_The word that came to Jeremiah_ As the date of the following
transaction and prophecy is here stated to have been in the tenth year
of Zedekiah's reign, while the Chaldeans invested the city, and
Jeremiah was confined in the court of the prison, it must have been
after the Egyptians had retreated b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jeremiah was shut up_ in _the court of the prison_ He was afterward
put in the dungeon, Jeremiah 37:16; and Jeremiah 38:6. But now he was
not under so severe a restraint. Compare Jeremiah 32:26; Jer 32:28 of
that chapter. _For Zedekiah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost
thou prophesy and say_,... [ Continue Reading ]
_The word of the Lord came unto me_ “Jeremiah, after having just
informed us why he was put in prison, returns to his design, and tells
us that God had advised him, probably in a dream or vision, that
Hanameel, his cousin, should come to him with the offer of a field in
Anathoth; the right of redeem... [ Continue Reading ]
_I weighed him the money_ In ancient times all money was paid by
weight, a custom still used in several countries; _even seventeen
shekels of silver_ A sum which, in our money, is not much above forty
shillings; a small price for a field or piece of ground. It must be
considered, however, “that the... [ Continue Reading ]
_I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it_ I wrote down an account of
the transaction in a book. The method it appears then in use among the
Jews when any purchase was made was, that the purchaser, as well as
those who sold, testified his consent by some writing signed before
witnesses. _I took the... [ Continue Reading ]
_When I had delivered the evidence, I prayed unto the Lord_ What he
prayed for we learn in the following verses: by which it appears that
he was not without some doubts and perplexities in this business. And
though he yielded a ready and absolute obedience to God's command, yet
he prays for a cleare... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they came in and possessed it_ In the former two verses he
acknowledges God's goodness to Israel, here he owns his truth and
faithfulness in bringing them into the land which he had promised
them. _But they obeyed not thy voice_ Having borne testimony to God's
power, wisdom, and faithfulness, h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah_ To this difficulty of
Jeremiah, between what was commanded him, and the prospect of its
being, not only useless, but disadvantageous to him, the Lord
answered, _Behold, I am the God of all flesh_ Of all men: _is any
thing too hard for me?_ The difficult... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now therefore_, &c. In this and the following verses God returns an
answer to the prophet's expostulation, Jeremiah 32:25. Or the words
may be thus translated, _But now, notwithstanding_, [all this,] _thus
saith the Lord; concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be
delivered into the hand_, &... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I will make an everlasting covenant with them_ The Jewish
covenant, even with respect to the ceremonial ordinances contained in
it, is sometimes called an _everlasting_ covenant; see Genesis 17:13;
Leviticus 24:8; Isaiah 24:5; because those ordinances were to continue
for a long succession of a... [ Continue Reading ]