxares king of Media, called Darius the Mede in Scripture; and of Cyrus king of Persia, presumptive heir of the throne of Cyaxares, his uncle. Cambyses, his father, sent him, Cyrus, with 30, 000 men to assist his uncle Cyaxares, against Neriglissar king of Babylon, and by these was Babylon overthrown.

Verse 12

Set up the standard - A call to the enemies of Babylon to invest the city and press the siege.

Verse 13

O thou that dwellest upon many waters - Thou who hast an abundant supply of waters. It was built on the confluence of the Tigris and Euphrates; the latter running through the city. But the many waters may mean the many nations which belonged to the Babylonish empire; nations and people are frequently so called in Scripture.

Verse 14

I will fill thee with men - By means of these very waters through the channel of thy boasted river, thou shalt be filled with men, suddenly appearing as an army of locusts; and, without being expected, shall lift up a terrific cry, as soon as they have risen from the channel of the river.

Verse 15

He hath made the earth by his power - The omnipotence of God is particularly manifested in the works of creation.
He hath established the world by his wisdom - The omniscience of God is particularly seen in the government of תבל tebel, the inhabited surface of the globe. What a profusion of wisdom and skill is apparent in that wondrous system of providence by which he governs and provides for every living thing.
And hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding - Deep thought, comprehensive design, and consummate skill are especially seen in the formation, magnitudes, distances, revolutions, and various affections of the heavenly bodies.

Verse 16

When he uttereth his voice - Sends thunder.
There is a multitude of waters - For the electric spark, by decomposing atmospheric air, converts the hydrogen and oxygen gases, of which it is composed, into water; which falls down in the form of rain.
Causeth the vapours to ascend - He is the Author of that power of evaporation by which the water is rarified, and, being lighter than the air, ascends in form of vapor, forms clouds, and is ready to be sent down again to water the earth by the action of his lightnings, as before. And by those same lightnings, and the agency of heat in general, currents of air are formed, moving in various directions, which we call winds.

Verse 17

Every man is brutish by his knowledge - He is brutish for want of real knowledge; and he is brutish when he acknowledges that an idol is any thing in the world. These verses, from fifteen to nineteen, are transcribed from ^[709].

Verse 20

Thou art my battle axe - I believe Nebuchadnezzar is meant, who is called, ^[710], the hammer of the whole earth. Others think the words are spoken of Cyrus. All the verbs are in the past tense: "With thee have I broken in pieces," etc., etc.

Verse 24

And I will render - The ו vau should be translated but, of which it has here the full power: "But I will render unto Babylon."

Verse 25

O destroying mountain - An epithet which he applies to the Babylonish government; it is like a burning mountain, which, by vomiting continual streams of burning lava inundates and destroys all towns, villages fields, etc., in its vicinity.
And roll thee down from the rocks - I will tumble thee from the rocky base on which thou restest. The combustible matter in thy bowels being exhausted, thou shalt appear as an extinguished crater; and the stony mutter which thou castest out shall not be of sufficient substance to make a foundation stone for solidity, or a corner stone for beauty, ^[711]. Under this beautiful and most expressive metaphor, the prophet shows the nature of the Babylonish government; setting the nations on fire, deluging and destroying them by its troops, till at last, exhausted, it tumbles down, is extinguished, and leaves nothing as a basis to erect a new form of government on; but is altogether useless, like the cooled lava, which is, properly speaking, fit for no human purpose.

Verse 27

Set ye up a standard - Another summons to the Medes and Persians to attack Babylon.
Ararat, Minni - The Greater and Lesser Armenia.
And Ashchenaz - A part of Phrygia, near the Hellespont. So Bochart, Phaleg, lib. 1 c. 3, lib. 3 c. 9. Concerning Ashchenaz Homer seems to speak, Il. 2:370, 371: - Φορκυς αυ Φρυγας ηγε, και Ασκανιος θεοειδης, Τηλ' εξ Ασκανιης. "Ascanius, godlike youth, and Phorcys led
The Phrygians from Ascania's distant land."
Calmet thinks that the Ascantes, who dwelt in the vicinity of the Tanais, are meant.

Verse 29

And the land shall tremble - It is represented here as trembling under the numerous armies that are passing over it, and the prancing of their horses.

Verse 30

The mighty men - have forborne to fight - They were panic-struck when they found the Medes and Persians within their walls, and at once saw that resistance was useless.

Verse 31

One post shall run to meet another - As the city was taken by surprise, in the manner already related, so now messengers, one after another, were dispatched to give the king information of what was done; viz., that the city was taken at one end. Herodotus tells us that the extreme parts of the city were taken, before those of the center knew any thing of the invasion. Herodot. lib. 1 c. 191.

