Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
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
Abominalions the Cause of Judgments. JEREMIAH XIV. Drought Sent in Judnmatl on Judea.
fmament.'" 19. cities of thie south viz., south of Judea ; Jiirthest off from the enemy, who advanced from the nortli. Hltut lip— i. e., deserted (Isaiah 24. 10); so that none shall be
The hind, famed for her affection to her young, abandons them. 6. wild asses—They repair to "the high places" most exposed to the winds, which they "snull in " to relieve their tliirst. eyes—which are usually most keen in detecting grass or water from the " h.iifts," so much so that t he traveller guesses from their presence tbat tliere must be herbage and water near; but now "their eyes fail." flragons-jackals. [Henderson.] Rather the reference is to the great boas and python serpents which raise a large portion of their body up in a vertical column ten or twelve feet high, to survey the neighbourhood, above the surrounding bushes, while with open jawa they drink in the air. These giant serpents originated the widely-spread notions v,'hich typified the deluge and
]eft to open the gates to travellers and merchants again. IIIENDEKSON.] Rather, «/iu< uj3 so closely by Nebuchadnezzar's forces, sent on before (2 Kings 24. 10, 11), that none shall be allowed by the enemy to get out (cf. v. 20). >vUolly lit., fully; completely. 30. from . . . north—Nebuchadnezzar and liis hostile army (ch. 1. 14 ; 6. 22). flock . . . given tiiee—Jeremiah, amazed at the depopulation caused by Nebucliadnezzar's forces, addresses Jerusalem (a noun of multiiiide, which accounts for the blending of plural and singular, yoi(?-eyes . . . thee . . . //(^ flock), and asks where is her population (r;. 17, "flock ") which God liad given her? ai. captains and as clilet—lit., princes as to headall destructive agents under the form of a dragon or monster serpent; hence the dragon temples always near water, in Asia, Africa, and Britain, e. g., at Abury, in Wiltshire; a symbol of the ark is often associated with the dragon as the preserver from the waters. [Kitto's Biblical Cyclopcedia.] 7. do thou it—what we beg of thee ship, or ot'CJthy head, viz., the Chaldeans. Ratlier, translate, "What wilt thou say wlien God will set them (the enemies, v. 20) above thee, seeing that thou thyself hast accustomed them (to be) witli thee as (thy) lovers in the higncst place, lit., at thy headf" Thou canst not say God does thee wrong, seeing it was thou that gave occasion to His dealing so with thee' by so eagerly courting their intimacy. Cf. ch. 2. 18, 36 ; 2 Kings 23. 29, as to the league of Judah with Babylon, which led Josiah to march against Pliaraoh-necho, wlien the latter was about to attack Babyinterpose to remo've the drought. Jeremiah pleads in tlie name of his nation (Psalm 109. 21). So "work for us," absolutely used fl Samuel 14. 6). for thy name's sake—" for our backslidings are so many" that we cannot urge thee for the sake of our doings, but for the glory of thy name;
Jon. [Maurek.] sorrows—pains, throes. 23. if thou say—connecting this verse with "What wilt thou say" lest, if thou give us not aid, it should be said it was owing to thy. want of power (Joshua 7.9; Psalm 79.9; 106.8; Isaiah 48.9; Ezekiel 20. 44). The same appeal to God'a mercy, " for Jlis name's sake," as our only hope, since aur sin precludes trust in ourselves, occurs, Psivlm 25. 11. 8. (Ch. 17. 13.) Hope of Israel—The reference is, not to the faith of Israel, which had almost ceased, but to the prom-
21)'? skirts are discovered— i. e., are thrown up so as to expose the person (u. 26; Isaiah 3. 17; Nahum3. 5). heels niade bare—The sandal was fastened by a thong above the heel to the instep. The Hebrew, is, "are violently handled," or "tornofl";'' i. e., thou art exposed to ignominy. Image from an adulteress. 33..Ethiopian—Tlie Cusliite of Abyssinia. Habit is second nature; as therelore it is morally impossible tliat the Jews can alter their inveterate habits of sin, nothing remains but the infliction of tlie extremest punisliment, their expatriation (i'.
