Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! OH THAT MY HEAD WERE WATERS. This verse is more fitly joined to last chapter, as in the Hebrew (cf. , "I will weep bitterly, labour not to comfort me, becau... [ Continue Reading ]
Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. LODGING PLACE - a caravanserai for caravans, or companies traveling in the desert, remote from towns. It was a square buil... [ Continue Reading ]
And they bend their tongues like their bow for lies: but they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they know not me, saith the LORD. THEY BEND THEIR TONGUES LIKE THEIR BOW FOR LIES - i:e., with lies as their arrows; they direct lies on their tongue a... [ Continue Reading ]
Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, and trust ye not in any brother: for every brother will utterly supplant, and every neighbour will walk with slanders. EVERY BROTHER WILL UTTERLY SUPPLANT - literally, trip up by the heel (, "He (Jacob) took his brother (Esau) by the heel"). WALK WITH S... [ Continue Reading ]
And they will deceive every one his neighbour, and will not speak the truth: they have taught their tongue to speak lies, and weary themselves to commit iniquity. WEARY THEMSELVES TO COMMIT INIQUITY - are at laborious pains to act perversely (Maurer). Sin is a hard bondage (, "Behold, is it not... [ Continue Reading ]
Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit; through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the LORD. THINE HABITATION - God addresses Jeremiah, who dwelt in the midst of deceitful men. THEY REFUSE TO KNOW ME - their ignorance of God is willful (; Jeremiah 5:4).... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, Behold, I will melt them, and try them; for how shall I do for the daughter of my people? I WILL MELT THEM AND TRY THEM - by sending calamities on them. The image is taken from melting metals in order to purge them of their dross (cf. ; ; , "He shall sit a... [ Continue Reading ]
Their tongue is as an arrow shot out; it speaketh deceit: one speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, but in heart he layeth his wait. THEIR TONGUE IS AS AN ARROW SHOT OUT, [ cheets (H2671) shaachuT] - rather, 'a murdering arrow' (Maurer). So Jerome, 'a wounding arrow.' Some Rabbis ma... [ Continue Reading ]
Shall I not visit them for these things? saith the LORD: shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? (; ).... [ Continue Reading ]
For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing, and for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, because they are burned up, so that none can pass through them; neither can men hear the voice of the cattle; both the fowl of the heavens and the beast are fled; they are gone. Jeremi... [ Continue Reading ]
And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and a den of dragons; and I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an inhabitant. AND - omit And. Yahweh here resumes His speech from . HEAPS - (remark, ). A DEN OF DRAGONS - jackals.... [ Continue Reading ]
Who is the wise man, that may understand this? and who is he to whom the mouth of the LORD hath spoken, that he may declare it, for what the land perisheth and is burned up like a wilderness, that none passeth through? Rather, 'Who is a wise man (i:e., Whosoever has inspired wisdom, , "Our belove... [ Continue Reading ]
And the LORD saith, Because they have forsaken my law which I set before them, and have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein; BECAUSE THEY HAVE FORSAKEN MY LAW - answer to the "for what the land perisheth" ().... [ Continue Reading ]
But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, and after Baalim, which their fathers taught them: WALKED AFTER THE IMAGINATION OF THEIR OWN HEART - (). BAALIM - plural of Baal, to express his supposed manifold powers. WHICH THEIR FATHERS TAUGHT THEM - (, "I ... profited in the Jew... [ Continue Reading ]
Therefore thus saith the LORD of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with wormwood, and give them water of gall to drink. I WILL FEED THEM WITH WORMWOOD - (, "Thou feedest them with the bread of tears").... [ Continue Reading ]
I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom neither they nor their fathers have known: and I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed them. NOR THEIR FATHERS HAVE KNOWN - alluding to , "Their fathers taught them" idolatry; therefore the children shall be scattered to a land which... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the LORD of hosts, Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they may come; and send for cunning women, that they may come: MOURNING WOMEN - hired to heighten lamentation by plaintive cries, baring the breast, beating the arms, and suffering the locks to flow dishevelled (as... [ Continue Reading ]
And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us, that our eyes may run down with tears, and our eyelids gush out with waters. THAT OUR EYES MAY RUN DOWN WITH TEARS ... - ().... [ Continue Reading ]
For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we spoiled! we are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken the land, because our dwellings have cast us out. HOW ARE WE SPOILED! - the cry of "the mourning women." SPOILED - laid waste. OUR DWELLINGS HAVE CAST US OUT - fulfilling , "T... [ Continue Reading ]
Yet hear the word of the LORD, O ye women, and let your ear receive the word of his mouth, and teach your daughters wailing, and every one her neighbour lamentation. YET - rather, 'Only' (Henderson). This particle calls attention to what follows. TEACH YOUR DAUGHTERS WAILING - the deaths will... [ Continue Reading ]
For death is come up into our windows, and is entered into our palaces, to cut off the children from without, and the young men from the streets. DEATH IS COME UP INTO OUR WINDOWS - the death-inflicting soldiery, finding the doors closed, burst in by the windows. TO CUT OFF THE CHILDREN FROM W... [ Continue Reading ]
Speak, Thus saith the LORD, Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them. THUS SAITH THE LORD - continuing the thread of discourse from . THE CARCASSES OF MEN SHALL FALL AS DUNG - (). As the handful after t... [ Continue Reading ]
Thus saith the LORD, Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, neither let the mighty man glory in his might, let not the rich man glory in his riches: LET NOT THE WISE MAN GLORY IN HIS WISDOM - political sagacity; as if it could rescue from the impending calamities. MIGHT - military prowess.... [ Continue Reading ]
But let him that glorieth glory in this, that he understandeth and knoweth me, that I am the LORD which exercise lovingkindness, judgment, and righteousness, in the earth: for in these things I delight, saith the LORD. LET HIM THAT GLORIETH GLORY IN THIS ... KNOWETH ME. Nothing but an experiment... [ Continue Reading ]
Behold, the days come, saith the LORD, that I will punish all them which are circumcised with the uncircumcised; I WILL PUNISH ALL THEM WHICH ARE CIRCUMCISED WITH THE UNCIRCUMCISED - rather, 'all that are circumcised in uncircumcision' (Henderson). The Hebrew is an abstract term, not a concrete,... [ Continue Reading ]
Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. EGYPT - put first, to degrade Judah, who, though in privileges... [ Continue Reading ]