How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
COMMENTARY ON JEREMIAH
same as if he had said, that the beginning of the calamity would be sudden, because
God would unexpectedly arise, after having been apparently asleep for a long time.
But when he says, that God's horses would be swifter than eagles, he means, that it would be easy for God, when once he had begun, to destroy the whole of Judea, as it were in a moment, or at least in a very short time; for we know how swift is the flying of the eagle; but he says, that the horses of God would be swifter than the eagles.
We now understand the Prophet's meaning: for when the Jews derided the threatenings of the Prophets, they tauntingly used such a language as this, --- ``O! we shall, at least in the meantime, feast cheerfully and joyfully; these Prophets will not allow us a truce for one hour; but yet many years will pass away before the evil overtakes us.'' We find profane men in our day, who in like manner trifle with God: and when they cannot wholly despise what God threatens, they yet delay the time, and think that they gain something by putting off the day of vengeance. This, then, was the reason why the Prophet said, that God's chariots would ascend, as clouds arise suddenly, and then as a whirlwind in clear sky, and lastly, in a manner swifter than the eagles, even in their swiftest course.
The Prophet, in the last place, exclaims, in the name of the whole people, Woe to us! for we are lost 109 He speaks here concisely, that he might shew that the false prophets, as well as the people, were going astray to their own ruin, while they were asleep in their vices, and thought their insensibility would escape punishment. He hence exclaims, that though all were then seized with stupor, the people themselves were yet lost. It at length follows ---
Jeremiah 4:14
14. O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou mayest be saved.
How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee?
14. Munda a malitia cor tuum, Jerusalem, ut salva sis: quousque manebunt in medio tui cogitationes vanitatis tuae? (alii vertunt, doloris tui; alii, concupiscentiae tuae; alii, iniquitatis, ac si esset {).}עונך
Here now the Prophet expressly and avowedly exhorts the people to repent. By bidding Jerusalem to wash from wickedness her heart, that she might be saved, he shews that there was no remedy, except the Jews were reconciled to God; and that this could not be, except they repented of their sins. He had said before, that while God was angry they could not but perish; he now confirms the same thing, --- that thou mayest be saved, wash thine heart from wickedness; as though he had said, that there was war between the Jews and God, and that salvation could by no means be hoped for, since God was armed for their destruction, and shewed himself a judge to punish their vices: he at the same time reminds them of the true way of repentance; it was by washing their heart from wickedness. For hypocrites ever seek to appease God by external rites and observances; but the Prophet shows that 109Rather, "We have been wholly wasted," or desolated. The verb is in a reduplicate form, and signifies an entire waste or desolation, — 13. Behold, like clouds will he ascend, And like a whirlwind will be his chariots, Swifter than eagles his horses: "Woe to us! for we have been wholly wasted." The mixture of the tenses is intended to shew the certainty of the event. Or we may consider the last line as containing what would be said after the coming of the enemy. What they would have to say was to acknowledge their entire desolation. — Ed.