John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 32:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 32



This chapter contains an account of Jeremiah's imprisonment, and the cause of it; of his buying a field of his uncle's son, and the design of it; of his prayer to God, and of the answer returned to him. The time of his imprisonment, the place where, and the reasons of it, are observed in Jer 32:1; that his uncle's son would come and offer the sale of a field to him was told him by the Lord, which he did accordingly, Jer 32:6; of whom he bought the field, paid the money, had the purchase confirmed in a legal way, before witnesses,

Jer 32:8; and the writings of it he committed to Baruch, to put in an earthen vessel, where they were to continue some time as a pledge of houses, fields, and vineyards, being possessed again after the captivity, Jer 32:13; then follows a prayer of his to the Lord, in which he addresses him as the Maker of all things; as the Lord God omnipotent; as a God of great grace and mercy, as well as strict justice; as a God of wisdom, counsel, and might, and an omniscient and righteous Being, Jer 32:16; and recounts the wonderful things he had done for the people of Israel, Jer 32:20; and observes the ingratitude and disobedience of that people, which were the cause of the present siege of the city, which should surely be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans, Jer 32:23; to which prayer an answer is returned, Jer 32:26; in which the Lord describes himself as the God of all flesh, and as able to do what he pleases, Jer 32:27; and confirms the delivery of the city of Jerusalem unto the Chaldeans,

Jer 32:28; and assigns the causes of it, the backslidings, disobedience, and dreadful idolatry of the people, Jer 32:30; and, notwithstanding, promises a restoration of them to their own land again, Jer 32:36; when an opportunity is taken to insert the covenant of grace, and the special articles and peculiar promises of it, for the comfort of the spiritual Israel of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, Jer 32:38; and the chapter is concluded with a fresh assurance of the return of the captivity, and of the punctual performance of the promise of it; when fields should be bought in every part of the land, in like manner as Jeremiah had bought his,

Jer 32:41.



Ver. 1. The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,.... The word of prophecy, as the Targum, concerning Jeremiah's buying the field of his uncle's son, Jer 32:6; and concerning the delivery of the city of Jerusalem into the hands of the Chaldeans, Jer 32:26; and the return of the captivity, Jer 32:36;



in the tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which [was] the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar; the same with Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, a year before the taking of the city by him; for that was in the eleventh of Zedekiah, and the nineteenth of Nebuchadnezzar; see

Jer 52:1.







Jeremiah 32:2



Ver. 2. For then the king of Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem,.... And had done so for some time; for the siege began in the ninth year of Zedekiah's reign, on the tenth day of the tenth month, Jer 52:4;



and Jeremiah the prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which [was] in the king of Judah's house; which showed great stupidity and hardness of heart in the king, and his courtiers, and in the people, to imprison a prophet of the Lord, when surrounded by an enemy's army, and that according to the prediction of the prophet; by which it appeared that he was a true prophet; and they might reasonably expect that the rest of his predictions, which related to the taking of their city, and carrying them captive, would be fulfilled. It is true, indeed, he was in a better prison than before, more honourable, being within the limits of the king's house; and, besides, was not closely confined, but allowed to walk in the court of the prison; and so had a free air to breathe in, and more company to converse with, and could exercise himself by walking about; perhaps he was placed here to keep him from prophesying to the people to their discouragement, and the more to awe him, as he was under the eye of the king and his ministry. Of this prison and its court mention is made in Ne 3:25; it seems to have been for state prisoners.





Jeremiah 32:3



Ver. 3. For Zedekiah king of Judah had shut him up,.... In prison, at least in the court of the prison; he had given orders for his imprisonment, which were executed, and it was the same as if he had done it himself; the reason of which was, as follows:



saying, wherefore dost thou prophesy, and say, thus saith the Lord,

behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it? meaning the city of Jerusalem, now besieged by the king of Babylon. This prophecy stands in Jer 34:1; the prophecies of this book not being put together in proper order of time.





Jeremiah 32:4



Ver. 4. And Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the hand of the Chaldeans,.... This is a continuation of the prophecy of Jeremiah, repeated by the king to him, and which concerns himself more especially; who, upon the taking of the city, would endeavour to make his escape, as he did; but should not be able, Jer 52:8;



but shall surely be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon; not only into the hands of his army, and of his generals, but into his own hand personally; since it follows:



and shall speak with him mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes; converse together face to face, eye to eye; but no doubt with different tones and looks; the king of Babylon upbraiding the king of Judah with perjury and ingratitude, and looking upon him with indignation and contempt; the other speaking faintly, and looking down with grief, shame, and confusion; moreover, the eyes of the king of Babylon beheld the eyes of Zedekiah, and ordered them to be put out, as they were, 2Ki 25:7.





Jeremiah 32:5



Ver. 5. And he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon,.... As he did in chains, from Riblah, where he was brought unto him after he was taken, endeavouring to make his escape, Jer 52:8;



and there shall he be until I visit him, saith the Lord; in taking him away by death; for he continued in Babylon to the time of his death, which was not violent, but natural; and, considering his circumstances, his captivity, imprisonment, and loss of sight, might be reckoned a visitation in mercy: though some understand this of God's visiting the people at the return of them from their seventy years' captivity; if Zedekiah lived till then, he must be a very old man; but of this we have no account, nor is it probable:



though ye fight with the Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper; though they should sally out upon them, in order to beat them out of their trenches, and drive them from the walls of the city, yet without success.





Jeremiah 32:6



Ver. 6. And Jeremiah said, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying. Not that he said this to Zedekiah; but the prophet, after the above preface, returns to declare what the word of the Lord was, which came to him at the time before mentioned.





Jeremiah 32:7



Ver. 7. Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle shall come unto thee,.... Hilkiah, the father of Jeremiah, and this Shallum, were own brothers; so that Jeremiah and Hanameel were brothers' sons, or own cousins: this coming of Hanameel to Jeremiah being a contingent event, with respect to second causes, and yet foretold as what would certainly be, shows that such events are foreknown by the Lord, and are sure to him:



saying, buy thee my field that [is] in Anathoth; the place from whence Jeremiah came, and was but about two or three miles from Jerusalem, and therefore must be now in the possession of the Chaldean army; wherefore it may seem very strange in Hanameel to propose it to sale, and stranger still in Jeremiah to buy it: though something of this kind was done at Rome, while Hannibal was besieging it; the field where Hannibal pitched his camp was offered to sale at Rome, and found a buyer {t}; but then he that bought it was in high spirits, and in a strong belief that the city would not be taken, and that the enemy would be obliged to quit the siege; but Jeremiah knew, and firmly believed, on the other hand, that the city of Jerusalem, and all the country round it, would fall into the hands of the king of Babylon. Moreover, Anathoth was a city of the priests, and the fields adjoining to it belonged to them; as some of them did to Abiathar the priest in his time, 1Ki 2:26; and such fields as belonged to the priests and Levites were not to be sold, according to the law in Le 25:34; to which it is answered, that this was not arable land, which the Levites might not possess; but some meadow, orchard, or garden, in the suburbs of the city, which though it might not be sold to strangers, yet might be sold among themselves; though it is more probable that this was a field that came fro, in some of his ancestors by his mother's or grandmother's side, and so might be disposed of; as it seems certain to be lawfully done, not only as it was the will of God, who could indeed dispense with his own law, was that in the way, but since it was a matter of right, and incumbent on him, as follows:



for the right of redemption [is] thine to buy [it]; that is, had it been sold to another, it would have lain upon him to have redeemed it, as being next of kin, that so it might not pass to another tribe and family.



{t} Florus, l. 2. c. 6.







Jeremiah 32:8



Ver. 8. So Hanameel mine uncle's son came unto me,.... Freely and voluntarily, of his own accord; though it was determined he should, as it was predicted he would; for God's decrees do not infringe the liberty of the will: this man came from Anathoth, very probably, to Jerusalem, to the place where the prophet was:



in the court of the prison, according to the word of the Lord; which had been made known before to Jeremiah:



and said unto me, buy my field, I pray thee, that [is] in Anathoth,

which [is] in the country of Benjamin; it belonged to that tribe:



for the right of inheritance [is] thine; the reversion of this field; it would come to him after the death of his cousin, as being next heir:



and the redemption [is] thine; buy [it] for thyself; since, if it was sold to another, he, according to law, was obliged to redeem it; and therefore it was much better to buy it at once for himself:



then I knew that this [was] the word of the Lord; that it was the word of the Lord which came to him before, and that it was the will of the Lord that he should make this purchase; since there was such an exact agreement between the prophecy and the event.





Jeremiah 32:9



Ver. 9. And I bought the field of Hanameel mine uncle's son; that [was] in Anathoth,.... The prophet agreed with his cousin to take his field of him, at a certain price hereafter mentioned; which may seem strange in one that was a poor prophet, now a prisoner, and the land just going to be subject to the Chaldeans: but the design of this was to show that there would be a return from captivity, when houses and fields should be bought and sold again, of which this was a pledge:



and weighed him the money; agreed upon, which was reckoned not by tale, but by weight:



[even] seventeen shekels of silver; which, reckoning a shekel at half a crown, were no more than two pounds, two shillings, and sixpence; a small sum of money to make a purchase of a field with; though this may be accounted for by the scarcity of money, the field in the hand of the enemy, there being only his kinsman's life in it, the prophet bought the reversion, being his of right; and, besides, it might be only an orchard or garden that is so called. In the Hebrew text it is, "seven shekels and ten [pieces of] silver": and Kimchi and Ben Melech say, that by "shekels" are meant minas or pounds; and by "pieces of silver", selahs or shekels: and so the Targum renders it,



"seven minas, and ten shekels of silver.''



Now a minah or maneh, according to Eze 45:12; was equal to sixty shekels, and so of the value of seven pounds, ten shillings; seven of these made fifty two pounds, ten shillings; and the other ten shekels being one pound, five shillings, the whole amounted to fifty three pounds, fifteen shillings, which would purchase a considerable field.





Jeremiah 32:10



Ver. 10. And I subscribed the evidence,.... Or, "wrote in a book" {u}; the instrument or bill of sale, the deed of purchase; which described the field sold, and expressed the condition on which the purchase was made; and by subscribing it he agreed to it, and laid himself under obligation to perform it:



and sealed [it]; for the further confirmation of it:



and took witnesses; to be present at the payment of the money, and to sign the deed likewise:



and weighed [him] the money in the balances; this he did a second time; he weighed it first before Hanameel himself, and then before the witnesses; everything was done fairly, and with great exactness.



{u} rpob btkaw "et scripsi in libro", V. L. Munster, Pagninus, Montanus; "in libello", Cocceius.







Jeremiah 32:11



Ver. 11. So I took the evidence of the purchase,.... The deed of purchase, the book or bill of sale, the instrument of the bargain, as before mentioned:



[both] that which is sealed, [according] to the law and custom; which was both sealed by the buyer and seller, and was sealed up, and not to be looked into by everyone, only when there might be a necessity; this was the original copy:



and that which was open; the counter part or copy of the former, which though signed and sealed as the other, yet not sealed up, but was open and exposed to view; either for the relations to see what was done, as some; or for the judges, as others, to ratify and make authentic: or, as is most probable, this copy was laid up in some public register, to have recourse unto upon any occasion; however it was, it was according to the laws and customs of those times, which Jeremiah carefully attended to: or, as others, it lay open for the witnesses to sign; so there are three distinct things; first the written contract; then that as signed and sealed by buyer and seller, according to law; and then as signed, but not sealed, by the witnesses.





Jeremiah 32:12



Ver. 12. And I gave the evidence of the purchase,.... Both that which was sealed and that which was open; both the original and the copy; or the whole, as signed, sealed, and witnessed:



unto Baruch the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah; this Baruch, as appears from other places in this book, was one that attended on Jeremiah, was his scribe or amanuensis, and did business for him of one kind or another, and is described here by his pedigree; and it was the more necessary now to make use of him in this affair, because the prophet was confined, and could not go out of the court of the prison; to him he gave the above deed:



in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's [son]; of whom the purchase was made: the word "son" is not in the text, which has led some to think that both were present at this bargain, both the uncle and the uncle's son; or that Hanameel was both uncle and uncle's son to Jeremiah, as Jarchi; but there is no need to suppose that; the word "son" may easily be supplied from what is before said:



and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed the book of the purchase; the same that the prophet subscribed; so that the book the witnesses subscribed was not a separate book, as some have thought; for there was but one book or deed in all, besides the copy that was taken of it:



before all the Jews that sat in the court of the prison; where Jeremiah was; and who probably came to visit him, and to hear the word of the Lord from his mouth; unless we can suppose that these were fellow prisoners, or were set as spies upon him, to watch him what he said and did.







Jeremiah 32:13



Ver. 13. And I charged Baruch before them,.... Before his kinsman, the witnesses of the deed, and the Jews that were in the court:



saying, as follows:





Jeremiah 32:14



Ver. 14. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,.... The order to do the following is ushered in in this solemn manner, partly that Baruch might more strictly observe it, and act according to it; and partly that the persons before whom it was given might take the greater notice of it, and believe that there was something intended by it of moment and importance:



take these evidences; or "books" {x}; the deeds of purchase:



this evidence of the purchase, both which is sealed, and this evidence which is open; both the original and the copy:



and put them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many days; it seems, though it is not said, that this earthen vessel, with these deeds in it, were to be put under ground, and very probably in some part of the field that was bought: had these writings been laid up in a chest or box, they might have been stolen and destroyed; and had they been laid in the earth by themselves, they would have rotted and consumed; but being put into a dry earthen vessel, they might be preserved from the injury of the air and the moistness of the earth; and so might continue many days, even many years, to the end of the captivity, as it was designed they should; when Jeremiah's heirs, having some him of them where they were deposited, might take them up and claim the estate; though something more useful and instructive than this was designed by it, as appears by the following words:



{x} Myrpoh ta "libellos hos", Cocceius, Schmidt; "literas has", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.





Jeremiah 32:15



Ver. 15. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... Who is the Lord God Almighty, and can do what he pleases; and is the covenant God of his people, and therefore will do them good by all his providences in the issue of things:



houses, and fields, and vineyards, shall be possessed in this land; or "bought" {y} in it; of which the prophet's buying this field was a pledge and earnest; signifying, that though the city now besieged should be taken, and the people carried captive, yet they should return to their own land, and purchase and enjoy houses, fields, and vineyards again, as at the present time.



{y} wnqy "ementur", Cocceius, Piscator; "vedentur", Schmidt.





Jeremiah 32:16



Ver. 16. Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah,.... When he had finished his worldly business, and which yet was by a divine order, and to answer a divine purpose, then he betook himself to prayer; and it is proper we should be quite free from worldly cares and concerns when we enter upon religious duties, particularly prayer to God; when the soul ought to be separated from the world and the things of it, and wholly devoted to God:



I prayed unto the Lord; either for further information in this matter, of the use and design of buying the field; and how this part of the prophecy, signified by it, concerning the Jews buying and possessing houses and fields, can be made to agree with the other prophecy, that the city should be delivered into the hands of the Chaldeans; or, at least, that he might be able to answer the cavils and objections made by the Jews to it: that he was in some puzzle, perplexity, and distress, appears by his prayer, which begins,



saying, as follows:





Jeremiah 32:17



Ver. 17. Ah Lord God!.... Which the Vulgate Latin version repeats three times, "Ah, ah, ah", as being greatly distressed with the trouble that was coming upon his people; and, it may be, not without some doubts and temptations about their deliverance; or, at least, was pressed in his mind with the difficulties and objections started by the Jews that were with him in the court:



behold, thou hast made the heaven and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm; with great propriety is the making of the heaven and the earth ascribed to the mighty power of God; for nothing short of almighty power could have produced such a stupendous work as the heavens, with all the host of them, sun, moon, and stars, the terraqueous globe, the earth and sea, with all that in them are; and all this produced out of nothing, by the sole command and word of God: and with great pertinency does the prophet begin his prayer with such a description of God; both to encourage and strengthen his faith in him touching the fulfilment of the above prophecy, and to stop the mouths of the Jews, who objected the impossibility of it: wherefore it follows,



[and] there is nothing too hard for thee; or "hidden from thee" {z}; so the Targum; which his wisdom and knowledge did not reach, or his power could not effect: or which is "too wonderful for thee" {a}; there is nothing that has so much of the wonderful in it, as to be above the compass of his understanding, and out of the reach of his power, as such things be, which are beyond the power and skill of men; but there is no such thing with God, whose understanding is unsearchable, and his power irresistible; with him nothing is impossible; and who can think there is that observes that the heaven and earth are made by him?



