(nam {}שמם est stupere et attonitum esse; stupor ergo) apprehendit me.
COMMENTARY ON JEREMIAH
and deceits. In short, he describes in the name of the people (that what he said might be more emphatical) what they would soon find out, though they would not believe it at that time. It follows ---
Jeremiah 8:21
21. For the hurt of the daughter of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath taken hold on me.
21. Super contritione filiae populi mei contritus sum, obtenebratus sum, stupor (nam {}שמםest stupere et attonitum esse; stupor ergo) apprehendit me.
As the hardness of the people was so great, that the threatenings we have observed did not touch them, the Prophet now ascribes to himself what he had before attributed to them. We then see how the Prophet varies his mode of speaking; but it was necessary, for he was at a loss to find a way to address them sufficiently strong to penetrate into their stony and even iron hearts. We need not wonder, then, that there are so many figurative terms used by the Prophet; for it was needful to set before them God's judgment in various ways, that the people might be awakened out of their torpid state.
He then says, that he was bruised for the bruising of his people. He was no doubt ridiculed by most of them: ``Oh! thou grievest for thine own evils; it is well and prosperous with us: who has asked thee for this pity? Think not, then, that thou canst gain any favor with us, for we are contented with our lot. Weep rather for thine own calamities, if thou hast any at home; but suffer us at the same time to enjoy our pleasures, since God is propitious and indulgent to us.'' Thus then was the Prophet derided; but yet he warns the obstinate people, that they might be less excusable: he says, that he was rendered black; for sorrow brings blackness with it, and makes dark the face of man: it is a metaphorical expression. He says at last, that he was astonished 233 The astonishment with which he was seized he no doubt sets down as being the opposite of the people's torpor and insensibility, for they had no fear for themselves. It follows ---
Jeremiah 8:22
22 Is there no balm in Gilead? is there no physician there? why then is not the health of the daughter of my people recovered?
22. An resina (aut, balsamus) non est in Gilead? an medicus non illic est? nam cur non ascendit sanitas filiae populi mei?
The Prophet intimates in these words that the slaughter of the people would be so fatal that they would in vain seek remedies; as though he had said, that the disease would be incurable, and altogether deadly. The people, no doubt, ever devised for themselves many kinds of aids, according to what is commonly done; for ungodly men, when any danger appears, look around them on all sides; and when they think that they can be protected by any kind of assistance, or by any of the means they contrive, they rest secure and free from every trouble. Hence the Prophet, that he
233To keep throughout the metaphorical character of this verse, it ought to be rendered thus, — For the bruising of the daughter of my people I was bruised, I became black; Desolation possessed me. But taking the words as applied to the mind, divested of metaphor, we must render them thus, — For the sorrow of the daughter of my people I sorrowed, I mourned; Astonishment possessed me. And this "astonishment" he explains in the next verse: there were means of restoration, and yet the people were not restored; at this he was astonished. — Ed.