If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the LORD, return unto me: and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of my sight, then shalt thou not remove. IF THOU WILT RETURN, O ISRAEL, SAITH THE LORD, RETURN UNTO ME - play on words. "If thou wouldest return to thy land, (thou must first) return t... [ Continue Reading ]
And thou shalt swear, The LORD liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in righteousness; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, and in him shall they glory. AND THOU - rather, And if (carried on from ) thou shalt swear, "Yahweh liveth," in truth, etc. - i:e., if thou shalt worship, Him (for w... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Transition to Judah. Supply mentally. All which (the foregoing declaration as to Israel) applies to Judah. AND JERUSALEM - i:e., and especially the men of Jerusalem, as being the mo... [ Continue Reading ]
Circumcise yourselves to the LORD, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem: lest my fury come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench it, because of the evil of your doings. CIRCUMCISE YOURSELVES TO THE LORD ... TAKE AWAY THE FORESKINS OF YO... [ Continue Reading ]
Declare ye in Judah, and publish in Jerusalem; and say, Blow ye the trumpet in the land: cry, gather together, and say, Assemble yourselves, and let us go into the defenced cities. CRY, GATHER TOGETHER - rather 'cry, fully,' i:e., loudly [qir'uw mal'uw] - literally, 'cry, fill.' The Jews are war... [ Continue Reading ]
Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. ZION - the standard toward Zion intimated that the people of the surrounding country were to fly to it, as being the strongest of their fortresses.... [ Continue Reading ]
The lion is come up from his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate; and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. LION - Nebuchadnezzar, and the Chaldeans (; ; , "The first (of the four beasts, namely, the... [ Continue Reading ]
For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. Nothing is left to the Jews but to bewail their desperate condition. ANGER OF THE LORD IS NOT TURNED BACK - (; ; . "For all this His anger is not turned away, but His hand is stretched... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass at that day, saith the LORD, that the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the princes; and the priests shall be astonished, and the prophets shall wonder. HEART OF THE KING SHALL PERISH, AND ... OF THE PRINCES - the wisdom of the most leading men will be ut... [ Continue Reading ]
Then said I, Ah, Lord GOD! surely thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, Ye shall have peace; whereas the sword reacheth unto the soul. THOU HAST ... DECEIVED. God, having even the false prophets in His hands, is here said to do that which, for inscrutable purposes, He perm... [ Continue Reading ]
At that time shall it be said to this people and to Jerusalem, A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward the daughter of my people, not to fan, nor to cleanse, DRY WIND - the simoom, terrific and destructive, blowing from the southeast across the sandy deserts east of Palestine. Ima... [ Continue Reading ]
Even a full wind from those places shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them. FULL ... FROM THOSE PLACES - rather, 'a wind fuller (i:e., more impetuous) than those winds (which fan the grain)' (). (Rosenmuller). UNTO ME - for me, as my instrument, for executing my purpose.... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, he shall come up as clouds, and his chariots shall be as a whirlwind: his horses are swifter than eagles. Woe unto us! for we are spoiled. CLOUDS - continuing the metaphor in Jeremiah 4:11. Clouds of sand and dust accompany the simoom, and after rapid gyrations ascend like a pillar. EA... [ Continue Reading ]
O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? WASH THINE HEART FROM WICKEDNESS, THAT THOU MAYEST BE SAVED. Only one means of deliverance is left to the Jews-a thorough repentance. HOW LONG SHALL THY VAIN THOUGHTS LODG... [ Continue Reading ]
For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim. FOR A VOICE DECLARETH FROM DAN. The connection is: There is danger in delay: for the voice of a messenger announces the approach of the Chaldean enemy from Dan, the northern frontier of Palestine (: cf. ; ). AFFLICTI... [ Continue Reading ]
Make ye mention to the nations; behold, publish against Jerusalem, that watchers come from a far country, and give out their voice against the cities of Judah. MAKE YE MENTION TO THE NATIONS. The neighbouring foreign "nations" are summoned to witness Yahweh's judgments on His rebel people (Jerem... [ Continue Reading ]
As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD. KEEPERS OF A FIELD - metaphor from those who watch a field to frighten away the wild beasts.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee; this is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, because it reacheth unto thine heart. (; ; , "Fools, because of their transgression, and because of their iniquities, are afflicted"). THIS IS THY WICKEDNESS - i:e., the fruit of thy wicke... [ Continue Reading ]
My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at my very heart; my heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war. MY BOWELS, MY BOWELS! The prophet suddenly assumes the language of the Jewish state personified, lamenting it... [ Continue Reading ]
Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a moment. DESTRUCTION UPON DESTRUCTION IS CRIED - breach upon breach is announced (; ). The war "trumpet" ... the battle-shout ... the "destructions" ... the havoc throughout ... [ Continue Reading ]
How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound of the trumpet? HOW LONG SHALL I SEE THE STANDARD? - Judah in perplexity asks, 'How long is this state of things to continue?'... [ Continue Reading ]
For my people is foolish, they have not known me; they are sottish children, and they have none understanding: they are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no knowledge. FOR MY PEOPLE IS FOOLISH - Yahweh's reply; they cannot be otherwise than miserable, since they persevere in sin. Sin is... [ Continue Reading ]
I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void; and the heavens, and they had no light. Graphic picture of the utter desolation about to visit Palestine. "I beheld, and, lo!" four times solemnly repeated, heightens the awful effect of the scene (cf. Isaiah 24:19; Isaiah 34:11). WITH... [ Continue Reading ]
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. MOUNTAINS - (). MOVED LIGHTLY - shook vehemently.... [ Continue Reading ]
I beheld, and, lo, there was no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. NO MAN ... BIRDS - no vestige of the human, or of the feathered creation, is to be seen (; ). From the tendency of the Holy Spirit in the prophets to hasten toward the final consummation, language is used of the des... [ Continue Reading ]
I beheld, and, lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, and all the cities thereof were broken down at the presence of the LORD, and by his fierce anger. FRUITFUL PLACE - Hebrew, the Carmel. A WILDERNESS - Hebrew, 'the wilderness,' in contrast to "the fruitful place;" the great desert; where t... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. YET WILL I NOT MAKE A FULL END - utter destruction: I will leave some hope of restoration to Israel and Judah (; ; ; : cf. ). God's unchangeable character and covenant are the ground of mercy being in... [ Continue Reading ]
For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be black: because I have spoken it, I have purposed it, and will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. FOR THIS - on account of the desolations just described. EARTH MOURN ... HEAVENS ABOVE BE BLACK - (; ). NOT REPENT - (, "God is... [ Continue Reading ]
The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen and bowmen; they shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. WHOLE CITY - all the inhabitants of Jerusalem: to it the inhabitants of the country had fled for refuge; but wh... [ Continue Reading ]
And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. WHEN THOU ART SPOILED -... [ Continue Reading ]
For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, the voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, that spreadeth her hands, saying, Woe is me now! for my soul is wearied because of murderers. ANGUISH - namely, occasioned... [ Continue Reading ]