Thus saith the LORD; Go down to the house of the king of Judah, and speak there this word, Ver. 1. _Go down to the house of the king of Judah._] To the palace royal of Jehoakim, son of Josiah, who reigned after that his brother Jehoahaz was carried captive to Egypt. 2Ki 23:34... [ Continue Reading ]
And say, Hear the word of the LORD, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people that enter in by these gates: Ver. 2. _Thou and thy servants._] Thine attendants and officers, who, too oft, are evil instruments. This made the primitive Christians pr... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the LORD; Execute ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor: and do no wrong, do no violence to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, neither shed innocent blood in this place._ Ver. 3. _Execute ye judgment and righteousness._] Make g... [ Continue Reading ]
For if ye do this thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. Ver. 4. _For if ye do this thing indeed._] Heb., If doing you do this word, _i.e., _ If seriously and... [ Continue Reading ]
But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith the LORD, that this house shall become a desolation. Ver. 5. _That this house shall become a desolation._] This stately edifice, the place of thy royal residence. Note here the prophet's boldness, and learn that truth must be spoken, how... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus saith the LORD unto the king's house of Judah; Thou [art] Gilead unto me, [and] the head of Lebanon: [yet] surely I will make thee a wilderness, [and] cities [which] are not inhabited. Ver. 6. For thus saith the Lord concerning the king's house,] _i.e., _ Concerning the whole kingdom of Ju... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one with his weapons: and they shall cut down thy choice cedars, and cast [them] into the fire. Ver. 7. _And I will prepare destroyers._] Heb., Sanctify them; that is, send them on mine errand, and let them forward. God's holy hand is in all such de... [ Continue Reading ]
_And many nations shall pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neighbour, Wherefore hath the LORD done thus unto this great city?_ Ver. 8. _And many nations shall pass, &c._] By a _personification_ of passengers admiring the utter ruin of so famous a city, the prophet setteth forth... [ Continue Reading ]
Then they shall answer, Because they have forsaken the covenant of the LORD their God, and worshipped other gods, and served them. Ver. 9. _Because they have forsaken the covenant &c._] _In promptu causa est._ Heinous sins brings hideous plagues. _Ingentia beneficia, flagitia, supplicia._ _a_ a Ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him: [but] weep sore for him that goeth away: for he shall return no more, nor see his native country. Ver. 10. _Weep not for the dead, neither bemoan him._] Lament no more for the good Josiah, lately slain in war, and yet dead in peace: _Ne fletote, neque c... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus saith the LORD touching Shallum the son of Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his father, which went forth out of this place; He shall not return thither any more: Ver. 11. _Which reigned instead of Josiah his father._] But was too hasty, stepping into the throne before... [ Continue Reading ]
But he shall die in the place whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land no more. Ver. 12. _But he shall die in the place._] See on Jeremiah 22:11 .... [ Continue Reading ]
Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; [that] useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work; Ver. 13. _Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness._] This was Jehoiakim, _cuius iniusta et insana aedificia hic ac... [ Continue Reading ]
That saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, and cutteth him out windows; and [it is] cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. Ver. 14. _I will build me a wide house._] Heb., A house of measures, or dimensions; such as is the Turk's Seraglio, two or three miles in compass, or... [ Continue Reading ]
_Shalt thou reign, because thou closest [thyself] in cedar? did not thy father eat and drink, and do judgment and justice, [and] then [it was] well with him?_ Ver. 15. _Shalt thou reign because thou closest thyself in cedar?_] Hast thou no better mediums to establish thy throne? no better defence a... [ Continue Reading ]
He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then [it was] well [with him: was] not this to know me? saith the LORD. Ver. 16. _He judged the cause of the poor and needy._] And so took a right course, a thriving way. Pro 29:4 _ Was not this to know me? saith the Lord,_] _i.e., _ To show that he knew... [ Continue Reading ]
But thine eyes and thine heart [are] not but for thy covetousness, and for to shed innocent blood, and for oppression, and for violence, to do [it]. Ver. 17. _But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness._] That is all thou mindest and lookest after, _oculis atque animo intentus ad... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore thus saith the LORD concerning Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; They shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah my brother! or, Ah sister! they shall not lament for him, [saying], Ah lord! or, Ah his glory! Ver. 18. _They shall not lament for him._] By his exactions he had so far lo... [ Continue Reading ]
_He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem._ Ver. 19. _He shall be buried with the burial of an ass._] His corpse shall be cast out, like carrion, into some bycorner. A just hand of God upon this wicked one, that he who had made so many to weep... [ Continue Reading ]
Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and lift up thy voice in Bashan, and cry from the passages: for all thy lovers are destroyed. Ver. 20. _Go up to Lebanon and cry._] Jehoiakim hath had his doom and his destiny read him. _a_ Followeth now Jehoiakim's part, and what, for his obstinace, he shall trust to. Th... [ Continue Reading ]
I spake unto thee in thy prosperity; [but] thou saidst, I will not hear. This [hath been] thy manner from thy youth, that thou obeyedst not my voice. Ver. 21. _I spake unto thee in thy prosperity._] Heb., In thy prosperities, or tranquillities. Prosperity rendereth men refractory. Demetrius called... [ Continue Reading ]
The wind shall eat up all thy pastors, and thy lovers shall go into captivity: surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for all thy wickedness. Ver. 22. _The wind shall eat all thy pastors,_] _a_ _i.e., _ The vain hope that thy governors have in foreign helps shall deceive them; for God wil... [ Continue Reading ]
O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the cedars, how gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee, the pain as of a woman in travail! Ver. 23. _O inhabitant of Lebanon._] Heb., O inhabitress - that is, O Jerusalem, who hast perched thyseff aloft, and pridest thyself in thy strength... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah 22:24 [As] I live, saith the LORD, though Coniah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, yet would I pluck thee thence; Ver. 24. _As I live, saith the Lord._] An oath which none may lawfully take but God himself, who is life itself. It is therefore sinful for... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will give thee into the hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand [of them] whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. Ver. 25. _And I will give thee into the hand._] No sooner was he plucked off God's hand but h... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into another country, where ye were not born; and there shall ye die. Ver. 26. _And I will cast thee out._] Heb., I will hurl thee out. To be held captive by idolaters in a strange country is no small misery. Poor Zegedine found it so among t... [ Continue Reading ]
But to the land whereunto they desire to return, thither shall they not return. Ver. 27. _But to the land that they desire to return._] Heb., Which they lift up their soul to _quam avent totaque anima expetunt, et ad quam summe anhelant; _ they shall die in banishment. So they that are once shut ou... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah 22:28 [Is] this man Coniah a despised broken idol? [is he] a vessel wherein [is] no pleasure? wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast into a land which they know not? Ver. 28. _Is this Coniah a despised, broken idol?_] _Interrogatio pathetica:_ Is he not? Who would ever... [ Continue Reading ]
O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the LORD. Ver. 29. _O earth, earth, earth, hear the word of the Lord._] Hear this irrevocable decree of mine, and this ensuing dreadful denunciation, which I cannot get this stupid and incredulous people to believe. His trebling of the word is _as _ Eze 21:27... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the LORD, Write ye this man childless, a man [that] shall not prosper in his days: for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. Ver. 30. _Write ye this man childless_] _a_ As to succession in the royal dignity, as well as to succes... [ Continue Reading ]