night. £«f
Jern.ridh Delivers lh!s Pr.jphecy to Semiak. JEREMIAH LII. Jermalem Besieged and Takert, the Euphrates, a symbol of Bahj-lon's fate, no doubt ha retained llii' siih.slaucc in memory, so as to l)e able orally this its one aim to fill nil places with the slain of Israel, so at liiil)ylon shall all the slain of thai whole hmd to comnumicate il to his country men. went with Zedekiah— Ratlier, "in l)ehaH of Zedckiah;" sent by Zede-
(not as E:i(/li.'sh Verxlon, "of all the enrlh"). [JIaUKER.] Henukiwox traiishites, "Babylon also shall fall, ye slain of Isrnol. Those also of Babylon shall fall, O ye kiali to api)i'ase Nebuchadnezzar's anger at his revolt. [Calvin.] fourth year—so tliat Jercmiali's prediction
Slain of all the eai-th." But, "in the niidst of her," v.
of Bal)ylon's downlall was thus solrmnly written, and sealed by a symbolical action, six whole years before the capture of Jerusalem by t!ie Babylonians, quiet prince
47, plainly answers to "at Babylon," v. -I'J, Enfjlish Vertion. 50. esicnpetl . . . sword— i-fz., of the Meiles. So great will he the slaughter that even some of God's people
—CI'. 1 Chronicles 22. 9, "a man of rest." Seralah was not one of the courtiers hostile to God's prophets, but "quiet" and docile; ready to execute Jeremiah's commission, notwithstanding the risk attending it. Glassiu.s translates, "prince of Menuchah" (cf. 1 Clironicles 2.52, Margin). Mauker translates, "commander of the caravan," on whom it devolved to appoint the resting-place for the shall be involved in it, as they had deserved, afar off— though ye are banished far olT from where ye used formerly to worship God. let Jcrnsalem come Into your mind—whilst in exile remember your temple and city,
60 as to prefer th<-m to all the rest of the world wherever ye may be (Isaiah 02. 6). 51. The prophet anticipates the Jews' reply; I know you will say in despair, "We are confounded," &<. " Wherefore (God saith to you) behold, night. £«f/Z(s7i Fe?-«ion suits the context best. 01. read not in public, for the Chaldeans would not have understood Hebrew; but in private, as is to be inferred from
I will," &c. (V. 52). [Calvin.] I prefer taking v. 51 as the prayer which the .Tews are directed to otter in exile {v. 50), "let Jerusjilem come into your mind" (and say in prayer his addressing himself altogether to God {v. 02). [CALvm.] 62. O Lord, thou—and not merely Jeremiah or any man to God), "We are fonfounded." This view is confirmed by Psalm 44.15,18; 79.4; 102.17-20; Isaiah 62.6,7. for strangers—the " reproach," which especially has stung is the author of . this propliecy; I therefore here in thy presence embrace as true all that I read. 63. bind a stone, (tc—(Revelation IS. 21.) So the Phoceans in leaving us, IS when they taunted us with the fact that they had burned the temple, our peculiar glory, as though our retheir country, when about to found Marseilles, threw lead into the sea, binding themselves not to return till the lead should swim. 64. they shall be weary—the Babylonians shall be worn out, so as not to be able to recover their strength. Thus far . . . Jeremiah—Hence it is to be inferred that tlie last chapter is not included in Jeremiah's writings, but was added by some inspired man, mainly from 2 Kings 24. 18 to ch. 25., to explain and confirm what precedes. [Calvin.]
ligion was a thing of naught. 53. Wherefore—Because of these sighs of the Jews directed to God (v. 21). I . . . jiidgment upon . . . Images—in opposition to the Babylonian taunt that Jehovah'.s religion was a thing of naught, since they had burned His temple (v. 51): I will show that, though I have thus visited the Jews' neglect of me, yet those gods of Babylon cannot save themselves, much less their votaries, who shall "through all her land" lie and "groan" with wounds. 53. Cf. Obadiah 4 as to Edom (Amos 9. 2). TKoiigh . . . yet from me—We
CHAPTER LII.
