Jeremiah 10:1
Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: ISRAEL - The Jews, the surviving representatives of the nation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear ye the word which the LORD speaketh unto you, O house of Israel: ISRAEL - The Jews, the surviving representatives of the nation.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the LORD, Learn not the way of the heathen, and be not dismayed at the signs of heaven; for the heathen are dismayed at them. LEARN NOT THE WAY OF THE HEATHEN, AND BE NOT DISMAYED AT THE SIGNS OF HEAVEN. Eichorn thinks the reference here to be to some celestial portent which had appea... [ Continue Reading ]
For the customs of the people are vain: for one cutteth a tree out of the forest, the work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. ONE CUTTETH A TREE OUT OF THE FOREST. Maurer translates, 'It (that which their "customs" have regard to: a sample of their "customs") is a tree which they cut out... [ Continue Reading ]
They deck it with silver and with gold; they fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move not. THEY FASTEN IT WITH NAILS AND WITH HAMMERS, THAT IT MOVE NOT - i:e., that it may stand upright without risk of falling, which the god (!) would do if left to itself ().... [ Continue Reading ]
They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not: they must needs be borne, because they cannot go. Be not afraid of them; for they cannot do evil, neither also is it in them to do good. UPRIGHT, [ miqshaah (H4749)] - 'Made of one solid piece,' one Rabbi translates it, or, 'They are of turned wo... [ Continue Reading ]
Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O LORD; thou art great, and thy name is great in might. NONE - literally, no particle of nothing: nothing whatever; the strongest possible denial (, "Who is like unto thee, O Lord, among the gods? who is like thee, glorious in holiness, fearful in prais... [ Continue Reading ]
Who would not fear thee, O King of nations? for to thee doth it appertain: forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. WHO WOULD NOT FEAR THEE, O KING OF NATIONS? - (). TO THEE DOTH IT APPERTAIN - to thee it properly belongs, nam... [ Continue Reading ]
But they are altogether brutish and foolish: the stock is a doctrine of vanities. THEY ARE ALTOGETHER - rather, all alike (Maurer). BRUTISH - even the so-called "wise" men () of the Gentiles are on a level with the brutes and "foolish," namely, because they connive at the popular idolatry (cf.... [ Continue Reading ]
Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, and gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of the hands of the founder: blue and purple is their clothing: they are all the work of cunning men. SILVER SPREAD - (note, ; ). TARSHISH - Tartessus, in Spain, famed for precious metals. UP... [ Continue Reading ]
But the LORD is the true God, he is the living God, and an everlasting king: at his wrath the earth shall tremble, and the nations shall not be able to abide his indignation. TRUE GOD - literally, God Yahweh is truth: not merely true, i:e., veracious, but truth in the reality of His essence, as... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus shall ye say unto them, The gods that have not made the heavens and the earth, even they shall perish from the earth, and from under these heavens. SHALL PERISH - (, "The idols He shall utterly abolish," namely, "in the day of the Lord of hosts;" ; ). THESE HEAVENS - the speaker pointing... [ Continue Reading ]
_HE HATH MADE THE EARTH BY HIS POWER, HE HATH ESTABLISHED THE WORLD BY HIS WISDOM, AND HATH STRETCHED OUT THE HEAVENS BY HIS DISCRETION._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters in the heavens, and he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of the earth; he maketh lightnings with rain, and bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. WHEN HE UTTERETH HIS VOICE - literally, 'At the voice of His giving forth,... [ Continue Reading ]
Every man is brutish in his knowledge: every founder is confounded by the graven image: for his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath in them. EVERY MAN - every idol-maker. IN HIS KNOWLEDGE - "is rendered brutish by his skill," namely, in idol-making (Jeremiah 10:8). Thus the parall... [ Continue Reading ]
They are vanity, and the work of errors: in the time of their visitation they shall perish. THE WORK OF ERRORS - deceptions; from a Hebrew root, to stutter; then meaning to mock. IN THE TIME OF THEIR VISITATION THEY SHALL PERISH - when God shall punish the idol-worshippers (namely, by Cyrus),... [ Continue Reading ]
The portion of Jacob is not like them: for he is the former of all things; and Israel is the rod of his inheritance: The LORD of hosts is his name. PORTION - from a Hebrew root, 'to divide' [ cheeleq (H2506), from chaalaq (H2505)]. God is the all-sufficient Good of His people (Numbers 18:20, "Th... [ Continue Reading ]
Gather up thy wares out of the land, O inhabitant of the fortress. GATHER UP THY WARES - thine effects or movable goods (, "Thou Son of man, prepare thee stuff for removing, and remove by day in their sight"). Prepare for migrating as captives to Babylon. The address is to Jerusalem, as represen... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus saith the LORD, Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this once, and will distress them, that they may find it so. SLING OUT - expressing the violence and suddenness of the removal to Babylon. A similar image occurs Jeremiah 16:13; (1 Samuel 25:29, Abigail says to Davi... [ Continue Reading ]
Woe is me for my hurt! my wound is grievous: but I said, Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. WOE IS ME FOR MY HURT! Judea bewails its calamity. WOUND - the stroke I suffer under. I MUST BEAR - not humble submission to God's will (), but sullen impenitence. Or, rather, it is prophetic of... [ Continue Reading ]
My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken: my children are gone forth of me, and they are not: there is none to stretch forth my tent any more, and to set up my curtains. MY TABERNACLE IS SPOILED - metaphor from the tents of nomadic life; as these are taken down in a few moments, so... [ Continue Reading ]
For the pastors are become brutish, and have not sought the LORD: therefore they shall not prosper, and all their flocks shall be scattered. PASTORS - the rulers, civil and religious. This verse gives the cause of the impending calamity.... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, and a great commotion out of the north country, to make the cities of Judah desolate, and a den of dragons. BRUIT. - rumour of invasion. The antithesis is between the voice of God in His prophets, which they turned a deaf ear to, and the cry of the enemy,... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, I know that the way of man is not in himself: it is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. Despairing of influencing the people, he turns to God. WAY OF MAN NOT IN HIMSELF - (, "The preparations of the heart in man, and the answer of the tongue, is from the Lord;" ; James 4:13). I... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, correct me, but with judgment; not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. Since I (my nation) must be corrected (justice requiring it because of the deep guilt of the nation), I do not deprecate all chastisement, but pray only for moderation in it (; ; ); and that the full tide of... [ Continue Reading ]