Jeremiah 4 - Introduction
_GOD CALLETH ISRAEL BY HIS PROMISE: HE EXHORTETH JUDAH TO REPENTANCE BY FEARFUL JUDGEMENTS. A GRIEVOUS LAMENTATION FOR THE MISERIES OF JUDAH._ _Before Christ 612._... [ Continue Reading ]
_GOD CALLETH ISRAEL BY HIS PROMISE: HE EXHORTETH JUDAH TO REPENTANCE BY FEARFUL JUDGEMENTS. A GRIEVOUS LAMENTATION FOR THE MISERIES OF JUDAH._ _Before Christ 612._... [ Continue Reading ]
IF THOU WILT RETURN—RETURN UNTO ME— _If thou wilt return—thou shalt return._ [_Thou shalt dwell with me._ Houb.] _If thou wilt remove thy idols, thou shalt not be removed._ In the former part, says Houbigant, the conversion of their [hearts and] morals is spoken of; in the latter, the stability of t... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE NATIONS SHALL BLESS, &C.— This is a prediction of the Gospel-times, when the heathens should join with the Israelites in paying all solemn acts of worship and devotion to the true God only, and in ascribing all honour and glory to him, and to his only Son, the Messiah, in whom all the nation... [ Continue Reading ]
BREAK UP YOUR FALLOW GROUND, &C.— That is, "Purge and purify the field of your hearts by true repentance." See Deuteronomy 10:16. Romans 2:29. Exodus 6:12.Acts 7:51. Colossians 2:11 and Houb.... [ Continue Reading ]
CIRCUMCISE YOURSELVES— Circumcision, as well as baptism, had a moral import, and denoted the obligation of putting away all sinful lusts of the flesh, every irregular and inordinate affection and appetite. Compare Deuteronomy 10:16; Deuteronomy 30:6. Romans 2:29. Colossians 2:11.... [ Continue Reading ]
BLOW YE THE TRUMPET— "Sound the alarm, that every one may save himself in the defenced cities: the enemy is come into the field; he hath set up his standard, _the lion from his thicket_ [Jeremiah 4:7.]; Nebuchadnezzar, king of Babylon, _the destroyer of nations;_ so called, as the Almighty had given... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL PERISH— _Shall sink._... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN SAID I, &C.— _And shall say,_ &c. The passage is very plain, from this version which I have given. According to the common interpretation it must mean, "Thou hast suffered this people to be deceived by false prophets:" for God, in the language of Scripture, is often said to _do_ that which he b... [ Continue Reading ]
A DRY WIND, &C.— The prophet here describes the Chaldean army coming up for the destruction of Judaea, under the metaphor of a hot pestilential wind, which sweeps away multitudes in a moment, blasts the fruits of the earth, and spreads desolation every where around. The passage, like that in the pre... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR A VOICE DECLARETH FROM DAN— _For lo! a sound of devastation comes from Dan; lo! a tumult is heard from the mountains of Ephraim._ Houb.... [ Continue Reading ]
WATCHERS COME, &C.— By these _watchers_ are meant, those who precede an army, and announce its approach, whom Caesar in his Commentaries calls _antecessores,_ or _antecursores._ Houbigant renders the first clause of the next verse, _Like the keepers of a field do they surround her:_ that is, "These... [ Continue Reading ]
AS KEEPERS OF A FIELD— Mr. Harmer cites from Sir John Chardin's manuscript the following remark on this place: "As in the East, pulse, roots, &c. grow in open and uninclosed fields, when they begin to be fit to gather, they place guards, if near a great road more, if distant fewer, who place themsel... [ Continue Reading ]
THY WAY, &C.— _Thy ways and thy doings will procure thee these things: this is thy wickedness for they will be bitter, and will reach to thy heart._ "Whatsoever happens to you, happens by your own fault, who have turned the sweet goodness of the Lord into bitterness, and have compelled him, however... [ Continue Reading ]
MY BOWELS, &C.— _My bowels, my bowels! I am pained at the centre,_ or, _in the midst, of my heart; my heart is tumultuous within me._ This terrific vision is full of the divinest enthusiasm. The calamities described are presented to the mind in such lively colours, the images are so crouded, and arr... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR MY PEOPLE IS FOOLISH— Some have supposed that these words, as well as the preceding ones, are to be referred to God; but they suit the prophet much better, who speaks here, as commissioned by the divine authority to preach to this people. See ch. Jeremiah 5:21.... [ Continue Reading ]
I BEHELD THE EARTH, &C.— The images, under which the prophet represents the approaching desolation as foreseen by him, are such as are familiar to the Hebrew poets on the like occasions. (See Lowth De Sac. Poesi Heb. Prael. 9: and his note on Isaiah, ch. Jeremiah 13:10.) But the assemblage is finely... [ Continue Reading ]
YET WILL I NOT MAKE A FULL END— Some understand this as a gracious promise, that though God would punish Jerusalem, yet he would not utterly forget her, but hereafter restore and rebuild her. See the next chapter, Jeremiah 4:10; Jeremiah 4:18. Others understand it, as referring to still further cala... [ Continue Reading ]
THE WHOLE CITY SHALL FLEE— _All the cities have fled,_ &c. _All the cities are forsaken, and there are no inhabitants in them._ Houb.... [ Continue Reading ]
THOUGH THOU RENTEST THY FACE WITH PAINTING— See 2 Kings 9:30. The prophet here carries on the idea wherewith he began, describing Jerusalem under the figure of a harlot, dressing herself up to captivate lovers. See Ezekiel 16:15; Ezekiel 16:63. Houbigant renders the verse, _And thou, when about to b... [ Continue Reading ]
FOR I HAVE HEARD— The prophet here pathetically describes Jerusalem as a woman in travail, bewailing the loss of her children by the Chaldeans, and in vain imploring assistance. Houbigant renders the last clause, _For my soul is faint within me, because of the murdered;_ those of my children who hav... [ Continue Reading ]