_JEREMIAH, COMPLAINING OF THE PROSPERITY OF THE WICKED, BY FAITH SEETH THEIR RUIN. GOD ADMONISHES HIM OF HIS BRETHREN'S TREACHERY AGAINST HIM, AND LAMENTETH HIS HERITAGE: HE PROMISETH TO THE PENITENT A RETURN FROM CAPTIVITY._ _Before Christ 608._... [ Continue Reading ]
RIGHTEOUS ART THOU, O LORD— _Righteous,_ &c. _therefore will I plead with thee: but I will speak nothing but what is just with thee. Wherefore,_ &c. Jeremiah speaks this concerning those same wicked persons who consulted to take him off by poison; and he seems to wonder that all things succeeded wel... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY GROW, &C.— _Thou art near in their mouth, but far from their reins;_ signifies, agreeably to another passage in Scripture, _They honour thee with their lips, while their heart is far from thee,_ See Isaiah 29:13.Matthew 15:8.... [ Continue Reading ]
PULL THEM OUT, &C.— _Thou wilt separate them as sheep to be sacrificed, and set them apart,_ &c. Houbigant.... [ Continue Reading ]
BECAUSE THEY SAID, &C— _And yet they said,_ &c. _He will not regard our ways;_ Houbigant; who follows the LXX. According to our interpretation the meaning is, that those impious people said that God had no regard for human affairs. The word אחרית _acharith,_ rendered _last end,_ signifies, as in Pro... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE SWELLING OF JORDAN— Houbigant thinks that these are the words of Jeremiah to his fellow-citizens, and to the king and the leaders of the army, whom he addresses in the next verse. He compares the footmen to the horse, says St. Jerome, because all Persia, Chaldea, and those countries, excel in... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR EVEN THY BRETHREN, &C.— "The Edomites and Ishmaelites, the Moabites and Ammonites, sprung from the same original, from Abraham and Lot, joined the army of Nebuchadnezzar, to make war against thee, O Judah and Jerusalem." They, however, spoke fair words to the Jews before they did so; against whi... [ Continue Reading ]
MINE HERITAGE IS UNTO ME AS A LION, &C.— "Judah hath exalted himself against me; he hath roared like a lion, and carried his wickedness to the last extremities. Therefore I look upon him as a ravenous beast; I view him with horror and detestation. Therefore, never more say, that I suffer wickedness... [ Continue Reading ]
MINE HERITAGE, &C.— Bochart and the LXX. read _Mine heritage is unto me as the ravenous hyena; the ravenous beasts are round about it._ The context seems indisputably to prove the propriety of this interpretation עוט _aiit,_ unquestionably signifies a _wild beast,_ as well as a rapacious bird. See P... [ Continue Reading ]
MANY PASTORS— _Many eaters,_ or _devourers._ The same persons here are meant as in chap. Jeremiah 6:3 namely, Nebuchadnezzar and his army.... [ Continue Reading ]
BEING DESOLATE, IT MOURNETH UNTO ME— _Lo! it mourneth because it is made desolate._ An elegant figure, whereby the prophet expresses the lamentable condition of the land. _No man layeth it to heart._ "No man acknowledgeth the hand of the Almighty in the calamities that he feels, or humbles himself u... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAITH THE LORD AGAINST ALL MINE EVIL NEIGHBOURS— _Against all my neighbouring shepherds, who border upon the inheritance,_ &c. Houbigant. This rendering excellently suits the kings of the Ammonites, the Moabites, and Edomites, who bordered upon the Jews. See chap. Jeremiah 27:3; Jeremiah 48; Je... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SHALL THEY BE BUILT, &C.— We have here a clear prophesy of the calling of the Gentiles; and though, after the return from Babylon, the Maccabees in particular were zealous to make proselytes to the law of Moses, it is certain that this and other similar promises had their full accomplishment on... [ Continue Reading ]