This section Jeremiah 17:1 is inseparably connected with the preceding. Judah’s sin had been described Jeremiah 16:19 as one of which the very Gentiles will become ashamed. and for which she will shortly be punished by, an intervention of God’s hand more marked than anything in her previous history.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILE THEIR CHILDREN REMEMBER THEIR ALTARS - Perhaps an allusion to their sacrifices of children to Moloch. Present perhaps at some such blood-stained rite, its horrors would be engraven forever upon the memory. GROVES - “Asherahs,” i. e., wooden images of Astarte (see Exodus 34:13 note).... [ Continue Reading ]
O MY MOUNTAIN IN THE FIELD - i. e., Jerusalem or Zion, called the Rock of the Plain in Jeremiah 21:13. “The field” is the open unenclosed country, here contrasted with the privileged height of Zion. OR SIN - i. e., because of thy sin.... [ Continue Reading ]
The verb rendered “discontinue” is that used of letting the land rest Exodus 23:11, and of releasing creditors Deuteronomy 15:2 in the sabbatical year. As Judah had not kept these sabbatical years she must now discontinue the tillage of God’s inheritance until the land had had its rest. “Even thysel... [ Continue Reading ]
In the rest of the prophecy Jeremiah dwells upon the moral faults which had led to Judah’s ruin. Jeremiah 17:6 LIKE THE HEATH - Or, “like a destitute man” Psalms 102:17. The verbs “he shall see” (or fear) and “shall inhabit” plainly show that a man is here meant and not a plant. Jeremiah 17:8 TH... [ Continue Reading ]
This prophecy on the observance of the Sabbath, is the first of a series of short predictions. arranged probably in chronological order among themselves, but in other respects independent of one another. Its tone is mild, and dissuasive rather of future neglect than condemnatory of past misconduct;... [ Continue Reading ]