{z} Kmm alpy "non est absconditum a te quicquam", Pagninus; "non potest occultari tibi ulla res", Junius & Tremellius. {a} "Non mirabile est prae te ullun verbum", Schmidt; "non est ulla res abscondita a te, sive mirabile", Calvin; "non mirificabitur a te ullum verbum", Montanus.







Jeremiah 32:18



Ver. 18. Thou showest lovingkindness unto thousands,.... Not to thousands of persons only, but to a thousand generations, even such that love, fear, and serve him; see Ex 20:6; this is very properly added, for the further strengthening of faith; for though the omnipotence of God assures us that there is nothing but what he can do, yet it gives us no certain encouragement he will do this, or that, or the other, in a favourable and gracious manner; but this his loving kindness, experienced by a multitude of persons in all ages, gives reason to hope for:



and recompensest the iniquities of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them; it is added in the decalogue, from whence these words are taken, "of them that hate me", Ex 20:5; and here the Targum adds,



"when they go on to sin after them;''



when they imitate their fathers in their wickedness, and commit the same sins they have done, and continue in them; wherefore, having tilled up the measure of their fathers' sins, they receive a just and full recompence of them into their bosom; which denotes both the certainty of it and the fulness of it: the prophet formed in his mind just notions and ideas of the divine Being, as being not only gracious and merciful, but holy, just, and righteous; and it may be he strikes at the Jews, who might complain of God, as they sometimes did, for being punished for their fathers' sins, as if they themselves were innocent and guiltless:



the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts [is] his name: "great" in all the perfections of his nature, and greatly to be praised, loved, and feared; "mighty" to do whatsoever he pleases; and who, agreeably to his name, has all the hosts and armies of heaven and earth at his command; and what is it that he cannot do?





Jeremiah 32:19



Ver. 19. Great in counsel, and mighty in word,.... Counsel belongs to him, and he does all things after the counsel of his will, all things in nature, providence, and grace; and such a display of his wisdom is there in all, that show him to be excellent in counsel; to excel all others; not only to be great, but to be the greatest in counsel; and who regularly and perfectly performs all that he has wisely contrived; his wisdom and his power are equal to each other; he forms the scheme of all that he does with the greatest wisdom, and accomplishes by his power all that he has purposed in his eternal mind; see Isa 28:29;



for thine eyes [are] open upon all the ways of the sons of men; all their thoughts, schemes, devices, and purposes; all their words and actions, every step they take, whether good or bad, they are all before ham, and manifest to him; he is God omniscient as well as God omnipotent; and he does not look upon men, and their ways and works, as an idle spectator or indifferent person, as unconcerned at what they do, letting them pass without calling them to an account for them, or without passing any judgment on them, or sentence concerning them; no, he is the Judge of all the earth, and he sits in the heavens and observes what is done on earth:



to give everyone according to his ways, and according to the fruit of his doings: good things to good men for Christ's sake; and evil things to evil men, according to the just demerit of their sins and transgressions.





Jeremiah 32:20



Ver. 20. Which hast set signs and wonders in the land of Egypt, [even] unto this day,.... The prophet here descends to particular instances of the power, wisdom, and goodness of God; and begins with the miracles wrought in Egypt, the plagues inflicted on the Egyptians for refusing to let Israel go; these were set among them, they were true and real things, and obvious to everyone's view; there was no deception in them, they were plain to the senses of men; and the remembrance of them continued among the Egyptians to the times of the prophet; the tradition of what was done was handed down among them to that age: for that any marks of these things remained is not to be supposed; the tracks of Pharaoh's chariot wheels to be still seen in the Red sea must be rejected as fabulous, though Orosius relates it:



and in Israel, and amongst [other] men: that is, signs and wonders were set among the Israelites, or wrought for them; such as bringing them out of Egypt; leading them through the Red sea as on dry land; feeding them in the wilderness with manna and quails; subduing their enemies, and settling them in the land of Canaan; and in other nations very wonderful things have been done in one age or another: or else the meaning is, that the miracles done in Egypt were not only remembered there to this time, but also by the Israelites, and by other men, to whom the knowledge of these things came; on account of which God was more or less everywhere glorified, as follows:



and hast made thee a name as at this day; that is, got praise, honour, and glory, in Egypt, in Israel, and in other nations.





Jeremiah 32:21



Ver. 21. And hast brought forth thy people Israel of the land of Egypt,.... As he promised Abraham, some hundreds of years before, that they should come out from thence; and where they had been as bondsmen, though they were the Lord's peculiar people, whom he had chose for himself above all people, and therefore he brought them out of their state of bondage; and this was his own doing, they could not deliver themselves; the enemy would not let them go till he was obliged to it by the superior power of God:



with signs and with wonders; which he wrought for them at the time of their deliverance, slaying the firstborn; and at the Red sea, and in the wilderness, after he brought them out of Egypt, and before their settlement in the laud of Canaan; and so these may be considered as distinct from the signs and wonders in the land of Egypt before mentioned:



and with a strong hand, and with a stretched out arm; with great power, and so delivered the Israelites from them that were stronger than they; with a mighty hand, that protected his people; and with a long arm, that reached their enemies, and destroyed them:



and with great terror; with great reverence in the Israelites, who saw the power and majesty of God; and with great terror to Pharaoh and his host, when they saw the waters return and overwhelm them; and to all the nations round about, when they heard of it; see De 4:34. The Targum is,



"with great vision;''



so a spectacle, as the Syriac version; openly, before the eyes of all.







Jeremiah 32:22



Ver. 22. And hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to their fathers to give them,.... Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; so that God was faithful to his word, kept his covenant and oath; and the faithfulness of God is observed and acknowledged by the prophet, along with other perfections of God before taken notice of. The land of Canaan was a land of promise, confirmed by an oath, and was the pure gift of God to the Israelites, and not any merit of theirs; it was given them by him who had a right to dispose of it, and could make them a good title to it, and which they had; though before in the possession of others, who for their wickedness were driven out:



a land flowing with milk and honey: abounding with plenty of all good things, for the sustenance and comfort of human life; a very frequent description of the land of Canaan, and is expressive of the great kindness and goodness of God to this people.





Jeremiah 32:23



Ver. 23. And they came in and possessed it,.... After forty years travel in the wilderness; they entered into it with Joshua at the head of them, and the Lord with them; giving victory over the Canaanites, who were soon subdued; and the Israelites with little trouble settled in their land, which was divided to them by lot, and possessed as their inheritance:



but they obeyed not thy voice; though they promised at Sinai they would, and though they were so much obliged by the goodness of God to them; this shows great ingratitude in them:



neither walked in thy law; moral, ceremonial, and judicial, given at Harsh as the rule of their obedience; but they walked not according to it:



they have done nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do; they were not only deficient in some things, but in everything; they not only broke some of the laws of God, but all of them; there was not one law, one command, observed by them as it ought to have been; and yet these people were always prone to establish their own righteousness, and seek for justification by it:



therefore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them; the Chaldean army, now besieging them; and the famine and pestilence among them; which, the prophet serves, were but the righteous judgments of God upon them for their sins.





Jeremiah 32:24



Ver. 24. Behold, the mounts, they are come unto the city, to take it,.... These were ramparts or batteries, that were erected against the city, the more easily to annoy it: some take them to be engines from which they cast out stones; and others suppose them to be battering rams, used to break down the walls of the city; be they what they will, they were now brought near the city to make way for the Chaldeans to enter into it, and take it:



and the city is given into the hands of the Chaldeans that fight against it; not only it the purpose of God that if should be, but it was plain case that he had withdrawn his protection from it, and that the city was indefensible; and that, humanly speaking, it was impossible it should hold out long, for the reasons following:



because of the sword, and of the famine, and of the pestilence: the sword of the Chaldeans, without, destroyed those that sallied out upon them, or endeavoured to make their escape; and the famine and pestilence, within, made such ravages, and so much weakened them, that they would never be able to stand it out against the enemy long, but must surrender:



and what thou hast spoken is come to pass; what was foretold by the prophets, and by himself, was now fulfilling:



and, behold, thou seest [it]; and therefore he had no need to observe it to him, or dwell any longer on this subject; only he hints what follows, as having some difficulty in it on his own account.







Jeremiah 32:25



Ver. 25. And thou hast said to me, O Lord God,.... Or, "O Lord God, yet thou hast said to me" {b}; notwithstanding this is the case, the country all around is in the hand of the enemy, and the city is as good as delivered up to them, yet thou hast given me such orders, as follows:



buy thee a field for money, and take witnesses; for though these words were not expressly said to him by the Lord; yet inasmuch as he told him that his uncle's son would come to him, and propose the selling of his field to him; and accordingly did come, agreeably to the word of the Lord; Jeremiah understood it as the will of the Lord, that he should buy it before witnesses; which he did, as before related:



for the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans; or rather, "though the city is given" {c}, &c. yet thou hast said so: now by this the prophet suggests, that though he had obeyed the divine order, as he ought to have done, yet there was some difficulty upon his mind; or there were some objections Started, by the Jews that were with him, how these things could be reconciled; that he should be ordered to buy a field at such a time as this, and thereby signify that fields and vineyards should be bought and possessed in the land, and yet the city just going to be surrendered into the hands of the Chaldeans.



{b} trma htaw "tu vero nihilominus dicis mihi", Piscator; "tu tamen dixisti ad me, Domime Jehovah", Schmidt. {c} hntn ryehw "cum tamen urbs tradenda sit", Schmidt; "quum tamen futurum sit", Piscator; "quum civitas ipsa traditur", Junius & Tremellius; "cum tamen urbs tradita sit", Cocceius.







Jeremiah 32:26



Ver. 26. Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah,.... This is an answer to the prophet's prayer, and particularly to the latter part of it; showing the consistency of the destruction of the city with his purchase of a field, and with God's promise of fields and vineyards being purchased and possessed again; and how each of these would be brought about:



saying; as follows:





Jeremiah 32:27



Ver. 27. Behold, I [am] the Lord, the God of all flesh,.... Jehovah, the self-existent Being, that gives being to all creatures; and is particularly the God of all men, the Maker and Preserver of them, and that provides for them; who are called "flesh", to denote their weakness and corruption, how unworthy of the divine favour, and how unable to resist his will, or hinder the execution of his purposes: and which is introduced with a "behold", to excite attention, to take notice of what was said; to encourage faith, and remove doubts and difficulties; for if God is Jehovah, the Being of beings; if he is the God and Governor of the world, and all men in it, what is it he cannot do? as follows:



is there anything too hard for me? suggesting, that though the city of Jerusalem should be destroyed, and the inhabitants carried captive, yet he could return them again to their own laud; where they should purchase fields and vineyards, and possess them as heretofore: or, "is there anything hidden from me?" {d} so the Targum and Syriac version; can anything unforeseen arise to hinder the fulfilment of promises and prophecies? nothing can; since all things are in one view before the Lord continually; or, "is there anything too wonderful for me?" {e} that which is too wonderful for men, beyond their comprehension, and so their faith; yet it is not so with God.



{d} rbd lk alpy ynmmh "celabitur, [vel] occultabitur", Vatablus; "an mihi occultari possit ultra res", Junius & Tremellius. {e} "Num prae me mirabile erit ullum verbum", Schmidt; "nunquid a me mirificabitur omne verbum", Montanus.







Jeremiah 32:28



Ver. 28. Therefore thus saith the Lord, behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans,.... As he had foretold by the prophet, and was just now going to be fulfilled. Here the Lord repeats and confirms the first of the two things which seemed contradictory; the destruction of the city by the Chaldeans, who were now besieging it, and into whose hands it would certainly come:



and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; who was now before it with his army:



and he shall take it; and become master of it: or, "I will give [it to him], that he may take it" {f}; which he could not do, notwithstanding his powerful army, had not the Lord delivered it into his hands.



{f} hdklw "ut capiat eam", Junius & Tremellius, Schmidt.





Jeremiah 32:29



Ver. 29. And the Chaldeans, that fight against this city, shall come,.... Or rather "shall enter", as Aquila renders it; for they were come to it already, and were fighting against it, battering the walls, and throwing in their arrows, and putting to the sword such as came out, or were within their reach:



and set fire on this city; as they did, Jer 39:8;



and burn it, with the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense unto Baal; or "especially the houses" {g}, or "even the houses"; the houses particularly mentioned in the history of the destruction as burnt; and which, very probably, are here intended; besides the Lord's house, and all the houses in Jerusalem, were the king's house, and the houses of the great men or princes; and which, Kimchi thinks, were higher than others; on which therefore they burnt incense to Baal; wherefore it was a just retaliation, upon them that they should be burnt with fire:



and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, to provoke me to anger; to other gods besides the true God; to strange gods, and to other gods besides Baal; which was done as if they really designed to provoke the Lord; as if they had it in view to affront him; and, if they had, they could not have taken a more effectual method; though this is to be understood, not intentionally, but eventually; not what was their design, though it looked like it, but what was the effect of their idolatry.



{g} Mytbh taw "imprimis domos", Schmidt; "nempe domos", Piscator.







Jeremiah 32:30



Ver. 30. For the children of Israel and the children of Judah,.... The former are mentioned, as well as the latter, though they had been carried captive some years ago, to justify the dealings of God with them; and besides, there were some of the ten tribes that remained, and were mingled with the tribes of Judah and Benjamin: of all which it is said, that they



have only done evil before me from their youth; from their infancy, being conceived in sin, and shapen in iniquity; and so being destitute of the grace of God, did nothing else but sin all their days, as is said of the men of the old world, Ge 6:5. Some understand this, from the time of their becoming a people, a body politic; or from the time of their coming out of Egypt, and being in the wilderness, when their idolatry began, they brought out of Egypt; or from the time of the judges:



for the children of Israel have only provoked me to anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord; with their idols, made by their own hands; these they worshipped instead of their Creator and Benefactor; which must be very provoking indeed!





Jeremiah 32:31



Ver. 31. For this city hath been tame [as] a provocation of mine anger and of my fury,.... Or, "upon mine anger, and upon my fury this city was to me" {h}; that is, it was upon his heart, and in his mind and purpose, being provoked to anger and wrath by their sins, to have destroyed it long ago, though he had deferred it to this time; the inhabitants of this city had been always a provoking people to him; and he had thought to have poured out his wrath and fury upon them:



from the day they built it, even unto this day: when built and inhabited by the idolatrous Canaanites; possessed by the Jebusites; rebuilt by David; beautified with the temple and other stately buildings by Solomon, who was drawn it, to idolatry by his wives. It is a tradition of the Jews, mentioned both by Jarchi and Kimchi, that the same day that the foundation of the temple was laid, Solomon married Pharaoh's daughter; and which was the foundation of his idolatry; and which was more or less practised in every reign afterwards, to this time; and which so provoked the Lord, that he took up this resolution early, though he did not put it in execution; expressed as follows:



that I should remove it from before my face; as a man does that which is nauseous and abominable to him; meaning the removing the inhabitants of it into other lands, or causing them to go into captivity; so the Targum.



