Hitherto the general tone of Jeremiah's prophecies has been gloomy. Any gleams of brightness that have from time to time appeared (e.g. Jeremiah 3:14; Jeremiah 16:14 f., Jeremiah 23:3), even if we may assume them to have come from the prophet's own mouth, have borne but a very small proportion to th... [ Continue Reading ]
_all the families of Israel_ the twelve tribes. Afterwards the Northern kingdom is dealt with (2 22), then the Southern (23 26), and then again both together (27 40).... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah 31:1. See introd. summary to the section. Jeremiah 31:1, virtually a repetition of Jeremiah 30:22, should be joined to the previous ch.... [ Continue Reading ]
Gi., Du. and Co. agree in considering Jeremiah 31:1 as, in their main substance, a genuine and early utterance of Jeremiah. The language suggests a date approximately that of ch. 3. Those of the Northern tribes who have survived the slaughter attendant upon their overthrow, and are in the "wildernes... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord appeared of old unto me_ It is best to take this as put in the mouth of the people themselves. _of old_ rather, as mg. FROM AFAR, as the same Hebrew word is rendered ch. Jeremiah 30:10. The people from their distant exile in Assyria think upon God as dwelling upon His accustomed seat, Mou... [ Continue Reading ]
_will I build thee, and thou shalt be built_ For build = make to prosper, see note on Jeremiah 12:16. _O virgin of Israel_ The nation is addressed under the figure of a woman, as so often. _tabrets_ The tabret or timbrel, the Heb. _tôph_, the _duff_or _diff_of the Arabs, is a hoop on which pieces o... [ Continue Reading ]
_shalt thou plant vineyards, etc_.] As for several years these would yield no fruit of value, the words imply a return of settled prosperity. _Samaria_ A post-exilic writer would not have mentioned Jerusalem's rival in such a connexion. _shall enjoy_ mg. Heb. _profane_, or, _make common_. The frui... [ Continue Reading ]
_watchmen_ giving signals for the pilgrimage. _let us go up to Zion_ for the schism between the Northern and Southern tribes is at an end.... [ Continue Reading ]
_for the chief_ i.e. Israel; cp. Amos 6:1; or, as mg. _at the head_, i.e. as leader of the nations thus set free. But it is perhaps best (so Du.) to read _on the top of the mountains_(for "nations"), as suggested by the mention of them in Jeremiah 31:5. Cp. Isaiah 42:11. _O Lord, save thy people_ L... [ Continue Reading ]
These _vv_. are probably on the whole post-exilic, having close affinities with 2 Isaiah.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord's reply to the joyous acclamation. Cp. Isaiah 42:16; Isaiah 40:11. _the blind and the lame, etc_.] None shall be omitted. Even those who would naturally have most difficulty in travelling shall return. _hither_ to Palestine, where the prophet is now writing.... [ Continue Reading ]
_with weeping_ tears of contrition, cp. Jeremiah 3:21. But LXX, "They went forth with weeping, but with consolation will I bring them back," though giving quite a different turn to the passage, may well be correct. As Peake points out, the LXX are supported by the great prominence given in 2 Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. summary to the section.... [ Continue Reading ]
For the general sense, and in particular for the term "the isles" (See on Jeremiah 25:22), cp. Isaiah 41:1; Isaiah 42:10; Isaiah 49:1. _He that scattered Israel will gather him_ The nations are instructed that as it was not their doing but God's, that His people had been subject to a foreign yoke,... [ Continue Reading ]
_shall flow together_ The exact sense is not quite plain. Does it continue the picture which the first clause gives us of the returned tribes assembling in joyful worship on the holy mountain, that they may receive the blessings of a fruitful land, or are they likened to a river which pours down fro... [ Continue Reading ]
_the young men and the old, etc_.] For "together" it is best (pointing the MT. differently) to read with LXX "shall rejoice.... [ Continue Reading ]
_satiate_ lit. _water_. _the soul of the priests with fatness_ The sacrifices shall be so numerous that the priests and their families shall have more than enough for their share. The priest's portion was the wave-breast and heave-shoulder (Leviticus 7:31-34). For the soul considered as the seat of... [ Continue Reading ]
This _v_. is specially familiar to us through St Matt. (Jeremiah 2:17 f.), who quotes it after relating the slaughter of the Innocents at Bethlehem. The prophecy is quoted as an illustration or type. The mourning at Ramah is a forecast of that bitter wailing which shall be raised by the mothers of t... [ Continue Reading ]
Rachel, the mother of Joseph and Benjamin, is heard weeping for her lost sons. She is bidden to dry her tears, for there is hope.... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. summary to the section. These striking _vv_. may be confidently considered as stamped with Jeremiah's personality.... [ Continue Reading ]
_thy work shall be rewarded_ As children have been in thy life and thy death a subject of pain and grief to thee, and as these thy descendants again have grievously perished, so the recompense for all this trouble now arrives, and thou shalt witness the return of the captives.... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord declares that He has heard Ephraim confessing that his punishment was the just consequence of his sin, and praying for acceptance. _as a calf unaccustomed_to the yoke] that has not been tamed. _I shall be turned_ rather _I will turn_in the neuter sense (not the passive, which modern Engli... [ Continue Reading ]
_after that I was turned_ rather (see preceding note), _after I turned_. Ephraim turns, and his repentance is the completion of his conversion. The Heb. text which seems to underlie the LXX rendering, viz. "after my captivity," is hardly to be accepted. _instructed_ by punishment. Cp. the use of th... [ Continue Reading ]
God is represented as the speaker. He asks Himself whether Ephraim is still beloved by Him. The answer is contained in the words that follow. As often as He makes mention of him, His affection towards him is stirred. The picture is of course adapted to human modes of thought and feeling, and represe... [ Continue Reading ]