Verse 32

That the passages are stopped - Either the bridges or slips for boats, by which the inhabitants passed from one side to the other, and may mean the principal gates or passes in the city, which the victorious army would immediately seize, that they might prevent all communication between the inhabitants.
The reeds they have burned with fire - What this means I cannot tell, unless it refer to something done after the taking of the city. Setting fire to the reeds in the marshy ground, in order the better to clear the places, and give a freer passage to the water, that it may neither stagnate nor turn the solid ground into a marsh. Dr. Blayney thinks it refers to the firing of the houses, in order to throw the inhabitants into the greater confusion; but no historian makes any mention of burning the city, except what is said ^[712], "They have burned her dwelling places;" and this may be a poetical expression. That they burnt nothing before they took the city must be evident from the circumstance of their taking the city by surprise, in the night time, with the greatest secrecy. Still there might have been some gates, barricadoes, or wooden works, serving for barracks or such like, which obstructed some of the great passages, which, when they had entered, they were obliged to burn, in order to get themselves a ready passage through the city. This is the more likely because this burning of reeds is connected with the stopping of the passages, burning the dwelling places, and breaking the bars.

Verse 33

The daughter of Babylon is like a threshing floor - The threshing wheel is gone over her; she is trodden under foot.

Verse 34

Nebuchadrezzar - hath devoured me - These are the words of Judea; he has taken away all my riches.
He hath cast me out - He shall vomit all up; i.e., they shall be regained.

Verse 35

The violence done to me - be upon Babylon, - and my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea - Zion begins to speak, ^[713], and ends with this verse. The answer of Jehovah begins with the next verse. Though the Chaldeans have been the instrument of God to punish the Jews, yet in return they, being themselves exceedingly wicked, shall suffer for all the carnage they have made, and for all the blood they have shed.

Verse 36

I will dry up her sea - Exhaust all her treasures.

Verse 37

Without an inhabitant - See ^[714].

Verse 39

In their heat I will make their feasts - It was on the night of a feast day, while their hearts were heated with wine and revelry, that Babylon was taken; see ^[715]. This feast was held in honor of the goddess Sheshach, (or perhaps of Bel), who is mentioned, ^[716], as being taken with her worshippers. As it was in the night the city was taken, many had retired to rest, and never awoke; slain in their beds, they slept a perpetual sleep.

Verse 41

How is Sheshach taken! - Perhaps the city is here called by the name of its idol.
The praise of the whole earth - One of the seven wonders of the world; superexcellent for the height, breadth, and compass of its walls, its hanging gardens, the temple of Belus, etc., etc.

Verse 42

The sea is come up - A multitude of foes have inundated the city.

Verse 44

I will punish Bel in Babylon - Bel or Belus was their supreme deity.
That which he hath swallowed up - The sacred vessels of the temple of Jerusalem, which were taken thence by Nebuchadnezzar, and dedicated to him in his temple at Babylon.
The wall of Babylon shall fall - It shall cease to be a defense; and shall moulder away until, in process of time, it shall not be discernible.

Verse 45

My people, go ye out - A warning to all the Jews in Babylon to leave the city, and escape for their lives.

Verse 46

A rumor shall - come one year - A year before the capture of the city there shall be a rumor of war, - and in that year Belshazzar was defeated by Cyrus. In the following year the city was taken.

Verse 48

The heaven and the earth - shall sing for Babylon - Its fall shall be a subject of universal rejoicing.

Verse 50

Ye that have escaped the sword - The Jews.
Let Jerusalem come into your mind - Pray for its restoration; and embrace the first opportunity offered of returning thither.

Verse 51

Strangers are come into the sanctuaries - The lamentation of the pious Jews for the profanation of the temple by the Chaldeans.

Verse 53

Though Babylon should mount up to heaven - Though it were fortified even to the skies, it shall fall by the enemies that I will send against it.

Verse 55

The great voice - Its pride and insufferable boasting.

Verse 56

The Lord God of recompenses - The fall of Babylon is an act of Divine justice; whatever it suffers, it is in consequence of its crimes.

Verse 57

I will make drunk her princes - See on ^[717] (note).

Verse 58

The broad walls of Babylon - Herodotus, who saw these walls, says, "The city was a regular square, each side of which was one hand red and twenty stadia, the circumference four hundred and eighty stadia. It was surrounded by a wall fifty cubits broad, and two hundred cubits high; and each side had twenty-five brazen gates." - Herod. lib. 1 c. 178. Had not Cyrus resorted to stratagem, humanly speaking, he could not have taken this city. For the destruction of this wall and its very vestiges, see on ^[718] (note).

Verse 59

The word which Jeremiah - On account of the message sent by Jeremiah to the Jewish captives in Babylon.

Verse 60

Wrote in a book - Whether this book contained any more than is recorded in this place we do not know; probably it contained no more than what is found in ^[719]. A book, ספר sepher, signifies, in Hebrew, any writing, great or small.