{h} ytmx lew ypa le "super naso meo, et super ira mea fuit mihi civitas haec", Montanus; "in furore meo, et in ira mea", Pagninus, Vatablus.







Jeremiah 32:32



Ver. 32. Because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the children of Judah,.... His anger and fury were because of their sins, and so his carrying them captive:



which they have done to provoke me to anger; which was done, as if they had done it on purpose to provoke him; and which was done, not by a few, but by them all; not by the lower people only, but by men of every rank and order; as follows:



they, their kings, their princes, their priests, and their prophets; that is, their false prophets, as the Targum; yea, all the inhabitants of the land, both in city and country:



and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: the "metropolis" of the nation; the seat of the kings of Judah; and where the temple was, the priests ministered, and the prophets taught, and the people came up to worship.





Jeremiah 32:33



Ver. 33. And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face,.... When he reproved them for their sins; called them to repentance; instructed them in their duty; and warned them of the dangers they exposed themselves to; instead of turning the face to him, as scholars to their masters, and as subjects to their prince, to listen to what was said to them; they turned their backs or necks, the hinder part of them; expressive of contempt, and showing great rudeness and irreverence:



though I taught them, rising up early, and teaching [them]; by his prophets, as the Targum; whom he sent to them early in the morning; or in the early time of their life; or when they first began to practise idolatry; so careful was the Lord of them; so diligent to instruct them, and prevent their ruin:



yet have not hearkened, to receive instruction; or "correction" {i}; so as to repent of their sins, reform and amend; see Jer 7:13.



{i} rowm "disciplinam", Cocceius; i.e. "correctionem", Schmidt.







Jeremiah 32:34



Ver. 34. But they set their abominations,.... Their idols, which were abominable to the Lord, and ought to have been so to them: these they placed



in the house (which is called by my name), to defile it; in the temple; as by Ahaz, Manasseh, and others: see Jer 7:30.





Jeremiah 32:35



Ver. 35. And they built the high places of Baal, which [are] in the valley of the son of Hinnom,.... Or "the high places of that Baal {k}, which is in the valley of the son of Hinnom"; to distinguish him from other Baalim; and who seems to be the same with Molech after mentioned; and the signification of their names agree; the one is lord or master; the other king:



to cause their sons and their daughters to pass [through the fire] unto Molech: the phrase, "through the fire", is not in the text; but is well enough supplied from other places, where it is. Some think that their infants were not burnt to death with fire, but only were held over the flame by way of lustration; or were made to pass between two fires, and so were purified and dedicated to the idol:



which I commanded them not, neither came it into my mind that they should do this abomination; See Gill on "Jer 7:31";



to cause Judah to sin; which Abarbinel understands of the children of Israel, who first began this practice, and seduced and drew the children of Judah into it; but rather it seems to intend the kings, princes, priests, prophets, and inhabitants of Jerusalem, who, by their example, led the people of the Lord into the same practice.



{k} aygb rva lebh twmb "quae in valle", Montanus; "excelsa Baal qui erat in valle", Calvin.







Jeremiah 32:36



Ver. 36. And now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,

concerning this city,.... Here begins the confirmation of the other part of the prophecy concerning the return of the Jews to their city and country, when they should again buy and possess fields and vineyards; which was thought impossible, supposing the destruction of the city; or however not easily reconcilable with it; but this is as strongly affirmed as the former; for though they had sinned so heinously, and had provoked the wrath of God to such a degree, that the destruction of their city was inevitable, of which they were now sensible themselves; "yet now, notwithstanding" {l}, for so it is ushered in; and thus the words may be rendered, "thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel"; who is Jehovah, with whom nothing is impossible; and continues the covenant God of his own people, his spiritual Israel; for whose sake he does great and wonderful things; he says, "concerning this city", the city of Jerusalem, now besieged by the Chaldeans:



whereof ye say, it shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon, by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence; for, by these things, by the consumption that was made by them, they saw their case was desperate; and that there was no avoiding falling into the hands of the Chaldeans; wherefore, for the comfort of the Lord's own people among them, the following things are said; most of which respect the Gospel dispensation, either the beginning or latter end of it.



{l} Nkl htew "attamen num ideo", Schmidt.







Jeremiah 32:37



Ver. 37. Behold, I will gather them out of all countries,.... At the end of the seventy years' captivity; and which will have a greater accomplishment in the latter day, when the Jews shall be converted, and gathered from their present dispersion all over the earth:



whither I have driven them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath: or "whither I shall drive them", or "shall have driven them" {m}; for as yet they were not thus driven and dispersed. A heap of words is made use of to express the greatness of the Lord's indignation at them for their sins, the cause of their expulsion out of the land:



and I will bring them again unto this place; the city of Jerusalem; as they were at the end of the seventy years' captivity; and when the promise was fulfilled, that they should purchase and possess fields and vineyards; and as they will likewise at the time of their conversion in the latter day:



and I will cause them to dwell safely; which yet they did not for any continuance after their return from Babylon; being, as Jerom observes, often molested by the Persians, Macedonians, and Egyptians; and at last destroyed by the Romans: their troubles in the times of the Maccabees are very notorious; so that this refers either to the first times of the Gospel, and to the Jews that then believed in Christ; or rather to times yet to come, and which are prophesied of at Jer 32:37.



{m} Mv Mytxdh rva "quo dispulero eos", Schmidt; "quo depulero ipsos", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.







Jeremiah 32:38



Ver. 38. And they shall be my people, and I will be their God. A comprehensive summary of the covenant of grace, which shall be made known to the Jews at the time of their conversion, and the blessings of it applied to them, and bestowed on them; though now a "loammi", Ho 1:9, is written upon them; see Jer 30:21.





Jeremiah 32:39



Ver. 39. And I will give them one heart and one way,.... "One" and the same heart; the same heart to one as to another; gracious souls, truly converted persons, be they Jews or Gentiles, have the same experience; they have all, more or less, a sight and sense of sin, and the evil of it; are brought off of their own righteousness; are led to Christ alone for life and salvation; are made partakers of precious promises; and all have their temptations, afflictions, and trials, and can sympathize with one another: and they have the same things put into their hearts; the laws of God are written there; the doctrines of the Gospel have a place there; Christ is formed in them; the graces of the Spirit are implanted, faith, hope, love, fear, humility, and other graces. Their heart, given them at conversion, is a sincere and upright heart, not a double one; they become Israelites indeed; their faith is unfeigned; their hope is devoid of hypocrisy; their love is without dissimulation; their repentance is genuine; and they serve God uprightly with true hearts. It is also single and alone for God; he has the whole of it; their understandings are enlightened with the knowledge of him; their affections and desires are towards him: their wills are subject to him; their eye is single to his glory; their hearts are not divided between him and another object of worship; and they are also one towards another, as the first Christians were of one heart and of one soul, Ac 4:32; and such a heart is a new heart, and the gift of God: "one way" is also promised: one way of salvation, which is Christ; the one and only way of access to God; of acceptance with him; of justification before him; and of forgiveness of sin; the only true way into a Gospel church state, and to eternal glory and happiness; and which is the more excellent way; the good old way; the new and living one: one way of worship may also be intended; one Lord is to be obeyed and worshipped; one doctrine and scheme of faith to be received; one baptism to be administered, in one and the same way, to one and the same subjects, and in one and the same name; one true spiritual manner of worship, all shall come into in the latter day; and there will be no more parties among those that are called Christians; the Jews, when converted, will have no divisions nor different denominations among them; see Eph 4:4

Zec 14:9;



that they may fear me for ever; both internally and externally; the one heart will be given them to fear and reverence him inwardly; and the one way of worship to fear or serve him outwardly, and in which they shall always continue; there will be no apostasy from the true grace of God, and no defection from his worship to superstition and idolatry:



for the good of them, and of their children after them; unity of heart; sincerity and uprightness of soul; a walking in the way of the Lord; having his fear before their eyes, and on their hearts, will issue in their spiritual good here, and in their eternal happiness hereafter; and even their posterity will reap some advantage by their good instructions and example.





Jeremiah 32:40



Ver. 40. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them,.... Which is made known and manifest at conversion; when the grace of it is applied; the blessings of it bestowed; and the promises of it made good; and therefore said to be made; for otherwise the covenant of grace here spoken of was made from all eternity with Christ, and his people in him; as appears from his being set up as the Mediator so early, and from the blessings and promises of it being of such a date. It is founded on the everlasting love of God, and is according to his eternal purpose; and is no other than an eternal transaction between the Father and the Son concerning the salvation of his elect; and which will last for ever, and never be antiquated, as the covenant under the former dispensation was; and which shows that this respects Gospel times:



that I will not turn away from them to do them good; he may withdraw his gracious presence for a while; but he never turns from his love and affections to his people; nor from his gracious purposes concerning them; nor from his promises to them; nor from his gifts bestowed on them; or so as to utterly leave them and forsake them, or cease to do them good: he has laid up goodness for them; he has bestowed much on them whom he has called by his grace; he has given himself to them as their God and portion; his Son as their Saviour and Redeemer, and all good things with him; his Spirit as their Sanctifier, with his gifts and graces; and he has wrought a good work in them; and he will continue to do them good, by fresh discoveries of his love; by granting his gracious presence; by carrying on his work of grace; by supplying their wants, and making all things work together for their good. The Targum is,



"my Word shall not turn away, &c.''



but I will put my fear in their hearts; which is not naturally in the hearts of then; and, where it is, it is put there by the grace of God, and as a blessing of the covenant; it appears in those who are brought to a true sight of sin, in their humble sense of themselves, and dependence on the Lord; and in a reverent affection for him: and in a true and spiritual worship of him; and which is a security from a final and total apostasy from him, as follows:



that they shall not depart from me; not but that they may and do sin against God; and there may be a partial departure from him in those that truly fear him; but not a wicked, final, and total one: the fear of God influences them to cleave close unto him; and the power of God keeps them from departing from him, from his doctrines, worship, and ordinances, from his people, and a profession of his name.







Jeremiah 32:41



Ver. 41. Yea, I will rejoice over them to do them good,.... His covenant people, to whom he gives one heart and one way, and who have his fear implanted in them, and shall never depart from him, but persevere to the end: these he loves with a love of complacency and delight; he rejoices over them, not as considered in themselves, but as in Christ; he rejoices over them, as the bridegroom rejoices over the bride; and which does not merely lie in expression, but appears in fact; he does them good, and with the utmost joy and pleasure; he delights in showing mercy to them, beautifies them with salvation, and takes pleasure in their prosperity; he has taken up good thoughts and resolutions concerning them in his heart; has promised good things to them in his covenant; has provided good things for them in his Son, and bestows them on them in regeneration; and constantly supplies them with his grace, and will withhold no good thing from them, till he has brought them to glory; all which he does cheerfully and with the utmost delight The Targum is,



"my Word shall rejoice over them;''



the essential Word, Christ; he was rejoicing in them, and his delights were with them from eternity; he rejoices over them, as his lost sheep found at conversion; and they shall be his joy and crown of rejoicing to all eternity; and it was for the joy of having them with him that he endured so much for them in the redemption of them:



and I will plant them in this land assuredly; or "in truth", or "in stability and firmness" {n}; for it does not seem so much to relate to the truth of the promise, and the assurance that may be had of the fulfilment of that, as to the reality and constancy of the blessing itself. A Gospel church state was first planted in Judea, and from thence has been spread into other parts, and has never been rooted out of the world since; and when the Jews, upon their conversion, are settled in their own land again, they will never more be removed:



with my whole heart and with my whole soul. Grotius thinks these clauses are to be connected with the former part of the verse, that God will rejoice over them to do them good with all his heart and soul; but this the accents will not admit of; but the meaning is, that he will do this particular good for them, as well as all others, in the most cordial and respectable manner, even planting and establishing them in their own land. The Targum is,



"by my Word, and by my will.''



{n} tmab "in veritate", Calvin, Cocceius, Schmidt; "in terra hac firma", Junius & Tremellius; "in terra hac firma", Grotius.







Jeremiah 32:42



Ver. 42. For thus saith the Lord, like as I have brought all this great evil upon this people,.... The Chaldean army now besieging them, the famine and pestilence among them, as well as their captivity, which was just at hand and certain:



so will I bring upon them all the good that I have promised them; in the preceding verses; as being their God, and they his people; giving them one heart, and one way; putting his fear into them; causing them to persevere to the end: rejoicing over them to do them good; and planting them in the land. God is as faithful to his promises as to his threatenings; and those who have seen the fulfilment of the one need not doubt of the accomplishment of the other; for if he has done all the evil things he threatened to do, which are his acts of justice, his strange acts, much more will he do the good things he has promised, which are his acts of grace and mercy, in which he delights.





Jeremiah 32:43



Ver. 43. And fields shall be bought in this land,.... After the return from the Babylonish captivity, which this respects; and of which the prophet's purchasing a field of his uncle's son was a pledge and token; in doing which, as a right thing, he is confirmed; as well as the cavils and objections of the Jews removed, who thought the destruction of the city, and such a practice, irreconcilable; and, moreover, this is mentioned as a pledge, earnest, and confirmation of the fulfilment of the above spiritual promises in Gospel times; for the people being returned at the end of the seventy years' captivity, and purchasing fields and vineyards, as was predicted, it might be strongly concluded, that since those temporal blessings promised were made good, spiritual ones would certainly be fulfilled; though some understand these words, in a spiritual sense, of the field of the church; for it is in the singular number, "a field shall be bought" {o}; yea, "that field", emphatically, which was bought by the blood of Christ, and first planted in the land of Judea, as in Jer 32:41;



whereof ye say, [it is] desolate without man or beast; so wasted and destroyed by the enemy, that neither man nor beast are left, but both carried off by him; and therefore no hope of what is above promised:



it is given into the hand of the Chaldeans; they are become the possessors of it, and therefore it is all over with us as to buying and possessing fields and vineyards; but notwithstanding this diffidence and despair in the present view of things, it follows:



{o} hdvh hnqnw "et [vel] tum emetur ager", Cocceius, Schmidt; "tum comparabitur ager", Junius & Tremellius.







