Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition) (continued)
4 Return Jnom Gaplivily Promised. JEREMIAH XIII. The Destruction of the People Prepjxvrvi,
Calvin.] The world he moved in was not the sensible, but the spiritual world. Inward acts were, however, when itwas possible and proper, materialized by outward performance; but not always, and necessarily so. The internal act made a naked statement more impressive, and presented the subject when extending over loiig jjortions of space and. time more concentrated. The interruption of Jeremiah's official duty by a journey of more than
4.) Jerome tratui Uiles, "cry after thee with a loud (lit., full) voice." believe . . . not . . . though . . . speak fair—(Proverbs 26. 25.) 7. I have 4brsalcei»—Jehovali will forsake His temple aud the people peculiarly His. The lueutioii of God's close tie to them, as heretolore His, aggravates their ingratitude, and shows that their past spiritual privileges will not prevent God from punishing tliem. beloved of my soul—image from a wi/e (ch. 11. 15; Isaiah 54. 5). 8. Is unto me—i« fiecorrae unto me : behaves toward.s me as a lion whicli roars against a man, so that he withdraws from the place where he hears it: so I withdrew from my people, once beloved, but now an oliject of abhorrence because of their rebellious cries against me. 9. spec Mecl bird—many translate, "a ravenous beast, the hya-na;" the corresponding Arabic word means hycena; Ko LXX. But the Hebrew . aXyvauys elsewhere means "a bird of prey.'^ The Hebrew for "speckled " is from a root "to colour;'' answering to the Jewish blending together witli pagani.sm the altogether diverse Mosaic ritual. The neighbouring nations, birds of prey like herself (for she had sinfully assimilated herself to them), were ready to pounce upon her. assemble . . . beasts of . . . field—The Chaldeans are told to gather the surrounding heathen peoples as allies against Judah (Isaiah 56. 9; Ezekiel 34. 5). 10. past.ors—the Babylonian leaders (of. v. 12; ch. 6. 3). iny vineyard—(Isaiah 5. 1, 5.) trodden my portion
200 miles twice is not likely to have litei-a/ly taken place.
1. put it upon thy loins, &c.—expressing the close intimacy wiierewilh Jeliovah had joined Israel and Judah to Hiln (v, 11). linen—implying i t was the mne?' garment next the skin, not Mie outer one. put it notiu Wjater—signifying the moral filth of His people, like the literal filth of a garment worn constantly next the skin, without being washed (v. 10). Grotius understands a garment not bleached, but left in its native roughness.just as Judah had no beauty, but was adopted by the sole grace of God (Ezekiel 16. 4-G). " Neither wast thou washed in «;a<er,"&c. 4. Euplvrates—In order to support the view that Jeremiah's act was outward, Henderson considers tliat the Hebrew " Phrath" here is EphraUia, the briginal name of Bethlehem, six miles south of Jerusalem, a journey easy to be made by Jeremiah.' The non-addition of the word "river," which usually precedes P7ira//i, when me;ining Euphrates, favours tins view. But I prefer ^^Hf/^/^A Version. 'Vhe Euphrates is specified as being near Babylon, the Jews' future
(Isaiali 63.18.) 11. moui-netli unto me i.e., before me. EiCHORN tramlaies, "by reason of me," because I have given it to desolation (v. 7). because no man layetli It to keart—because none by repentance and prayer seek to deprecate God's wrath. Or, "yet none lays it to heart:" as cli. 5. 3. [Calvin.] 13. high places—before, he had threatened the plains; now, the hills, wilderness—not an uainhabited desert, but high lands of pasturage, lying between Judea and Chaldea (ch. 4. 11). 13. Description In detail of the devastation of the land (Micah 6. 15). they shall be ashamed of your—The change of persons, iu passing from indirect to direct address, is frequent in the prophets. Equivalent to, "Ye shall be put to the shame of disappointment at the smallness of your produce." 14-17. • Propliecy as to the surrounding nations, the Syrians, Ammonites, &c., wlio helped forward Judah's calamity: they shall share her fall; and, on their conversion, they shall share with her in the future restoration. This is a brief anticipation of the predictions In chs. 47., place of exile, hole—typical of the prisons in which the Jews were to be confined, the rock—some well-known rock. A sterile region, such as was that to whiclt the Jews were led away (cf. Isaiah 7. 19). [Gkotius.] 6. after many days—time enough was given for the girdle to become unfit for use. So in course of time the Jews became corrupted liy the heathen idolatries around, so as to cease to be witnesses of Jeliovah; they must, therefore, be cast away as a " marred" or spoiled girdle. 9. (Leviticus 26.
