CHAPTER II _God expresses his continued regard for his people, long since_ _chosen_, 1-3. _He then expostulates with them on their ungrateful and worse_ _than heathen return to his regard_, 4-11; _at which even the inanimate creation must be astonished_, 12, 13. _After this their guilt is dec... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:2. _I REMEMBER THEE_] The _youth_ here refers to their _infant_ _political state_ when they came out of Egypt; they just then began to be a people. Their _espousals_ refer to their receiving the law at Mount Sinai, which they solemnly accepted, Exodus 24:6-2, and which acceptance wa... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:3. _ISRAEL_ WAS _HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD_] Fully _consecrated_ to his service. _THE FIRST FRUITS OF HIS INCREASE_] They were as wholly the Lord's, as the first fruits were the property of the priests according to the law, Numbers 18:13. These the priests alone had a right to devote... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:5. _WHAT INIQUITY HAVE YOUR FATHERS FOUND IN ME_] Have they ever discovered any thing _cruel, unjust, oppressive_ in my _laws_? Any thing _unkind_ or _tyrannical_ in my _government_? Why then have they become _idolaters_?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:6. _THROUGH THE WILDERNESS_] Egypt was the _house of their_ _bondage_: the _desert_ through which they passed after they came out of Egypt, was a place where the _means of life_ were not to be found; where no one family could subsist, much less a company of 600,000 men. God mentions... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:7. _AND I BROUGHT YOU INTO A PLENTIFUL COUNTRY_] The land of _Canaan_. _MY LAND_] The _particular property of God_, which he gave to them as an inheritance, they being his peculiar people.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:8. _THEY THAT HANDLE THE LAW_] ותפשי _vethophe shey, they_ _that draw out the law_; they whose office it is to _explain_ it, _draw_ _out_ its spiritual meanings, and show to what its testimonies refer. _THE PASTORS ALSO_] Kings, political and civil rulers. _PROPHESIED BY BAAL_] Be... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:9. _I WILL YET PLEAD WITH YOU_] אריב _arib_, I will maintain my _process_, vindicate my own conduct, and prove the wickedness of yours.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:10. _THE ISLES OF CHITTIM_] This is the island of _Cyprus_, according to Josephus. In 1 Maccabees, _1Mac 8:5_, it is taken for Macedonia. _Besides this, how they_ (the Romans) _had discomfited in_ _battle Philip_ and _Perseus, king of the Chittims_. Chittim was the grandson of Japhe... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:12. _BE ASTONISHED, O YE HEAVENS_] Or, _the heavens are_ _astonished_. The original will admit either sense. The conduct of this people was so altogether bad, that among all the iniquities of mankind, neither heaven nor earth had witnessed any thing so excessively sinful and proflig... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:13. _TWO EVILS_] _First_, they _forsook God_, the Fountain of life, light, prosperity, and happiness. _Secondly_, they hewed out broken cisterns; they _joined themselves to idols_, from whom they could receive neither temporal nor spiritual good! Their conduct was the excess of foll... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:14. Is _ISRAEL A SERVANT?_] Is he a _slave_ purchased with money, or a _servant born in the family_? He is a _son_ himself. If so, then, _why is he spoiled_? Not because God has not shown him love and kindness; but because he forsook God, turned to and is joined with idols.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:15. _THE YOUNG LIONS ROARED UPON HIM_] The Assyrians, who have sacked and destroyed the kingdom of Israel, with a fierceness like that of pouncing upon their prey.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:16. _THE CHILDREN OF NOPH AND TAHAPANES_] Noph and Tahapanes were two cities of Egypt, otherwise called _Memphis_ and _Daphni_. It is well known that the good king was defeated by the Egyptians, and slain in battle. Thus was the _crown of Judah's head broken_.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:18. _WHAT HAST THOU TO DO IN THE WAY OF EGYPT_] Why dost thou _make alliances_ with Egypt? _TO DRINK THE WATERS OF SIHOR?_] This means the _Nile_. See on Isaiah 23:3. _THE WAY OF ASSYRIA_] Why _make alliances_ with the Assyrians? All such connexions will only expedite thy ruin. _... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:20. _OF OLD TIME I HAVE BROKEN THY YOKE_] It is thought by able critics that the verbs should be read in the _second person_ _singular, THOU hast broken thy yoke, THOU hast burst thy bonds_; and thus the Septuagint, συνετριψας τον ζυγον σου, "thou hast broken thy yoke." And the _Vul... