Remember, O LORD, what is come upon us: consider, and behold our reproach. REMEMBER, O LORD, WHAT IS COME UPON US ... BEHOLD OUR REPROACH - (, "Remember, Lord, the reproach of thy servants; how I do bear in my bosom the reproach of all the mighty people; wherewith thine enemies have reproached, O L... [ Continue Reading ]
Our inheritance is turned to strangers, our houses to aliens. OUR INHERITANCE - which is at the same time "thine inheritance" (). The land given of old to us by thy gift.... [ Continue Reading ]
We are orphans and fatherless, our mothers are as widows. WE ARE ... FATHERLESS - our whole land is full of orphans (Calvin). Or, "we are fatherless," being abandoned by thee our "Father" (). (Grotius.)... [ Continue Reading ]
We have drunken our water for money; our wood is sold unto us. WE HAVE DRUNKEN OUR WATER FOR MONEY. The Jews were compelled to pay the enemy for the water of their own cisterns after the overthrow of Jerusalem. Or rather, it refers to their sojourn in Babylon: they had to pay tax for access to the... [ Continue Reading ]
Our necks are under persecution: we labour, and have no rest. OUR NECKS ARE UNDER PERSECUTION - literally, On our necks we are persecuted - i:e., men tread on our necks (; ; cf. , where Joshua is described as making his captives put their feet upon the necks of the five kings). The extremest oppres... [ Continue Reading ]
We have given the hand to the Egyptians, and to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. WE HAVE GIVEN THE HAND TO - in token of submission (note, ). TO THE EGYPTIANS - at the death of Josiah, when the King of Egypt deposed Josiah's son, Jehoahaz, from the throne, and put Eliakim or Jehoiakim i... [ Continue Reading ]
Our fathers have sinned, and are not; and we have borne their iniquities. OUR FATHERS ... SINNED, AND ARE NOT; AND WE HAVE BORNE THEIR INIQUITIES - (, "The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the children's teeth are set on edge"). BORNE THEIR INIQUITIES - i:e., the punishment of them. The accum... [ Continue Reading ]
Servants have ruled over us: there is none that doth deliver us out of their hand. SERVANTS HAVE RULED OVER US. Servants under the Chaldean governors ruled the Jews (, "Yea even their (the governors') servants bare rule over the people"). Israel, once a "kingdom of priests" (), is become like Canaa... [ Continue Reading ]
We gat our bread with the peril of our lives because of the sword of the wilderness. WE GAT OUR BREAD WITH THE PERIL OF OUR LIVES - i:e., those of us left in the city after its capture by the Chaldeans. BECAUSE OF THE SWORD OF THE WILDERNESS - because of the liability to attack by the robber-Arabs... [ Continue Reading ]
Our skin was black like an oven because of the terrible famine. OUR SKIN WAS BLACK LIKE AN OVEN - as an oven is scorched with too much fire, so our skin with the hot blast of famine (margin, rightly, 'storms' like the hot simoom). Hunger dries up the pores, so that the skin becomes like as if it we... [ Continue Reading ]
They ravished the women in Zion, and the maids in the cities of Judah. THEY RAVISHED THE WOMEN IN ZION. So, in just retribution, Babylon itself should fare in the end (). Jerusalem shall for the last time suffer these woes before her final restoration ().... [ Continue Reading ]
Princes are hanged up by their hand: the faces of elders were not honoured. PRINCES ARE HANGED UP BY THEIR HAND - a piece of wanton cruelty invented by the Chaldeans. Grotius translates, 'Princes were hung by the hand of the enemy:' hanging was a usual mode of execution (). THE FACES OF ELDERS - of... [ Continue Reading ]
They took the young men to grind, and the children fell under the wood. THE YOUNG MEN ... GRIND. The work of the lowest female slave, grinding at the mill, was laid on young men. So Samson was made to grind in the Philistine prison-house (; ). THE CHILDREN FELL UNDER ... WOOD - mere children had... [ Continue Reading ]
The elders have ceased from the gate, the young men from their musick. THE ELDERS HAVE CEASED FROM THE GATE. Aged men in the East meet in the open space round the gate to decide judicial trials, and to hold social converse (Job 29:7).... [ Continue Reading ]
_THE JOY OF OUR HEART IS CEASED; OUR DANCE IS TURNED INTO MOURNING._ No JFB commentary on this verse.... [ Continue Reading ]
The crown is fallen from our head: woe unto us, that we have sinned! THE CROWN - all our glory, the kingdom and the priesthood (; ; ).... [ Continue Reading ]
For this our heart is faint; for these things our eyes are dim. FOR THIS OUR HEART IS FAINT - (; ).... [ Continue Reading ]
Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, the foxes walk upon it. THE MOUNTAIN OF ZION ... FOXES WALK UPON IT - they frequent desolate places, where they can freely and fearlessly roam.... [ Continue Reading ]
Thou, O LORD, remainest for ever; thy throne from generation to generation. THOU, O LORD, REMAINEST FOREVER - (). The perpetuity of God's rule over human affairs, however He may seem to let His people be oppressed for a time, is their ground of hope of restoration.... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, and forsake us so long time? WHEREFORE DOST THOU FORGET US FOREVER - i:e., for 'so long a time.'... [ Continue Reading ]
Turn thou us unto thee, O LORD, and we shall be turned; renew our days as of old. TURN THOU US UNTO THEE, O LORD, AND WE SHALL BE TURNED - (; ). 'Restore us to favour with thee, and so we shall be restored to our old position' (Grotius). Jeremiah is not speaking of spiritual conversion, but of that... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOU HAST UTTERLY REJECTED US - rather, 'Unless haply thou hast utterly rejected us, and art beyond measure wroth against us' - i:e., Unless thou art implacable, which is impossible, hear our prayer (Calvin). Or, as margin, 'For wouldest thou utterly reject us?' etc. No; that cannot be. The Jew... [ Continue Reading ]