Verse 64

Thus shall Babylon sink, etc. - This is the emblem of its overthrow and irretrievable ruin. See ^[720], where we find that this is an emblem of the total ruin of mystical Babylon.
Herodotus relates a similar action of the Phocaeans, who, having resolved to leave their country, and never return to it again, μυδρον σιδηρεον κατεπονωσαν, και ωμοσαν μη πριν ες Φωκαιην ἡξειν, πριν η τον μυδρον τουτον αναφηναι· "threw a mass of iron into the sea, and swore that they would never return to Phocaea till that iron mass should rise and swim on the top." The story is this: The Phocaeans, being besieged by Harpagus, general of the Persians, demanded one day's truce to deliberate on the propositions he had made to them relative to their surrendering their city; and begged that in the mean while he would take off his army from the walls. Harpagus having consented, they carried their wives, children, and their most valuable effects, aboard their ships; then, throwing a mass of iron into the sea, bound themselves by an oath never to return till that iron should rise to the top and swim. See Herodotus, lib. 1 c. 165.
Horace refers to this in his epode Ad Populum Romanum, Epode 16 ver. 25: -
Sed juremus in haec: simul imis saxa renarint
Vadis levata, ne redire sit nefas. "As the Phocaeans oft for freedom bled,
At length with imprecated curses fled."
Francis.
Thus far are the words of Jeremiah - It appears that the following chapter is not the work of this prophet: it is not his style. The author of it writes Jehoiachin; Jeremiah writes him always Jeconiah, or Coniah. It is merely historical, and is very similar to 2 Kings 24:18-25:30. The author, whoever he was, relates the capture of Jerusalem, the fate of Zedekiah, the pillage and burning of the city and the temple. He mentions also certain persons of distinction who were slain by the Chaldeans. He mentions the number of the captives that were carried to Babylon at three different times; and concludes with the deliverance of King Jehoiachin from prison in Babylon, in which he had been for thirty-seven years. It is very likely that the whole chapter has been compiled from some chronicle of that time, or it was designed as a preface to the Book of the Lamentations; and would stand with great propriety before it, as it contains the facts on which that inimitable poem is built. Were it allowable, I would remove it to that place.

Chapter 52

Introduction

This chapter was added after Jeremiah's time probably by Ezra, after the return from the captivity, of which it gives a short account, nearly the same as in ^[721], and ^[722]. It is very properly subjoined to the preceding prophecies, in order to show how exactly they were fulfilled. It likewise forms a proper introduction to the following Lamentations, as it gives an account of the mournful events which gave rise to them. Zedekiah's evil reign and rebellion against Nebuchadnezzar, ^[723]. Jerusalem is taken by the Chaldeans after a siege of eighteen months, ^[724]. Zedekiah pursued and taken in the plains of Jericho, and his whole army dispersed, ^[725], ^[726]. The king's sons and all the princes of Judah slain in Riblah, ^[727]. Zedekiah has his eyes put out by order of the Chaldean monarch; and is afterward bound in chains, carried to Babylon, and imprisoned for life, ^[728]. Nebuzar-adan, the captain of the guard, burns and spoils the city and temple, ^[729]. The two pillars of the temple, with their dimensions and ornaments, ^[730]. The officers of the temple, and several others, carried away captives into Babylon, and then slain by order of Nebuchadnezzar, ^[731]. The number of Jews that Nebuchadnezzar carried away captive in the seventh year of his reign, ^[732]; in his eighteenth year, ^[733]; and in his twenty-third year, ^[734]. Evil-merodach, the son of Nebuchadnezzar, in the year of his accession to the throne of Babylon, (which was in the thirty-seventh year of the captivity, and the one hundred and ninety-first from the building of Rome, according to the computation of Varro), orders Jehoiachin to be taken out of prison, and treats him kindly for the remainder of his life, ^[735].

Verse 1

Zedekiah was one and twenty years old - See ^[736].

Verse 2

And he did - evil - This and the following verse are the same as ^[737].

Verse 3

Through the anger of the Lord - Here is a king given to a people in God's anger, and taken away in his displeasure.

Verse 4

Ninth year - tenth month - Answering nearly to our January.

Verse 5

So the city was besieged - It held out one year and six months.

Verse 6

And in the fourth month - See the notes on ^[738], etc. The fourth month answers nearly to our July.

Verse 8

The army of the Chaldeans pursued - See on ^[739] (note).

Verse 9

King of Babylon to Riblah - See the note on ^[740].

Verse 11

He put out the eyes of Zedekiah - See on ^[741] (note).

Verse 12

Now in the fifth month - Answering nearly to our August.

Verse 13

And burned the house of the Lord - Thus perished this magnificent structure, after it had stood four hundred and twenty-four years three months and eight days. It was built A.M. 2992, and destroyed A.M. 3416.

Verse 15

Those that fell away - The deserters to the Chaldeans during the siege.

Verse 16

The poor of the land - See on ^[742] (note).

Verse 17

Also the pillars - See on ^[743] (note).

Verse 18

In reference to these verses see the parallel texts ^[744] (note); ^[745] (note); ^[746] (note); ^[747] (note); ^[748] (note); ^[749] (note), and the notes.

Verse 24

The second priest - See the note on ^[750].
The three keepers - The priests who stood at the door to receive the offerings of the people, see ^[751], and ^[752].

Verse 25

Seven men - that were near the king's person - These were privy counsellors.

