The Prophet could not sufficiently express the greatness of the calamity, except by expressing his astonishment. He then assumes the person of one who on seeing something new and unexpected is filled with amazement. It was indeed a thing incredible; for as it was a place chosen for God to dwell in,... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah still pursues the same subject, for he could not have spoken briefly and in a few words of things so bitter and mournful; and he seems to have felt deeply the ruin of his own country. And when we wish to penetrate into the hearts of those whose sorrow we desire to alleviate, it is necessary... [ Continue Reading ]
Interpreters apply this, but in my view improperly, to the captivity of the people; on the contrary, the Prophet means that the Jews had been scattered and sought refuges when oppressed, as they were often, by the tyranny of their enemies, and then by degrees he advances to their exile; for he could... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah refers here to another cause of sorrow, that the worship of God had ceased, it having been interrupted; nay, it seemed to have become extinct for ever. He then says that the _ways of Sion mourned_, because none came to the feasts. The words are figurative, for we know that feelings belong n... [ Continue Reading ]
He first says that her enemies _had become the head_; and by this expression he doubtless means power; and this way of speaking he borrowed from Moses, for these are his words, “Thou shalt be the head and not the tail, in a high place, not obscure.” (Deuteronomy 28:13.) He then says, that _enemies... [ Continue Reading ]
He continues the same subject. He says here that the daughter of Sion was denuded of all her ornaments. Now, we know what was the honor or dignity of that people; for Moses, in order to set forth the greatness of God’s grace, exclaims, “What nation so illustrious under heaven!” (Deuteronomy 4:7.)... [ Continue Reading ]
He confirms the former verse when he says, that _Jerusalem remembered her desirable things _when she was afflicted by God’s hand, and reduced to extreme want. And he in-intimates by these words, that when Jerusalem was in its splendor, it did not sufficiently consider the blessings of God; for the d... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the Prophet expresses more clearly and strongly what he had briefly referred to, even that all the evil which the Jews suffered proceeded from God’s vengeance, and that they were worthy of such a punishment, because they had not lightly offended, but had heaped up for themselves a dreadful judg... [ Continue Reading ]
He continues here, as I think, the same subject; he had said at the end of the last verse that turpitude or baseness had been seen at Jerusalem; and now he says that it was on the very _fringes _or skirts. The Prophet seems to allude to menstruous women who hide their uncleanness as much as they can... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet again deplores the profanation of all sacred things; and this complaint, as I have said, proceeded from the bitterest sorrow; for though it was a sad thing for the faithful, to lose all their property, to wander in exile and to suffer the want of all things, yet it must have been more gr... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet here complains that all the citizens of Jerusalem were constantly groaning through want and famine. He first says, that _all were sighing_. The word “people” is collective, and hence he uses the plural number, נאנחיםץ , _nanechim_. Then he says that they were all sighing; but he expresse... [ Continue Reading ]
The beginning of the verse is variously explained. Some read it interrogatively, “Is it nothing to you who pass by the way?” Others more simply, “I see that I am not cared for by you; to you my sorrow is nothing.” Some again read thus, “Let it not be a sorrow to you;” and others, “Let not sorrow be... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet proceeds with the same subject, that God’s vengeance had raged most dreadfully agsinst Jerusalem. But employing a metaphor she says, that _fire _had been sent to her _bones_. They who interpret bones of fortified places, weaken the meaning of the Prophet. I take bones in their proper sen... [ Continue Reading ]
Here, again, Jerusalem confesses that God had been justly displeased. She had ascribed to God’s vengeance the evils which she suffered; but now she expresses the cause of that displeasure or wrath. Hence she says, that the _yoke _of her _iniquities _had been _bound _in God’s hand. Though interpreter... [ Continue Reading ]
She first says, that _all _her _valiant _men had been _trodden underfoot_. Now we know how much the Jews trusted in their men even to the very time when they were wholly subdued. As then they had shewed so much insolence and pride towards the prophets, it hence became a cause of greater sorrow, when... [ Continue Reading ]
He describes at large the calamities of Jerusalem. But it is no wonder that the Prophet, thus lengthened his discourse; for we know that those who are heavily oppressed never satisfy themselves with mourning and lamentations. If, indeed, we duly consider how great the evils were, the Prophet will no... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet first says that _Jerusalem had expanded her hands_, as a token of sorrow, or that she might seek friends from every side; for when we wish to move men to pity, we stretch forth our arms. I wonder how it came to the minds of some to say that Jerusalem had broken bread with her hands. This... [ Continue Reading ]
Jerusalem again acknowledges, and more clearly expresses, that she suffered a just punishment. She had before confessed that her enemies were cruel through God’s command; but it was necessary to point out again the cause of that cruelty, even that she had too long provoked the wrath of God. She says... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the people of God complain in the person of a woman, as we have before seen, that in their calamity they were left destitute of every comfort. And it is a circumstance which increases grief, when no one is present to shew any kindness to the miserable; for it is no small alleviation of sorrow,... [ Continue Reading ]
The people turn again to pray God: and what has been before said ought to be remembered, that these lamentations of Jeremiah differ from the complaints of the ungodly; because the faithful first acknowledge that they are justly chastised by God’s hand, and secondly, they trust in his mercy and implo... [ Continue Reading ]
The verb שמעו, _shemou_, is put down twice, but at the beginning without a nominative case: hence the sentence is defective, until in the second clause the word איבי _aibi_, is expressed. Jeremiah evidently says, that enemies had _heard _of the evils under which the people labored, even that they we... [ Continue Reading ]
Here, no doubt, the faithful regarded as a part of their comfort the judgment which God would at length execute on the ungodly; and there is no doubt but that this kind of imprecation had been suggested to God’s children by the Holy Spirit, in order to sustain them when pressed down by heavy trouble... [ Continue Reading ]