Jeremiah 32:44



Ver. 44. Men shall buy fields for money,.... They shall have plenty of money, and they shall lay it out in land, and carry on husbandry, cultivate the ground, which had lain long untilled, but now should be manured for public as well as private good. This some understand of particular churches planted in Judea, and out of it, throughout the whole world; and of men's gathering and joining themselves to them by a profession of that faith which is more precious than gold or silver:



and subscribe evidences, and seal [them], and take witnesses; as Jeremiah had done before, when he bought the field of his uncle's son,

Jer 32:10. This is spiritually understood by some of the word of God laid hold on by faith; of the sealing of the Spirit, and of the ordinances of the Gospel:



in the land of Benjamin; where Anathoth was, and Jeremiah's field lay; and where the same should be done by others as was done by him:



and in the places about Jerusalem; in the suburbs of it, and in the villages round about it:



and in the cities of Judah; throughout the whole country, divided into the three following parts:



and in the cities of the mountains; in the hilly country of Judea, where was Hebron, and other cities, Lu 1:39;



and in the cities of the valley. The Septuagint retains the Hebrew word "sephela", or the plain, in which were Emmaus, Lydda, Sharon, places mentioned in the New Testament:



and in the cities of the south; or Nagab, the south part of Judea, which led to Gaza, Ac 8:26. This division of Judea into the mountains, valley, and south, exactly agrees with the account of it in

Jos 15:21. Some understand this of the Gospel going out of Jerusalem after the day of Pentecost, not only to the places near that city, but to Samaria, and the cities of the south towards Egypt, and so into all the world:



for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord; their temporal captivity from Babylon, and their spiritual captivity from sin, Satan, and the law.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 33:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 33



This chapter is a continuation of prophecies of spiritual blessings on the church of Christ in Gospel times, of which the return of the Jews from captivity, and the benefits following on that, were types. The place where Jeremiah had this prophecy communicated to him, the prison,

Jer 33:1; the author of it, Jehovah, who describes himself,

Jer 33:2; encourages the prophet to pray unto him, promising an answer, and a discovery of great and hidden things, Jer 33:3; not so much concerning the destruction of the city, and the rebuilding it,

Jer 33:4; as spiritual blessings to the church, signified by it; such as a healthful state and condition through Christ, the sun of righteousness, arising with healing in his wings, and a revelation of abundance of peace and truth by him, Jer 33:6; a release of captives, and a rebuilding of the church, Jer 33:7; free and full forgiveness of all sins, Jer 33:8; the church a praise in the whole earth; much joy in it, and glory to God by it, Jer 33:9; spiritual pastors or shepherds feeding their flocks, and taking very diligent care of them, Jer 33:12; a promise of the Messiah as a righteous Branch; as the Saviour and safeguard of his people; and as the Lord their righteousness, Jer 33:14; an assurance of the continuance of the kingly and priestly offices in him, whereby the covenant of God with David and the Levites would be for ever secured, Jer 33:17; and the chapter is concluded with a promise of the perseverance of the saints and people of God; which is represented as certain as the covenant with day and night, and as the ordinances of heaven and earth, in opposition to a suggestion to the contrary, Jer 33:23.



Ver. 1. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the second time,.... Not that this was precisely the second time that the word of the Lord came to the prophet, for it had come to him many more times than those; but this was the second time on the same occasion and subject; for the subject of this chapter is the same with that of the former, concerning the Messiah, and the happiness of the church in his times:



(while he was yet shut up in the court of the prison): though the prophet could not go out from hence, and publish his prophecies, yet the Lord visits him again and again; and his presence made the prison a palace to him; and though his afflictions, abounded for the sake of him, his comforts abounded through him; and though he was bound, the word of the Lord was not; it had a free course, and ran, and was glorified; it found its way into the prison, and also out of it:



saying: as follows:







Jeremiah 33:2



Ver. 2. Thus saith the Lord, the Maker thereof,.... The Syriac version is, "that made thee"; the prophet. The Septuagint and Arabic versions are, "the Maker of the earth"; see Jer 32:17. Kimchi interprets it of Jerusalem; rather it is to be understood of the New Jerusalem, or church of God in Gospel times. Jarchi seems to understand it of this prophecy or promise, and so others; the promise of restoring and rebuilding Jerusalem; which, if taken of the church of God, may be admitted;



the Lord that formed it, to establish it; who drew the scheme and model of this spiritual building, his church, in his eternal mind, and resolved upon its stability and glory; who forms it, and everyone in it, for himself, and for his praise, in order to establish it in the world; as it will be more especially in the latter day: we often read of the Lord's establishing his church and people in the world,

Ps 48:8;



the Lord [is] his name; Jehovah, the self-existing Being, the Being of beings; who is able to perform whatever he undertakes, and so is equal to this work, of settling and establishing his interest.





Jeremiah 33:3



Ver. 3. Call unto me, and I will answer thee,.... This is spoken not to Jerusalem, and the inhabitants of it; but to the prophet, encouraging him to seek the Lord by prayer, promising an answer to him. So the Targum,



"pray before me, and I will receive thy prayer:''



and show thee great and mighty things; or, "fortified ones" {p}; which are like fortified cities, that cannot easily be come at, unless the gates are opened to enter into; and designs such as are difficult of understanding, which exceed human belief, and which reason cannot comprehend and take in; and such are the great things of the Gospel. Some copies read it, "things reserved" {q}; as the Targum; and so Jarchi, who interprets it of things future, of things reserved in the heart of God, and which he purposed to do; and very rightly:



which thou knowest not; until revealed; and from hence it appears, that by these great and hidden things are not meant the destruction of Jerusalem, and the seventy years' captivity, and return from that, things which Jeremiah had been made acquainted with time after time, and had prophesied of them; but spiritual blessings hereafter mentioned, some of which the deliverance from Babylon were typical of Ben Melech interprets these of comforts great and strong.



{p} twrub "munita", Vatablus, Paganinus, Montanus; "fortia", Tigurine version. {q} twrun "abstrusa", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator; "recondita", so some in Vatablus.







Jeremiah 33:4



Ver. 4. For thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,.... The destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldeans, which was now fulfilling, is here mentioned as a pledge of the accomplishment of spiritual blessings after spoken of; and to assure the prophet, that as he would with his own eyes see the fulfilment of the prophecies he had delivered out in the name of the Lord concerning that, so likewise as certainly would the other be brought to pass:



concerning the houses of this city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which were thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword; by "the mounts", which the Chaldeans raised without the city; or by the engines they placed there, by which they cast out stones into the city, to the demolishing of the houses in it; not in common only, but particularly the houses of the king and nobles, which they especially directed their shot at; and by "the sword", hammers, axes, and mattocks, for which sometimes this word is used, when they entered into the city. Though some render the words, "which are thrown down for mounts, and for the sword" {r}; that mounts might be made of them within, on which the Jews might fight and defend themselves against the Chaldeans. So the Targum,



"which they pulled down, and threw up mounts to strengthen the wall, against those that kill with the sword;''



and so Jarchi interprets it.



{r} brxh law twlloh la "ad aggeres et vastitatem", Tigurine version; "in missilia catapultaria, et in gladium", Junius & Tremellius; "ad catapultas, et ad gladium", so some in Calvin.







Jeremiah 33:5



Ver. 5. They come to fight with the Chaldeans,.... Either the Jews out of the country, or their auxiliaries, their neighbours, to oblige them to break up the siege; but all to no purpose: or rather the Jews within; who, from the mounts erected, fight with the Chaldeans; or by sallying out upon them:



but [it is] to fill them with the dead bodies of men; the mounts, made of their houses, or their houses themselves; it is only to make them graves, and fill them with these carcasses:



whom I have slain in mine anger, and in my fury; that is, suffered to be slain, being wroth and angry with them, for their sins, as follows:



and for all whose wickedness I have hid my face from the city; had no pity for it, showed no mercy to it, gave it no help and assistance, or protection, having withdrawn his presence from it. So the Targum,



"I have caused my Shechinah to depart from this city, because of their wickedness.''





Jeremiah 33:6



Ver. 6. Behold, I will bring it health and cure, and I will cure them,.... That is, the church of God, the members of it, typified by Jerusalem; and it is to be understood of the healing of their spiritual maladies, the diseases of sin, through the blood of the Messiah, who should arise with healing in his wings; that is, with remission of sin, which is often meant by healing in Scripture: Christ is the physician; his blood the balm in Gilead, which being applied to those that are diseased with sin, to sin sick souls, it makes an effectual cure of them; so that they shall not say they are sick, because their iniquities are forgiven them; see Ps 103:3;



and will reveal unto them the abundance of peace and truth; the same with "grace and truth", which are come by Christ, Joh 1:17; under the Old Testament, these were figured out by types and shadows; but not revealed clearly, as under the New Testament, to which this prophecy belongs. "Peace" may intend peace made with God by the blood of Christ; peace of conscience, which he gives, and arises from a sense of pardon and atonement by his blood, and justification by his righteousness; and all kind of spiritual welfare, prosperity, and happiness; of which there will be an abundance, especially in the latter days of the Messiah, Ps 72:8. "Truth" may design the faithfulness of God, in fulfilling all his promises and prophecies concerning the Messiah, and salvation by him, and may stand opposed to the types and shadows of the old law; and include the Gospel, the word of truth, and all the doctrines of it; which are clearly and fully revealed by the spirit of truth, wisdom, and revelation, in the knowledge of Christ. Here begins the account of the great, mighty, and hidden things the Lord promised to show the prophet, Jer 33:3. The Targum of this last clause is,



"and I will reveal the gate of repentance unto them, and I will show them, how they shall walk in the way of peace and truth;''



and the Syriac version is,



"I will reveal unto them the paths of peace and faith;''



but the word here used signifies abundance, as Kimchi and Ben Melech observe.







Jeremiah 33:7



Ver. 7. And I will cause the captivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return,.... Mention being made of the return of the captivity of Israel, or the ten tribes, as well as that of Judah, shows that this prophecy does not relate to the return of the Jews from their seventy years' captivity in Babylon; but is to be understood spiritually, of a release of the mystical and spiritual Israel of God from the captivity of sin, Satan, and the law, by the Messiah:



and will build them as at the first; in the latter day, as at the beginning or first times of the Gospel; when the temple of the Lord was built by Christ, as the chief master builder, and by his apostles under him, upon himself, the foundation of the apostles and prophets; he being the corner stone of it, whereby it became a habitation for God through the Spirit. Since that time, by means of heretics and false teachers, and especially by the man of sin, the tabernacle of David, or church of Christ, is greatly fallen into ruin, and needs rebuilding and repairing; and this will be done; and then it will be a beautiful structure, as at the first, or as it was in the times of the apostles; see Ac 15:16.







Jeremiah 33:8



Ver. 8. And I will cleanse them from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against me,.... Even by the blood of Christ, which cleanses from all sin, of heart, lip, and life, in allusion to the purifications under the law, 1Jo 1:7; see Eze 36:25;



and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me; for Christ's sake, and through his stoning sacrifice, and upon the foot of full satisfaction made by him. A heap of words is here used, to express the fulness of pardoning grace through the blood of Christ, which reaches to all manner of sin; and this is the great and peculiar blessing of the new covenant; see Jer 31:34.





Jeremiah 33:9



Ver. 9. And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise, and an honour,.... That is, the church and people of God, being redeemed and rebuilt by Christ, and being cleansed from their sins in his blood, and all their iniquities forgiven for his sake, would be a cause of joy to themselves and others, and bring joy, praise, and honour unto God: so the church, in the latter day, will be an eternal excellency, a joy of many generations, and a praise in the earth, Isa 60:15; and here they are said to be so,



before all the nations, which shall hear all the good that I do unto them; in redeeming them by the Messiah; calling them by his Spirit and grace; justifying them by the righteousness of Christ; pardoning their sins through his blood; making them meet for, and giving them a title to, eternal glory and happiness; all which would be made known, as it has been to the Gentiles, through the preaching of the Gospel; and which has occasioned joy and gladness among them, and praise and thanksgiving unto God, and which has redounded to his honour and glory:



and they shall fear and tremble, for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure unto it; that is, they shall fear the Lord, and tremble at his word; not with a slavish, but filial fear, which is consistent with joy and gladness; and which fear will be influenced not by the terrors of the law, but by the goodness of God; being of the same nature with the fear of the converted Jews at the latter day, who will fear the Lord, and his goodness, Ho 3:5; so the Gentiles, seeing and hearing of the goodness of God bestowed upon the believing Jews, will be solicitous for the same, and be encouraged to seek after it; and finding it, shall be engaged to fear the Lord, and worship him.







Jeremiah 33:10



Ver. 10. Thus saith the Lord, again there shall be heard in this place,.... This is to be connected with the beginning of

Jer 33:11; and what follows to be put in a parenthesis:



which ye say [shall be] desolate without man and without beast: as in

Jer 32:43; the destruction of it being now certain and inevitable; and by which such desolation would be made throughout the country, that very few men or cattle would be left:



[even] in the cities of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate; as they were already, the country being in the hands of the enemy, and the city almost depopulated by the sword, famine, and pestilence, and just about to be delivered up: and so



without man, and without inhabitant, and without beast; neither inhabited by man or beast; which is an hyperbolical exaggeration of the miserable condition of the city, and country; expressing the unbelief and despair of the Jews, at least of some of them, ever seeing better times: whereas, be it so, that this was or would be the case; yet here should be heard again, in the times of the Messiah, when he should appear in Judea, and his Gospel be preached there, from whence it should go into all the world, what follows:





Jeremiah 33:11



Ver. 11. The voice of joy, and the voice of gladness,.... Such is the voice of the Gospel to all sensible sinners; whose eyes are opened to see their lost estate; whose ears are opened to hear the joyful sound: whose hearts are opened to attend to the things spoken in it; who are humble and contrite, wounded and broken in spirit, and have a spiritual understanding of things given them: to these the Gospel preached is glad tidings of great joy; since it contains in it the doctrines of peace and pardon through the blood of Christ; of justification through his righteousness; of rest in him, and salvation by him. It is a voice of joy and gladness to all believers in Christ; since hereby they hear of Christ whom they love; they hear of the love of God in him, and of the love of him to them; it is food to their souls; and when found, under the hearing of it, it is the joy and rejoicing of their hearts; and whereas they are continually sinning in thought, word, or deed, the doctrine of pardon must be joyful to them. Moreover, this may be meant of the voice of those that come to the church of God, with songs of joy and gladness, for electing, redeeming, calling, pardoning, and justifying grace; the voice of young converts, and of all them that rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh; see

Isa 35:10; and why may not the ordinance of singing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, be included? since those are enjoined to be sung, and are sung in Gospel churches, Eph 5:19;



the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride; which, literally understood, is expressive of great joy and happiness; as the contrary signifies great calamity and distress; see Jer 7:34. It may be understood of such who are in such a natural relation to one another; and yet their voice may intend their joining together in spiritual praise to God. Moreover, by the "bridegroom" may be meant Christ, who has espoused his people to himself, and is their husband, and behaves as such towards them, in all tenderness, care, love, and affection; and his voice was heard in Judea's land as the bridegroom; John heard it, and rejoiced at it, and so did many others; see Mt 9:15 Joh 3:29; and the Gospel indeed is no other than his voice; and a soul quickening, soul comforting, and soul alluring, and charming voice it is. And by the "bride" may be meant the church, who is the bride, the Lamb's wife, being married to him; whose voice of prayer and praise to Christ, and of encouragement to sensible sinners, is heard in Zion, and is very desirable, So 2:14;



the voice of them that shall say, praise the Lord of hosts; the husband of his church, and Redeemer of his people, and who is the sovereign Lord of all; the voice of such is heard, who stir up others to this work and service, and enforce it by the reasons following:



for the Lord [is] good; originally and essentially in himself, and the fountain of goodness to others; the good Head and Husband of his church; the good Samaritan: the good Shepherd of his sheep, and Saviour of his people:



for his mercy [endureth] for ever; it is from everlasting to everlasting; in his love and pity he has redeemed his church; and this is seen in his tender care of her, and will endure to eternal life: these words seem to be taken out of Ps 106:1; and were used by the Jews at the laying of the foundation of the second temple, Ezr 3:11;



[and] of them that shall bring the sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord; the church of the living God, the materials of which are lively stones, or true believers in Christ; into which none should enter without an offering; and this should be a spiritual one, the sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving; which God has enjoined as well pleasing to him, because it glorifies him. This shows that this prophecy belongs to Gospel times; since no other sacrifice is mentioned as brought into the house of God but the sacrifice of praise. And remarkable is the note of Kimchi on this passage;



"he does not say a sin offering, or a trespass offering, because at this time there will be no ungodly persons and sinners among them, for they shall all know the Lord. And so our Rabbins of blessed memory say, all offerings shall cease in time to come (the times of the Messiah) but the sacrifice of praise;''



for I will cause to return the captivity of the land as at the first,

saith the Lord: a release from spiritual captivity, or redemption by Christ; being the foundation of all solid joy, praise, and thanksgiving.