are not to measure God's power by what seems to our
Ver. 1-34. Written by some other than Jeremiah (PROBABLY Ezra) as an Hi.storical Supplement to the Previous Prophecies (Note, ch.51. 64). Jeremiah, having already (chs. 39., 40.) given the history in the proper place, was not likely to repeat it here. Its canonperceptions natural or probable. 55. great voice—where once was the yreat din of a mighty city, there shall be the silence of death. [Vatablus.] Or the "great voice" of the revellers {v. 38, 39; Isaiali 22. 2). Or the voice oi mighty boasting [Calvix] (cf. v. 53). Ker waves—" when" her calamities shall cause her to give forth a widely different "voice," even such a one as the waves give that lash the shores (V. 42). [Guotius.] Or " when" is connected thus ical autliority as inspired is shown by its being in the LXX. version. It contains the capture and burning of Jerusalem, &c., Zedckiah's punishment, and the better treatment of Jehoiachin under Evil-merodach, down to his death. These last events were probably subsequent to Jeremiah's time. 3. tlirough . . . anger of . . . Lord
" the great voice" in her, when her " waves," &c. (cf. v. 13). Calvin translates, "their waves," i.e., the Medes bursting on her as impetuous waves; so ti. 42. But the parallel, "a great voice,;' belongs to her, therefore the "wave"- like " roar" of " their voice" ought also belong to Tie?- (cf.
. . . Zedeklah rebelled—His "anger" agaii>st Jerusalem, determining Him to "cast out'' His people "from His presence" heretofore manifested there, led Him to permit Zedekiah to rebel (2 Kings 2:3. 26, 27; cf. Exodus 9. 12; 10. 1; Romans 9. 18). That I'ebellion, being in violation of his oath "by God," was sure to bring down God's vengeance
V. 54). The "great voice" of commercial din, boasting and feasting, is "destroyed;" but in its stead there is the wave-like roar of }ier voice in her "destruction" (v. 54). 56. taken—when they were least expecting it, and in such a way that resistance was impossible. 57. (Ver. 39; Daniel 5. 1, itc.) 58. broad walls—eighty-seven feet broad [RosENMULLEK] ; fifty cubits [Grotius]. a chariot of four horses abreast could meet another on it without collision. The walls were two hundred cubits high, and four hundred and eighty-five stadia, or sixty miles in extent, gates—one hundred in number, of brass ; twenty-five on each of the four sides, the city being square; between the gates were two hundred and fifty towers. Berosus says triple walls encompassed the outer, and the same numljer the Inner city. Cyrus caused the outer walls to be demolished. Taking the extent of the walls to be three hundred and sixty-flve stadia, as Diodorus states, it is said two hundred thousand men completed a stadium each day, so tliat the whole was completed in one year, labour ... In the lire—The event will show that the builders of the walls have "laboured" only for the "fire" In which they shall he consumed. "In the fire" answers to the parallel, " burned with fire." Translate, "shall have laboured in vain," &c. Cf. Job 3. 14, "built desolate places
(2 Chronicles 36. 13; Ezekiel 17. 15. 16, 18). 1. forts—Rather, towers of wood [Kimchi], for watching the movements of the besieged from the height, and annoying them with missiles. 7. (Note, ch. 39. 4.) 9. gave judgment upon him—as guilty of rebellion and perjury (v. 3; cf. Ezekiel
23.24). 11. Ezekiel 12.13: "I will bring him to Babylon, yet shall he not see it." prison lit., the house of visitations, or punishments, t. e., where there was penal work enforced on the prisoners, as grinding. Hence LXX. render it "the house of the mill." So Samson, after his e,ves were put out, "ground" in the Philistine prisonhouse (Judges 16. 21). 12. tenth day—but in 2 Kings 25. 8, it is said "the seventh day." Nebuzaradan started from Riblah on the "seventh" day, and arrived in Jerusalem on the " tenth" day. Seeming discrepancies, when cleared up, confirm the genuineness of Scripture; for they show there was no collusion between the writers; as in all God's works there is latent harmony under outward varieties. 13. all the houses . . , and all tlie houses of the great—the "and" defines what iiouses especially are meant, viz., the houses of the great men. 15. poor of for themselves," i. e., grand places, soon about to be desolate ruins. Jeremiah has In view here Habakkuk 2. 1.3. 60-64:. A special copy of the prophecy prepared by Jeremiah was delivered to Seralah, to console the Jews in their Babylonian exile. Though be was to throw It into. . . people—added to the account in 2 Kings 25. 11. "The poor of the people" are of the city, b,s distinguished from " the poor of the land," i. e., of the country. 17. brakethat they might be more portable. Fulfilling the pro-
Introduction. LAMENTATIONS. Introduction.
