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. Ver. 1. _If thou wilt return, O Israel._] As thou seemest willing to do, and for very good reason. Jer 2:22-24 Thou art but a beaten rebel, and to... [ 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. Ver. 2. _And thou shalt swear, The Lord liveth._] Not by Baal shalt thou swear, or other idols, but by the living God, or by the life of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus saith the LORD to the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow ground, and sow not among thorns. Ver. 3. _Break up your fallow ground._] _Novellate vobis novale._ Tertullian rendereth it, _Renovate vobis novamen novuum,_ put off the old man, and put on the new. See Hosea 10:11. _Se... [ 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. Ver. 4. _Circumcise yourselves to the Lord._] There is a twofold cir... [ 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. Ver. 5. _Declare ye in Judah._] As if the prophet should say, I do but lose my labour in calling upon you to mortify y... [ Continue Reading ]
Set up the standard toward Zion: retire, stay not: for I will bring evil from the north, and a great destruction. Ver. 6. _Set up the standard towards Zion._] All this seemeth to be ironically spoken. _as _ Jer 4:5 _ For I will bring evil from the north,_] _i.e., _ From Babylon. _Ab aquilone nihil... [ 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._ Ver. 7. _The lion is come up from his thicket,_] _i.e., _ Nebuchadnezzar from Babylon, whe... [ Continue Reading ]
For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl: for the fierce anger of the LORD is not turned back from us. Ver. 8. _For this, gird you with sackcloth._] Repent, if at least it be not too late, as the next words hint that now it was. _ For the fierce wrath of the Lord is not turned back from u... [ 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. Ver. 9. _The heart of the king shall perish._] His courage shall be quailed, and he shall be strangely... [ 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. Ver. 10. _Surely thou hast greatly deceived this people,_] _sc., _ By those false prophets. Jer 4:9 Compare 1Ki 18:22-29 Ezekiel 14:9. This... [ 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, Ver. 11. _A dry wind of the high places._] _Ventus urens et exsiccans,_ as the north wind is. Understand hereby the King of Ba... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah 4:12 [Even] a full wind from those [places] shall come unto me: now also will I give sentence against them. Ver. 12. _Even a full wind from those places._] An impetuous and stiff wind, such as shall carry away chaff, and grain, and all. _ Now also will I give sentence against them._] Heb.... [ 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. Ver. 13. _Behold, he shall come up as clouds._] Swiftly and numerously. _ His horses are swifter than eagles._] Which, though the biggest of all fowl... [ Continue Reading ]
O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved. How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee? Ver. 14. _O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness._] Which defileth it worse than any leprosy, _a_ or jakes, doth the body. Mark 7:19,20 _; _ Mar 7:23 Thy hands thou o... [ Continue Reading ]
_For a voice declareth from Dan, and publisheth affliction from mount Ephraim._ Ver. 15. _For a voice declareth from Dan._] Which was first called Laish, then Dan, and after that, in honour of Tiberius Caesar, Caesarea Philippi. _a_ It was the utmost bound of Israel northward; and therehence came a... [ 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. Ver. 16. _Make ye mention to the nations,_] _i.e., _ To the Jews, who haply are called the nations, because once better accounted of than... [ Continue Reading ]
As keepers of a field, are they against her round about; because she hath been rebellious against me, saith the LORD. Ver. 17. _As keepers of a field, are they against her._] They have straitly besieged her, so that there is no escaping their hands.... [ 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. Ver. 18. _Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto thee._] This is like as we use to say to our children when they have taken cold or go... [ 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. Ver. 19. _My bowels, my bowels!_] So, "My head, my head"; 2Ki 4:19 "My leanness, my leanness." Isa 24:16 Thus th... [ Continue Reading ]
Destruction upon destruction is cried; for the whole land is spoiled: suddenly are my tents spoiled, [and] my curtains in a moment. Ver. 20. _Destruction upon destruction._] _Fluctus fluctum trudit; _ one mischief upon another, the sword after famine, captivity after a siege. _ For the whole land... [ Continue Reading ]
How long shall I see the standard, [and] hear the sound of the trumpet? Ver. 21. _How long shall I see the standard?_] Sad sights and doleful ditties are common in times of war. _ And hear the sound of the trumpet._] _Tubam turbamque hostiurn._... [ 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._ Ver. 22. _For my people is foolish, they have not known me._] To know and to worship God aright, is the only true w... [ Continue Reading ]
I beheld the earth, and, lo, [it was] without form, and void; and the heavens, and they [had] no light. Ver. 23. _I beheld the earth, and, lo, it was without form, and void._] _Tohu vabohit_ _as _ Gen 1:2 sightless and shapeless. _Sermo est hyperbolicus,_ all was in a confusion. What shall it, then... [ Continue Reading ]
I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled, and all the hills moved lightly. Ver. 24. _I beheld the mountains, and, lo, they trembled._] War is a woe that no words, how wide soever, can sufficiently utter. _ And all the hills moved lightly._] As being lightened of their burden, saith a Rabbi,... [ Continue Reading ]
I beheld, and, lo, [there was] no man, and all the birds of the heavens were fled. Ver. 25. _I beheld, and, lo, there was no man._] But all killed, captived, or fled. Judaea lay utterly waste for seventy years; insomuch that after the slaughter of Gedaliah, when all, men, women, and children, fled... [ 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. Ver. 26. _At the presence of the Lord, &c._] Who was the chief agent; as Titus the Roman emperor also acknowledged after be had destroyed Jer... [ Continue Reading ]
For thus hath the LORD said, The whole land shall be desolate; yet will I not make a full end. Ver. 27. _Yet I will not make a full end._] God kept the room empty all those seventy years, till the return of the natives.... [ 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. Ver. 28. _Because I have spoken it, &c._] _Quod scrips; scrips,_ said Pilate, I will not alter it. See the like, Ezekiel 24:13,14... [ 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. Ver. 29. _Every city shall be forsaken._] See Jeremiah 4:25 .... [ 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. Ver. 30. _Though t... [ 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. Ver. 31. _As of her th... [ Continue Reading ]