That the travellers should themselves be bidden to set up signposts has caused needless trouble to some commentators. Israel is bidden to mark out the way for his return, perhaps by pioneers sent in advance. _guide-posts_ The Heb. word occurs here only. _set thine heart_ The heart in Heb. denotes... [ Continue Reading ]
_How long wilt thou go hither and thither_ How long wilt thou hesitate to return? A sign follows, in order to induce Israel to complete her reconciliation with her offended God. _backsliding_ lit. _back-turning_, i.e. recusant, apostate. _the Lord hath created, etc_.] No explanation that has been g... [ Continue Reading ]
The Lord now turns from Israel (Ephraim) to Judah, and in this and the next two verses promises her like blessing. _again_ as was the use in former time. _habitation_ homestead; the word rendered "folds" in Jeremiah 23:3, where see note. _mountain of holiness_ The expression seems to be used indif... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. summary to the section. The passage resembles 12 14, and is probably later than Jeremiah's time.... [ Continue Reading ]
_they that go about_ opposed to dwellers in fixed habitations, such as the inhabitants of the towns and husbandmen. Cp. Isaiah 30:23.... [ Continue Reading ]
_sorrowful_ PINING, virtually the same word as that rendered "sorrow" in Jeremiah 31:12, where see note.... [ Continue Reading ]
Words put in the mouth of the prophet himself, as they are not suitable either to God or to the exiles. The ecstatic state is here called "sleep," and as the prophecy had been of so unusually cheering a character, that sleep might well be called sweet.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will sow … with the seed of man, and with the seed of beast_ I will make the people and their cattle to prosper and multiply so fast, that the offspring of both shall seem almost to spring from the ground after the manner of seed sown. Cp. Ezekiel 36:9-11.... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. summary to the section.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I have watched over them_ The Heb. verb is the same as that of ch. Jeremiah 1:12, where see note. _to pluck up, etc_.] Cp. ch. Jeremiah 1:10; Jeremiah 18:7; Jeremiah 18:9. Thus the later and more cheering part of the message for which Jeremiah was ordained is now being delivered by him.... [ Continue Reading ]
The words "The fathers have eaten, etc." occur also in Ezekiel 18:2, where they are spoken of as a proverb. The people complain that they are being punished for the sins of an earlier generation (perhaps under Manasseh) and murmuring against God's justice. In the future individual responsibility wil... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. summary to the section. These _vv_. are quoted in Hebrews 8:9-12. Cp. Ezekiel 37:23-27. We have here the announcement of a new covenant which should supersede that made at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, differing from it (i) in permanence, (ii) in the principle by which it should be... [ Continue Reading ]
_a new covenant_ which in contrast to that ratified at Sinai, and forfeited by the people's repeated disobedience, shall have the essential element of stability and permanence. _and with the house of Judah_ In the light of Jeremiah 31:33, where no such clause occurs, this is probably a gloss by a s... [ Continue Reading ]
_in the day_ See on Jeremiah 7:22. _took them by the hand_ with fostering care, as of a father guiding the faltering steps of a young child. Cp. Hosea 11:1-4. _to bring them … Egypt_ omitted by Co., as well as the last three words of the _v_., so restoring the Ḳinah measure. _which my covenant th... [ Continue Reading ]
We may compare, in support of Jeremiah's authorship, ch. Jeremiah 4:4 ("foreskins of your heart"); also Jeremiah 24:7. Moreover, the post-Jeremianic Isaiah 51:7 seems to be a reference to this passage. _I will put my law … heart_ thus securing that henceforward no complex system of ordinances will... [ Continue Reading ]
They shall each in the future possess, independent of external teaching, the knowledge of God, implanted by Himself in their hearts. Cp. Jeremiah 24:7, and still more clearly Jeremiah 9:24; so Isaiah 54:13.... [ Continue Reading ]
_stirreth up, etc_.] The converse sense _stilleth_(mg.) although representing a Heb. root identical in consonants with that in the text (found e.g. in Jeremiah 50:34, "give rest") is here indefensible.... [ Continue Reading ]
Many hold these _vv_. to be by a writer of later date than Jeremiah, because (_a_) the vehemence of their national tone exceeds the prophet's ordinary form of expression, (_b_) they present a good many points of contact with 2 Isaiah (Isaiah 40:12; Isaiah 40:26; Isaiah 42:5; Isaiah 44:24 ff; Isaiah... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. summary to the section.... [ Continue Reading ]
As soon shall the Divine decrees which regulate the course of nature be dissolved, as Israel be utterly rejected from its status as the people of Jehovah.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, the days come_ The word _come_is omitted in the earliest form of the Heb. text, but probably by an error in copying, as the phrase is a favourite one with Jeremiah. See note on Jeremiah 23:5. _that the city shall be built_ The words which follow no doubt express an enlargement of the bounds... [ Continue Reading ]
These _vv_. may safely be assumed to belong to post-exilic days, when topographical questions connected with the extent of the city assumed importance. Cp. Zechariah 14. For the position of places here mentioned, see _Quart. Statement of Pal. Explor. Fund_, Jan. 1912, p. 28.... [ Continue Reading ]
This _v_., continuing the description from the N. W. corner, takes the W. side of Jerusalem and promises an extension in that direction also towards the valley of Hinnom southwards. _Gareb_ Nothing further is known of this name or of "Goah.... [ Continue Reading ]
_valley of the dead bodies_ the valley of Hinnom, into which carcases of criminals and of animals were cast. It was also defiled as the scene of human sacrifices offered to Molech (Jeremiah 7:31; Jeremiah 32:35), and to these the "ashes" also seem to refer. So Dr. _the fields_ The MT. gives us alte... [ Continue Reading ]