Verse 28

On these verses Dr. Blayney has some sensible remarks; I will extract the substance. These verses are not inserted in 2 Kings 25. Are we to conclude from these verses that the whole number of the Jews which Nebuchadnezzar, in all his expeditions, carried away, was no more than four thousand six hundred? This cannot be true; for he carried away more than twice that number at one time and this is expressly said to have been in the eighth year of his reign, ^[753]. Before that time he had carried off a number of captives from Jerusalem, in the first year of his reign, among whom were Daniel and his companions, ^[754]. These are confessedly not noticed here. And as the taking and burning of Jerusalem is in this very chapter said to have been in the fourth and fifth months of the nineteenth year of the reign of Nebuchadnezzar, those who were carried into captivity at the date of those events cannot possibly be the same with those that are said to be carried away either in the eighteenth or twenty-third year of that prince. Nor, indeed, is it credible that the number carried away at the time that the city was taken, and the whole country reduced, could be so few as eight hundred and thirty-two, (see ^[755]); supposing a mistake in the date of the year, which some are willing to do without sufficient grounds.
Here then we have three deportations, and those the most considerable ones, in the first, in the eighth, and nineteenth years of Nebuchadnezzar, sufficiently distinguished from those in the seventh, eighteenth, and twenty-third years. So that it seems most reasonable to conclude with Abp. Usher, in Chronologia Sacra, that by the latter three the historian meant to point out deportations of a minor kind, not elsewhere noticed in direct terms in Scripture.
The first of these, said to have been in the seventh year of Nebuchadnezzar, was one of those that had been picked up in several parts of Judah by the band of Chaldeans, Syrians, and others, whom the king of Babylon sent against the land previously to his own coming, ^[756].
That in the eighteenth year corresponds with the time when the Chaldean army broke off the siege before Jerusalem, and marched to meet the Egyptian army, at which time they might think it proper to send off the prisoners that were in camp, under a guard to Babylon.
And the last, in the twenty-third year of Nebuchadnezzar, was when that monarch, being engaged in the siege of Tyre, sent off Nebuzaradan against the Moabites, Ammonites, and other neighboring nations, who at the same time carried away the gleanings of Jews that remained in their own land, amounting in all to no more than seven hundred and forty-five.
Josephus speaks of this expedition against the Moabites and Ammonites, which he places in the twenty-third year or Nebuchadnezzar; but mentions nothing done in the land of Israel at that time. Only he says that after the conquest of those nations, Nebuchadnezzar carried his victorious arms against Egypt, which he in some measure reduced, and carried the Jews whom he found there captives to Babylon. But the Egyptian expedition was not till the twenty-seventh year of Jehoiachin's captivity, i.e., the thirty-fifth of Nebuchadnezzar, as may be collected from ^[757]; so that those who were carried away in the twenty-third year were not from Egypt, but were, as before observed, the few Jews that remained in the land of Judah.

Verse 31

In the twelfth month - Answering nearly to our twenty-fifth of April, A.M. 3442.
Lifted up the head of Jehoiachin - This phrase is taken from ^[758]. It is founded on the observation that those who are in sorrow hold down their heads, and when they are comforted, or the cause of their sorrow removed, they lift up their heads. The Hebrew phrase, lift up the head, signifies to comfort, cheer, make happy.

Verse 32

Spake kindly - Conversed freely with him.
Set his throne - Gave him a more respectable seat than any of the captive princes, or better than even his own princes had, probably near his person.

Verse 33

And changed his prison garments - That is, Jehoiachin changed his own garments, that he might be suited in that respect to the state of his elevation. Kings also, in token of favor, gave caftans or robes to those whom they wish to honor.
And he did continually eat bread before him - Was a constant guest at the king's table.

Verse 34

And - there was a continual diet given him - This was probably a ration allowed by the king for the support of Jehoiachin's household. For other particulars, see the note on ^[759].
All the days of his life - I believe these words have been by mistake added from the preceding verse. There, they are proper; here, they are tautological. They are wanting in the Septuagint and in the Arabic.
The preceding words, עד יום מותו ad yom motho, "to the day of his death," are wanting in two of De Rossi's and one of Kennicott's MSS.
Coverdale ends thus: - All the days of his life until he died. This is better than the common Version.
Immediately after this verse my old MS. Bible adds the following words: And done is aftir that into caitifte is brougt Israel, and Jerusalem is bestroide, satte Jeremye the prophet weepund, and weiled with this lamentation Jerusalem; and with bitter inwit sighand and criand weilawai, seide. Then follows in red letters: Here beginneth the Lamentation of Jeremye, that is intitle Cenoth; with the sortynge out of Ebrue letters.
Aleph: How sitteth aloon the city, etc. See something of a similar kind from other authorities, at the beginning of Lamentations.
Masoretic notes
Number of verses in this Book, 1365.
Middle verse, ^[760].
Masoretic sections, 31.

