Jeremiah 6 - Introduction

Jeremiah proceeds to unveil the judgment impending upon Jerusalem, and his description of it is divided into five parts, each beginning with the words “Thus saith Jehovah.”... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:1

Jeremiah addresses the men of Benjamin, either as being his own tribesmen, or as a name appropriate to the people of Jerusalem, which also was situate in the tribe of Benjamin. GATHER YOURSELVES TO FLEE - Gather your goods together to remove them to a place of safety. BLOW THE TRUMPET IN TEKOA - T... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:2

The whole verse is difficult, but should probably be translated; “to a pasturage, yea a luxuriant pasturage, have I likened (or, have reduced to silence, i. e., destroyed) the daughter of Zion.”... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:3

To it shall come “shepherds with their flocks:” They have pitched upon it “their tents round about:” They have pastured each his hand, “i. e., side.” The pasture is so abundant that each feeds his flock, i. e., plunders Jerusalem, at the side of his own tent.... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:4

PREPARE YE WAR - Rather, Sanctify ye war against her. War in ancient times was never undertaken without religions solemnities (see Deuteronomy 20:2 note). For some of these compare Ezekiel 21:21. AT NOON - The mid-day heat is so great in the East as to be usually passed under shelter 2 Samuel 4:5;... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:5

Up! and we will make the assault “by night!” And destroy “her palaces.” The generals delay the assault until the next morning. The soldiers consider themselves aggrieved at this, and clamour for a night attack.... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:6

HEW YE DOWN TREES - Rather, her trees: for the simple purpose of clearing the approaches. CAST A MOUNT - literally, pour: the earth was emptied out of the baskets, in which it was carried to the required spot upon the backs of laborers. WHOLLY - Or, “She “is the city” that is visited: “Wholly op... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:7

AS A FOUNTAIN CASTETH OUT - Better, As a cistern “cooleth.” BEFORE ME ... - Before My face continually there is disease and wounding: Disease as the result of poverty and want: wounding, or, the commission of deeds of actual violence.... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:8

BE THOU INSTRUCTED - Be thou chastised: learn the lesson which chastisement is intended to teach thee. LEST MY SOUL - Lest I Myself - not “depart from thee,” God does not willingly leave His people, but - “be torn from thee.”... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:9

THEY ... - Each word indicates the completeness of Judah’s ruin. TURN BACK THINE HAND - Addressed perhaps to Nebuchadnezzar as God’s servant Jeremiah 25:9. He is required to go over the vine once again, that no grapes may escape. INTO THE BASKETS - Better, “upon the tendrils.” While the Jews carri... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:11

Or, But I am filled with “the fury of Yahweh: I am weary with holding” it “in.” Pour it out “upon the children” in the street, and upon the company of youths “together;” for both man and “wife shall be taken;” the older and he whose days are full. With emphatic abruptness Jeremiah bids himself give... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:12

TURNED - Violently transferred. Houses, fields, wives, all they most valued, and most jealously kept to themselves - are gone.... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:13

GIVEN TO COVETOUSNESS - literally, everyone has gained gains. The temper of mind which gains the world is not that which gains heaven. FALSELY - Rather, “fraudulently.”... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:14

HEALED - Rather, “tried to heal.” OF THE DAUGHTER - These words are omitted by a majority of manuscripts, but found in most of the versions. SLIGHTLY - literally, “according to,” i. e., as if it were, a “trifle: making nothing” of it. This cry of “peace” was doubtless based upon Josiah’s reforms.... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:15

They are brought to shame because They have “committed abomination:” Shame nevertheless they feel not; To blush nevertheless they know not; “Therefore they shall fall among” the falling; “At the time” when “I visit them, they shall” stumble, “Saith Yahweh.” The fact is expressed that their co... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:16

The sense is: God’s prophet has declared that a great national calamity is at hand. “Make inquiries; stand in the ways; ask the passers by. Your country was once prosperous and blessed. Try to learn what were the paths trodden in those days which led your ancestors to happiness. Choose them, and wal... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:17

WATCHMEN - The prophets Isaiah 52:8. THE SECOND OF THE TRUMPET - This was the signal for flight Jeremiah 6:1; Amos 3:6. Similarly the prophet’s warning was to move men to escape from God’s judgments.... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:18

God summons three witnesses to hear His sentence. (1) the Gentiles. (2) all mankind, Jews and Gentiles. (3) nature (see Jeremiah 6:19). WHAT IS AMONG THEM - Rather, “what happens” in them; i. e., “Know what great things I will do to them.”... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:20

THE SWEET CANE - The same as the scented cane of Exodus 30:23 (see the note). YOUR BURNT OFFERINGS - The rejection of ritual observances is proclaimed by the two prophets Isaiah and Jeremiah, who chiefly assisted the two pious kings, Hezekiah and Josiah, in restoring the temple-service. God rejects... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:21

“Behold,” I give unto “this people” causes of stumbling, And they shall stumble against them: Fathers and sons together, “The neighbor and his friend shall perish.” This is the natural consequence of their conduct. Their service of Yahweh was a systematic hypocrisy: how then could they walk upri... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:22

RAISED - Or, awakened, to undertake distant expeditions. THE SIDES OF THE EARTH - Or ends, the most distant regions (see Jeremiah 25:32).... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:23

SPEAR - Properly, a javelin for hurling at the enemy (see 1 Samuel 17:6 note): an ordinary weapon of the Babylonians. CRUEL - ruthless, inhuman. In the Assyrian monuments warriors put the vanquished to death; rows of impaled victims hang round the walls of the besieged towns; and men collect in hea... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:24

The effect upon the Jewish people of the news of Nebuchadnezzars approach. WAX FEEBLE - Are relaxed. It is the opposite of what is said in Jeremiah 6:23 of the enemy, “They lay hold etc.” Terror makes the hands of the Jews hold their weapons with nerveless grasp.... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:25

FOR THE SWORD OF THE ENEMY - literally, “for to the enemy a sword; i. e., for the enemy is armed,” he has a commission from God to execute judgment. See Jeremiah 12:12; Isaiah 10:5, and Psalms 17:13 note. FEAR IS ON EVERY SIDE - Magor-Missabib, Jeremiah’s watchword (compare Jeremiah 20:3, Jeremiah... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:26

WALLOW THYSELF IN ASHES - Violent distress is accustomed to find relief in eccentric actions, and thus the wallowing in ashes shows that Jerusalem’s grief is unbearable. THE SPOILER - Nebuchadnezzar.... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:27

Render it: I have set thee among My people as a prover of ore, And thou shalt know and try their way. They are all of them rebels of rebels (i. e., utter rebels): Slander-walkers, were copper and iron, Corrupters all of them. The bellows glow: from their fire lead only! In vain hath the smelt... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:29

THE BELLOWS ARE BURNED - Worn out by continual blowing. The prophet has exhausted all his efforts. His heart, consumed by the heat of divine inspiration, can labor no more. Others translate “The bellows snort,” i. e., blow furiously. More probably, “The bellows glow” with the strong heat of the fire... [ Continue Reading ]

Jeremiah 6:30

REPROBATE - See the margin; not really silver, but the dross. THE LORD HATH REJECTED THEM - This then is the end. The smelter is God’s prophet: the bellows the breath of inspiration: the flux his earnestness in preaching. But in vain does the fervour of prophecy essay to melt the hearts of the peop... [ Continue Reading ]

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