Jeremiah 33:12



Ver. 12. Thus saith the Lord of hosts,.... Which phrase, or what is answerable to it, is often repeated, to give authority to what is said, and to command a belief of it:



again, in this place which is desolate; which was said to be so,

Jer 33:10; and indeed was so; and was near utter destruction, as to be



without man and without beast; both falling into the hands of the enemy; and that not in the city of Jerusalem only, but



in all the cities thereof; of the land of Judea; and from thence in other countries, even in Gentile ones:



shall be an habitation of shepherds, causing [their] flocks to lie down; which is expressive of great peace, no foreign enemy to make afraid or disturb the shepherds and their flocks; and of diligence and industry, plenty and prosperity; though this is to be understood not in a literal, but mystical sense. For by "shepherds" are meant the apostles of Christ, the first ministers of the Gospel, and pastors of churches, that should be first raised up in the land of Judea, and then sent into and spread in all the world; shepherds under Christ, of his raising, qualifying, and calling; to whom he gives a commission to feed his sheep and lambs; assigns them their distinct flocks, and gives them food to feed them with, and to whom they are accountable for those under their care, and the gifts bestowed upon them; and whose business lies in feeding the flock with the solid doctrines of the Gospel, by faithfully administering the ordinances, and in all directing to Christ, where they may find pasture; as also in ruling and governing according to the laws of Christ; in watching over the sheep that they go not astray, and in protecting and defending them from beasts of prey. By the "habitation" of these shepherds is meant the house of God, where the word is preached, and ordinances are administered; here are the shepherds' tents, which, like the tents of Kedar, which were shepherds' tents also, are mean and coarse without, but rich and beautiful within; and are like tents, movable from place to place; and it is the glory and happiness of a country where they are. And by "flocks", or "flock", for it is in the singular number, are meant the church of Christ, which is but one, the general assembly and church of the firstborn written in heaven, and the several particular congregated churches; consisting of such persons as may be compared to sheep, being weak and timorous, meek and humble, harmless and inoffensive; of persons gathered out of the world, distinguished by the grace of God, and folded together in a Gospel church state; though but few, and despised of men, and persecuted, a little flock, and a flock of slaughter: these, by their shepherds, are made "to lie down" in a good fold at night, where they are safe and secure; these shepherds watch over them; angels encamp about them; salvation is walls and bulwarks to them; and God himself a wall of fire around them; and in the day they are made to lie down in the green pastures of the word and ordinances, where they have an abundance, a sufficiency of provisions; and at noon under the shadow of Christ, where they have rest, and where they are screened and sheltered from the heat of a fiery law, of Satan's fiery darts, and of the world's persecution.







Jeremiah 33:13



Ver. 13. In the cities of the mountains, in the cities of the vale,

and in the cities of the south,.... Into which three parts the land of Judea was divided; See Gill on "Jer 32:44";



and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah; in the cities of the two tribes, of which Jerusalem was the metropolis; and which returned from the captivity, and settled here, and were in being when the Messiah came, here prophesied of, the great Shepherd of the sheep:



shall the flocks pass again under the hands of him that telleth [them], saith the Lord; alluding to the custom of shepherds telling their flocks, when they led them out of the fold in the morning, and when they put them in at evening {s}; or to the tithing of them,

Le 27:32; this is not to be understood literally, but mystically. So Jarchi, Kimchi, and Abarbinel interpret it of the Israelites going in and out under the hands of their king, that goes at the head of them; and the Targum, of the King Messiah, and who is no doubt meant. The elect of God, who are intended by the "flocks", were in eternal election considered as sheep, and by that act of grace were distinguished from others; and so when an exact account was taken of them, their names were written in heaven, and in the Lamb's book of life; and had this seal and mark put upon them, "the Lord knows them that are his", 2Ti 2:19; also in the gift of them to Christ; in the covenant of grace, when they were brought into the bond of that covenant, they were likewise considered as sheep, distinct from others; and were told into the hands of Christ, where they are kept, and who has a most perfect knowledge of them; and in the effectual calling they will again pass under his hands; they are then as sheep that had gone astray, returned to the Shepherd and Bishop of their souls; and when they are separated from others, and special knowledge is taken of them, and Christ's mark, the sanctification of the Spirit, is put upon them; and at the last day, when Christ shall deliver them up to the Father, he will say, lo, I and the children, or sheep, whom thou hast given me; and they will all be numbered, and not one will be wanting.



{s} "Bisque die numerant, alter pecus, alter et haedos". Virgil.







Jeremiah 33:14



Ver. 14. Behold, the days come, saith the Lord,.... Or, "are coming" {t}; future times are respected; yet such as would quickly come; five or six hundred years more, and then would be fulfilled what is after promised. This is ushered in with a "behold", as being a matter of importance, and deserving attention, and even as calling for admiration. This is the principal of the great and mighty things the Lord promised to show to the prophet, Jer 33:3; even the coming of the Messiah, and what concerns his person and office:



that I will perform that good thing which I have promised unto the house of Israel and to the house of Judah; or, "that good word" {u}; that gracious word concerning Christ and salvation by him; that mercy promised to the fathers; that good thing that came out of Nazareth: the good Shepherd that laid down his life for the sheep, preferable to the shepherds before spoken of: or rather, "that best word" {w}; the positive used for the superlative, as frequent in the Hebrew language. Many good words or promises are made before, concerning the spiritual welfare and prosperity of the church; but this is the best of all; this is the better thing provided for saints under the Gospel dispensation, and promised to them, who are meant by the houses of Judah and Israel; for these phrases, as the Jews themselves allow, show that the words belong to the times of the Messiah; and which God, that is true and cannot lie, and who is faithful, that has promised, and is able to perform, will do.



{t} Myab "venientes", Montanus, Schmidt. {u} bwjh rbdh "verbum bonum", V. L. Pagninus, Montanus, Cocceius. {w} "Verbum optimum", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt.







Jeremiah 33:15



Ver. 15. In those days, and at that time,.... In those very selfsame days before spoken of; in those days to come, and which were hastening on; in the fulness of time, agreed on between Jehovah and his Son; the appointed, fixed, determined time:



will I cause the Branch of righteousness to grow up unto David; not Zerubbabel, but the Messiah; who is not only a branch of David's family, and therefore said to grow up unto him, being of his seed, his son, and offspring; but a Branch of righteousness, or a righteous Branch; perfectly righteous in himself, and the author of righteousness unto others; which cannot be said of Zerubbabel, or of any other branch springing from David but the Messiah; and of him the Targum interprets it, paraphrasing it thus,



"the Messiah of righteousness;''



and Kimchi's note is,



"this is the King Messiah;''



and so it is by other Jewish writers {x} interpreted of him:



and he shall execute judgment and righteousness in the land; judgment upon the blind Pharisees given up to judicial blindness and hardness of heart; and upon the world, and the prince of it, who was cast out by him; and though he came not at first to judge the world and all the individuals of it, as he will do at his second coming; yet all judgment, rule, and government of his church, is committed to him by his Father; and he is on the throne to order and establish it with judgment, and to overrule all things for the good of it, and his own and his Father's glory: and he has "wrought" out an everlasting "righteousness", agreeably to law and justice, for the justification of his people; for which reason he and they have the name in Jer 33:16.



{x} Abarbinel, Mashmiah Jeshuah, fol. 40. 2.







Jeremiah 33:16



Ver. 16. In those days shall Judah be saved,.... The elect of God among the Jews; and all such who are Jews inwardly, who truly believe in Christ, and confess his name, and praise him, and give him the glory or salvation. Judah signifies one that confesses or praises the Lord; such shall be saved from sin, Satan, the law, wrath, hell, and damnation, by the Branch of righteousness, the Messiah; who was raised up and sent to be a Saviour; came into the world for this purpose; has obtained salvation for his people; is the Captain and author of it; nor is it in any other; hence his name is called Jesus; and this salvation is to be had from him at all times; as in those days in which it was first wrought out, so throughout the whole Gospel dispensation: for "now is the day of salvation", 2Co 6:2; and indeed this is to be understood, not as exclusive of the Old Testament dispensation, when believers were saved by the same Lord Jesus as we are; only this is expressive of the impetration of this salvation by the incarnate Saviour; and of the more clear discovery and revelation of it; and of the application of it to a greater number of persons; and which is sure to all the spiritual seed of Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles, who "shall be saved" with an everlasting salvation: it is not said they "may" be saved, but they "shall" be saved; not may be saved if they will; or, however, this is not left on such a precarious footing; but they are made willing to be saved by Christ in the day of his power, yea, they are already saved:



and Jerusalem shall dwell safely; the inhabitants of it; such who are come to Mount Zion, the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem; these being saved by Christ, are in the utmost safety; they have nothing to fear from the justice of God, that is satisfied; nor from the law, that is fulfilled; nor from their enemies, they are conquered and destroyed; God is pacified towards them; is the God of peace with them; and they have peace with him, and enjoy great serenity and tranquillity of mind; and must needs dwell safely, since Jehovah is around them as the mountains around Jerusalem; Christ is their strong hold, into which they run and are safe; the Holy Spirit within them is greater and mightier than their enemies in the world; angels encamp about them, and salvation is walls and bulwarks to them:



and this [is the name] wherewith she shall be called, the Lord our righteousness; the same with the Messiah's name, Jer 23:6; he is Jehovah; and he is our righteousness; the author of it, by his obedience, sufferings, and death; and which becomes ours by being wrought out for us, bestowed on us, imputed and applied to us. The Targum renders it here, as in the other place,



"this is the name wherewith they shall call him;''



and so the Vulgate Latin version; but this is contrary to the Hebrew text, which has "her", and not "him". R. Joseph Kimchi reads it, "and this who calls her [is] the Lord our righteousness"; which is followed by some Christian writers {y}. Some interpret it, who calls her by his Gospel to the salvation promised and performed; others, who calls her to dwell safely; others render it, "this [is the name] with which he [the Lord] shall call him, for her", for the sake of the church, the Lord our righteousness {z}; but David Kimchi and Ben Melech take the sense to be this,



"the holy blessed God shall call Jerusalem the Lord our righteousness;''



and certain it is that this is the name imposed on the church here meant, as Hephzibah and Beulah, in Isa 62:4; and why may she not be as well called "Jehovah Tzidhenu", the Lord our righteousness, as "Jehovah Shammah", the Lord is there? Eze 48:35. She is called "Jehovah", not as deified by him, but as united to him; and our "righteousness", as justified by him. Christ and his church are one, as head and members are; and therefore are called by the same name: hence the church is called Christ, 1Co 12:12; they are in a marriage relation; Christ is the husband, and the church is his spouse; and as husband and wife bear the same name, so do Christ and his church; moreover, not only Christ is made righteousness to his people, but they are made the righteousness of God in him; his righteousness is put upon them, and imputed to them, so that they are righteous as he is righteous, 1Co 1:30.



{y} wnqdu hwhy wl arqy rva hzw "et iste qui vocabit eam [est] Dominus nostra justitia", Pagninus, Montanus, Vatablus; "hic est ille qui vocabit eam, [ad se], Jehova justitia nostra", Gussetius. {z} "Et hoc est [nomen] quo vocabit [eum] ille, Jehovah nostra justitia". So some in Vatablus.







Jeremiah 33:17



Ver. 17. For thus saith the Lord,.... Confirming the above promise concerning the Messiah; giving a reason why his coming may be expected; and why the salvation, justification, and final perseverance of his church and people, are certain things, and to be depended upon:



David shall never want a man to sit upon the throne of the house of Israel; or, "there shall not be cut off unto David a man" {a}; and this is not to be understood of the temporal kingdom of David, which has been at an end long ago: Jeconiah, that was carried captive into Babylon, was written childless, and left no issue; and Zerubbabel, the only one of David's seed that made any figure after the captivity, was not a king; this is only true of the man Christ Jesus, of the seed of David, and is his son, to whom has been given the throne of his father David; and who reigns over the house of Jacob for ever; and of whose kingdom there is no end, Lu 1:32; and as long as he is King of saints, which will be for ever, David will not want a man to sit upon his throne. David's earthly kingdom was but a typical and shadowy one; a type of Christ's spiritual kingdom, which has succeeded it, and in which Christ is David's son and successor, and whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom.



{a} vya dwdl trky al "non exscindetur Davidi vir", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt.







Jeremiah 33:18



Ver. 18. Neither shall the priests the Levites want a man before me,.... The Levitical priesthood has been abolished long ago; that was typical of Christ's priesthood, and is succeeded by it; who is a priest for ever after the order of Melchizedek; and who, having offered up himself a sacrifice here on earth for his people, ever appears in heaven, in the presence of God, on their behalf, making intercession for them; and as long as he continues to do so, which will be always, a man shall not be wanting before the Lord:



to offer burnt offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice continually; that is, to present that sacrifice before him, and plead the efficacy and virtue of it with him, which was typified by all those sacrifices, and has superseded them, being much better than they. Some understand this of a continuance of Gospel ministers unto the end of the world, who succeeded the priests and Levites; but as they are never called priests and Levites in the New Testament; nor were they properly the successors of the priests and Levites; rather it may be applied unto all believers now, who are priests unto God, and offer up spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Christ; but the first sense is best.





Jeremiah 33:19



Ver. 19. And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah,.... For the further explanation and confirmation of what is before said; and which came at the same time as the other; this being not a new prophecy, but an illustration of the former:



saying; as follows:





Jeremiah 33:20



Ver. 20. Thus saith the Lord, if you can break my covenant of the day,

and my covenant of the night,.... The same with the ordinances of the sun, moon, and stars, Jer 31:35; the original constitution and law of nature, settled from the beginning of the world, and observed ever since, in the constant revolution of day and night; and which was formed into a covenant and promise to Noah, after the deluge, that day and night should not cease, as long as the earth remained, Ge 8:22; and which has never been, nor can be, broken and made void: so



that there should not be day and night in their season; or turn; continually succeeding each other: this, as it would not be attempted, so could never be effected by any mortals, if it were.





Jeremiah 33:21



Ver. 21. [Then] may also my covenant be broken with David my servant,.... A type of the Messiah, with whom the covenant of grace is made, stands fast, and will never be broken; see Ps 89:3; for, as the other is impossible, the breaking of the covenant with day and night, or hindering the certain rotation of them; so likewise as impossible is the breaking of the covenant with David concerning the perpetuity of his kingdom in the Messiah:



that he should not have a son to reign upon his throne; which he has in Christ, and ever will have; for he shall reign for ever and ever:



and with the Levites my priests, my ministers; of the line of Phinehas, to whom an everlasting priesthood was promised, and which has been fulfilled in Christ, who has an unchangeable priesthood; a priesthood that will never pass from him, and go to another; see Nu 25:13 Heb 7:24.





Jeremiah 33:22



Ver. 22. As the host of heaven cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured,.... As the stars of heaven are innumerable, and the sand of the sea immeasurable:



so will I multiply the seed of David my servant; the Messiah; the son and antitype of David; and who is often called by his name; and as the son of David is the servant of the Lord, his spiritual seed are meant, which shall endure for ever; and in Gospel times, especially in the latter part of them, shall be very numerous; see Ps 89:29;



and the Levites that minister unto me; meaning the same as before; not ministers of the Gospel, for they never were, or will be, so numerous as here expressed; but true believers in Christ, who are all priests unto God, and minister in holy things, offering up the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise through Christ: these Levites are the same with the seed of David, or Christ, in whom the kingdom and the priesthood are united.





