_The word that came to Jeremiah_, &c. At what time the prophecy, contained in this and the following chapter, was communicated to the prophet, is not expressed; but Blaney and many others assign it to the latter part of the reign of Josiah,” when the people, who, in the eighteenth year of that princ... [ Continue Reading ]
_Hear ye the words of this covenant_ God speaks here chiefly to Jeremiah, but seems, at the same time, to address, together with him, all those pious persons who were like-minded with him, and who reproved the wicked manners of the people. The covenant here spoken of was the covenant of the law of G... [ Continue Reading ]
_Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah_, &c. That all may hear, for all are concerned; saying, _Hear ye the words, &c., and do them_ Let it be thy work to call upon this people, not only to _hear_, but to _do_ the things which I have commanded them, and which they have engaged to do. _For... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Lord said, A conspiracy is found_, &c. Namely, by him whose eye is upon the hidden works of darkness. There is a combination formed among them against God and religion, a dangerous design to overthrow the government of Jehovah, and to bring in counterfeit deities. In other words, All sorts... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then shall the cities of Judah cry unto the gods_, &c. “When great calamities threaten men, their fears suggest all possible ways of seeking for succour. Thus, when the Jews found themselves forsaken of God, they betook themselves to idols, but found all such applications vain, and to no purpose: s... [ Continue Reading ]
_What hath my beloved to do in my house, &c._ “Why doth this, my chosen and peculiar people, as they love to call themselves, make their appearance before me in my house, since they have gone a whoring after several idols of the nations round about them, and thereby have disowned me, and broken the... [ Continue Reading ]
_The Lord hath called thy name, A green olive-tree_ Perhaps Jeremiah here alludes to Hosea 11:7, where Israel is compared to an olive-tree. The Jewish nation, which, in its flourishing state, is often compared by the sacred writers to a _vine_, is also sometimes compared to an _olive-tree_, chiefly... [ Continue Reading ]
_And the Lord hath given me knowledge of it_, &c. This relates to the ill designs which the men of Anathoth had contrived against the prophet, which he here saith God had revealed to him. See the following verses. _But I was like a lamb or an ox, &c._ A proverbial speech, expressing a false security... [ Continue Reading ]
_But, O Lord, thou judgest righteously_ It is matter of comfort to us, when men deal unjustly with us, that we have a God to go to, who doth and will plead the cause of injured innocence, and appear against the injurious. God's justice, which is a terror to the wicked, is a comfort to the godly. _Th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord of the men that seek thy life_ That are combined to kill thee; _saying, Prophesy not in the name of the Lord_ The meaning is, that those men of Anathoth threatened that they would kill him if he did not cease to prophesy such things as he did in the name of the Lord, namely, con... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will punish them_ Hebrew, פקד עליהם, _I will visit_, namely, this their wicked conduct, _upon them;_ I will inquire into it, and reckon with them for it. _The young men shall die by the sword_ Though they be young priests, not men of war, their sacred office... [ Continue Reading ]