Bible Commentary (1871–1879 Edition)
TIte SahbtUh to be Hallowed. JEREMIAH XViri. GdcCs Power over NahoiU tlous to it (Psalm 107. 22). 2T. burden . . . in . . . gates . . , Are in tiLe gates—retribution answering to the sin; the scene of their sin shall be tiie scene of tlielr punislimeut (ch. 52. 13; 2 Kings 25. 9).
of life (Revelation 13. 8; 20. 12, 15). The Jews, thoush boasting tliat tliey were the people of God, had no portion in heaven, no status before God and His angels. Contrast "written in heaven," i. e., in the muster-roll of its blessed citizens (Luke 10. 20). Also, contrast " written in a boolc," and "in the rock for ever" (Job 19. 23, 24). living waters —(Ch. 2. l.i.) li-lS. Prayer of the prophet for deliverance from the enemies whom he excited by his faithful denunciations, heal . . . save—not only make me whole (as to
CHAPTER XVIII.
Ver. 1-23. GoD, AS the Sole .Sovereign, has an Absolute Right to Deal with Nations According to their Conduct Towards Him; Illustrated in a Tangible Form by the Potter's AIoulding of Vessels from Clay. a. go down viz., from the high ground on which the temple stood, near which Jeremiah exercised his prophetic office, to the low ground, where some wellknown (this is the force of "the") potter had his workshop. 3, wlieela—lU., " oa boHi stories." The potter's horizontal lathe consisted of two round plates, the lower ona larger, the upper smaller; of stone originally, but afterwards of wood. On the upper the potter moulded the cjay into what shapes he pleased. They are found represented in Egyptian remains. In T2xodus 1. 16 alone is the Hebren word found elsewhere, but in a different sense. 4 marred—spoiled. " O/ clay" is the true reading, which was corrupted into " o.s clay" (Margin), through the similarity of the two Hebrew letters, and from 1.6, "as the clay." 6. Refuting the Jews' reliance on their external privileges as God's elect people, as if God could never cast them otr. But if the potter, a mex-e creature, has power to throw away a marred vessel, and. raise up other clay from the ground, "a fortiori" God, the Creator, can cast away the people who prove unfaithful, to His election, and can raise others in their stead (cf. Isaiah 45. 0; 64. 8; Romans 9. 20, 21). It is curious that the potta-'s field should have been the purchase made with the price of Judas' treachery (Matthew 27.9, 10: a potter's vessel dashed to pieces, cf. Psalm 2.8,9; Revelation '2.27), because of its failing to answer the maker's design, being the very Image to depict God's sovereign power to give reprobates to destruction, not by caprice, but in the exercise of His righteous judgment. Matthew quotes Zechariah's words (Zechariah 11. 12, 13) as Jeremiah's, because the latter (ch.
tlie evils of .soul as well as body which I am exposed to by contact with ungodly'foes, ch. 15. 18), but keep me so. my prais*—He whom I liave to praise for past I'avoiars, and therefore to whom alone I look for the time to come.
1.5. Where is the word 1—(I.saiah 5. 19; Amos 5. IS.) Wliere is the fulfilment of the threats which thou didst utter as from God ? A characteristic of the last stage of apostasy (2 Peter 3. 4). 16. I have uot refused thy call of me to be a prophet (Jonah 1. 3), however painful to me it was to utter wliat would be sure to Irritate the hearers
(ch. 1. 4, &c.) ; therefore thou shouldest not forsake me
(ch. 15. 15, &c.). to follow thee lit., after thee; as an under-pastor following thee, the Chief Shepherd (Ecclesiastes' 12. 11; 1 Peter 5.4). neither . . . desired—I have not wished for the day of calamity, though I foretell it as about to come on my countrymen ; therefore they have no reason for persecuting me. thou kiiowest—I appeal to thee for the truth of what I assert, that which came out of my lips—ray words (Deuteronomy 23. 23). right before thee— rather, "was before thee;" was known to i/iee—(Proverbs 5. 21). 17. a terror viz., by deserting me: all I fear is thine abandoning me; if thou art with me I have no fear of evil from enemies. 18. destroy . . . destruction—" brea,k tliem with a double breach," Hebrew (ch. li. 17). On "double," see i\^o<e, ch. 16. 18. 19-'Z7. Delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim, who undid the good effected by Josiah's reformation; especially as to the ob Bervanee of tlie Sabbath; [Eichorn.] gate of . . . childrei> of . . . people—The gate next the king's palace, called the gate of David, and the gate of the people, from its being the principal thoroughfare: now the Jaffa gate. It is probably the same as " the gate of the fountain" at the foot of Zion, near which were the king's garden and pool (ch. 39. 