1. Jos 21:18
2. Jer 44:14
3. Jer 44:27
4. Jer 44:28
5. Jer 6:30
6. Jer 17:19-27
7. Jer 3:1-5
8. Jer 47:1-7
9. Jer 20:14-18
10. Jer 46:2-12
11. Jer 45:1-5
12. Jer 12:14-17
13. Jer 10:17-25
14. Jer 34:1-7
15. Jer 37:1-10
16. Jer 34:8-22
17. Jer 24:1-10
18. Jer 37:11-21
19. Jer 39:15-18
20. Jer 49:34-39
21. Jer 51:59-64
22. Jer 21:1-14
23. Jer 39:1-10
24. Jer 39:11-14
25. Jer 43:8-13
26. Jer 46:1
27. Jer 49:23-27
28. Jer 49:14
29. Jer 49:28-33
30. Jer 1:1
31. Jer 35:1
32. Jer 3:6
33. Jer 36:1
34. Jer 21:1
35. Jer 37:1
36. Jer 24:1
37. Jer 37:11
38. Jer 25:1
39. Jer 38:1
40. Jer 26:1
41. Jer 39:15
42. Jer 28:1
43. Jer 45:1
44. Jer 29:1
45. Jer 46:2
46. Jer 32:1
47. Jer 49:34
48. Jer 34:1
49. Jer 51:59
50. Jer 34:8
51. Jer 1:1-3
52. Jer 1:4-10
53. Jer 1:11-16
54. Jer 1:17-19
55. Gal 1:15
56. Gal 1:16
57. Isa 6:10
58. Eze 24:3
59. Jer 2:1-3
60. Jer 2:4-11
61. Jer 2:12
62. Jer 2:13
63. Jer 2:14-17
64. Jer 2:18
65. Jer 2:19
66. Jer 2:20-29
67. Jer 2:30
68. Jer 2:31
69. Jer 2:37
70. Exo 24:6-8
71. Num 18:13
72. Isa 23:3
73. Isa 5:1
74. Pro 25:20
75. 2Kgs 21:16
76. Eze 34:10
77. 2Chr 28:13-21
78. Jer 37:7-8
79. 2Sam 13:19
80. Jer 3:1-5
81. Jer 3:6-11
82. Jer 3:12-20
83. Jer 3:21
84. Jer 3:22
85. Jer 3:22-25
86. Jer 2:27
87. Luk 18:14
88. 2Kgs 17:6
89. Jer 11:13
90. Hos 9:10
91. Jer 4:1
92. Jer 4:2
93. Jer 4:3
94. Jer 4:4
95. Jer 4:5
96. Jer 4:6
97. Jer 4:7-9
98. Jer 4:10
99. Jer 4:11-18
100. Jer 4:19-21
101. Jer 4:22
102. Jer 4:23-31
103. Isa 21:1
104. Zep 1:3
105. Jer 5:1
106. Jer 5:2
107. Jer 5:3
108. Jer 5:4
109. Jer 5:5
110. Jer 5:6
111. Jer 5:7-9
112. Jer 5:10
113. Jer 5:11-13
114. Jer 5:14
115. Jer 5:15-17
116. Jer 5:18
117. Jer 5:19
118. Jer 5:20-31
119. Gen 18:26
120. Jer 4:2
121. Jer 4:7
122. Jer 5:19
123. Jer 3:3
124. Jer 6:1
125. Jer 6:2-5
126. Jer 6:6
127. Jer 6:7
128. Jer 6:8
129. Jer 6:9-15
130. Jer 6:16-18
131. Jer 6:19
132. Jer 6:20
133. Jer 6:21-23
134. Jer 6:24
135. Jer 6:25
136. Jer 6:26
137. Jer 6:27-30
138. Isa 43:24
139. Exo 30:23
140. Jer 6:30
141. Jer 7:1-11
142. Jer 7:12-15
143. Jer 7:16
144. Jer 7:17-20
145. Jer 7:21-24
146. Jer 7:25-34
147. Jer 7:29
148. Num 6:2
149. Jer 7:21
150. Ezr 9:3
151. Isa 15:2
152. Jer 41:5
153. Eph 2:3
154. Jer 7:33
155. Jer 19:6-15
156. Jer 8:1-3
157. Jer 8:4-6
158. Jer 8:7-9
159. Jer 8:10-13
160. Jer 8:14
161. Jer 8:15
162. Jer 8:16
163. Jer 8:17
164. Jer 8:18-22
165. Jer 8:4-13
166. Jer 8:14-16
167. Jer 8:17
168. Jer 8:18-20
169. Jer 8:21
170. Jer 9:1
171. Jer 8:15
172. Jer 6:13-15
173. Jer 8:15
174. 2Kgs 25:1-3
175. Jer 9:1-9
176. Jer 9:10-17
177. Jer 9:17
178. Jer 9:18
179. Jer 9:19-22
180. Jer 9:23
181. Jer 9:24
182. Jer 9:25
183. Jer 9:26
184. Jer 6:27
185. Mat 9:23
186. 2Sam 19:4
187. Mat 9:23
188. Jer 10:1
189. Jer 10:2
190. Jer 10:3-16
191. Jer 10:17
192. Jer 10:18
193. Jer 10:19-25
194. Isa 40:19
195. Isa 44:9
196. Jer 10:10
197. Jer 51:16
198. Isa 44:10
199. Isa 44:11
200. Isa 44:10