recruits. Rawlinson observes, the Assyrian records are free from the exaggerated expressions found in the Egyptian. A minute account was taken of the spoil. Two "scribes of the host" ai-e seen in every bas-relief, writing down the various objects brought to them : tlie heads of the slain, the prisoners, cattle, sheep, &c. 3S. seventh year—in 2 Kings 24. 12, 14, 16, it is said "the eighth year" of Nebuchadnezzar. No doubt it was in part about tlie end of the seventh year, in part about the beginning of the eighth. Also in 2 Kings 24., 10,000 (ti. 14), and 7000 men of might, and 1000 craftsmen {v. 16), are said to have been carried away. But here 3023. Probably the latter 3023 were of the tribe of Judah, the remaining 7000 out of the phecy (ch. 27. 19). See 1 Kings 7. 15. 23, 27, 50. Nothing is so particularly related here as the carrying away of the articles in the temple. Tlie remembrance of their beauty and preciousness heightens tlie bitterness of tlieir loss, and the evil of sin which caused it. brass . . . l>i-azen— rather copper . . . of copper. 18. (Exodus 27. 3.) 19. of gold in gold—implying that the articles were of solid gold and silver respectively, not of a different metal inside, or alloyed. [Grotius.] Whole: not breaking them as was done to the brass (v. 17). 30. bulls . . . under tlie bases—but the bulls were not "under the bases," but under the sea (1 Kings 7. 25, 27,38); the ten bases were not under the sea, but under the ten lavers. In English Ver-
10,000 were of the other tribes, out of which many Israelsion, "bases," therefore, must mean the lower parts of the sea under which the bulls were. Rather, translate, " the bulls were in th/; place of (i. e., by way of; so the Hebrew, ites still had been left in the land. The 1000 "craftsmen" were exclusive of the 10,000, as appears, by comparing 2 Kings 24. 14 with v. 16. Probably the 3023 of Judah were
1 Samuel 14. 9), bases," or supports to the sea. [Buxtorf.] So IjXX. 2 Kings 25. 16 omits the "bulls," and has "and the bases;" so Grotius here reads "thebulls(which were) under (the sea) and the bases." 31. eighteen cnblts—but in 2 Chronicles 3. 15, it is "thirty-five cubits." The discrepancy is thus removed. Each pillar was eighteen common cubits. The two together, deducting the base, •were thirty-five, as stated in 2 Chronicles 3. 15. [Grotius.] Other ways, e. g., by reference to the difference between the common and the sacred cubit, are proposed : though we are not able positively to decide now which is the true way, at least those proposed to show that the discrepancies are not irreconcilable. 33. live cnbits — so 1 Kings first removed In the end of "the seventh year;" the 7000 and 1000 craftsmen In the "eighth year." This was at the first captivity under Jeholachin. 39. eightcentit year— when Jerusalem was taken. But in v. 15, and 2 Kings 25.
