Moreover the word of the LORD came to me, saying, WORD OF THE LORD CAME TO ME - probably in the 13th year of the reign of Josiah (; cf. : cf. with ). The warning not to rely as they did on Egypt () was in accordance with Josiah's policy, who took part with Assyria and Babylon against Egypt and P... [ Continue Reading ]
Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith the LORD; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the wilderness, in a land that was not sown. CRY - proclaim. IN THE EARS OF JERUSALEM - the headquarters and center of their... [ Continue Reading ]
Israel was holiness unto the LORD, and the firstfruits of his increase: all that devour him shall offend; evil shall come upon them, saith the LORD. HOLINESS UNTO THE LORD - i:e., was consecrated to the service of Yahweh (). They thus answered to the motto on their high priest's breastplate, "Hol... [ Continue Reading ]
Hear ye the word of the LORD, O house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: O HOUSE OF JACOB ... ISRAEL - the whole nation. FAMILIES - (remark, ), hear God's word not only collectively, but individually (Zechariah 12:12, "The land shall mourn, every family (Hebrew, families, f... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the LORD, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain? INIQUITY - wrong done to them (; ; cf. .) WALKED AFTER VANITY - contrasted with "wentest (walkest: the same Hebrew verb as here, ) after me in th... [ Continue Reading ]
Neither said they, Where is the LORD that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow of death, through a land that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt? NEITHER SAID THEY... [ Continue Reading ]
And I brought you into a plentiful country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine heritage an abomination. PLENTIFUL - literally, a land of Carmel, or well-cultivated land: a garden-land, in contrast to the "land of deserts" ().... [ Continue Reading ]
The priests said not, Where is the LORD? and they that handle the law knew me not: the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not profit. PRIESTS ... PASTORS ... PROPHETS. The three leading classes, whose very office under the t... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the LORD, and with your children's children will I plead. YET PLEAD - namely, by inflicting still further judgments on you. CHILDREN'S CHILDREN - three manuscript and Jerome omit "children's;" they seem to have thought it unsuitable to read "children'... [ Continue Reading ]
For pass over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. PASS OVER THE ISLES - rather, 'cross over to the isles.' CHITTIM ... KEDAR - i:e., the pagan nations, West and East, Go where you will, you cannot find an instance of an... [ Continue Reading ]
Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods? but my people have changed their glory for that which doth not profit. GLORY - Yahweh, the glory of Israel (Psalms 106:20; Romans 1:23). The Shekinah, or cloud resting on the sanctuary, was the symbol of "the glory of the Lord" (1 Kings 8:1... [ Continue Reading ]
Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the LORD. BE ASTONISHED, O YE HEAVENS - impassioned personification (). HORRIBLY AFRAID - rather, 'be horrified.' BE ... VERY DESOLATE - rather, 'be exceedingly aghast' at the monstrous spectacle [chaara... [ Continue Reading ]
For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. TWO EVILS - not merely one evil, like the idolaters who know no better: besides simple idolatry, my people add the sin of forsaking t... [ Continue Reading ]
Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave? why is he spoiled? IS HE A HOME-BORN SLAVE? - No. (, "Thus saith the Lord (Yahweh), Israel is my son, even my first-born.") ; ; , and the absence of any express contrast of the two parts of the nation are against Eichorn's view, that the prophet propos... [ Continue Reading ]
The young lions roared upon him, and yelled, and they made his land waste: his cities are burned without inhabitant. LIONS - the Babylonian princes (; cf. ). The disaster from the Babylonians in the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign, and again three years later when, after having been Nebuchadnez... [ Continue Reading ]
Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes have broken the crown of thy head. NOPH ... TAHAPANES - Noph is Memphis, capital of Lower Egypt, on the west bank of the Nile, near the pyramids of Gizeh, opposite the site of modern Cairo. Tahapanes is Daphne, on the Tanitic branch of the Nile, near Pelusi... [ Continue Reading ]
Hast thou not procured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, when he led thee by the way? THOU HAST FORSAKEN - literally, 'Has not thy forsaking the Lord, etc., procured this (calamity) to thee?' So Septuagint: the Masoretic accents make 'this' the subject of the verb,... [ Continue Reading ]
And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in And now what hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to drink the waters of the river? NOW - seeing that this is so:... [ Continue Reading ]