Jeremiah 33:23



Ver. 23. Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah,.... Upon the same subject, concerning the continuance of David's seed; with a refutation of a calumny uttered against the Lord about the rejection of them:



saying; as follows:





Jeremiah 33:24



Ver. 24. Considerest thou not what this people have spoken,.... The words are directed to the prophet by an interrogation, if he had not considered in his mind what he heard the people say; not the Chaldeans, with whom the prophet was not; but the unbelieving Jews, either the profane part of them, who had a wicked view in it, to accuse God, and discourage the godly; or the weaker sort of the good people, indulging unbelief and despondency:



saying, the two families which the Lord had chosen, he hath even cast them off? the kingdom and the priesthood, as Jarchi; the family of David and the family of Aaron, as Kimchi and Ben Melech; the, one with respect to the kingdom, and the other with respect to the priesthood; so Abarbinel, which seems right: though some interpret it of the kingdoms of Israel and Judah; and others of the two tribes of Judah and Benjamin; but since the covenant with David, and with the priests, are before spoken of, and the seed of David afterwards, it seems rather to regard the two houses of David and Aaron, which the Lord chose for the kingdom and priesthood to continue in; but by the captivity of the royal family, and of the priests in Babylon, just now about to take place, it was suggested that both were cast off by the Lord, and that there would be no more kings out of the one, nor priests out of the other:



thus they have despised my people: as being rejected of God, whom he would never more regard or restore to their former condition in church and state; so giving them up for lost, that they would be no more a nation and church, having kings to reign over them, or priests to minister for them:



that they should be no more a nation before them; either before their kings and priests, or in the sight of those persons who spoke the words before related.





Jeremiah 33:25



Ver. 25. Thus saith the Lord,.... In answer to the above calumny:



if my covenant [be] not with day and night; that is, if it should not stand; if it should be broken; or there should be no longer a succession of day and night:



[and if] I have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth; concerning the course of the sun, moon, and stars, and the influence of the heavenly bodies; and concerning the fruits of the earth, the seasons of the year, seedtime and harvest, summer and winter; if these are not settled and fixed, and do not appear according to appointment and promise.





Jeremiah 33:26



Ver. 26. Then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my servant,.... R. Jonah thinks that Jacob is put instead of Aaron, because of the two families of David and Aaron before mentioned; but in this latter part of the chapter no mention is made of priests at all; and by the "seed" is meant one and the same, the spiritual seed of Christ, the antitypical David, and servant of the Lord; and which are no other than the seed of Jacob, over whom the Messiah reigns; or the spiritual Israel of God, whether Jews or Gentiles, and whom the Lord never casts away, so as to perish; but they shall all be saved in the Lord with an everlasting salvation: See Gill on "Jer 31:37"; and even the seed of Jacob, and of David, who was of Jacob, in the line of Judah, shall not be in such sense rejected:



[so] that I will not take [any] of his seed [to be] rulers over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; that is, any of the seed of David taken literally; from whom the Lord has taken one, or raised up one of his seed, even the Messiah, to be a ruler over all the spiritual seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob; or of all that tread in their steps: but inasmuch as by the seed of Jacob and David may be meant the spiritual seed of Christ, by rulers taken from them may be intended spiritual rulers and governors of the church, or ministers of the Gospel:



for I will cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them; not only their captivity from Babylon, and so the family of David restored and continued till the Messiah should spring out of it; but the spiritual captivity of the Israel of God, of which the other was a type, and would be brought about by the Messiah; who in his love and pity should redeem them, as he has, from sin, Satan, law, hell, and death.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 34:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 34



In this chapter is a prophecy of the taking and burning of Jerusalem; of the captivity of Zedekiah king of Judah; and of the destruction of the whole land, because of their breach of covenant to let servants go free. The time of this prophecy is observed, Jer 34:1; the taking and burning of the city, Jer 34:2; the carrying captive the king, who yet should not die a violent death, but in peace, and should have an honourable funeral, Jer 34:3; the covenant the king, princes, and people entered into, to let their servants go free, according to the law of God, which was at first observed, and afterwards retracted, Jer 34:8; which conduct is taken notice of and resented, Jer 34:13; and they are threatened with the sore judgments of God, sword, famine, pestilence, and captivity, the king, princes, priests, and people; and with the destruction, not on of Jerusalem, but of the rest of the cities of Judah, Jer 34:17.



Ver. 1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord,.... This prophecy came to Jeremiah, and was delivered by him, when he was at liberty, and before his imprisonment, and was the occasion of it, as appears from Jer 32:2; compared with Jer 34:2; the prophecies not standing in the proper order in which they were given out; for the prophecy, in this first part of the chapter at least, was delivered out before that in the thirty second chapter:



when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all the people, fought against Jerusalem; when this mighty monarch appeared before Jerusalem with a numerous army, consisting of Chaldeans, the natives of his own kingdom, and with the auxiliary troops of each the kingdoms he had subdued and made tributary to him, even people of almost every nation under the heavens; and invested it, and laid siege to it, and lay against it:



and against all the cities thereof; the rest of the cities of Judah, which were as daughters of Jerusalem, the metropolis or mother city:



saying; as follows:







Jeremiah 34:2



Ver. 2. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,.... Who, though the covenant God of Israel, yet provoked by their sins, sends the following message to their king:



go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell him: alone; and tell it to no other but him, at least at present; the message being more peculiar to him, and must, had it been told to the people, been very disheartening to them:



behold, I will give this city into the hand of the king of Babylon,

and he shall burn it with fire; see Jer 32:3; which was exactly accomplished, Jer 52:13.





Jeremiah 34:3



Ver. 3. And thou shalt not escape out of his hand,.... Though he would, and did attempt to do it, Jer 52:8;



but shall surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; he was taken on the plains of Jericho, and delivered into the hands of the king of Babylon at Riblah; as may be seen in the place just referred to:



and thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon; and that was all; for they were quickly put out by him:



and he shall speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to Babylon; see Jer 32:3.





Jeremiah 34:4



Ver. 4. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah king of Judah,.... Which, though a king, he ought to hearken to; and, besides, what follows was for comfort, being a mitigation of his sentence, and containing in it mercy, as well as judgment:



thus saith the Lord of thee, thou shalt not die by the sword: of the king of Babylon; or a violent death; and therefore fear not to deliver up thyself and city into his hands; which he might be twelfth to do, fearing he would put him to death immediately.





Jeremiah 34:5



Ver. 5. [But] thou shall die in peace,.... Upon his bed, a natural death, and in good friendship with the king of Babylon; and, it may be, in peace with God; for before his death, some time in his captivity, he might be brought to true repentance for his sins:



and with the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were before thee: so shall they burn [odours] for thee. The sense is, that he should have an honourable burial; and that sweet odours and spices should be burned for him, as were for the kings of Judah his predecessors, particularly Asa, 2Ch 16:14. Josephus says {b}, that Nebuchadnezzar buried him in a royal manner; though this seems to refer to what the people of the Jews in Babylon would do in honour of him, by burning for him. The Rabbins say, as Jarchi, Kimchi, and Ben Melech observe, that they burned their beds and ministering vessels, or household goods {c}, as was usual on such occasions. The Talmudist {d} a say, all this honour was done him for that single act of ordering Jeremiah to be taken out of the dungeon; for this was done honour to persons: so, when Gamaliel the elder died, Onkelos the proselyte burned for him seventy Tyrian pounds {e}; not such a quantity of money, but goods that were worth so much; and this was a custom with the Heathens, who used to burn the bodies of the dead, to burn their garments with them, and their armour, and whatever were valuable and esteemed of by them life; and particularly odoriferous things, as frankincense, saffron, myrrh, spikenard, cassia, and cinnamon {f}; and which seem to be meant here, by comparing the passage with the case of Asa before mentioned; for though the word "odours" is not in the text, it seems rightly enough supplied by us, as it is by other interpreters {g}. The Vulgate Latin version very wrongly translates it, "and shall burn thee"; for it was not the manner of the Jews to burn the bodies of the dead, but to inter them in the earth; and so Tacitus {h} observes, it was the custom of the Jews not to burn, but after the manner of the Egyptians to bury in the earth nor does it appear to have been the custom of the Babylonians or Chaldeans, as should seem from the account that is given of the death and burial of the Babylonian monarch in

Isa 14:4;



and they will lament, [saying], Ah lord! alas! our lord the king is dead. The form of lamentation said over him, as the Jews record {i}, was,



"alas! King Zedekiah, who is dead, drank the dregs of all ages;''



was punished for the sins of men in all generations past:



for I have pronounced the word, saith the Lord; both that which respects his captivity, and that which refers to his death; the manner of it, and his honourable interment, which shall be accomplished.



{b} Antiqu. Jud. l. 10. c. 8. sect. 7. {c} Vid. T. Avoda Zara, fol. 11. 1. {d} T. Bab. Moed Katon, fol. 28. 2. {e} T. Bab. Avoda Zara, fol. 11. 1. {f} Vid. Kirehman. de Fuuer. Roman. l. 3. c. 5. {g} "Sub. myropolae", Munster; "aromata odorata, sive res odoriferas", Vatablus; "ustiones odorum", Junius & Tremellius. {h} Histor. l. 5. c. 5. {i} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 28. p. 81.







Jeremiah 34:6



Ver. 6. Then Jeremiah the prophet spake all these words,.... The threatening, as well as the consolatory ones; he kept back no part of the message he was sent with, but faithfully delivered the whole:



unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jerusalem; though he knew it would displease him, and bring himself into trouble, as it did; for upon this he was put into prison.





Jeremiah 34:7



Ver. 7. When the king of Babylon's army fought against Jerusalem,.... Had laid close siege to it, and still continued it:



and against all the cities of Judah that were left; unconquered by him; when he invaded the land, he fought against, and took, and ravished all the cities that lay in his way; and it seems there were none that stood out against him but Jerusalem, now besieged by him, and two others, next mentioned:



against Lachish, and against Azekah; for these defenced cities remained of the cities of Judah; two cities that had been fortified by Rehoboam, 2Ch 11:9; and were the only ones besides Jerusalem, which as yet had not fallen into the hands of the king of Babylon.





Jeremiah 34:8



Ver. 8. [This is] the word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord,.... Here begins a new prophecy, which was delivered some time after the former; that was given out while the king of Babylon was besieging Jerusalem; this after he had quitted the siege for a while, and was gone to meet the king of Egypt, who was coming to the relief of the city, as appears from Jer 34:21; though the Jews {k} say this was delivered in the seventh year of Zedekiah, in the first month, and tenth day of the month; at the same time that the elders of Israel came to Ezekiel, to inquire of the Lord by him, Eze 20:1; which was two years before the king of Babylon came against Jerusalem; but this seems not likely. It is said to be



after that the King Zedekiah made a covenant with all the people that [were] at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty unto them; not unto the people, or to themselves, the king and the people; unless the sense is, that the king and the people entered into an agreement among themselves to make proclamation, that liberty would be granted by them to their servants; for the liberty proclaimed was to the servants, and not to them. This seems to confirm it, that it was while the city was besieged that this covenant was made; since it was made only with the people at Jerusalem, which were pent up in it; for otherwise it would in all probability have been made with all the people of the land; and seems to have been done with this view, to obtain this favour of the Lord, that they might gain their freedom from the enemy, and come not under the yoke and into the servitude of the king of Babylon: and very probable it is that they did not do this of their own accord, but were exhorted to it by Jeremiah; who perhaps, among other sins, had reproved them for the breach of the law respecting the liberty of servants.



{k} Seder Olam Rabba, c. 26. p. 74.





Jeremiah 34:9



Ver. 9. That every man should let his manservant, and every man his maidservant, [being] an Hebrew, or an Hebrewess, go free,.... This is the proclamation that was agreed to be made, that every manservant and maidservant, that serve six years an apprenticeship, should be freed from their servitude, according to the law in Ex 21:1; a law founded upon justice and equity, mercy and compassion; done for the honour of the Jewish nation, that they might be a free people, and in commemoration of their deliverance from their servitude in Egypt. This law, as it seems, had been long neglected, and servants had been retained in bondage beyond their due time, through the oppression and covetousness of their masters, and the neglect of the civil magistrates; who should have took care that such a law was put in execution, and that servants were not oppressed. Some have thought that it was at the beginning of the sabbatical year that this proclamation was made, when, according to the law, there should be a release of servants, De 15:1; but that was not a release of servants, but of debts; for if a servant had not served out his time, the sabbatical year, or year of release, did not discharge him; though the year of jubilee did, according to Maimonides {l}, who says,



"if the year of release happens in any of the six years, he (the servant) serves in it; but if the year of jubilee happens within the time, even though he has been sold but one year before it, he is free;''



that none should serve himself of them, [to wit], of a Jew his brother; or cause them to serve him, oblige them against their will to continue in his service; or by any means avail himself of them, and receive to himself any profit or advantage by their service, they being Jews and brethren; which seems to be added, both as the reason of the law, because they were brethren of the same nation and religion with them, and to distinguish them from other servants, who notwithstanding this law might be retained as such.



{l} Hilchot Abadim, c. 2. sect. 2.





Jeremiah 34:10



Ver. 10. Now when all the princes, and all the people, which had entered into the covenant,.... The king had made with the people. Here the princes are mentioned, who were not before, but included in the people; they and the rest of the people are here meant, who having agreed to the covenant,



heard that everyone should let his manservant, and everyone his maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of them any more; or any longer, which they had done, contrary to law: when they understood that this was the sum of the covenant they had entered into, and this the intent of the proclamation they agreed unto; or when they heard the law read and explained by the prophet, concerning the manumission of the Hebrew servants, when the time of their servitude was expired,



then they obeyed, and let [them] go; dismissed them from their service, in obedience to the law of God, agreeably to their own covenant, and the proclamation of liberty they assented to. The whole might be rendered thus, "and all the princes and all the people obeyed, which had entered into the covenant, to let everyone his manservant, and everyone his maidservant, go free, not to serve themselves of them any more, and they obeyed, [I say], to let [them] go"; so far they did well, and were praiseworthy, that they kept the law of God, and their own covenant.





Jeremiah 34:11



Ver. 11. But afterwards they turned,.... From the law of God, and their own agreement, and returned to their former usage of their servants; they changed their minds and measures. This seems to be done, when the king of Babylon, hearing the king of Egypt was coming to break up the siege of Jerusalem, quitted it, and went forth to meet him, as appears from Jer 34:21; the Jews now finding themselves at liberty, and out of danger as they imagined, wickedly rebelled against the law of God; perfidiously broke their own covenant, repenting of what they had done, and returned to their former ways of oppression and cruelty; which shows they were not hearty and sincere in their covenant:



and caused the servants and the handmaids, whom they had let go free,

to return, and brought them into subjection for servants and for handmaids; which was done by force, contrary to the will of their servants and handmaids, and in violation of the law of God, and their own solemn oath and covenant.





Jeremiah 34:12



Ver. 12. Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from the Lord,.... The word of Jehovah the Son, from Jehovah the Father, because of this transgression of the princes and people, and as soon as it was committed by them; for it is plain, from Jer 34:21, that it was before the Chaldean army returned to Jerusalem, after its departure from it:



saying; as follows:





Jeremiah 34:13



Ver. 13. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel,.... The covenant God of Israel, their Creator, Redeemer, and Benefactor:



I made a covenant with your fathers; gave them a system of laws, among which was that of release of servants:



in the day that I brought them forth out of the land of Egypt; that is, at that time, quickly after, when they were come to Mount Sinai; this shows what fathers are meant, the Jewish ancestors that came out of Egypt, brought from thence by the mighty hand of God, and indulged with many favours by him, both in the wilderness, and in the land of Canaan, where he brought and settled them:



out of the house of bondmen; where they were bondmen, servants, and slaves: this is mentioned, to put them in mind of their former state and condition; to observe unto them the foundation and ground of the law concerning servants, how equitable and merciful it was, and to aggravate their sin; who though their fathers had been bondmen, and they must have been so too, had they not been released, yet acted such a cruel part to their servants, who were their brethren, in not discharging them in due time:



saying; giving out the following law, as a part of the covenant made with their fathers.





