2 6 Jeremiah's earliest discourses, viz. from the time of his call (b.c. 626) to a date shortly after that of Josiah's reforms (b.c. 621). These utterances as a whole describe the condition of things at this period, setting forth the corruption of the nation and the punishment to ensue. As the dis... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah 3:1-5. Israel's faithlessness towards her Spouse 1. _They say_ The Hebrew is simply _saying_. Either the opening words of Jeremiah 3:6 have been displaced and should stand here, or a similar introductory clause has accidentally dropped out. The connexion of thought is: the Lord refuses to... [ Continue Reading ]
Israel is shameless and wholly given up to idolatrous excesses. _bare heights_ a favourite word in this Book (Jeremiah 3:21; Jeremiah 4:11 etc.). _an Arabian in the wilderness_ lit. steppe-dwellers (of N. Arabia). See on Jeremiah 25:24. As they lie in wait for companies of travellers passing, so d... [ Continue Reading ]
_no latter rain_ See ch. Jeremiah 5:24, and for the general thought cp. Amos 4:6 ff. The wholly different rendering of the clause by LXX, though doubtless wrong, suggests an original Hebrew with the sense, _And thy many friends_(lovers or idols) _were a snare to thee_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wilt thou not from this time cry_ HAST THOU NOT BUT NOW CRIED. Judah, at the very time that she is deserting Jehovah, is using to Him the language of wheedling affection. _guide_ mg. _companion_. The same word is used of a husband in Proverbs 2:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
The continued expression of Israel's ill-founded confidence and God's reply. _thou hast spoken, etc_.] rather (as mg.) _thou hast spoken_thus, _but hast done, etc_. _hast had thy way_ Heb. _been able_, carried thy purposes into effect. For the thought of the whole verse cp. Hosea 6:1-4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_backsliding Israel_ lit. _Israel_"(which is) _apostasy_(itself)." The play on the two senses of the Hebrew verb to _turn back_from Yahweh, and to turn back (or _return_) from false gods to Him, which runs through all this passage (as far as Jeremiah 4:1) is lost by the rendering "backsliding." See... [ Continue Reading ]
Dr. (with Co. and others) points out that here the word "Israel" is used in its restricted sense for the ten tribes, whereas in Jeremiah 2:1 to Jeremiah 3:5 it meant the people as a whole, and he infers that the passage, though (apart from certain insertions) genuine and of the age of Josiah, has be... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah 3:6 to Jeremiah 4:4. Conditional offers of restoration We may subdivide thus. (1) Jeremiah 3:6-18. The ten tribes as less guilty than Judah are invited to repent and return. (2) Jeremiah 3:19 to Jeremiah 4:4. The invitation includes the whole nation, on a like condition.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I said_ to myself; I thought. _after she had done, etc_.] mg. better, _After she hath done all these things, she, etc_.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I saw_ rather (as mg.) SHE (Judah) SAW THAT ETC., thus harmonizing with the similar passage, Ezekiel 23:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
_lightness_ frivolity. The Hebrew word occurs here only in this sense. _with stones and with stocks_ See on Jeremiah 2:27.... [ Continue Reading ]
In spite of (i) greater privileges, (_a_) succession of kings of the same family, (_b_) the Temple, (_c_) Levites; (ii) the warning example of Israel, Judah has proved faithless and hypocritical as well (Jeremiah 3:4). Therefore the prophet is bidden to look toward the North (Assyria) whither the ca... [ Continue Reading ]
_look in anger_ lit. as mg. _cause my countenance to fall upon you_. For the falling of the countenance in this sense, cp. Genesis 4:5.... [ Continue Reading ]
_hast scattered thy ways_ hast wandered hither and thither. Cp. Jeremiah 2:23. _strangers_ foreign gods. Cp. Jeremiah 2:25.... [ Continue Reading ]
_one of … family_ Very small places were called "cities," while "family" must mean a considerable number, a clan, or even a larger group. Cp. Jeremiah 8:3; Jeremiah 25:9.... [ Continue Reading ]
Much here is probably a later editorial insertion (see Intr. iv. § 8), for (i) the picture (Jeremiah 3:14) of a very limited number of the captives returning from Assyria, and settling in Jerusalem, while afterwards (Jeremiah 3:16) spreading over the land, is inconsistent with Jeremiah 31:7 ff., (ii... [ Continue Reading ]
_shepherds_ See on ch. Jeremiah 2:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Ark, which had been the seat of the special manifestation of Jehovah, shall be forgotten, because the whole city shall be filled with His presence. _And it shall … in the land_ Probably a later insertion in the passage, connecting with the "one" and "two" of Jeremiah 3:14, and implying that whe... [ Continue Reading ]
_all the nations_ Gentile peoples shall be gathered into the Church of God, which shall thus become Universal. But see introd. note on Jeremiah 3:14. _stubbornness_ a favourite word in this Book.... [ Continue Reading ]
For the reunion of the returned Israel and Judah cp. Ezekiel 37:16-28; also Isaiah 11:12-14.... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall … nations_ rightly mg. _would … nations!_Not a question, but the expression of a wish. _children_ SONS. Cp. Exodus 4:22. The point is that as daughters could not as a rule inherit (Numbers 27:1 ff.; cp. Job 42:15), God desired to treat His people as sons. _goodly heritage of the hosts_ HERIT... [ Continue Reading ]
Jehovah would desire to treat His people as sons in the matter of inheritance. Their conduct precludes this.... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah 3:19 to Jeremiah 4:4. The invitation includes the whole nation, on a like condition This section should follow immediately on Jeremiah 3:5. See introd. note on Jeremiah 3:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_O house of Israel_ Israel as including Judah.... [ Continue Reading ]
_bare heights_ For the choice of such places for lamentation cp. ch. Jeremiah 7:29; Isaiah 15:2; Judges 11:37.... [ Continue Reading ]
Vividly drawn picture of Judah's repentance. From the high places, the very scenes of her idolatrous excess, there comes a sound, at first of inarticulate weeping. In response to Jehovah's gracious invitation, the emotion ventures to express itself in words of deep shame and contrition.... [ Continue Reading ]
God's reply to the lamentation and expressions of repentance. The Hebrew is striking in its play on the word _turn, Turn, ye turned_children; I will heal your _turnings_. Cp. Jeremiah 3:6; Hosea 14:4.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Truly in vain is_the help that is looked for _from the hills, the tumult on the mountains_ The Hebrew construction is difficult. MT. reads, _Truly in vain from the hills the tumult the mountains_. Probably a word such as _sound_should be restored in the first clause, while the change of a Hebrew vo... [ Continue Reading ]
Vain was the boisterous service spoken of in Jeremiah 3:23. It is not merely without profit, but most hurtful. _the shameful thing_ Heb. _Bosheth_(shame), a word frequently substituted for Baal, when the latter had come to have idolatrous and therefore shameful associations. Cp. Jeremiah 11:13, wher... [ Continue Reading ]
_Let us lie down_ Cp. for such a custom as indicative of very painful feelings 2 Samuel 12:16; 2 Samuel 13:31; 1 Kings 21:4. _cover_ Cp. Psalms 109:29.... [ Continue Reading ]