ise and everlasting covenant of God. None but the true Israel make God their " hope." turneth aside to tarry— The traveller cares little for the land he tarries but a night in ; but thou hast promised to dwell always in the midst of thy people (2 Chronicles 33. 7, 8). Maurer traiislates, "spreadeth," his tent. 9. astonled—like a "miglity man," at otlier times able to help (Isaiah 59. 1), but now stunned by a sudden calamity so as to disappoint the hopes drawn from him. art In the mldstof us—(Exodus
24). 34. (Psalm 1. 4.) by tlie wind—fce/ore the wind, of the wilderness—where the wind has full sweep, not
being broken by any obstacle. 35. portion of thy measures—tlie portion wliicli I have measured out to thee (Job
29. 45, 46; Leviticus26. 11, 12). called by thy name—(Dan-
20. 29; Psalm 11. G). falsehood— ((,•. 27), false gods and alliances wilh foreign idolaters. 36. discover . . . upon thy face—rather, "throw up tliy skirts over thy face," or head; done by way of ignominy to captive women and to prostilvites (Nahum 3.5). TheJevrs' punishment should answer to their crime. As their sin had been perpetrateil in the most public places, so God would expose them to tile contempt of other nations most openly (Lamentations 1. 8). noighings—(Ch. 5. 8), image from the lust pf-horses; the lust after idols degrades to the level of the brute, hills—where, as being nearer heaven, sacrifices were thought most acceptable to the gods, wilt thou wot ... J when lit., " thou wilt not be made clean after how long a lime yet." (Ho v. 23.) Jeremiah denies the moral possibility of one so long hardened in sin becoming soon cleansed. But see ch. 32. 17 ; Luke 18. 27.
iel 9. 18, 19) as thine own peculiai* people (Deuteronomy 9.
29). 10. Jehovah's reply to the prayer (v. 7-9; ch. 2. 2:?-25) Thus—So greatly, loved—(Ch. 5. 31.) not refrained . . feet—they di<i not obey God's command; "withhold thy foot" (ch.2. 2.5), viz., from following after idols, remembei. . . Iniquity—(Hosea 8.13; 9.9.) Their sin is so great, God must punish them. 11. (Ch. 7.16; Exodus S'i. 10.) 13. not hear—because their prayers are hypocritical: their hearts are still idolatrous. God never refuses to hear real prayer (ch. 7. 21, 22; Proverbs I. 2S; Isaiah 1. 15;
58. 3). sword . . . famine . . . pestilence—the three sorest judgments at once; any one of which would be enougli for their ruin (2 Samuel 21. 12, 13). 13. Jeremiah urges that niucii of the guilt of the people isduo to the falsg prophets' influence, assnred peace—soIi<l and lasting peace. Lit., peace of truth (Isaiah 39. 8). 14. (Ch. 23. 21.) 13, (Ch. 5. 12, 13.) say, Swowl anil fiimlne . . . consumed retribution in kind both to the false prophetsand to their liearers (i;. 1(1). 10. none to bury—(Psalm 79. 3.) pour their wickedness— i. e., the punishment incurred by their wickedness (ch. 2. 19). 17. (Ch. 9. 1 ; Iimentations 1. 16.) Jeren'tlah is desired to weep ceaselessly for the calamities coming on his nation (called a "virgin,"- as being herettv fore never under foreign yoke)(Is;viah 2;!. 4). IS. go about — 1. e., shall have to migrate into a land of exile. HorSl.EV Iramlates, "go trafllcking about the land (see Margin; ch. 5.31; 2 Corinthians 4.2; 2 Peter 2.3), and take no knowledge" (/. e., pay no regard to the, miseries liefore their eyes) (Isaiah 1. 3; .58, 3). If the lit. sense of the Hebrew verb be retained, I would with English Ver.tion understand the words as referring to the exile to Babylon ; thus, "the prophet and the priest shall have to go tea strange land to practise their religious traffic (Isaiah 56.
CHAPTER XIV.
Ver. 1-22. Proi'1ieuie.<5 on the occasion of a 'Drought SEN T IN Judgment on Judea. 1. Lit., "That whicli was lha word of Jehovah to Jeremlali concerning," &c. (kronght lit., the withlioldintjs, viz., of rain (Deuteronomy
11. 17; 2 Chronicles 7. 13). The reason why this word should he used especially of the withholding of rain, is, that rain is in tiiose regions of all things the one chiefly needed (ch. 17. 8, Margin). 3. gates—the place of public coruMUrsc in each city looks sad, as being no longer frequented (Isaiah 3. 2(> ; 21.4). black i. e., they mourn (blackness being indicative of sorrow) (ch. 8. 21). unto the ground—bowing towards It. cry—of distress (1 Samuel
5. 12; Isaiah 24. 11). 3. little ones—rather, " their inferiors," i. v., domestics. i)lts—cisterns for collecting rain water, often met with In the Kast, where there are no uprings. covered . . . heads—(2 Samuel 15. 30.) A sign of liiiiiilliation and mourning. 5. The brute creation Is reduced lo the utmost extremity for the want of food. 030
11; Ezekiel 34.2,3; Mlcah S. II). 19. The peophi plead with God, Jeremiah being forbidden to do so. no heal> ing — (CTi. 15.18.) peace ... no good - (Ch. 8. 15l) «©.