4 ; 2 Kings 2.5. 4; Nehemiah 2. 14; 3. 15; 12. 37). ao. kings—He begins with the kings, as they ought to have repressed sucli a glaring profanation. 31. Take he«d to yoitrselves lit., to your souls. Maurer explains, "as ye love your lives;" a phrase used here to give the greater weight to the commantl. sabbath—The non-observance of it was a chief cause of the captivity, the number of years of the latter, seventy, being exactly made to agree with the number of .Sabbaths which elapsed during the 490 years of their possession of Canaan from Saul to their removal (Leviticus 20. 34, 35; 2 Chronicles 36. 21). On tlie restoration, therefore, stress was especially laid on Sabbath observance (Nehemiah 13. 19). Jerusalem—It would have been scandalous anywhere, but in the capital, Jei-utalem, it was an open insult to God. Sabbath-hallowing
18., 19.) was the source from which the former derived his summary in ch. 11. 12, 13. [Hengstenberg.] 7.- At wliat Instant-In a moment, when the nation least expects it. Hereby he reminds the Jews how marvellously God had delivered them from their original degradation, i. e.. In one and the same day ye were the most wretched, and then the most favoured of all people. [Calvin. J 8. their evil—in antithesis to, " the evil that Jthought to do." repent—God herein adapts Himself to human conceptions. Tlie change is not in God, but in the circumstances which regulate God's dealings : just as we say the land recedes from us when we sail forth, whereas it Is we who recede from the land (Ezekiel 18. 21 ; 33. 11). God's unchangeable principle is to do the best tliat can be done under all circumstances; if then He did not take into account the moral change iii his people (their prayers, &c.). He would not be acting according to His own unchanging principle
Is intended as a symbol of holintrss in general (Ezelciel 20.
(y. 9, 10). This is applied practically to the Jews' ca.se (r.
12), therefore such stress is laid on it; the Jews' gross impiety is manifested in their setting God's will at naught, in the case of such an easy and positive command. 'Z3. (Ch. 7. 21, 2(i.) a*. A part put for the whole, "If ye keep the .Siibbath and my other laws." 25, kings . . . In cliarioi*—The kingdom at this time had been brought so low that this iironilse here was a special favour, remain—
11; see ch. 36. 3; Jonah 3. 10). 11. frame evil—alluding to the precedlng image of " the potter," i. e., I, J< hovah, am now as It were the potter/rawuifj' evil against you; but in the event of your repenting, it is in my power to frame a/tei my course of dealing towards you. return, Ac—(2 Kings 17. 13.) 12. no Iiope— I hy threats and exhorlations are all thrown away (ch 2. 25). Our ease is desperate; we are hopelessly abandoned to our sins and their penaltv. In this and tlu' following clauses, " We will walk alter our own devices," Jeremiah makes them express the' real state of the case, rather than the hypocritical sul Herfuges which Wic.)/ would have been inclined to iiiil forth. Ho Isaiah .'iO. 10, 11. 13. (Ch. '2. 10, II.) Even aiiumg the heathen it was a thing unheard of, that a nation sliould lay aside Its gods for foreign gods, though their gods are false gods. But Israel foisook the true God for foreign
Jii'brrir, he iikliahilvd (u. 6; Isaiah 13.20). 'id. plain . . . mouuiiiiuM . . . Boutlt — (Joshua 15. 1-1). The southern border had extended to the river of Egypt, but w;xs DOW much curtailed by Egyptian invasions (2 Clinmicles
So. 20 ; 31). 3, 4;. The Hebrew tor "south" means dry; the arid desert soutli of Judea is meant. The enumeration of all the pans of Judi'a, city, country, plain, hill, and desert, implies that no longer shall there be aught wanting of the integrity of the Jewi.sth land (Zechariah 7.7). Kacrilices—As in v. 22, one constituent of .ludea's prosperity is men tinned, viz., Its kings on David's throne, the pledge of (iod being lis guardian; so In this verse another faltse gods, virgin of Isravl — (2 Kings 19.21.) It eidhances their guilt, that Israel was the virgin whom (iod had specially betrothed to Him. liorrible tiling—(Ch. 5
COliStltuen.t, viz.. Its priests, a pledge of God being prop)-
JEREMIAH AT THE POTTEB'S HOUSE.—JEKEMIAH XVIII. 3.