8, " the nineteenth year." Probably it was in the end of the eigliteenth and the beginning of the nineteenth. [Lyra.] eight hnndred and thirty and t*TO—the most illustrious persons are meant, who no doubt were carried away first, in the end of the eighteenth year. 30. Not recorded in Kings or Chronicles. Probably it took place during the commotions that followed the death of Gedaliah (ch. 41. 18; 2 Kings 25. 26). four thousand and six hundred—The exact sum-total of the numbers specified here, viz., 3023, 832, 74.5, not including tlie general multitude, and the women and children (v. 15; ch.o9. 9; 2 Kings
7. 16. But 2 Kings 25. 17 has "three cubits." There were two parts in the chapiter: the one lower and plain, of two cubits; the other, higher and curiously carved, of three cubits. The former is omitted In 2 Kings 25. 17, as belonging to the shaft of the pillar; the latter alone is there mentioned. Here the whole chapiter of five cubits Is referred to. 33. on a side lit. (on the side), towards the air or ifind, i. e., the outside of the capitals of the pillars conspicuous to the eye, opposed to the four remaining pomegranates which were not seen from the outside. The pomegranates here are ninety-six; but In 1 Kings 7.20 they are 200 on each chapiter, and 400 on the two (2 Chron-
25. 11). 31. (2 Kings 25. 27-30.) Ave and twentieth day— but in 2 Kings 25. 27, it is " the twenty-seventh day." Probably on the twenty-fifth the decree for his elevation was given, and the preparations for it made by releasing him from prison ; and on the twenty-seventh day it was carried into effect. Evil-merodach—son and successor of Nebuchadnezzar [Lyra]; and the Hebrew writers say, that during Nebuchadnezzar's exclusion from men among beasts Evil-merodach administered the government and that when Nebuchadnezzar at the end of seven yeai-s was restored, hearing of his son's misconduct, and tliat he had exulted in his father's calamity, he tlirew liim into prison, where the lattermet Jeconiah and contracted a friendship with him, whence arose tlie favour wliich subsequently he showed him. God, in his elevation, rewarded liis having surrendered to Nebuchadnezzar (cf. ch. 38.17 with 2 Kings 24.12). lifted up . . . head—(Cf. Genesis 40.13,20; PsalmS.S; 27.6.) 33. set Iiis tltrone above—a mark of respect, the kings— ihe Hebrew text reads (the other) "kings." "The kings" is a Masoretio correction. 33. changed . , . garments—gave him garments suitable to a king, did . . . eat bread before liim—(2 Samuel 9. 13.) 3*. every day a portion—rather, "Us portion," Margin (cf. Margin, 1 Kings 8. 59).
icles 4. 13). It seems there were two rows of them, one above tlie other, and in each row 100. They are here said to be ninety-six, but presently after 100, and so in 1 Kings
7. 20. Fowr seem to have been unseen to one looking from one point; and the ninety-six are only those that could be seen [Vatarlus]; or, the four omitted here are those separating the four sides, one pomegranate at each point of separation (or at the four comers) between the four sides. [Grotius.] 34. Seraiali—different from the Seraiah (cli. 51. 59), son of Neriah. Probably son of Azarlah
(1 Chronicles 6. 14). Zephanlah—son of Maaseiah {Notes, ch. 21. 1 ; 29. 25). 35. seven men—but in 2 Kings 25. 19 It is
"five." Perliaps two were less Illustrious persons and are therefore omitted, principal scribe of the host^(Isaiah
33. 18.) His oflice was to preside over the levy and enroll
THE LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH.
INTRODUCTION.
In the Hebrew Bible these Elegies of Jeremiah, five In number, are placed among the Chetuvim, or Holy Writings ("the Psalms," Ac, I.uke 24. 44), between Ruth and Eccleslastos. But though in classification of compositions it belongs to the Chetuvim, it probably followed the prophecies of Jeremiah originally. For thus alone can we account for tlie prophetical hooks being enumerated by Josephu.s (c. Apion) as thirteen: he must have reckoned Jeremiah and Lamentations' .as one book, as also .Judges and Ruth, the two books of Samuel, Ac, Ezra and Nehemlah. The Lamentations naturally follow the book which sets forth the circumstances forming the subject of the Elegies. Similar lamentiitioiis occur 2 Samuel 1.19, Ac. ; 3. .33. The Jews read It In their synagogues on the ninth of the month Ab, which
Ik a fast for the destruction of their holy city. As in 2 Chronicles 35. 25, " lamentations" are said to have been " in-lttcn" by Jeremiah on the death of Josiah, besides it having been made "an ordinance lu Israel" that "singing 660
27it Miserable State of Jerusalem, LAMENTATIONS I. by Reason of her Sin.
