_The word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time_ See note on
Jeremiah 32:2. Jeremiah being forced out of the temple, God follows
him to the prison, and there reveals his mind to him once and again.
The wickedness of the Jews in persecuting the prophet could not make
God's promises of no eff... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord, the maker thereof_ That is, as many interpreters
understand it, of the city of Jerusalem, a figure of that church
spoken of before: see Jeremiah 32:36; Jeremiah 32:44, compared with
the 4th, 6th, and 9th verses of this chapter. Blaney, however, renders
the clause, _Thus saith J... [ Continue Reading ]
_Call unto me, and I will answer thee_ An expression manifesting God's
favour and loving kindness; that he was ready to comply with the first
intimations of his servant's desires. Compare Jeremiah 29:12. God, by
thus directing his discourse to Jeremiah, not only signified his
kindness toward him, bu... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord concerning the houses of this city_ Not excepting
those _of the kings of Judah, thrown down by the mounts_ Namely, by
the battering engines placed upon the mounts, which were raised
against the walls of the city; _and by the sword_ By the violence of
war. The Hebrew word general... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, I will bring it health and cure_ The latter part of this
verse expounds the former: for, by _health and cure_, the prophet
means _peace and truth_, or, _stability._ Blaney renders it, _I will
make it_, namely, the city or state _perfectly sound and whole._ The
disturbed and calamitous state... [ Continue Reading ]
_And it shall be to me a praise and an honour_ Jerusalem thus rebuilt,
and Judah thus re-established, shall be to my glory _before all the
nations._ In other words, it is foretold here that God's especial
providence over the Jews, in restoring their city and temple, and
re-establishing them in their... [ Continue Reading ]
_Again there shall be heard in this place which ye say shall be
desolate_ See note on Jeremiah 32:43; _the voice of joy and the voice
of gladness_ The contrary to what takes place in the times of
captivity and desolation. _The voice of them that shall say, Praise ye
the Lord, for the Lord is good_,... [ Continue Reading ]
_Again in this place shall be a habitation for shepherds_, &c. See
Jeremiah 50:19; Isaiah 65:10. In those places which were desolate,
without man and beast, there should be flocks and herds of sheep and
goats, which the shepherds should take care of as in former times.
_And in the cities of Judah sh... [ Continue Reading ]
_Behold, the days come that I will perform that good thing,_ &c. The
Lord's word is not _yea_ and _nay:_ he cannot lie, or repent. There
shall come a time when he will verify every good word which he hath
spoken to, or concerning, his people. _In those days will I cause the
Branch of righteousness t... [ Continue Reading ]
_For thus saith the Lord, David shall never want a man_, &c. It is
very evident that the prophecies in these verses were not fulfilled in
the Jews after the Babylonish captivity; for, from that time to the
coming of Christ, David was without a successor of his family sitting
upon the throne of Judah... [ Continue Reading ]
_If you can break my covenant of the day and of the night_ Called the
_ordinances_ of the day and night, Jeremiah 31:35. _Then may also my
covenant be broken with David and with the Levites_ A promise this,
that the kingdom of Christ and a Christian ministry shall continue in
the church to the end o... [ Continue Reading ]
_As the host of heaven cannot be numbered_, &c. The former promise
respected the stability, this the enlargement of the church, the
members of which are here termed _the seed of David_, as they are
elsewhere often called _the seed of Abraham_, being the imitators of
the faith of Abraham and David. O... [ Continue Reading ]
_The two families which the Lord hath chosen_ “It is plain from
Jeremiah 33:26,” says Blaney,” that the two families here meant
are those of Jacob and David, though some have supposed the two
kingdoms of Israel and Judah, others the royal and sacerdotal families
of David and Levi, to be intended.” _... [ Continue Reading ]