XVII. (1) A PEN OF IRON. — _i.e.,_ a _stylus,_ or graving tool, as in Job 19:24, chiefly used for engraving in stone or metal. In Psalms 45:1 it seems to have been used of the instrument with which the scribe wrote on his tablets. WITH THE POINT OF A DIAMOND. — The word expresses the idea of the ha... [ Continue Reading ]
WHILST THEIR CHILDREN REMEMBER... — If we take “children” as referring to age, there may be a reference to the way in which the horrors of Molech worship were burnt in upon the minds of boys who were present at such a spectacle, so as never to be forgotten, but the general sense in which we speak of... [ Continue Reading ]
MY MOUNTAIN IN THE FIELD. — As in Jeremiah 21:13; Isaiah 2:2; Micah 4:2, a poetic phrase for Jerusalem or Zion, its greatness consisting not in its material elevation above the “field” or surrounding country, but in being “my mountain,” _i.e.,_ the mountain of Jehovah. The words predict the plunder... [ Continue Reading ]
THOU, EVEN THYSELF. — Literally, _in_ or _by thyself,_ an emphatic form for expressing loneliness and abandonment. SHALT DISCONTINUE... — The word was a half-technical one, used to describe the act of leaving lands untilled and releasing creditors in the sabbatical year (Exodus 23:11; Deuteronomy 15... [ Continue Reading ]
CURSED BE THE MAN... — The words are vehement and abrupt, but they burst from the prophet’s lips as proclaiming the root evil that had eaten into the life of his people. Their trust in an arm of flesh had led them to Egyptian and Assyrian alliances, and these to “departing from the Lord.” The anathe... [ Continue Reading ]
LIKE THE HEATH IN THE DESERT. — The word rendered heath is, literally, _bare_ or _naked,_ and as such is translated by “destitute” in Psalms 102:17. That meaning has accordingly been given to it here by some recent commentators. No picture of desolation could be more complete than that of a man utte... [ Continue Reading ]
BLESSED IS THE MAN... — The words that follow in Jeremiah 17:8 are almost a paraphrase of Psalms 1:3. and, we may well believe, were suggested by them. The prophet has, as it were, his own Ebal and Gerizim: trust in God inheriting the blessing, and distrust the curse.... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL NOT SEE WHEN HEAT COMETH. — Another reading, followed by the LXX. and Vulgate, gives _shall not fear;_ there is, however, more force in the repetition of the same word as in Jeremiah 17:6. The man who trusts is like the strong tree, clothed with foliage, that “does not see,” _i.e.,_ does not r... [ Continue Reading ]
THE HEART IS DECEITFUL... — The sequence of ideas seems as follows: If the blessing and the curse are thus so plainly marked, how is it that man chooses the curse and not the blessing, the portion of the “heath in the desert” rather than that of the “tree planted by the waters”? And the answer is fo... [ Continue Reading ]
ACCORDING TO HIS WAYS. — The Hebrew word is in the singular, _his way,_ and the interpolated conjunction “and” is better omitted, so as to leave the last words as an explanation of what is meant by it. Jehovah, who “searches the heart,” answers the question “who can know it?” He does know, and will,... [ Continue Reading ]
AS THE PARTRIDGE SITTETH ON EGGS... — Better, following the LXX. and Vulg., and the marginal reading of the Authorised Version, _heaps up eggs and hath not laid them._ The words point to a popular belief among the Jews that the partridge steals the eggs of other birds and adds them to her own, with... [ Continue Reading ]
A GLORIOUS HIGH THRONE... — The verse is better taken in connection with the following, and not, as the interpolated “is” makes it, as a separate sentence, the nouns being all in the vocative. _Thou throne of glory on high from the beginning, the place of our sanctuary, the hope of Israel, Jehovah..... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY THAT DEPART FROM ME. — The rapid change of person from second to first and first to third is eminently Hebrew. WRITTEN IN THE EARTH. — In implied contrast with the name graven on the rock for ever (Job 19:24) are those written on the dust or sand. The Eastern habit of writing on the ground (of... [ Continue Reading ]
HEAL ME. — The prophet, consciously or unconsciously, contrasts himself with the deserters from Jehovah. He needs “healing” and “salvation,” but he knows where to seek for them, and is sure that his Lord will not leave the work incomplete. The prayer of the prophet is like that of the Psalmist (Psal... [ Continue Reading ]
BEHOLD, THEY SAY UNTO ME. — The speakers are not named or defined, but they are clearly the mockers who questioned Jeremiah’s prophetic character, on the ground (comp. Deuteronomy 18:22) that his threats had received no fulfilment. Presumably, therefore, the words were written before the death of Je... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE NOT HASTENED... — The words of the English Version are somewhat obscure, and a better rendering would perhaps be, _I have not been quick to withdraw from my work in following thee, as a shepherd and guide of the people._ A possible meaning, adopted by some commentators, would be, “I have not... [ Continue Reading ]
BE NOT A TERROR..._ — i.e.,_ a cause of terror or dismay. The words are explained by what follows. The prophet had put his hope in Jehovah, but if he were left to himself, his message unfulfilled, himself a by-word and a jest, what a contrast would all this be to what he had been led to hope! Would... [ Continue Reading ]
LET THEM BE CONFOUNDED... — The prayer reminds us of that of the Psalmist (Psalms 35:4; Psalms 40:14). DOUBLE DESTRUCTION. — Literally, _break them with a two-fold breaking_ — _i.e.,_ the “double recompense” of Jeremiah 16:18. (See Note there.)... [ Continue Reading ]
THUS SAID THE LORD UNTO ME... — We enter here on an entirely fresh series of messages, arranged probably in chronological order, but having no immediate connection with what precedes, and narrated with a much fuller account of the circumstances connected with them. This, which begins the series, wou... [ Continue Reading ]
NEITHER CARRY FORTH A BURDEN. — Interpreted by the parallel passage in Nehemiah 13:15, the _burden_ would be the baskets of fruit, vegetables, or fish which were brought in from the country by the villagers who came to the Temple services, and the wares of the city which were taken to the gates to b... [ Continue Reading ]
KINGS AND PRINCES. — The plural is obviously used to give greater vividness and grandeur to the picture of revived majesty which would be the reward of faithfulness, perhaps also to express the idea that the majesty would be enduring.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY SHALL COME... — The verse has a special interest (1) as a topographical description of the country about Jerusalem, and (2) as a summary of the chief forms of sacrifice under the Mosaic Law. (1) The “plain” (_Shephelah_) is the lowland country of Philistia, stretching to the Mediterranean; the... [ Continue Reading ]
THEN WILL I KINDLE A FIRE... — The fire is figurative rather than literal: the “fierce anger” of the Lord which man cannot quench, and which brings destruction in its train, of which an actual conflagration may have been the instrument (Hosea 8:14; Amos 1:14). Compare Jeremiah 7:20; Jeremiah 21:14.... [ Continue Reading ]