VI. (1) The new discourse, or section of a discourse, deals more locally with the coming desolation of Jerusalem. O YE CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN. — The city, though claimed as belonging to Judah, was actually on the border of the two tribes, the boundary running through the valley of Ben-Hinnom (Joshua... [ Continue Reading ]
TO A COMELY AND DELICATE WOMAN. — “Woman” is not in the Hebrew, and the word translated “comely” is elsewhere (Isaiah 65:10; Jeremiah 23:3; Exodus 15:13) rendered “fold” or “habitation;” and the passage should probably stand thus, _I have likened the daughter of Zion to a fair pasturage,_ thus sugge... [ Continue Reading ]
SHALL COME UNTO HER. — Better, _Unto it_ (_sc_., the pasture) _shall come shepherds with their flocks_ — _i.e.,_ the leaders and the armies of the invaders. The other verbs are in the past tense, the future being seen, as it were realised, _They have pitched, they have pastured._ EVERY ONE IN HIS P... [ Continue Reading ]
PREPARE YE WAR. — Literally, _Sanctify._ The opening of the battle was accompanied by sacrifices, divinations, and prayers. Compare Deuteronomy 20:1 for the practice of the Israelites, and Ezekiel 21:20 for that of the Chaldæans, which was, of course, present to Jeremiah’s mind. The cry thus given w... [ Continue Reading ]
HEW YE DOWN TREES, AND CAST A MOUNT. — The words describe graphically the process of an Eastern siege as seen in the Assyrian bas-reliefs (Layard, _Mon. of Nineveh,_ i. 73-76). Compare 2 Samuel 20:15; Job 19:12; Isaiah 29:3; Ezekiel 4:2. First the neighbouring country is cleared by cutting down the... [ Continue Reading ]
AS A FOUNTAIN CASTETH OUT HER WATERS. — The English is plain enough, but the Hebrew presents two difficulties: (1) The word rendered “fountain” (better, _cistern_) is not spelt with the usual vowels, and the etymology of the verb is quite uncertain. It has been rendered, _As a cistern_ “_gathers”_ o... [ Continue Reading ]
BE THOU INSTRUCTED. — Better, _Be thou corrected,_ or, _chastened._ Comp. Psalms 2:10; Leviticus 26:23 (where we have “reformed”); and Proverbs 29:19. LEST MY SOUL. — As in Jeremiah 4:19, the Hebrew formula for emphasised personality. The word for “depart” may be better rendered _tear itself away.... [ Continue Reading ]
TURN BACK THINE HAND. — The image of the grape-gatherer carrying on his work to the last grape or tendril was a natural parable of unsparing desolation. The command is addressed to the minister of destruction, Nebuchadnezzar, or, it may be, to the angel of death. INTO THE BASKETS. — The noun is fou... [ Continue Reading ]
TO WHOM SHALL I SPEAK...? — The prophet, who now speaks in his own name, has heard the message from the Lord of Hosts; but what avails it? who will listen? As elsewhere the lips (Exodus 6:30) and the heart (Leviticus 26:41; Ezekiel 44:7), so here the ear of Israel was uncircumcised, as though it had... [ Continue Reading ]
I AM FULL OF THE FURY... — The prophet feels himself filled, frail vessel as he is, with the righteous wrath of Jehovah. It will not be controlled. I WILL POUR IT OUT. — Better, as the command coming from the mouth of Jehovah, _Pour it out._ The words that follow describe the several stages of man’s... [ Continue Reading ]
IS GIVEN TO COVETOUSNESS. — Literally, _gained gain._ The Hebrew word (as in Genesis 37:26; Job 22:2) does not necessarily involve the idea of dishonest gain, though this (as in Proverbs 1:19; Habakkuk 2:9) is often implied. What the prophet condemns is the universal desire of gain (_rem... rem..._... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY HAVE HEALED... SLIGHTLY. — Literally, _as a thing of nought, a light matter._ The words “of the daughter” are in italics, as indicating that the marginal reading of the Hebrew omits them. They are found, however, in the present text. PEACE, PEACE. — The word is taken almost in the sense of “he... [ Continue Reading ]
WERE THEY ASHAMED...? — The Hebrew gives an assertion, not a question — _They are brought to shame_ (as in Jeremiah 2:26), _because they have committed abominations._ And yet, the prophet adds, “they were not ashamed” (the verb is in a different voice). There was no inward feeling of shame even when... [ Continue Reading ]