women" should "speak" of that king in lamentations; Josephcts {Antiquities 1. 6), Jerome, &c., thought that they are contained in tlie present collection. But plainly the subject here is the overthrow of tlie Jewisli city and people, as the I>XX. expressly state in an introductory verse to their version. Tlie probability is that tliere is embodied la these Lamentations much of the language of his original Elegy on Josiali, as 2 Chronicles 3-5. Ii5 states ; but it is now
to tlie more universal calamity of tlie whole state, of which Josiah's sad deatli was the forerunner. Thus
Ct. 4. 20, originally applied to Josiah, was " written," in its subsequent reference, not so much of hiin, as of the i/irone of Juduh in general, the last representative of which, Zedekiah, had just been carried away. The language, wliit h is true of good Josiah, is too strong in favour of Zedekiah, except wlien viewed as representative of the crown in general. It was natural to embody the language of the Elegy on Josiah In the more general lamentations, as his death was the presage of the last disaster tliat overthrew the throne and state.
The title more frequently gi ven by the Jews to these Elegies is," How" {Hebrew, Eechah), from the first word, as the Pentateuch is similarly called by the first Hebrew word of Genesis 1. The LXX. call it " Lamentations," from whom we derive the name. It refers not merely to the events which occurred at the capture of the city, but to the sufferings of the citizens (the penalty of national sin) from the very beginning of the siege; and perhaps from before it, under Manasseh and Josiah (2 Chronicles 33. H ; 35.20-2.")); under Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah (2 Clironicles 36. 3, -1,
6,7, 10, 11, &c.). LowTH says, "Every letter is written with a tear, every word the sound of a broken heart." The style is midway between the simple elevation of prophetic writing and the loftier rhythm of Moses, David, and Habakkuk. Terse conciseness marks the Hebrew original, notwithstanding Jeremiah's dif Tuseness in his other writings. The Elegies are grouped in stanzas as they arose in his mind, without any artificial system of arrangement as to the thoughts. The five Elegies are acrostic: each is divided into twenty-two stanzas or verses. In the first three
Elegies the stanzas consist of triplets of lines (excepting Elegy 1. 7, and 2. 19, which contain each four lines) each beginning with the letters of the Hebrew alphabet in regular order (twenty-two in number). In three instances (Elegy
2, 16, 17 ; 3. 16-51 ; 4. 16, 17) two letters are transposed. In the third Elegy, each line of the three forming every stanza begins with the same letter. The stanzas in the fourth and fifth Elegies consist of two lines each. The fifth Elegy, though having twenty-two stanzas (the number of letters in the Hebrew alphabet), just as the four first, yet is not alphabetical; and its lines are shorter than those of the others, whicli are longer than are found in other Hebrew poems, and contain twelve syllables, marked by a c»sura about the middle, dividing them into two somewhat unequal parts. The alphabetical arrangement was adopted originally to assist the memory. Grotius thinks the reason for the inversion of two of the Hebrew letters in Elegy 2. 16, 17 ; 3. 46-51 ; 4. 16, 17, is, that the Chaldeans, like the Arabians, used a dlflferent order from the Hebrews ; In the first Elegy, Jeremiah speaks as a Hebrew, in the following ones, as one subject to the Chaldeans. This is doubtful.
timid and fleet, especially when seeking and not able to " find pasture." Zain, T. 7. remembered—rather, remem-
CHAPTER (ELEGY) I.
