Address delivered by Jeremiah at the gate of the Temple The first question to be answered in regard to these Chapter s as a whole is the date to which they are to be referred, whether to the reign of Josiah or Jehoiakim. This seems to be answered by ch. 26, for while its Jeremiah 7:1 have a marked... [ Continue Reading ]
Absence from the LXX of all but "Hear … ye of Judah" suggests the probability that the rest has been supplied by an editor from ch. 26.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the gate_ In Jeremiah 26:2 "the court" (perhaps the "new gate" of Jeremiah 36:10), probably between the inner and outer court, in the latter of which the crowd from city and country would assemble on a fast day or festival. The sympathy of numbers would naturally provoke the attack which followed ... [ Continue Reading ]
_your ways and your doings_ a frequent expression in this Book. See Intr. iii. § 14 (_b_), note. Cp. Ezekiel 14:22 f., Ezekiel 20:43; Jeremiah 36:17; Zechariah 1:4; Zechariah 1:6.... [ Continue Reading ]
_lying words_ those of the false prophets, who maintained that the possession of the Temple was enough. Jehovah would never suffer it to be overthrown, and thus its presence would be a kind of charm or fetish. They doubtless relied on such passages as Isaiah 37:22 ff., with the signal overthrow of A... [ Continue Reading ]
_if ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the widow_ The foreigner, temporarily resident, as having no legal status, specially needed commendation to the kindness of those around him. Harshness to such was strongly denounced in the "Book of the Covenant" (Exodus 21-23, e.g. Jeremiah 22:21... [ Continue Reading ]
_that cannot profit_ Or perhaps, _so that ye profit not_.... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. note on the section.... [ Continue Reading ]
_Will ye steal_ WHAT! STEAL, etc. The Hebrew verb is in a form used when the object is to present the action itself in the strongest light. Cp. Jeremiah 32:33; Isaiah 21:5. The wording shews that the Decalogue is in the prophet's mind. _burn incense_ See on Jeremiah 1:16. The Hebrew word has no conn... [ Continue Reading ]
_called by my name_ in token of ownership. Cp. Jeremiah 14:9; Jeremiah 25:29; Jeremiah 32:34. See other references for the phrase in Dr."s note. _We are delivered_ We are guaranteed impunity by the discharge of this religious formality. It is best with R.V. to limit the people's supposed utterance... [ Continue Reading ]
_den of robbers_ a place of retreat in the intervals between acts of violence. Caves in Palestine were often used thus. This _v_. is alluded to in Matthew 21:13, and the parallel passages (Mark 11:17 and Luke 19:46).... [ Continue Reading ]
The central position of Shiloh (_Seilûn_) in Ephraim is clearly set forth in Judges 21:19. It was the resting-place of the Ark till it was carried off in the battle of Ebenezer (1 Samuel 4:11). The destruction referred to here (and in Jeremiah 26:6; Psalms 78:60) probably followed upon that Philisti... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. note on the section.... [ Continue Reading ]
_I will cast you out of my sight_ Observe that exile as the punishment is already foreshadowed, while in the latter words we may trace an allusion to the popular feeling (cp. Judges 11:24; 1 Samuel 26:19) that Jehovah's protection did not extend beyond Palestine. _Ephraim_ as representing all the n... [ Continue Reading ]
_pray not thou_ So in ch. Jeremiah 14:7 f. when Jeremiah does intercede, the prayer is refused (Jeremiah 7:11), and in ch. Jeremiah 15:1 even the intercession of Moses and Samuel it is declared would be of no avail, although the former had more than once interceded with success (Numbers 11:2; Number... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. note on the section and cp. Jeremiah 15:1. It is hardly probable that this formed part of Jeremiah's address, seeing that it gives us in fact Jehovah's words to His prophet abruptly inserted, without any introductory formula. According to some commentators, e.g. Co., the kind of idolatry... [ Continue Reading ]
Both sexes and all ages unite in the public dishonouring of God's name by shameless idolatries. _cakes_ The Hebrew word is of Assyrio-Babylonian origin, and occurs elsewhere only in Jeremiah 44:19, where see further. The cakes were either shaped, or stamped, to represent the "queen of heaven," proba... [ Continue Reading ]
_Add your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices_ Burnt offerings were consumed whole, while of sacrifices certain portions were reserved to be eaten by the priest and the offerer. Accordingly the sense here is _either_(i) appropriate for your own use the offerings of which ye now consume the whole: I... [ Continue Reading ]
See introd. note on the section.... [ Continue Reading ]
The passage is of the highest importance in its bearing on the epochs at which the different parts of the Pentateuch were severally composed. It is now held to be made up from elements of very diverse dates. Careful examination has shewn that in Jeremiah's day the "Priestly Code" (P) which emphasize... [ Continue Reading ]
The nature of the compact was protection on the one hand conditional upon obedience on the other. _Hearken unto my voice_ The nearest approach to these words, considered as a quotation, is Exodus 19:5, but it corresponds closely to the general tone of Deuteronomy. _in all the way, etc_.] Only once... [ Continue Reading ]
_in_their own _counsels_ lit. _in counsels_. The words are best omitted (with LXX). _stubbornness_ Cp. Jeremiah 3:17.... [ Continue Reading ]
Repeated substantially in ch. Jeremiah 11:7 f.... [ Continue Reading ]
_made their neck stiff_ Cp. for the phrase ch. Jeremiah 19:15; 2 Kings 17:14; Nehemiah 9:16-17; Nehemiah 9:29; Proverbs 29:1.... [ Continue Reading ]
For _And thou shalt speak … say unto them_, LXX has only _And thou shalt say unto them this word_, pointing to a probable amplification on the part of MT.... [ Continue Reading ]
_the nation_ conspicuous for their disobedience. Cp. Psalms 12:4. _truth_ mg. _faithfulness_. See on ch. Jeremiah 5:3. 29 8:3. See introd. note on the section. The verbs and pronoun are fem. in the original, shewing that E.VV. are right in giving them a collective sense, and inserting "O Jerusale... [ Continue Reading ]
_hair_ lit. (as mg.) _crown_, Heb. _nezer_, and used of the long hair worn in fulfilment of the _Nazirite's_vow (Numbers 6:7). Jerusalem must now shew by outward sign her faithlessness to her vows of loyalty to her God. _bare heights_ See on ch. Jeremiah 3:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
_they have set their abominations_ as Manasseh had done (2 Kings 21:5; 2 Kings 21:7).... [ Continue Reading ]
_high places_ read _high place_. There would not be more than one altar in Topheth. So LXX and Targ. _Topheth_ This probably is not the original vocalisation (LXX Ταφέθ), though the latter cannot be determined with certainty. As Bosheth was a frequent substitute for Baal (see on Jeremiah 3:24), and... [ Continue Reading ]
For a recurrence of the substance of this passage see ch. Jeremiah 19:5 f., Jeremiah 19:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
"Where they have butchered their children, they shall themselves be butchered, hence the name Valley of Slaughter will replace the older name." Pe. _till there be no place_to bury] mg. _because there shall be no place else_, is the clear meaning of the MT. (and LXX agrees). But, under the circumsta... [ Continue Reading ]
_fray frighten_. The word is obsolete, except as a provincialism. It is the root of _affray_(participle, _afraid_). Cp. "he thought hir to affraye." Chaucer's _Clerk's Tale_. (_Bible Word-Book_.)... [ Continue Reading ]
_the voice of the bridegroom, etc_.] Cp. Jeremiah 16:9; Jeremiah 25:10.... [ Continue Reading ]