In this prophecy Jeremiah 16:1, the punishment of the people is set forth in even sterner terms than in the last. The whole land is likened to a desert covered with the bodies of the dead, who lie unbemoaned and uncared for; and the prophet himself is commanded to abstain from the common usages of m... [ Continue Reading ]
As marriage was obligatory upon the Jews, the prohibition of it to Jeremiah was a sign that the impending calamity was so great as to override all ordinary duties. Jeremiah was unmarried, but the force of the sign lay in its being an exception to the ordinary practice of the prophets. IN THIS PLACE... [ Continue Reading ]
The times were such that for “the present distress” it was wise for all to abstain from marriage 1 Corinthians 7:26; Matthew 24:19.... [ Continue Reading ]
CUT THEMSELVES ... MAKE THEMSELVES BALD - Both these practices were strictly forbidden in the Law (marginal references) probably as being pagan customs, but they seem to have remained in common use. By “making bald” is meant shaving a bare patch on the front of the head.... [ Continue Reading ]
TEAR THEMSELVES - Better as in the margin; “break broad for them.” It was customary upon the death of a relative to fast, and for the friends and neighbors after a decent delay to come and comfort the mourner, and urge food upon him 2 Samuel 12:17; food was also distributed at funerals to the mourne... [ Continue Reading ]
The severe sentence passed upon them is the consequence of idolatry persisted in through many generations until it has finally deepened into national apostasy.... [ Continue Reading ]
IMAGINATIONS - Read stubbornness.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THERE SHALL YE ... - Ironical, and “there ye may serve other gods day and night, since I will shew you no favor.”... [ Continue Reading ]
These two verses, by promising a deliverance greater than that from Egypt, implied also a chastisement more terrible than the bondage in the iron furnace there. Instead of their being placed in one land, there was to be a scattering into the north and many other countries, followed finally by a rest... [ Continue Reading ]
The scattering of the people is to be like that of hunted animals, of which but few escape, the ancient method of hunting being to enclose a large space with beaters and nets, and so drive everything within it to some place where it was destroyed. The destruction of the whole male population was one... [ Continue Reading ]
This chastisement arises not from caprice, but is decreed upon full knowledge and examination of their doings.... [ Continue Reading ]
FIRST - Before the return from exile. I WILL RECOMPENSE THEIR INIQUITY ... DOUBLE - The ordinary rule of the Law (Isaiah 40:2 note). Sin is twofold; there is the leaving of God’s will undone, and the actual wrongdoing. And every punishment is twofold: first, there is the loss of the blessing which... [ Continue Reading ]
THIS ONCE - Whether we consider the greatness of the national disgrace and suffering caused by it, or its effect upon the mind of the Jews, the burning of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar, followed by the captivity of the people at Babylon, stands out as the greatest manifestation of God’s “hand” in all... [ Continue Reading ]