_UNDER THE SIMILITUDE OF A WRETCHED INFANT, IS SHEWED THE NATURAL STATE OF JERUSALEM. GOD'S EXTRAORDINARY LOVE TOWARDS HER: HER MONSTROUS WHOREDOM: HER GRIEVOUS JUDGMENT: HER SIN, MATCHING HER MOTHER, AND EXCEEDING HER SISTERS SODOM AND SAMARIA, CALLETH FOR JUDGMENTS. MERCY IS PROMISED IN THE END TO... [ Continue Reading ]
CAUSE JERUSALEM TO KNOW, &C.— This order was probably performed by way of letter, as Jeremiah signified the will of the Almighty to the captives of Babylon. God here particularly upbraids the city of Jerusalem for her iniquities, because it was the place that he had chosen for his peculiar residence... [ Continue Reading ]
THY BIRTH, AND THY NATIVITY, &C.— _Thy root,_ or _origin, and thy nativity,_ &c. As much as to say, "You dishonour the race of Abraham, whence you are descended; you deserve much rather the name of a Canaanite than of an Israelite." The Amorites and Hittites appear to have been the most corrupted of... [ Continue Reading ]
AND AS FOR THY NATIVITY— "Thou wast abandoned like an infant, whereof no care is taken, and which is about to be exposed." The expressions used in this verse allude to the customs observed by eastern nations at the birth of their children; and the design of the prophet is to mark out that state of i... [ Continue Reading ]
POLLUTED IN THINE OWN BLOOD— _Wallowing in thy blood._ The last clause of this verse is not found in the Syriac and LXX. That horrid custom of the ancients of exposing their infants when they could not support them, or when the children had any natural defects, is very well known. This inhumanity wa... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE CAUSED, &C.— _I have caused thee to multiply as the grass of the field; and thou didst increase and grow up to maturity, and didst arrive to the perfection of beauty. Thy breasts were fashioned, and thy tresses sprouted out; but still thou wast naked, and bare._... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, &C.— See Ruth 3:9. The Jews' deliverance out of Egypt is often described as the time of God's espousing them to himself; and his entering into covenant with them represented by a marriage-contract. See Jeremiah 2:2.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WASHED I THEE WITH WATER, &C.— "I added every thing which had the least tendency to contribute to thy beauty and ornament." The anointing with oil was reckoned a necessary ingredient in a festival dress. See Ruth 3:3. 2 Samuel 14:2. This and the following verses allude to those parts of the wom... [ Continue Reading ]
I PUT A JEWEL ON THY FOREHEAD— _I put thee on a nose-jewel._ See Genesis 24:47 and Houbigant. See also Song of Solomon 3:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THOU DIDST PROSPER INTO A KINGDOM— _And, in fine, wast advanced to a kingdom;_ Houbigant, who instead of _comeliness,_ in the next verse, reads _glory._... [ Continue Reading ]
BUT THOU DIDST TRUST, &C.— _But thou, trusting on thy beauty, didst play the harlot, degenerating from thy renown._ Houbigant. The Hebrews polluted their glory, and profaned the great name of the Lord which was their honour, by their frequent and scandalous idolatries.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE LIKE THINGS, &C.— _And hast refused to be mine._ Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
IMAGES OF MEN— _Idol images,_ or _images for worship._... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THUS IT WAS, &C.— Houbigant begins the next verse with this clause, which he reads thus; _Nay, moreover, saith the Lord God;_ and he ends the 20th verse with the word _devoured,_ and begins the 21st verse thus, _Was it a small matter for thee to have played the harlot, that thou must also slay m... [ Continue Reading ]
AN EMINENT PLACE— _A brothel-house._ Houbigant. See also Ezekiel 16:31; Ezekiel 16:39. Instead of, _Hast made thy beauty to be abhorred,_ Ezekiel 16:25 he reads, _And, dishonouring thy beauty, thou hast,_ &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU HAST ALSO COMMITTED FORNICATION WITH THE EGYPTIANS— The prophet objects to the Jews the three principal superstitions described chap. Ezekiel 8:15, &c. Fornication, adultery, and whoredom, are the constant figures under which the Holy Spirit represents the idolatries of the Israelites; conseque... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE LAND OF CANAAN UNTO CHALDEA— _With the land of Canaan,_ &c. Or, as Houbigant renders it, _In the land of merchants among the Chaldeans._... [ Continue Reading ]
HOW WEAK IS THINE HEART, &C.— _How shall I circumcise thine heart,_ &c. Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY GIVE, &C.— _To harlots gifts are presented, but thou presentest thy gifts,_ &c.... [ Continue Reading ]
WHEREAS NONE FOLLOWETH THEE, &C.— _Nor is thy way like that of an harlot, for thou hast given a reward,_ &c. The intelligent reader, says Bishop Warburton, perceives, that the meaning of the metaphor is, "You Jews are contrary to all other nations; you are fond of borrowing their rites; while none o... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THY FILTHINESS, &C.— _Because thy money,_ or _thy brass._ Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
I WILL JUDGE THEE, AS WOMEN, &C.— _As adultresses and shedders of blood are judged; and I will take the same punishment of thee which is taken by a furious and jealous husband._ Houbigant. The prophet alludes to the waters of jealousy, spoken of in the law. The common punishment of adultery was ston... [ Continue Reading ]
SO WILL I MAKE MY FURY TOWARD THEE TO REST— Though it be more grateful to God's excellent nature to awaken men with his bounty than with his chastisement, yet he can punish with as little noise as he can relieve: it is but withdrawing himself, giving men up to their own hearts' lust, letting them wa... [ Continue Reading ]
EVERY ONE THAT USETH PROVERBS— They who love to apply the memorable sayings of former ages to the present times, shall apply that common proverb to thee, "That the daughter followeth the mother's steps;" and that Jerusalem is no better than the Amorites, whose land she inhabits, and whose manners sh... [ Continue Reading ]
THINE ELDER SISTER IS SAMARIA— Samaria is called the _elder sister_ of Jerusalem, as being the capital city of the ten tribes, a much larger kingdom than that of Judah: she also led the way to that idolatry which afterwards infected the whole nation; forsaking the worship which God had appointed in... [ Continue Reading ]
AND HAST JUSTIFIED THY SISTERS, &C.— _And hast made thy sisters innocent, in comparison of the crimes which thou hast committed._ Ezekiel 16:52. _Thou therefore shalt bear thine own shame, since by thy sins thou hast formed the judgment of thy sisters; because thou hast been more wicked than they: T... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR THY SISTER SODOM WAS NOT MENTIONED, &C.— _Nor shalt thou any more mention thy sister with reproach, as in the day of thy pride._ Ezekiel 16:57. _Namely, before thy wickedness was discovered; and the time of thy reproach was the same as that of the daughters of Syria, and all her neighbours, and... [ Continue Reading ]