JEREMIAH 4:5 TO JEREMIAH 6:30. A new paragraph should begin with Jeremiah 4:5, introducing a new section of the prophecies, which deals with the judgment of Judah, its causes and its instrument. This section is probably somewhat later than Jeremiah 2:1 to Jeremiah 4:4; it amplifies the vision of the... [ Continue Reading ]
THE SIEGE OF THE SINFUL CITY. The prophet bids his kinsfolk (Anathoth, his birthplace, being in Benjamin) to abandon the capital, and to gather in the southern mountains; the northern peril is now nearer than ever, and the fair and luxurious city is to be destroyed. Her besiegers are around her, lik... [ Continue Reading ]
THE JUSTIFICATION OF YAHWEH'S WRATH. The turn of Judah, the remnant of Israel, is now come, and Yahweh bids the foe, figured as a grape-gatherer at work on the vine (see on Jeremiah 2:21) to do his work thoroughly (Jeremiah 6:9 _mg.)._ The prophet complains that the ears of the people are closed to... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah 6:16. OBEDIENCE MORE THAN SACRIFICE. Yahweh vainly bade the people stand at the parting of the ways (Hebrew, by the ways), and seek the ancient road to prosperity, that they may find repose for themselves. The watchmen-prophets have called in vain. Yahweh's teaching (law, not necessarily wr... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FOE FROM THE NORTH is again described (_cf._ Jeremiah 5:15) in his advance against Jerusalem (Jeremiah 6:22). Its inhabitants utter their dismay (wax feeble, Jeremiah 6:24; Heb. are slack). The prophet warns of the danger without (Jeremiah 6:25), and bids the (individualised) people mourn (Amos... [ Continue Reading ]
THE PROPHET'S TASK. The record of earlier prophecies (Jeremiah 6:1) fitly closes with the application to the prophet of the figure of the trier (_mg._) or assayer; so inextricably is the alloy mixed with the silver that, though the bellows blow, and the lead (which was added to carry away the alloy)... [ Continue Reading ]