201. Isa 44:11
202. Deu 4:19
203. Deu 32:9
204. Psa 16:5
205. Psa 119:67
206. Isa 57:6
207. Jer 10:17
208. Jer 11:1-5
209. Jer 11:6-19
210. Jer 11:11-13
211. Jer 11:14
212. Jer 11:15
213. Jer 11:16
214. Jer 11:17
215. Jer 11:18-23
216. Exo 24:4-8
217. Jer 2:28
218. Jer 12:1-4
219. Jer 12:5
220. Jer 12:6
221. Jer 12:7-13
222. Jer 12:14-17
223. Jer 12:10
224. Eph 2:13-22
225. Jer 13:1-11
226. Jer 13:12-14
227. Jer 13:15-17
228. Jer 13:18-27
229. Jer 13:11
230. Jer 13:9
231. Jer 13:27
232. Jer 14:1-6
233. Jer 14:7-9
234. Jer 14:10-12
235. Jer 14:13-16
236. Jer 14:17
237. Jer 14:18
238. Jer 14:19-22
239. 1Kgs 18:5
240. 2Kgs 25:3
241. Lam 2:11-19
242. Exo 24:7
243. Exo 24:8
244. Exo 19:5
245. Jer 15:1
246. Jer 15:2-9
247. Jer 15:10
248. Jer 15:11-14
249. Jer 15:15-18
250. Jer 15:19-21
251. Exo 32:11
252. Num 14:13
253. 1Sam 7:9
254. Jer 18:21
255. Jer 39:11
256. Jer 16:1-9
257. Jer 16:10-13
258. Jer 16:14
259. Jer 16:15
260. Jer 16:16-18
261. Jer 16:19-21
262. Jer 14:16
263. Jer 8:2
264. Jer 7:33
265. Lev 19:28
266. Deu 14:1
267. Jer 7:15
268. Jer 9:15
269. Isa 43:18
270. Jer 17:1-4
271. Jer 17:5-8
272. Jer 17:9
273. Jer 17:10
274. Jer 17:11
275. Jer 17:12-18
276. Jer 17:19-27
277. Deu 3:25
278. Act 1:24
279. Jer 17:25
280. Jer 17:26
281. Jer 18:1-10
282. Jer 18:11
283. Jer 18:12-17
284. Jer 18:18
285. Jer 18:19
286. Jer 18:20
287. Jer 18:21-23
288. Rom 9:20
289. Rom 9:22
290. Jer 2:25
291. Jer 19:1-15
292. 1Chr 24:4
293. Jer 7:33
294. Jer 20:1
295. Jer 20:2
296. Jer 20:3-6
297. Jer 20:7-10
298. Jer 20:11-13
299. Jer 20:14-18
300. Gen 9:27
301. Jer 1:6
302. Jer 20:9
303. Job 3:3
304. Rev 12:6
305. Jer 21:1
306. Jer 21:2
307. Jer 21:3-10
308. Jer 21:11
309. Jer 21:12
310. Jer 21:13
311. Jer 21:14
312. Jer 21:1-14
313. Jer 34:1
314. Jer 22:14
315. Jer 22:5-9
316. Jer 22:10-12
317. Jer 22:13-19
318. Jer 22:20-30
319. Deu 29:22
320. 2Kgs 23:30-34
321. 2Kgs 23:35-37
322. 1Kgs 13:30
323. Jer 30:7
324. Eze 6:11
325. Joe 1:15
326. Amo 5:16
327. Amo 5:17
328. Rev 18:10-19
329. Jer 22:22
330. Jer 22:10
331. 2Kgs 24:12
332. 2Kgs 24:13
333. 1Chr 3:17
334. Jer 23:1
335. Jer 23:2
336. Jer 23:3-8
337. Jer 23:9-22
338. Jer 23:23-32
339. Jer 23:33-40
340. 1Cor 1:30
341. Jer 16:14
342. Jer 16:15
343. Jer 23:19
344. Jer 23:17
345. Jer 23:10
346. Jer 23:24
347. Num 12:6
348. 1Sam 28:6
349. Joe 3:1
350. Dan 7:1
351. Jer 23:28
352. Heb 4:12
353. Jer 23:21
354. Jer 23:32
355. Jer 23:30
356. Jer 23:31
357. Jer 23:32
358. Jer 23:34
359. Jer 24:1-10
360. Jer 24:2
361. Jer 24:6
362. Jer 25:1-7
363. Jer 25:8-11
364. Jer 25:12-14
365. Jer 25:15-29
366. Jer 25:30-38
367. Jer 7:34
368. Jer 16:9
369. Isa 13:19
370. Isa 13:19
371. Isa 51:21
372. Job 1:1
373. Gen 25:3
374. Gen 36:15
375. Gen 22:21
376. Gen 25:2
377. Gen 25:6
378. Jer 26:1-7
379. Jer 26:8-18
380. Jer 26:20-23
381. Jer 26:24
382. Jer 7:13
383. Jer 26:21-23
384. Jer 40:5
385. Jer 27:1-11
386. Jer 27:11-18
387. Jer 27:19-22