STAND YE IN THE WAYS. — In the prophet’s mind the people were as a traveller who has taken a self-chosen path, and finds that it leads him to a place of peril. Is it not well that they should stop and ask where the old paths (literally, _the eternal paths;_ the words going, as in Jeremiah 18:15, bey... [ Continue Reading ]
WATCHMEN. — i.e., the sentinels of the army, as in 1 Samuel 14:16, giving the signal in this case, not for advance but for retreat (comp. Jeremiah 6:1, and Amos 3:6). The watchmen are, of course (as in Isaiah 52:8; Isaiah 56:10; Ezekiel 3:17; Habakkuk 2:1), the prophets blowing the trumpet of alarm,... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE HEAR, YE NATIONS... — The obstinate refusal with which the people met the summons of the prophet leads him once more to a solemn appeal (1) to the heathen nations, then (2) to the “congregation” of Israel (as in Exodus and Numbers _passim_)_,_ or, possibly, of mankind collectively, (3) to... [ Continue Reading ]
INCENSE FROM SHEBA. — The land that had a proverbial fame both for gold and frankincense (Isaiah 60:6; Ezekiel 27:22), the _thus Sabæum of_ Virg., _Æn._ i. 416, 417. So Milton, _Par. Lost,_ 4 — “Sabæan odours from the spicy shores Of Araby the blest.” So the Queen of Sheba brought spices and gold... [ Continue Reading ]
AND THE FATHERS AND THE SONS TOGETHER... — Better, _I give unto this people stumbling blocks, and they shall stumble over them: fathers and sons together, neighbour and his friend, shall perish. _... [ Continue Reading ]
FROM THE NORTH COUNTRY... — THE WORDS point, as in Jeremiah 1:13, to the Chaldæan, perhaps, also, to the Scythian, invasion. So the “north quarters” are used in Ezekiel 38:6; Ezekiel 38:15; Ezekiel 39:2 of the home of Gog as the representative of the Scythian tribes. SHALL BE RAISED. — Literally, _... [ Continue Reading ]
BOW AND SPEAR. — As before (Jeremiah 5:16), the special weapons of the Chaldæans. The “spear” was a javelin, shot or hurled against the enemy. CRUEL. — The ferocity of the Chaldæans seems to have been exceptional. Prisoners impaled, or flayed alive, or burnt in the furnace (Jeremiah 29:22; Daniel 3... [ Continue Reading ]
WE HAVE HEARD THE FAME. — Another dramatic impersonation of the cry of terror from the dwellers in Jerusalem, when they shall hear of the approach of the army. The imagery of the woman in travail is reproduced from Jeremiah 4:31.... [ Continue Reading ]
THE FIELD. — _i.e., the open country._ To pass beyond the walls of the beleaguered city would be full of danger. The warning has its parallel in Matthew 24:17. In the same chapter we find also an echo of the prophet’s reference to the pangs of childbirth (Matthew 24:8). FEAR IS ON EVERY SIDE. — The... [ Continue Reading ]
WALLOW THYSELF IN ASHES. — So in Jeremiah 25:34; Ezekiel 27:30. The ordinary sign of mourning was to sprinkle dust or ashes on the head (2 Samuel 1:2; 2 Samuel 13:19; Joshua 7:6). This, as in Jeremiah 25:34; Micah 1:10; Job 2:8, indicated more utter wretchedness and prostration. The English verb bel... [ Continue Reading ]
I HAVE SET THEE... — The verse is difficult, as containing words in the Hebrew which are not found elsewhere, and have therefore to be guessed at. The following rendering is given on the authority of the most recent commentators, and has the merit of being in harmony with the metallurgic imagery of... [ Continue Reading ]
GRIEVOUS REVOLTERS... — Literally, _rebels of rebels,_ as a Hebraism for the worst type of rebellion. WALKING WITH SLANDERS. — The phrase was a common one (Leviticus 19:16; Proverbs 11:13; Proverbs 20:19), and pointed to the restless eagerness of the tale-bearer to spread his falsehoods. (Comp. 1 T... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BELLOWS ARE BURNED. — Better, _burn,_ or _glow._ In the interpretation of the parable the “bellows” answer to the life of the prophet as filled with the breath or spirit of Jehovah. He is, as it were, consumed with that fiery blast, and yet his work is faulty. THE LEAD IS CONSUMED... — Better,... [ Continue Reading ]
REPROBATE SILVER. — Better, as in the margin, _refuse silver;_ the dross and not the metal; so worthless that even Jehovah, as the great refiner, rejects it utterly, as yielding nothing. The adjective and the verb have in the Hebrew the emphasis of being formed from the same root, _Refuse silver..._... [ Continue Reading ]