Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if ye can find a man, if there be [any] that executeth judgment, that seeketh the truth; and I will pardon it. Ver. 1. _Run to and fro._] _Spatiamini, scrutamini._ Go as many of you as y... [ Continue Reading ]
And though they say, The LORD liveth; surely they swear falsely. Ver. 2. _And though they say, The Lord liveth,_] _i.e., _ Albeit they talk religiously, as those pretenders also did, Isa 66:5 and make a great flaunt, as if some great matter, with Simon Magus, Act 8:9 yet they are arrant hypocrites,... [ Continue Reading ]
O LORD, [are] not thine eyes upon the truth? thou hast stricken them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, [but] they have refused to receive correction: they have made their faces harder than a rock; they have refused to return. Ver. 3. _O Lord, are not thine eyes upon the truth?_]... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore I said, Surely these [are] poor; they are foolish: for they know not the way of the LORD, [nor] the judgment of their God. Ver. 4. _Therefore I said,_] _i.e., _ I thought with myself. _ Surely these,_] _scil., _ That swear falsely, and refuse to be reformed, &c. _ Are poor._] Of the ras... [ Continue Reading ]
I will get me unto the great men, and will speak unto them; for they have known the way of the LORD, [and] the judgment of their God: but these have altogether broken the yoke, [and] burst the bonds. Ver. 5. _I will get me unto the great men._] Who have been better bred, and abound with leisure, an... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore a lion out of the forest shall slay them, [and] a wolf of the evenings shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: because their transgressions are many, [and] their backslidings are increased. Ver. 6. _Therefore a li... [ Continue Reading ]
How shall I pardon thee for this? thy children have forsaken me, and sworn by [them that are] no gods: when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adultery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' houses. Ver. 7. _How shall I pardon thee for this?_] How with the safety of mine h... [ Continue Reading ]
They were [as] fed horses in the morning: every one neighed after his neighbour's wife. Ver. 8. _They were as fed horses,_] _a_ As stallions and stone horses, that are ιππομανεις, mare mad, as the Septuagint have it. _ a_ _Libido effrons et plus quam pecuina._... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: and shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Ver. 9. _Shall I not visit for these things?_] _i.e., _ Shall I not take cognizance of them, and punish them surely and severely?... [ Continue Reading ]
Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full end: take away her battlements; for they [are] not the LORD'S. Ver. 10. _Get ye up upon her battlements, and destroy._] _Ascendite et exscindite; _ up and lay about you lustily. A commission granted out to the enemy, to execute divine vengea... [ Continue Reading ]
For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt very treacherously against me, saith the LORD. Ver. 11. _For the house of Israel and the house of Judah._] Both Aholah and Aholibah are stark naught; I renounce them therefore, and shall take no further charge of them. And for what reason?... [ Continue Reading ]
They have belied the LORD, and said, [It is] not he; neither shall evil come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: Ver. 12. _They have belied the Lord._] Or, They give the Lord the lie - as Montfort, Earl of Leicester, gave his sovereign, Henry III, _a_ the lie. Every unbeliever doth as m... [ Continue Reading ]
And the prophets shall become wind, and the word [is] not in them: thus shall it be done unto them. Ver. 13. _And the prophets shall become wind._] All their threats and bugbear terms (devised on purpose to frighten silly people, who are no wiser than to believe them) shall come to nothing; they ar... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wherefore thus saith the LORD God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this people wood, and it shall devour them._ Ver. 14. _Because ye speak this word._] Ungodly men shall one day answer, with all the world on fire about their ears, for all th... [ Continue Reading ]
Lo, I will bring a nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the LORD: it [is] a mighty nation, it [is] an ancient nation, a nation whose language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they say. Ver. 15. _It is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation._] As ancient as Nimrod, the fi... [ Continue Reading ]
Their quiver [is] as an open sepulchre, they [are] all mighty men. Ver. 16. _Their quiver is an open sepulchre._] As holding arrows that wound deadly, and that shall despatch many, being drenched in their gall.... [ Continue Reading ]
And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy bread, [which] thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. Ver. 17. _And they shall e... [ Continue Reading ]
Nevertheless in those days, saith the LORD, I will not make a full end with you. Ver. 18. _I will not make a full end with thee._] In the midst of judgment, God remembereth mercy. See Jeremiah 4:27; Jeremiah 5:10. Howbeit, from this text some gather, that now in this last captivity of theirs, God h... [ Continue Reading ]
And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say, Wherefore doeth the LORD our God all these [things] unto us? then shalt thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a land [that is] not yours. Ver. 19. _Wherefore doeth the Lord ou... [ Continue Reading ]
Declare this in the house of Jacob, and publish it in Judah, saying, Ver. 20. _Declare this in the house of Jacob, &c._] Cease not to ring it in their ears, whether they will hear, or whether they will forbear; for it is a rebellious people, and of the number of those who wink willingly, that they... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear now this, O foolish people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and see not; which have ears, and hear not: Ver. 21. _Hear now this, O foolish people._] They were strangely stupefied, and were therefore thus rippled up. Those that are in a lethargy must have a double quantity of physic... [ Continue Reading ]
Fear ye not me? saith the LORD: will ye not tremble at my presence, which have placed the sand [for] the bound of the sea by a perpetual decree, that it cannot pass it: and though the waves thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though they roar, yet can they not pass over it? Ver. 22.... [ Continue Reading ]
But this people hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted and gone. Ver. 23. _But this people have a revolting and rebellious heart._] _a_ _Cor recedens et amaricans; _ gone they are, and return they will not. Apostates are dangerous creatures, and mischievous above others; witness... [ Continue Reading ]
Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear the LORD our God, that giveth rain, both the former and the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed weeks of the harvest. Ver. 24. _Neither say they in their hearts._] God understands heart language, and expects a tribute there. _... [ Continue Reading ]
Your iniquities have turned away these [things], and your sins have withholden good [things] from you. Ver. 25. _Your iniquities have turned._] See on Isaiah 59:2; Isaiah 1:2 .... [ Continue Reading ]
For among my people are found wicked [men]: they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they catch men. Ver. 26. _For among my people are found wicked men._] This was as bad as to find a nettle in a garden, unchastity in a virgin, or the devil in paradise. All the Lord's people are o... [ Continue Reading ]
As a cage is full of birds, so [are] their houses full of deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen rich. Ver. 27. _As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses full of deceit,_] _i.e.,_ Of ill-gotten goods, which will prove no such catch in the close, as they count upon.... [ Continue Reading ]
They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of the needy do they not judge. Ver. 28. _They are waxen fat, they shine._] _Pingues, nitidi sunt; cutem curant ut Epicuri de grege porc... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall I not visit for these [things]? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? Ver. 29. _Shall I not visit?_] See Jeremiah 5:9 .... [ Continue Reading ]
A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land; Ver. 30. _A wonderful and horrible thing._] _Res stupenda et horrenda; _ an abhorred filth, such as may well draw from us a _Heu, heu, Domine Deus_ Is committed in the land.] Heb., In this land, where men are therefore the worse, because the... [ Continue Reading ]
The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by their means; and my people love [to have it] so: and what will ye do in the end thereof? Ver. 31. _The prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule._] The chief priests bearing rule in the causes and consciences of the people, had... [ Continue Reading ]