Thine own wickedness shall correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee: know therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that thou hast forsaken the LORD thy God, and that my fear is not in thee, saith the Lord GOD of hosts. CORRECT ... REPROVE - rather, in the severer sense... [ Continue Reading ]
For of old time I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the harlot. I. The Hebrew should he pointed as the second person feminine, a form common in Jeremiah: 'Thou hast broke... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right seed: how then art thou turned into the degenerate plant of a strange vine unto me? PLANTED THEE. The same image as . Contrast , etc., Psalms 80:8. UNTO ME - in relation to me.... [ Continue Reading ]
For though thou wash thee with nitre, and take thee much soap, yet thine iniquity is marked before me, saith the Lord GOD. NITRE - not what is now so called, namely, salt-petre; but the natron of Egypt, a mineral alkali, an incrustation at the bottom of the lakes, after the summer heat has evapo... [ Continue Reading ]
How canst thou say, I am not polluted, I have not gone after Baalim? see thy way in the valley, know what thou hast done: thou art a swift dromedary traversing her ways; I AM NOT POLLUTED - (Proverbs 30:12, "There is a generation that are pure in their own eyes, and yet is not washed from their... [ Continue Reading ]
A wild ass used to the wilderness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure; in her occasion who can turn her away? all they that seek her will not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. A WILD ASS - agreeing with "thou" (). (; ). AT HER PLEASURE - rather, 'in her ardour'-namely,... [ Continue Reading ]
Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from thirst: but thou saidst, There is no hope: no; for I have loved strangers, and after them will I go. WITHHOLD ... - i:e., Abstain from incontinence; figurative for idolatry (Houbigant). UNSHOD ... - do not run so violently in pursuing lo... [ Continue Reading ]
As the thief is ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel ashamed; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, and their prophets, IS ASHAMED - is put to shame. THIEF - (, "He that entereth not by the door into the sheepfold, but climbeth up some other way, the same is a thi... [ Continue Reading ]
Saying to a stock, Thou art my father; and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth: for they have turned their back unto me, and not their face: but in the time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. SAYING TO A STOCK, THOU ART MY FATHER - (contrast ; ). IN ... TROUBLE THEY WILL SA... [ Continue Reading ]
But where are thy gods that thou hast made thee? let them arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble: for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. BUT - God sends them to the gods for whom they forsook Him, to see if they can help them (; ). ACCORDING TO THE NU... [ Continue Reading ]
Wherefore will ye plead with me? ye all have transgressed against me, saith the LORD. WHEREFORE WILL YE PLEAD WITH ME? - i:e., contend with me for afflicting you (; .)... [ Continue Reading ]
In vain have I smitten your children; they received no correction: your own sword hath devoured your prophets, like a destroying lion. - (; ; ; ). YOUR CHILDREN - i:e., your people, you. YOUR ... SWORD ... DEVOURED ... PROPHETS - (, "They mocked the messengers of God, and despised his words, a... [ Continue Reading ]
O generation, see ye the word of the LORD. Have I been a wilderness unto Israel? a land of darkness? wherefore say my people, We are lords; we will come no more unto thee? O GENERATION - The Hebrew collocation is, O, the generation, ye - i:e., 'O ye who now live.' The generation needed only to b... [ Continue Reading ]
Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number. CAN A MAID FORGET - Oriental females greatly pride themselves on their ornaments (cf. , "As a bride adorneth herself with her jewels"). ATTIRE - girdles for the breasts. FORGOTTEN ME -... [ Continue Reading ]
Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love? therefore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. WHY TRIMMEST? Maurer translates, 'How skillfully thou dost prepare thy way,' etc. But see , "When Jehu was come to Jezreel, Jezebel painted her face, and attired her head." "Trimmest" best suits the... [ Continue Reading ]
Also in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor innocents: I have not found it by secret search, but upon all these. ALSO. Not only art thou polluted with idolatry, but also with the guilt of shedding innocent blood (Maurer). Rosenmuller; not so well, translates, 'even in thy skir... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. YET THOU SAYEST. So the Jewish nation is introduced justifying herself before God in ; .... [ Continue Reading ]
Why gaddest thou about so much to change thy way? thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. GADDEST - runnest to and fro, now seeking help from Assyria (as Ahaz did, ), now from Egypt ().... [ Continue Reading ]
Yea, thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine head: for the LORD hath rejected thy confidences, and thou shalt not prosper in them. HIM - Egypt. HANDS UPON THINE HEAD - expressive of mourning (). IN THEM - in those stays and 'confidences' in which thou trusteth. Remarks: (1... [ Continue Reading ]