Jeremiah 34:14



Ver. 14. At the end of seven years,.... Not when seven years were elapsed and fully completed; but within the compass of seven years, or as soon as the seventh year was began; for this term of seven years is the term of the seventh year coming in, and not going out, as appears from the law itself, Ex 21:9; and from an after clause in this verse, "when he hath served thee six years"; at the end of which, and the beginning of the seventh: and so Maimonides {m} interprets this law,



"he whom the sanhedrim sold served six years from the day of his sale, and at the beginning of the seventh year he was free:''



though the Vulgate Latin version very wrongly renders it, "when seven years are completed"; which version Sanctius takes a good deal of pains to reconcile to the original law. A Hebrew might sell himself for more years than six; he might sell himself for ten or twelve, as the above Jewish writer says, and nothing could release him but the year of jubilee; and that would do it, if he had served but one year {n};



let ye go every man his brother, an Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; or, "hath sold himself unto thee" {o}; to be a servant; for money was not given with apprentices to their masters, as is usual with us; but masters gave money for their servants, and bought them either of themselves, or of the magistrates; hence it is said, "if thou buy an Hebrew servant", &c. Ex 21:2. A Hebrew servant was sold either against his will, or with it; if a man committed a theft, and he had not wherewith to make restoration, the sanhedrim or magistrates said him: if he was exceeding poor, the law gave him liberty to sell himself; but he might not sell himself as long as he had anything left, even a covering; and after that was gone, he might sell himself; and he was bought with silver or the value of silver or by contract or bond {p};



and when he hath served thee six years, thou shall let him go free from thee; or "from with thee" {q}; from being with thee, from being in thy house, as well as from being in thy service; he was to be dismissed, so as to go where he pleased, and work for himself, or another, as he thought fit;



but your fathers hearkened not unto me, neither inclined their ear; to obey the laws of God, and particularly this concerning servants. This is not to be understood of the fathers with whom the covenant was first made, and to whom this law was first given; but their posterity in later times, who yet lived long before the present generation, and so might with great propriety be called their fathers; and by which it appears that this law had been long neglected.



{m} Hilchot Abadim, c. 2. sect. 2. {n} Ibid. {o} Kl rkmy "se ventdiderit tibi", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator. {p} Hilchot Abadim, c. 1. sect. 1, 2. & c. 2. sect. 1. {q} Kmem "acuta te", Schmidt.







Jeremiah 34:15



Ver. 15. And ye were now turned,.... Or, "today indeed ye were turned" {r} some little time ago, indeed, it must be owned, that ye turned from the evil ways of your fathers, for which you were to be commended, as having acted a better part than they:



and had done right in my sight; what was acceptable to the Lord, approved of by him, being agreeably to his law; and it would have been well if they had continued so doing:



in proclaiming liberty every man to his neighbour; for a manservant, or maidservant, was his neighbour, and to be treated as such, and loved as himself, especially a Hebrew one, of the same nation and religion; and not to be used as a slave, or retained for ever in bondage:



and ye made a covenant before me in the house which is called by my name; this circumstance is mentioned as an aggravation of the breach of the covenant they had made, to dismiss their servants according to law; it was made in a very solemn manner, in the presence of God, appealing to him as a witness; it was done in the temple, a sacred place, devoted to him and his worship; which was called by his name, the temple of the Lord, and where his name was called upon, and where were the symbols of his presence.



{r} Mwyh Mta wbvtw "jam, [vel] et quidem conversi fuistis hodie", Schmidt; "reversi quidem vos hodie", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.







Jeremiah 34:16



Ver. 16. But ye turned and polluted my name,.... Changed their minds, and turned from their resolutions they had entered into, and the good ways they were walking in, and returned to their former evil practices; and so polluted the name of God by taking it in vain, and breaking the covenant they had agreed to:



and caused every man his servant, and every man his handmaid, whom he had set at liberty at pleasure: or, "according to their soul" {s}; according to their souls' desire, what was very agreeable and acceptable to them, and gave them a real pleasure; which did not last long, since they caused them



to return to their former service and bondage under them:



and brought them into subjection: forced them to come back to their houses, and into their service, and be subject to them, and obey their commands as formerly:



to be unto you for servants and for handmaids; to do the business of such, as they had done before.



{s} Mvpnl "in animam suam", Pagninus, Montanus; "secundum animam eorum", Piscator; "ad desideriurn suum", Junius & Tremellius.







Jeremiah 34:17



Ver. 17. Therefore thus saith the Lord,.... This being the case, and this their crime, which was provoking to the Lord;



ye have not hearkened unto me in proclaiming liberty everyone to his brother, and everyone to his neighbour; for though they did proclaim liberty, they did not act according to it; they did not give the liberty they proclaimed, at least they did not continue so to do; as soon almost as they had granted the favour, they took it away again; and because they did not persevere in well doing, it is reckoned by the Lord as not done at all:



behold, I proclaim liberty for you, saith the Lord; or rather against them; he dismissed them from his service, care, and protection, and consigned them to other lords and masters: he gave them up



to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; to rule over them; and gave them liberty to make havoc of them, and destroy them, that what was left by the one might be seized on by the other:



and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of the earth: or, "for a commotion" {t}; to be moved, and wander from place to place in great fear and terror, not knowing where to settle or live comfortably. This was a liberty to go about in foreign countries where they could, for relief and shelter, being banished from their own land; but this was a liberty very miserable and uncomfortable; and indeed no other than captivity and bondage; and so it is threatened that what remained of them, who were not destroyed with the sword of the Chaldeans, or perished not by pestilence and famine, should be carried captive, and be miserable vagabonds in each of the kingdoms and nations of the world.



{t} hewzl "in commotionem", Vatablus, Cocceius, Schmidt, "commotioni", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.







Jeremiah 34:18



Ver. 18. And I will give the men that have transgressed my covenant,.... The covenant the king, princes, and all the people made, to let their servants go free, is called the Lord's covenant, because made in his name, in his presence, and before him as a witness; and very probably the calf that was cut in pieces on this occasion, after mentioned, was sacrificed to him, which made him a party concerned; unless this is to be understood of the covenant of God in general made with Israel on Mount Sinai; and so is distinct from the other covenant, which may be more especially designed in the next clause:



which have not performed the words of the covenant made before me; did not perform what they promised to do in the presence of the Lord, as in

Jer 34:15;



when they cut the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof; which was a rite or custom used in making and confirming covenants; a calf, or some other creature, were cut in pieces, and the parts laid in order, and the covenantees passed between these parts; signifying thereby, that if they did not fulfil the engagements they entered into, they imprecated to be cut to pieces as that creature was. Some footsteps of this practice are to be seen as early as the times of Abraham, Ge 15:9; upon which place Jarchi observes, that it was the way of making a covenant to divide a beast, and pass between the parts of it; and this custom obtained among the Chaldeans, Greeks, and Romans; or what was very similar to it. Cyril {u} says this custom was by the Chaldeans, who might take it from Abraham. A people called Molotti had something of this kind among them: for they confirmed the covenants they swore to by cutting oxen into little pieces {w}; and Homer seems to have a respect to such a practice when he says that the priest, after he had prayed to Apollo, slew the sacrifice, and flayed it, and cut it in pieces, making duplicates {x}, alike to one another. Cicero {y} is thought to have the same custom in view; and likewise Virgil {z}, when he speaks of the covenant made between Romulus and Tatius king of the Sabines, whom he represents as standing armed before the altar of Jupiter, holding caps, and joining in covenant by killing a swine, and cutting it in pieces; in like manner Livy {a} describes the covenant made between the Romans and Albanians, when the herald at arms, reciting the conditions, called aloud



""hear, O Jupiter", &c.''



if the Roman people first fail in observing these,



"strike them as I now strike this hog; and so much the more, as thou art more able and mighty;''



which being said, he struck it with a flint stone; hence the phrase, "ferire foedus", to strike or make a covenant; and, in allusion to the above custom, making a covenant is commonly called, in the Old Testament, "cutting a covenant". Some versions, as the Syriac interpreter, render it, "I will make the men as the calf they cut in twain", &c. they shall be cut in pieces as that is; see Mt 24:51.



{u} Contra Julian, l. 10. apud Grotium in Gen. xv. 17. {w} Zenobius apud 10. {x} mhrouv t'exetamon ------

diptuca poihsantev, ep' autwn d' wmoyethsan. Iliad 1. v. 461, 462. {y} De Inventione, l. 2. sect. 20. {z} "Armati Jovis ante aram, paterasque tenentes Stabant, et caesa jungebant foedera porea". Aeneid. l. 8. {a} Hist. l. 1. p. 14.







Jeremiah 34:19



Ver. 19. The princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem,.... Here is a particular enumeration of the persons that had made the covenant, and transgressed it, and that should suffer for so doing; the princes of Judah, distinguished from the princes of Jerusalem, design such princes as lived without Jerusalem, in the cities of Judah, and presided over them, though now at Jerusalem, having fled thither, upon the invasion of the king of Babylon, for their safety; as the princes of Jerusalem, or the magistrates of that city, are distinguished from the princes of the blood, and from the courtiers, both in this and

Jer 34:21;



the eunuchs, and the priests, and all the people of the land; that is, as many as had got into Jerusalem to secure themselves from the common enemy: the "priests" also were concerned herein, who had menservants, and maidservants, as well as others; and, besides, were persons doubtless concerned in drawing up the covenant and the form of an oath, as well as in slaying the sacrifice, and cutting it into pieces, and laying the parts in order: it is more surprising that there should be "eunuchs" here; that such should be in the court of the king of Judah, and have offices in it, and preside in them, as among the Gentiles. The Targum renders the word "princes":



which passed between the parts of the calf; signifying their assent to the covenant, and wishing they might be so used if they broke it.





Jeremiah 34:20



Ver. 20. I will even give them into the hand of their enemies,.... The Chaldeans, who were the enemies of the Jews, that were come from a far country to invade, dispossess, ravage, and plunder them; and what can be a greater punishment than to be given up into an enemy's hand, to be in his power, and at his mercy?



and into the hand of them that seek their life; not their wealth and substance only, but their lives also; nothing less will content them:



and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto the fowls of the heaven,

and to the beasts of the earth; not only such should be the cruelty of their enemies that sought their lives, that they should slay them with the sword, and give them no quarter; but such their inhumanity, that they should not suffer their carcasses to be buried, but leave them exposed to birds and beasts of prey; of the princes of Judah, see

Jer 52:10.





Jeremiah 34:21



Ver. 21. And Zedekiah king of Judah, and his princes,.... These were either the princes of the blood, the sons of Zedekiah, and his nobles and courtiers, as distinct from the princes in Jer 34:19; these shall not be spared, neither the king, nor his sons, nor those of the privy council: but those



will I give I to the hands of their enemies, and into the hand of them that seek their life; as in Jer 34:20;



and into the hand of the king of Babylon's army; or, "even into the hand" {b} &c. and so this is an explanation of the former, and shows who their enemies were, and those that sought their life. The accomplishment of this may be seen in Jer 52:9;



which are gone up from you; departed from Jerusalem, as the Chaldean army did upon hearing that Pharaoh king of Egypt was marching with his army to raise the siege of Jerusalem; upon which they left it, and went forth to meet him; and this encouraged the wicked Jews to break their covenant, and reduce their servants to bondage again, they had let go free; see Jer 37:5.



{b} dybw "in manum, inquam, exercitus", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.







Jeremiah 34:22



Ver. 22. Behold, I will command, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city,.... The Lord of hosts, or armies, was "Generalissimo" of Nebuchadnezzar's army, had it at his command, and could direct if as he pleased, and order it to march and countermarch as he thought fit: it was under the direction of his providence that it departed from Jerusalem, to try the inhabitants of it; and now, by a secret instinct, he would so powerfully work upon it, and by the ordering of external causes so manage it, that it should return to Jerusalem again, and carry on the siege with redoubled rigour:



and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with fire; they fought against it by shooting arrows from their bows, casting stones from their engines, and by beating down the walls with their battering rams; with which making breaches, they entered in and took the city; and burnt the temple, palaces, and other houses, with fire; of all which see the accomplishment in Jer 52:4;



and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation without an inhabitant: many of them were already; the king of Babylon having taken, ravaged, and plundered them before he came to Jerusalem; and whither the inhabitants of them, that escaped the sword, fled for security; and others of them, that were not, now should be made desolate upon the taking of Jerusalem, as Lachish and Azekah,

Jer 34:7; which should fall into the hands of the enemy, and the inhabitants thereof be forced to flee into other countries, or would be carried captive; so that they would be without any, or have but few to dwell in them.

 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

Jeremiah 35:1



INTRODUCTION TO JEREMIAH 35



In this chapter the disobedience of the people of the Jews unto God is aggravated by the obedience of the Rechabites to their father; and the one are threatened with the judgments of God upon them, and the other have a promise of the divine blessing. The time of this prophecy is observed; Jer 35:1; an order to bring the Rechabites into one of the chambers of the temple, which was done accordingly, Jer 35:2; wine is set before them to drink; which they refuse; alleging the command of their father to the contrary, Jer 35:5; which they had carefully and constantly obeyed in every part of it, excepting that which respects their dwelling in tents; for which they give a reason, Jer 35:8; by this instance of filial obedience to parents, the disobedience of the Jews towards their Father, which is in heaven, is aggravated; who, though he gave them laws and commandments, and sent his prophets to put them in mind of them, and exhort them to obedience, yet hearkened not to them, Jer 35:12; wherefore the Lord threatens to bring all the evil on them he had pronounced, Jer 35:16; and promises the sons of Rechab that there should be always some of them that should minister unto him, Jer 35:18.



Ver. 1. The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord,.... Not as following the former prophecies; for they must be delivered seventeen years after this. The prophecies of Jeremiah are not put together in their proper time in which they were delivered. The preceding prophecies were delivered in the "tenth" and "eleventh" years of Zedekiah's reign: but this



in the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah; in what part of his reign is not certain; but it must be after Nebuchadnezzar had invaded the land, Jer 35:11; very probably in the fourth year of Jehoiakim, after he had been the king of Babylon's servant three years, and rebelled against him, 2Ki 24:1;



saying; as follows:







Jeremiah 35:2



Ver. 2. Go unto the house of the Rechabites,.... Or "family" {c}; these are the same with the Kenites, who descended from Hobab or Jethro, Moses's father in law, Jud 1:16; these, as their ancestors, became proselytes to Israel, and always continued with them, though a distinct people from them; these here had their name from Rechab, a famous man in his time among those people:



and speak unto them, and bring them into the house of the Lord; into the temple; for they were worshippers of the true God, though foreigners and uncircumcised persons; and so might be admitted into places belonging to the temple:



into one of the chambers; of the temple, where there were many; some for the sanhedrim to sit in; others for the priests to lay up their garments and the vessels of the sanctuary in; and others for the prophets and their disciples to converse in together about religious matters:



and give them wine to drink; set it before them, and invite them to drink of it, and thereby try their steady obedience to their father's commands. Now this family was brought to the temple either in vision, as it seemed to the prophet; or really, which latter is most probable; and that for this reason, that this affair might be transacted publicly, and many might he witnesses of it, and take the rebuke given by it; and, as some think, to reproach the priests for their intemperance.



{c} tyb la "ad familiam", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator.





Jeremiah 35:3



Ver. 3. Then I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habaziniah,.... Who was, no doubt, the most famous and leading man in this family:



and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole house of the Rechabites; the several branches of the family, especially the males; the women perhaps only excepted; whom it might not be so decent to gather together on such an occasion, to drink wine; or at least offer it to them.