388. Jer 28:1
389. Jer 52:31
390. Dan 5:11
391. 2Chr 36:7-10
392. Jer 27:22
393. Ezr 1:7
394. Ezr 7:19
395. 1Kgs 7:16-22
396. Jer 52:11
397. 2Kgs 25:13
398. Jer 52:17
399. Jer 52:20-21
400. Jer 52:17-23
401. 2Kgs 25:13
402. 2Chr 36:18
403. Jer 28:2
404. Jer 28:3
405. Jer 28:4
406. Jer 28:1
407. Jer 29:1-14
408. Jer 29:15-19
409. Jer 29:20-23
410. Jer 29:24-32
411. Jer 29:9
412. Jer 29:10-13
413. Deu 30:3
414. Deu 4:7
415. Jer 29:16
416. Jer 29:18
417. Jer 29:3
418. Jer 29:23
419. Dan 3:6
420. Amo 2:1
421. Jer 52:24
422. Jer 37:3
423. 2Kgs 11:3
424. 2Kgs 9:11
425. Hos 9:7
426. Jer 30:1-9
427. Jer 30:10
428. Jer 30:11
429. Jer 30:12-17
430. Jer 30:18-22
431. Jer 30:23
432. Jer 30:24
433. Isa 13:6-8
434. Jer 30:7
435. Isa 55:3
436. Isa 55:4
437. Eze 34:23
438. Eze 34:24
439. Eze 37:24
440. Eze 37:25
441. Hos 3:5
442. Jer 30:17
443. Jer 30:12
444. Jer 31:1-5
445. Jer 31:6
446. Jer 31:7-14
447. Jer 31:15
448. Jer 31:16
449. Jer 31:17
450. Jer 31:18-20
451. Jer 31:21
452. Jer 31:22
453. Jer 31:23-26
454. Jer 31:27
455. Jer 31:28
456. Jer 31:29-40
457. Jer 30:5-9
458. Jer 30:10
459. Jer 30:11
460. Jer 30:12-17
461. Jer 30:18-22
462. Jer 30:23
463. Jer 31:1
464. Jer 31:2
465. Jer 31:2-5
466. Jer 31:6-9
467. Jer 31:10-14
468. Jer 31:15-17
469. Jer 31:18-20
470. Jer 31:21
471. Jer 31:22
472. Jer 31:23-26
473. Jer 31:27-30
474. Jer 31:31-34
475. Jer 31:35-37
476. Jer 31:38-40
477. Isa 40:3
478. Lev 19:23-25
479. 2Kgs 15:29
480. 2Kgs 17:6
481. Mat 2:17
482. Mat 2:18
483. Eze 21:12
484. Jer 31:24
485. Jer 31:24
486. Jer 31:25
487. Jer 30:2
488. Jer 31:25
489. Jer 31:35-37
490. Jer 31:40
491. Jer 32:1-5
492. Jer 32:6-14
493. Jer 32:15
494. Jer 32:16-25
495. Jer 32:26-35
496. Jer 32:36-44
497. 2Kgs 25:8
498. 2Kgs 25:18
499. Lev 25:25
500. Lev 25:13
501. Jer 32:14
502. Jer 29:14
503. Jer 31:8
504. Jer 33:1-9
505. Jer 33:10-13
506. Jer 33:14-26
507. Jer 31:12
508. Jer 23:5
509. Jer 31:31
510. Hos 1:10
511. Hos 2:15
512. Hos 6:11
513. Amo 9:14
514. Jer 3:12
515. Mic 7:9
516. Zep 3:10
517. Jer 16:15
518. Jer 23:3
519. Jer 29:10
520. Jer 32:37
521. Jer 32:14
522. Jer 32:15
523. Jer 32:16
524. Jer 23:6
525. Jer 23:6
526. Num 25:13
527. Jer 31:36
528. 1Sam 2:35
529. Jer 33:26
530. Jer 34:1-7
531. Jer 34:8-11
532. Jer 34:12-22
533. Jer 34:1-7
534. Jer 34:8-22
535. Jer 39:4
536. Jer 52:7
537. 2Chr 16:14
538. Jer 22:18
539. 2Chr 11:9-11
540. 2Chr 32:9
541. Jer 34:14
542. Deu 15:12
543. Gen 15:9-17
544. 2Kgs 10:15
545. 2Kgs 10:16
546. Jer 35:1-11
547. Jer 35:12-17
548. Jer 35:18
549. Jer 35:19
550. 1Chr 2:55
551. Num 10:29-32
552. Jdg 1:16
553. Jdg 4:11
554. Jer 36:1-3
555. Jer 36:4-8
556. Jer 36:9
557. Jer 36:10
558. Jer 36:11-19
559. Jer 36:20-25
560. Jer 36:26
561. Jer 36:27-31
562. Jer 36:32
563. Jer 36:9
564. Jer 36:12
565. Jer 36:19
566. Jer 22:19
567. Jer 37:1
568. Jer 37:2
569. Jer 37:3-5
570. Jer 37:6-10
571. Jer 37:11-15
572. Jer 37:16-21
573. 2Kgs 24:1