Jvdah is Threatened, JEKEMIAH XIX. The Desolation of the JeuHi type of Jesus Christ (Psalm 109. 4,5; John 15. 25). my soul —my life; me (Psalm 35.7). I stood before thee . . to turn away tliy wrath—so Moses (Psalm 106. 23 ; cf. Ezekiel 22. 30). So Jesus Christ, the antitype of previous par-
30.) 1*. Is there any man (living near It) who would leave the snow of Lebanon (i. e., the cool melted snow-water of Lebanon, as he presently explains), which cometh from the rock of the field (a poetical name for Lebanon, which towers aloft above the surrounding field, or comparatial Intercessors (Isaiah 59. 10). 31. pour out their blood by the force of the sword lit., by the hands of the sword. So Ezekiel 35. 5. Maurer with Jerome translates, " detively plain country)? None. Yet Israel forsakes Jehovah, the living fountain close at hand, for foreign broken liver them over to the power of the sword." But cf. Psalm cisterns. Ch. 17.13; 2.13, accord with English Version here. Mauker translates, "Shall the snow of Lebanon
63. 10, Margin; Isaiah 53. 12. In this prayer he does not Indulge in personal revenge, as if it were his own cause that was at stake; but he speaks under the dictation of the Spirit, ceasing to intercede, and speaking prophetirease from the rock to water (lit., forsake) my fields" (the ffhole land around being peculiarly Jehovah's)! Lebanon means the white mountain; so called from the perpetual snow which covers that part called Hermon, stretching nortli-east of Palestine, that come from another place—that come from far, viz., from the distant lofty rocks of Lebanon. Henderson translates, "the compressed waters," viz., contracted witliin a narrow channel cally, knowing they were doomed to destruction as reprobates; for those not so, he doubtless ceased not to intercede. We are not to draw an example from this, which is a special case, put to death—or, as in ch. 15. 2, "perish by the death-plague." [Maurer.] men . . . young men HoRSLEY distinguishes the former as married men past middle life ; the latter, the flower of the unmai-ried youth, 33. cry—by I'eason of the enemy bursting in : let their houses be no shelter to them in their calamities. [Cal-' VIN.] digged . . . pit—(F. 20; Psalm 57. 6; 119.85.) 33. forgive not—(Psalm 109. 9, 10, 14.) blot out—image from an account book (Revelation 20. 12). before thee—Hypo-
while descending through the gorges of the rocks ; "flowing" may in this view be rather " flowing down" (Song of Solomon 4. 1.5). But the parallelism in English Version is better, "which cometh from the rock," "that cometh from another place." be forsaken—answering to the parallel, "Will a man leave." Maurer translates, "dry up," or "fail" (Isaiah 19.5); the sense thus being, Will nature ever turn aside from its fixed course. The "cold waters" (cf. Proverbs 25. 25) refer to the perennial streams, fed from the partial melting of the snow in the hot weather. 15. Because—rather, And yet; in defiance of the natural order of things, forgotten me—(Ch. 2. 32.) This implies a previous knowledge of God, whereas He was unknown to the Gtentiles; the Jews' forgetting of God, therefore, arose from determined perversity, they have caused ... to stumble viz., the false prophets and idolatrous priests have, ancient paths—(Ch. 6. 16): the paths which their pious ancestors trod. Not antiquity Indiscriminately, but the example of the fathers who trod the right way, is here commended, them—the Jews, not cast up—not duly prepared : referring to the raised centre of the road. Calvin translates, "not trodden." They had no precedent of former saints to induce them to devise for themselves a new worship. 16. hissing—(1 Kings 9. 8.) In sign of contempt. That which was to be only the event Is ascribed to the purpose of the people, although altogether different from what they would have been likely to hope for. Their purpose is represented as being the destruction of their country, because it was the inevitable result of their course of acting, wag . . . headin mockery (2 Kings 19. 21 ; Matthew 27. 39). As " wag . . . head" answers to "hissing," so "astonished" answers to "desolate," for which, therefore, Munstek, <fec., rather crites suppose God is not near, so long as they escape punishment; but when He punishes, they are said to stand before Him, because they can no longer flatter themselves they can escape His eye (cf. Psalm 90. 8). deal thus —exert thy power against them. [Maurer.] time of thine anger—though He seems to tarry. His time shall come at last (Ecclesiastes 8. 11, 12; 2 Peter 3. 9, 10).