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:21. _I HAD PLANTED THEE A NOBLE VINE_] I gave thee the fullest instruction, the purest ordinances, the highest privileges; and reason would that I should expect thee to _live_ _suitably to such advantages_; but instead of this thou _art become_ _degenerate_; the _tree_ is deteriorat... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:22. _FOR THOUGH THOU WASH THEE WITH NITRE_] It should be rendered _natar_ or _natron_, a substance totally different from our _nitre_. It comes from the root נתר _nathar_, to dissolve, loosen, because a solution of it in water is abstersive, taking _out spots_, c., from clothes. It... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:23. _SEE THY WAY IN THE VALLEY_] The _valley of Hinnom_, where they offered their own children to Moloch, an idol of the Ammonites. _A SWIFT DROMEDARY TRAVERSING HER WAYS_] Dr. _Blayney_ translates, "A fleet dromedary that hath taken to company with her." Dr. _Dahler_ rather parap... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:24. _A WILD ASS USED TO THE WILDERNESS_] Another comparison to express the same thing. _SNUFFETH UP THE WIND_] In a high fever from the inward heat felt at such times, these animals open their mouths and nostrils as wide as possible, to take in large draughts of fresh air, in order... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:25. _WITHHOLD THY FOOT FROM BEING UNSHOD_] When it was said to them, "Cease from discovering thy feet; prostitute thyself no more to thy idols." _AND THY THROAT FROM THIRST_] Drink no more of their libations, nor use those potions which tend only to increase thy appetite for pollut... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:26. _AS THE THIEF IS ASHAMED_] As the pilferer is confounded when he is caught in the fact; so shalt thou, thy kings, princes, priests, and prophets, be confounded, when God shall arrest thee in thy idolatries, and deliver thee into the hands of thine enemies.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:27. _THOU_ ART _MY FATHER_] By thee we have been produced, and by thee we are sustained. This was the property of the true God; for he is the _Author_ and _Supporter_ of _being_. How deeply fallen and brutishly ignorant must they be when they could attribute this to the stock of a t... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:28. ACCORDING _TO THE NUMBER OF THY CITIES ARE THY GODS_] Among heathen nations every city had its _tutelary deity_. Judah, far sunk in idolatry, had adopted this custom. The Church of Rome has refined it a little: every city has its _tutelary saint_, and this saint has a procession... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:31. _HAVE I BEEN A WILDERNESS UNTO ISRAEL?_] Have I ever withheld from you any of the blessings necessary for your support? _A LAND OF DARKNESS_] Have you, since you passed through the wilderness, and came out of the darkness of Egypt, ever been brought into similar circumstances?... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:32. _CAN A MAID FORGET HER ORNAMENTS_] This people has not so much attachment to me as young females have to their dress and ornaments. They never forget them; and even when arrived at old age, look with pleasure on the dress and ornaments which they have worn in their youth. _DAYS... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:33. _WHY TRIMMEST THOU THY WAY_] Ye have used a multitude of artifices to gain alliances with the neighbouring idolatrous nations. _HAST THOU ALSO TAUGHT THE WICKED ONES THY WAYS._] Ye have made even these idolaters worse than they were before. Dr. _Blayney_ translates, "Therefore... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:34. _THE BLOOD OF THE SOULS OF THE POOR INNOCENTS_] We find from the sacred history that Manasseh had filled Jerusalem with innocent blood; see 2 Kings 21:16, and Ezekiel 34:10. _I HAVE NOT FOUND IT BY SECRET SEARCH, BUT UPON ALL THESE._] Such deeds of darkness and profligacy are f... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:35. _BECAUSE I AM INNOCENT_] They continued to assert their innocence, and therefore expected that God's judgments would be speedily removed! _I WILL PLEAD WITH THEE_] I will maintain my _process_, follow it up to conviction, and inflict the deserved punishment.... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:36. _WHY GADDEST THOU ABOUT_] When they had departed from the Lord, they sought foreign alliances for support. 1. The _Assyrians_, 2 Chronicles 28:13; but they injured instead of helping them. 2. The _Egyptians_: but in this they were utterly disappointed, and were ashamed of thei... [ Continue Reading ]
Verse Jeremiah 2:37. _THOU SHALT GO FORTH FROM HIM, AND THINE HANDS UPON_ _THINE HEAD_] Thou shalt find all thy confidence in vain, - thy hope disappointed; - and thy state reduced to desperation. _The hand being_ _placed on the head_ was the evidence of deep sorrow, occasioned by utter desolation.... [ Continue Reading ]