19.) 10. imngiiiatioii—rather, obstinacy. 11. (Ch. 33. 9; Exodus 19. 5.) glory—an ornament to glory in. 13. A new image. Do wc not . . . know . . . wine—The " bottles" are those used in the Eiml, made of skins ; our word hogshead, originally oxhide, alludes to the same custom. As they were used to hold water, milk, and other liquids, what the prophet said, viz., that they should be all filled with wine, was not, a-s the Jews' taunting reply implied, a truism even literally. The fig. sense whicli is what Jeremiah chiefly meant, they affected not to understand. As wine intoxicates, so God's wrath and judgments shall reduce them to tha t state of helpless distraction that they shall rush on their own ruin (ch. 25. 15; 49. 12; Isaiah 51. 17,
48.', 49. 14. touch—(Zechariah 2. 8.) pluck them out . . . pluck out . . . Judah—(Cf. end of v. IS.} During the thirteen years that the Babylonians besieged Tyre, Nebuchadnezzar, after subduing Coelo-Syria, brought Ammou, Mpab, &c., and tinally Egypt, Into subjection (Jo8EPHU.S, Antiquities, 10. 9, sec. 7). On the restoration of these n.'itions, they were to exchange places with the Jews. The latter were now in the midst of them, but on their restoration l?tey were to be "in the midst of the Jews," t. e., as proselytes to the true God (cf. Micah 5. 7; Zechariah 14. 10). " Pluck thern," viz., the Gentile nations: in a bad .sense. " Pluck Judah :" in a good sense; used to express the force wliich was needed to snatch Judah from the tyrantvy of those nations l7y whom they had been made captives, or to whom they had fled; otherwise they never would have let Judah go. Previously he had been forbidden to pray for the mass of the Jewish people. But here he speaks consolation to the elect remnant among theni. Whatever the Jews might be, God keeps His covenant, l.'j. A promise, applying to Judah, as well as to the nations specified (Amos 9. 14). As to Moab, cf. ch. 48. 47; a,s to Ammon, ch. 49. 6. 16. svfear by my name—(Ch.
21, 22; 63. 6). _ 13. upon David's throne—Za. , who sit for David on hi throne ; implying the succession of the Davidlc family (ch. 22. 4). all—indiscriminately of every rank. 14. dash—(Psalm 2. 9.) As a potter's vessel (Revelation 2.
27). 15. be not proud—pride was the cause of their contumacy, as liumility is the first step to obedience {v. 17; Psalm 10. 4). 16. Give glory, &c.—Show by repentance and obedience to God, that you revere His majestj So Joshua exhorted Achan to "give glory to God" by confessing his crime, thereby showing he revered the Allknowing God. stumble—Image from travellers stumbling into a fatal abyss when overtaken by nightfall (Isaia'^ 5. 30; 59. 9, 10; Amos 8. 9). dark mountains— moun.itins of twilight or gloom; which cast such a gloomy shadow that the traveller stumbles against an opposing lock before he sees it (John 11. 10; 12.35). shadow of death the densest gloom ; death-shade (Psalm 44. 19). Light and darlcness are images of prosperity and adversity. 17. hear it—my exhortation. In secret—as one mourning and humbling liimself for their sin, not self-righteously condemning tliem (Philippians 3. 18). pride (A'ole, v. 15; Job 33. 17.) flock—(t). 20), just as kings and leaders are ca,\led pastors. 18. king—Jehoiachin or Jeconiah. queen —the queen-mother who, as the king was not more than eighteen years old, held tlie cliief power. JVehtishta, daughter of Elnathan, carried away captive with Jehoiachin by Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings 24. 8-15). Humble yourselves i. e., Ve, shall he humbled, or brought low (ch, i: 2; Isaiah 19. 18; 65. 16); i. e., confess solemnly the true God. built—be made spiritually and temporally prosperous: fixed In sure habitations (cf. ch. 24. 6; 42,10; 45. 4; Psalm 87.4,5; Ephesians 2.20,21; 1 Peter 2.5). 17. (Isaiah 60. 12.)
CHAPTER XIII.
Ver. 1-27. Symboi-ical Pkophecy {v. 1-7.) Many of these figurative acts being either not possible, or not probable, or decorous, seem to have existed only in the mind of '.he prophet as part of his inward vision,. [So
22. '20; 2S. 2). your principalities—rather, "your/wod-
5ia