574. Jer 37:16
575. Eze 29:6
576. Jer 38:1-6
577. Jer 38:7-13
578. Jer 38:14-23
579. Jer 38:24-28
580. Jer 36:21
581. Jer 39:5
582. Jer 39:6
583. Jer 39:1-10
584. Jer 39:11-14
585. Jer 39:15-18
586. Est 2:16
587. Gen 10:18
588. Jer 40:1-5
589. Jer 40:6-12
590. Jer 40:13-16
591. Jer 40:14
592. Jer 41:1-10
593. Jer 41:11-18
594. Jer 41:14
595. 1Kgs 15:22
596. 2Sam 19:37
597. Jer 42:1-3
598. Jer 42:4-18
599. Jer 42:19-22
600. Jer 43:1-7
601. Jer 43:8-13
602. Jer 43:12
603. Jer 41:10
604. Jer 44:30
605. Jer 15:2
606. Jer 44:30
607. Jer 44:1-14
608. Jer 44:17
609. Exo 29:23
610. Lev 2:4
611. Lev 23:16
612. Num 6:15
613. Jer 43:12
614. Jer 45:1-3
615. Jer 45:4
616. Jer 45:5
617. Jer 36:26
618. Jer 21:9
619. Jer 38:2
620. Jer 39:18
621. Jer 46:1-6
622. Jer 46:7
623. Jer 46:8
624. Jer 46:9-12
625. Jer 46:13-26
626. Jer 46:27
627. Jer 46:28
628. Gen 10:6
629. Gen 10:13
630. Jer 44:30
631. Jer 44:1
632. Jos 19:22
633. Isa 29:4
634. Eze 29:13
635. Jer 25:20
636. Jer 47:1-5
637. Jer 47:6
638. Jer 47:7
639. Jer 48:1-3
640. Jer 48:4
641. Jer 48:5
642. Jer 48:6
643. Jer 48:7
644. Jer 48:8
645. Jer 48:9
646. Jer 48:10
647. Jer 48:11
648. Jer 48:13-18
649. Jer 48:19-24
650. Jer 48:25
651. Jer 48:26
652. Jer 48:27
653. Jer 48:47
654. Isa 15:1-9
655. Isa 16:1-14
656. Num 21:29
657. Jdg 11:24
658. Isa 25:6
659. Jer 48:6
660. Eze 25:8
661. Isa 16:1
662. Isa 16:8
663. Isa 24:17
664. Isa 24:18
665. Jer 48:2
666. Num 21:28
667. Jer 48:42
668. Jer 49:1-5
669. Jer 49:6
670. Jer 49:23-27
671. Jer 49:28
672. Jer 49:29
673. Jer 49:30-33
674. Jer 49:34-38
675. Jer 49:39
676. Jer 49:3
677. Jer 25:29
678. Jer 12:5
679. Jer 48:40
680. 2Sam 8:6
681. 1Kgs 11:24
682. Gen 25:13
683. Jer 49:8
684. Dan 8:2
685. Isa 22:6
686. Jer 50:1-3
687. Jer 50:4
688. Jer 50:5
689. Jer 50:6
690. Jer 50:7
691. Jer 50:8-10
692. Jer 50:35-40
693. Jer 50:41-45
694. Jer 50:46
695. Jer 51:59-64
696. Jer 50:4
697. Jer 50:24
698. Jer 49:18
699. Jer 6:22-24
700. Jer 49:19
701. Jer 49:21
702. Jer 51:1-14
703. Jer 51:15-19
704. Jer 51:45
705. Jer 51:46
706. Jer 51:47-58
707. Jer 51:59-64
708. Rev 18:21
709. Jer 10:12-16
710. Jer 50:23
711. Jer 51:26
712. Jer 51:30
713. Jer 51:34
714. Jer 50:39
715. Dan 5:1-3
716. Jer 51:41
717. Jer 51:39
718. Isa 13:19
719. Jer 51:62-64
720. Rev 18:21
721. 2Kgs 24:18-20
722. 2Kgs 24:18-20
723. Jer 52:1-3
724. Jer 52:4-7
725. Jer 52:8
726. Jer 52:9
727. Jer 52:10
728. Jer 52:11
729. Jer 52:12-19
730. Jer 52:20-23
731. Jer 52:24-27
732. Jer 52:28
733. Jer 52:29
734. Jer 52:30
735. Jer 52:31-34
736. 2Kgs 24:18
737. 2Kgs 24:19
738. Jer 39:1
739. 2Kgs 25:5
740. Jer 39:5
741. Jer 39:7
742. Jer 39:1
743. Jer 27:19
744. Exo 27:3
745. 2Kgs 25:14-16
746. 1Kgs 7:47
747. 1Kgs 7:15
748. 2Chr 3:15
749. 1Kgs 7:20
750. 2Kgs 25:18
751. 2Kgs 20:9
752. 2Kgs 23:4
753. 2Kgs 24:12-16
754. Dan 1:3-6
755. Jer 52:29
756. 2Kgs 24:2
757. Eze 29:17
758. Gen 40:13
759. 2Kgs 25:30
760. Jer 28:11