Jeremiah 35:4



Ver. 4. And I brought them into the house of the Lord,.... Into the temple, as he was ordered; that is, he invited them thither, and they came along with him, having, no doubt, a respect for him as a prophet; and the rather, as it is highly probable he came in the name of the Lord to them:



into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, the son of Igdaliah, a man of God; a prophet, as the Targum and Syriac version; and so Jarchi and Kimchi interpret it. This must be understood of Hanan, and not Igdaliah, as the accents show: he is thought by some to be the same with Hanani the seer, in the times of Asa, 2Ch 16:7;



which [was] by the chamber of the princes; these were not the princes of the blood, the sons of Jehoiachim; their chambers or apartments were not in the temple, but in the royal palace; but these were the princes or rulers of the people, as they are called, Ac 4:8; the sanhedrim, whose this chamber was, as Dr. Lightfoot {d} has observed:



which [was] above the chamber of Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door: a porter, whose chamber or lodge was under that in which the sanhedrim sat. The Targum calls him a treasurer; one of the seven "amarcalim", who had the keys of several chambers, where the vessels of the sanctuary and other things were put; and Kimchi observes, the word we render door comprehends the vessels of the sanctuary, and the vessels of wine, and other things.



{d} Temple-Service, c. 9. p. 1063.







Jeremiah 35:5



Ver. 5. And I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots full of wine, and cups,.... Which the prophet might have out of the chambers where these vessels were, and particularly from Maaseiah, if he was a keeper of them, as before observed. The number of men gathered together was probably very large; and therefore pots, or large vessels of wine, were prepared, and set before them, and cups, lesser vessels, to drink out of:



and I said unto them, drink ye wine; he invited them to it, and bid them welcome; nay, more, he might not only encourage, but enjoin them to drink it; though, as Gataker observes, he does not say unto them, "thus saith the Lord, drink wine"; for then they must have done it, and doubtless would; since it is right to obey God rather than man, even parents.





Jeremiah 35:6



Ver. 6. But they said, we will drink no wine,.... Or "we do not drink wine" {e}; we are not used to it; we never do drink any; it is not lawful for us to do it; nor will we, let who will solicit us:



for Jonadab the son of Rechab our father; not their immediate father, but their progenitor; perhaps the same Jonadab is meant who lived in the times of Jehu, and rode with him in his chariot; by which it appears he was a man of note and figure, and who lived near three hundred years before this time, 2Ki 10:15; which is more likely than that he should be a descendant of his, and the proper father of the present Rechabites, which is the opinion of Scaliger {f}:



commanded us, saying, ye shall drink no wine, [neither ye], nor your sons, for ever; as long as any of them were in the world. What was the reason of this command, and of what follows, is not easy to say; whether it was to prevent quarrels and contentions, luxury and sensuality; or to inure them to hardships; or to put them in remembrance that they were but strangers in the land in which they lived; or to retain them in the original course of life their ancestors had lived in, feeding cattle; be it what it will, these his sons thought themselves under obligations to observe it; and perhaps finding, by experience, it was for their good so to do.



{e} Nyy htvn al "non hibimus vinum", Vatablus, Schmidt. {f} Elench. Trihaeres. Serrar. c. 24.





Jeremiah 35:7



Ver. 7. Neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vineyard,

nor have [any],.... That is, they were not to build houses, sow seed, or plant vineyards, for themselves, for their own profit and advantage; nor possess either of these through purchase or gift: all this was enjoined them, partly because they were strangers in the land of Israel, as is suggested in the latter part of the verse, and so were to have no inheritance in it; and partly because the pastoral life was what their ancestors had lived; and therefore Jonadab was desirous it should be continued in his posterity; as well as because by this means they would live not envied by the Israelites, among whom they were; since they did not covet to get any part of their possessions into their hands; as also these being their circumstances, upon any public calamity, as sword, famine, or pestilence, they could more easily remove to other places; and likewise, by observing these rules, would not be liable to some sins, as drunkenness, worldly mindedness, &c. which are often the cause of great calamities. The Essenes, a sect among the Jews afterwards, seem in some things to have copied after these Rechabites:



but all your days ye shall dwell in tents; which they could move from place to place, for the convenience of pasture for the cattle, the business they were brought up in, and were always to exercise:



that ye may live many days in the land where ye [be] strangers; for they were not Israelites, as before observed, but Kenites, the descendants of Jethro; they were proselytes of the gate only; and now, partly on account of their obedience to parents, which had annexed to it the promise of long life in the land in which they lived; and partly because they would, by such a course of life, give no umbrage to, nor raise any jealousy in, the minds of the inhabitants of it, they might expect a continuance in it.





Jeremiah 35:8



Ver. 8. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the son of Rechab our father,.... The above was the charge he gave them; and this, in every article of it, they had carefully and constantly kept, though it had been for the space of three hundred years, or thereabout; as follows:



in all he hath charged us, to drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our daughters; which was the first of the precepts he gave them: and which they were now tempted to disregard, but were resolved to observe it, as they had hitherto done. The rest of the articles follow.





Jeremiah 35:9



Ver. 9. Nor build houses for us to dwell in,.... This explains that part of the charge more fully, which respects building of houses; which did not restrain them from building houses for others, if any of them were masters of that art; which is not very likely, since they were wholly brought up in the field as shepherds; but it forbad them building any for themselves, and making use of them by dwelling in them:



neither have we vineyard, nor field, or seed; any piece of ground planted with vines, or field sown with corn, or any seed to sow with; so exactly conformable were they to the prescriptions of their ancestor. Diodorus Siculus {g} reports of the Nabatheans, a people of Arabia, descended from Nebaioth, see Isa 60:7; that they have several laws which are much the same with those enjoined the Rechabites; for he says,



"it is a law with them not to sow corn, nor to plant any plant that bears fruit, nor to make use of wine, nor to build houses; and whosoever is found doing any of these things is, reckoned worthy of death; and the reason of their having such a law is, because they think that those who possess such things are easily compelled by men in power to do whatever is commanded them, for the sake of the enjoyment of them.''



{g} Bibliothec. l. 19. p. 730. Ed. Rhod.







Jeremiah 35:10



Ver. 10. But we have dwelt in tents,.... Ever since, until very lately, when they had taken up their dwelling in Jerusalem; the reason of which is presently given:



and have obeyed, and done according to all Jonadab our father commanded us; and should it be objected, that in one point they had not obeyed, in that they had left their tents, and now dwelt in Jerusalem; they had this to say in answer to it, and as the reason of their so doing, as follows:





Jeremiah 35:11



Ver. 11. But it came to pass, when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the land,.... Into the land of Judea to invade it, which was in the reign of Jehoiakim, in the fourth year of it, after he had served him three years, and rebelled against him;

See Gill on "Jer 35:1";



that we said, come, and let us go to Jerusalem; they said one to another, let us not stay here to be destroyed by a foreign enemy; but let us go to Jerusalem, a fortified city, where we may be safe:



for fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army of the Syrians; for Nebuchadnezzar's army in this expedition consisted of Chaldeans and Syrians, and of other nations, 2Ki 24:2;



so we dwell at Jerusalem; for the present. It seems as though this was quickly after Nebuchadnezzar's incursion, and when he was but just departed; so that their fears had not wholly subsided; and they, as yet, had not returned to their tents, and former manner of living: hence it appears that the Rechabites did not look upon this command of their father as equal to a divine precept, which must be always obeyed; but that in case of necessity it might be dispensed with, and especially when in danger of life, and when human prudence required it; and in which case the lawgiver himself would have dispensed with it, had he been on the spot.





Jeremiah 35:12



Ver. 12. Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah,.... After the Rechabites had been tried whether they would break the command of their father, respecting drinking of wine; and steadfastly persisted in their resolution not to drink, urging the reason of it, and vindicating their conduct in another respect:



saying; as follows:





Jeremiah 35:13



Ver. 13. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... The Lord of armies in heaven and earth; the Creator of Israel; their benefactor, covenant God and Father and whom they professed to worship; God and not man; infinitely greater than Jonadab, whose precepts had been observed by his posterity:



go and tell the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem; this is an order to the prophet to remove from the chamber where he was with the Rechabites, and go to the court of the people, where they were assembled for worship; or into the city of Jerusalem, and gather the heads of them together, and declare the following things to them:



will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words? saith the Lord; from this instance and case of the Rechabites, who had so constantly obeyed their father, and hearkened to his words, though but a man; a father of their flesh; an earthly father; and who had been dead long ago; and therefore much more ought they to hearken to the Father of their spirits; their Father which is in heaven, and who lives for ever.





Jeremiah 35:14



Ver. 14. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, that he commanded his sons, not to drink wine, are performed,.... That article particularly, respecting drinking wine, has been carefully observed; which, though so agreeable to the nature of man, what cheers the heart of God and man, and was not prohibited them by any law of God; yet, being forbidden by their father, they abstained from it:



for unto this day they drink none, but obey their father's commandment; though prescribed them three hundred years ago; during all which time they had punctually observed it, even to that very day; which might with great truth and strictness be said; since they had that very day refused to drink any:



notwithstanding I have spoken unto you, rising early, and speaking; who am the eternal God; the King of kings; the great Lawgiver, able to save and to destroy; who had spoken to them, and given them laws as soon as they were a people, very early, in the times of Moses, on Mount Sinai and Horeb; and of which they had been reminded time after time, and enforced by proper arguments and motives; whereas the command of Jonadab was that of a mere man, not above three hundred years ago, and of which his posterity had never been put in mind, but as it was handed down from father to son; and this they constantly observed:



but ye hearkened not unto me; so that their disobedience was greatly aggravated.





Jeremiah 35:15



Ver. 15. I have sent also unto you all my servants the prophets,.... One after another, ever since the times of Moses, to explain and enforce the laws given; a circumstance not to be observed in the case of the Rechabites; who yet, without such intimations, kept the charge their father gave them:



rising up early, and sending [them]; see Jer 7:13;



saying, return ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, and go not after other gods to serve them; all which were of a moral nature, and what were in themselves just and fit to be done; that they should repent of their sins, refrain from them, and reform their lives, and abstain from idolatry, and worship the one only living and true God, which was but their reasonable service; whereas abstinence from wine, enjoined the Rechabites, was an indifferent thing, neither morally good nor evil; and yet they obeyed their father in it, and when they had not that advantage by it, as is next promised these people:



and ye shall dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your fathers: a land flowing with milk and honey; and in which they might build houses, plant vineyards, sow fields, and possess them; which the Rechabites might not do:



but ye have not inclined your ear, and hearkened unto me; they did not listen to his precepts, nor obey them; they would not so much as give them the hearing, and much less the doing.





Jeremiah 35:16



Ver. 16. Because the son of Jonadab the son of Rechab,.... Here we have the contrast between the Rechabites and the Israelites; the obedience of the one, and the disobedience of the other; the design of which is to aggravate and expose the sin of the Jews, since the former



have performed the commandment of their father, which he commanded them; that particular commandment of not drinking wine, which they had never once violated in such a course of time; nor could they now be prevailed upon, even by the prophet himself, to do it:



but this people hath not hearkened unto me; the Lord their God, their father that bought them, made them, and established them. Gross ingratitude! De 32:6.





Jeremiah 35:17



Ver. 17. Therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the God of Israel,.... Provoked by such ill usage:



behold, I will bring upon Judah, and upon all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, all the evil that I have pronounced against them: which Abarbinel interprets of all the threatenings and curses in the law and the prophets respecting the Jews, until the times of Jeremiah; though it may more especially intend the evil, God by him had pronounced upon them; namely, that the Chaldean army should come into their land, besiege Jerusalem, and take it, and carry captive its inhabitants:



because I have spoken unto them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto them, but they have not answered; he spoke to them by his prophets, he called to them in his providences, and took every method to warn them of their sin and danger, and bring them to repentance and reformation; but all to no purpose. The Targum is,



"because I sent unto them all my servants the prophets, but they obeyed not; and they prophesied to them, but they returned not.''





Jeremiah 35:18



Ver. 18. And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites,.... To the family of them, to those that were with him in the temple, and while they were there; and what he said to them, which is as follows, was by the order and direction of the Lord:



thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; he uses the same titles, when speaking to them, as to the Jews, expressive of his sovereignty, power, and grace:



because ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father; that particular command concerning not drinking wine:



and kept all his precepts, and done according to all that he hath commanded you; all the rest, as well as that; though they were many, they took notice of them, and observed them; they kept them in their minds and memory, and made them the rule of their actions, and conformed to them in all respects.





Jeremiah 35:19



Ver. 19. Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel,.... Who has enjoined children obedience to their parents, and has promised to reward it, and does:



Jonadab the son of Rechab shall not want a man to stand before me for ever; which may be understood of a long time, of ages to come; or as long as the people of the Jews were a people, or the world should stand, the posterity of this man should continue: or, "a man shall not be cut off from Jonadab &c." {h}; his offspring shall never fail. It is certain that some of this family returned from the captivity, 1Ch 2:55; and, according to Scaliger {i}, the Hasidaeans sprung from them. And, if any credit could be given to Benjamin Tudelensis, there were Rechabites in the twelfth century, since the times of Christ; for he tells {k} us, that in his travels he found a place where Jews dwelt, who were called Rechabites. The phrase, "to stand before me", is by the Targum paraphrased,



"ministering before me;''



serving and worshipping God, for they were religious people; that is, in their own families, carrying on religious worship among themselves, and not in the temple, where they had no office, and did no service; though some think they had, because called scribes, 1Ch 2:55. Kimchi says that some of their Rabbins asserted that the daughters of these people married priests, and so some of their children's children offered sacrifice on the altar. And if what Eusebius reports from Hegesippus is true, there were priests of this family after the times of Christ; for he says {l}, that when the Jews were stoning James the just, a priest of the sons of Rechab cried out, saying, stop, what are ye doing? but these testimonies are not to be depended on; however, we may be sure of this, that the promise of God shall not fail, but be certainly accomplished. Very appropriate are the words of the learned Alting {m} upon this subject:



"not only the Lord promises length of life to the obedient, which proselytes, equally with Israelites, have the promise of; but, particularly, that the posterity of Jonadab should not perish, should have a place in the church of God, and an admission to the gracious enjoyment of God; not as priests and Levites, but as other Israelites and strangers,

Isa 56:4; so that the posterity of Jonadab must still continue, and hope of restoration of them with the Israelites remains; as in Jer 31:36; but in the same way and manner; so that being equally sharers in exile, they are to be restored after a long interruption. Indeed, the family is not at this day known; but from the ignorance of men, to the denial of a thing, there is no available argument. Families cannot be confounded, since they descend by the fathers; mothers do not belong to them; and as is the father as to tribe, so also is the son and grandson, and so on. A genealogical series may perish from the knowledge of men, but not from the nature of things, and the knowledge of God. Though the seeds of wheat, barley, and other things, may be mixed together, that men cannot distinguish them, yet their distinction does not perish; and God not only knows it, but also discovers it, when he makes every seed to rise in its own body, 1Co 15:37; so must we judge concerning families.''



Perhaps, since these Rechabites were proselytes, and not Israelites, the conversion of the Gentiles may be respected; who are priests in a spiritual sense, and minister before the Lord, offering up, through Christ, the spiritual sacrifices of prayer and praise; and such a generation to serve the Lord will never be wanting.



{h} bdnwyl vya trky al "non exidetur vir Jonadabo", Junius & Tremellius, Piscator, Schmidt, &c. {i} Elench. Trihaeres. c. 24, {k} Itinerarium, p. 82. {l} Eccles. Hist. l. 2. c. 23. {m} Apud Witsii Exercitat. 9. de Rechabitis in Miscell. Sacr. tom. 2. p. 235, 236.



 

John Gill's Exposition of the Entire Bible.

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