Ver. 1-22. Aleph, K. !• how U she . . . widow I she that was great, &o.—English Version is according to the accents. But the members of each sentence are better balanced in antithesis, thus, "how is she that was great among the nations become as a widow ! (how) she who was princess among the provinces (i.e., she who ruled over the surrounding provinces from the Nile to the Euphrates, Genesis 15.18; 1 Kings 4. 21; 2 Chronicles 9.26; Ezra 4.20) become tributary!" [Maurer.] sit—on the ground; the posture of mourners (ch. 2. 10 ; Ezra 9. 3). The coin struck on the taking of Jerusalem by Titus, representing Judea as a female sitting solitary under a palm tree, with the Inscription, " Judsea Capta," singularly corresponds to the image here; the language therefore must be prophetical of her state subsequent to Titus, as well as referring retrospectively to her Babylonian captivity. Beth, 23. In the ulght—even in the night, the period of rest and oblivion of griefs (Job 7. 3). lovers . . . friends—the heathen states allied to Judah, and their idols. The idols whom she "loved" (Jeremiah 2.20-25) could not comfort her. Her former allies womW not: nay, some" treaciierously" joined her enemies against her (2 Kings 24.2,7; Psalm 137.7). Oimel, J. 3. (Jeremiah 52. 27.) because of great servitude—i. e., in a state "of great servitude," endured from the Chaldeans. "Because" is made by Vatablus indicative of the cause of her captivity, viz., her having "afflicted" and unjustly brought Into "servitude" the manumitted bond-servants (Jeremiah 31. 8-22). Maurer explains it, "Judah ha,s left ?ter land (not literally " gone into captivity") because of the yoke imposed on it by Nebuchadnezzar." no rest—(Deuteronomy 28. 64, 65.) overtooli: her between . . . straits—image from robbers, who in the East intercept travellers at the narrow passes in hilly regions. Daleth, ^. 4. feasts—the passover ; pentecost, or the feast of weeks; and the feast of tabernacles, gates— once the pla<'e of concourse. He, T\. 5. the chief—rule her (Deuteronomy 28. 43; 44). adversaries . . . prosper; for the Ijord, &c.—all the foe's attempts must have failed, had not God delivered His people into their hands (Jeremiah bers, now, in her afflicted state. In the days of lier j)rosperity she did not appreciate, as she ought, the favours of God to her. Now, awakening out of her past lethai gj', slie feels from what high privileges she has fallen, when her people fell, &c. i. e., after which days of prosperity "her people fell." moclt at her Sabbaths—the heathen used to mock at the Jews' Sabbath, as showing their idleness, and term them Sabbatarians (Martial, 4. 4). Now, said they ironically, ye may keep a continuous Sabbatli. So God appointed the length of the captivity (seventy years) to be exactly that of the sum of the Sabbaths in tlie 490 years in which the land was denied its Sabbaths (Leviticus 26. 33-35). Mauker translates it " ruin." But Eng-' lish Version better expresses tlie point of their " mocking,'' viz., their involuntary " Sabbatlis," t. e., the cessation oi all national movements. A fourth line is added in this stanza, whereas in all tlie others there are but three. So in Elegy 2. 19. C7ieth, n. 8. (1 Kings 8. 46.) Is removed —as a woman separated from tlie congregation of God for legal impurity, which is a type of moral impurity. So v.
17; Leviticus 12. 2; 15. 19, &c. her nakedness—they have treated her as contumeliously as courtesans from whom their clothes are stripped, tumeth backward— as modest women do from shame, t. e., she is cast down from all hope of restoration. [Calvin.] Tcth, (2. 9. Continuation of the image in v. 8. Her ignominy and misery cannot be concealed, but are apparent to all, as if a woman were suffering under such a flow as to reach tlie end of her skirts, remembereth not . . . last eml—(Deuteronomy 32. 29 ; Isaiah 47. 7.) She forgot how fatal must be the end of her iniquity. Or, as the words following imply. She, in despair, cannot lift herself up to lay hold of God's promises as to her "latter end." [Calvin.] wonderfully —Hebrew, wonders, i. e., with amazing dejection. O Lord, behold—Judah here breaks In, speaking for herself, for the enemy hath magnified himself—What might seem ground for despair, the elated insulting of the ene-my. Is rather ground for good hope. Jod, lO. tor—surely she hath seen, <Sic. heathen . . . command . . . not. enter
80. 15). Vau, 1. 6. beauty . . . departed—her temple, throne, and priesthood, harts that find uo pasture—an animal 36. . . congregation-for instance, the Ammonites a\iA Moabltes (Deuteronomy 23.3; Nehemiah . 13. 1, 2)i If tae