CHAPTER XIX.
Ver. 1-15. The Desolation of the Jews for their Sins foretold in the Valley of Hinnom, the Bymbol OF breaking a Bottle. Referred by Maurer, &.c., to the beginning of Zedekiah's reign. 1. bottle Hebretu, bakbuk, so called from the gurgling sound which it makes when being emptied, ancients—elders. As witnesses of the symbolic action (v. 10; Isaiah 8.1,2), that the Jews' might not afterwards plead ignorance of the prophecy. The seventy-two elders, composing the Sanhedrim, or Great Council, were partly taken from "the priests," partly from the other tribes, i.e., "the people," the former presiding over spiritual matters, the latter over civil ; the seventy-two represented the whole people. 3. valley of the so« of Hinnom—or Tophet, south of Jerusalem, where human victims were offered, and children made to pass through the fire, in honour of Molech. east gate— Margin, sun gate, sunrise being in the east. Maureb translate, "an object of wonder" (ch. 19. 8). 17. as with an east wind lit., "I will scatter them, as an east wind" (scatters all before it): a most violent wind (Job 27.21; Psalm 48. 7; Isaiah 27. 8). Thirty-two MSS. read (without translates, the potter's gate. Through it lay the road to the valley of Hinnom (Joshua 15. 8). The potters there formed vessels for the use of the temple, which was close by (cf. v.
"with an east wind." I will show them the back
10, 14 ; ch. 18. 2; Zechariah 11. 13). The same as " the watet gate toward the east" (Nehemiah 3. 26 ; 12. 37) ; so called from the brook Kedron. Calvin translates, as English Version and Margin, "It was monstrous perversity to tread the law under foot in so conspicuous a place, over which the sun daily rising reminded them of the light of God's law." 3. The scene of their guilt is chosen as the scene of the denunciation against them, kings—the king and queen (ch. 13. 18); or including the king's counsellors and governors under him. tingle—as if struck by a thunder peal (1 Samuel 3. 11; 2 Kings 21. V2). 4. (Isaiah. . . not . . . face—just retribution : as " they turned their back unto me . . . not their face" (ch. 2. 27). 18. (Ch. 11.
19.) Let us bring a capital charge against him, as a false prophet; "for (whereas he foretells that this land shall be left without priests to teach the law, Malachi 2. 7; without scribes to explain its difficulties; and without prophets to reveal God's will), the law shall not perish from the prophet," &<*. ; since God has made thesea lasting institution in His church, and the law declares they shall never perish (Leviticus 6. 18; 10. 11; cf. ch. 5. 12). [Grotics.] the Tfise—scribes and elders Joined to the priests. Perhaps they mean to say, we must have right on onr side, in spite of Jeremiah's words against us and our prophets, <feo. (ch. 28. 1.5, 16; 29. 25, 32; 5. 31); "for the law shall not perish," Ac. I prefer Grotius' explanation, witli . . . tongue—by a false accusation (Psalm 57. 4; 64.
65. II.) estranged this place—devoted it to the worship of strange gods: alienating a portion of tlie .sacred city from God, the rightful Lord of the temple, city and whole land, nor their fathers viz., the godly among them; their ungodly fathers God makes no account of. blood of innocence—slain in honour of Molech (cli. 7. 31 ; P.salni
106. 37). 5. commanded not—nay, more, . I commanded the opposite (Leviticus 18. 21; see ch. 7.31, 32). 6. no more
8; 12. 4 ; 50. 19). Ear the tongue (Margin), i. e., for his speaking against us. "In the tongue," i.e., let us kill him, that he may speak no more against us. [Castalio.] 19. Give heed—Contrasted with, " let us not give heed" (v. 18). As. . . Tophet—from Hebrew, loph, a drum ; for in sacrificing children to Molech drums were beaten to drown their thei/ give no heed to me, do thmt, O Lord, give heed to me, and let my words at least have their weight with thee. 90, In the particulars here specified, Jeremiah was a cries. Thus the name Indicated the joy of the people at the fancied propitiation of the god by tliis .sacrifice; In antithesis to its Joyless name subsequently, valley of 525