Here the Prophet teaches us, that the Jews, though they continued to profess God’s holy name, were yet wholly perfidious, and had departed altogether from the law. The import of this discourse is, that the Jews gloried in the name of God, and yet were violaters of his covenant, for they had broken t... [ Continue Reading ]
Rightly then does Jeremiah begin by saying, that this _word was given _to him. By using the plural number in the second verse, he no doubt shews that he had a few assistants remaining, whom God addressed in connection with him, that they might unite together in delivering his message. For though the... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet afterwards shews more clearly that the command was especially given to him, for he uses the singular number, _Thou shalt say to them _Nor is it inconsistent that at first he joined others with himself; for God might have united the suffrages of the few who wished the restoration of pure... [ Continue Reading ]
He adds, _That I may establish the oath which I have sworn to your fathers, to give them a land abounding in milk and honey, according to _what it is at _this day _Here he does not refer to the chief part of their happiness; but only the land of Canaan is mentioned as the pledge or the earnest of Go... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the Prophet explains more clearly why he had been commanded to promulgate the words of the covenant: for the greater part of the people were no doubt ready boldly to object and say, “What dost thou mean? Are not we the disciples of Moses? Thou, forsooth! thinkest that thou hast to do with a bar... [ Continue Reading ]
We observed in the last Lecture the complaint which God made against his people, — that, he had tried every means to reconcile them to himself, but all in vain. But there is great weight and emphasis in these words, — that by _protesting he protested, etc._; as though he subjected himself to the jud... [ Continue Reading ]
It afterwards follows, _Yet they heard not, and bent not, _or _inclined not their ear _Here the Prophet does not accuse a few men of perverseness, but says that, from the time they had been redeemed, they had been rebellious against God: and he exaggerates their sin by saying that they _inclined not... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the Prophet joins closer battle with the men of his age, and says, that they were worse than their fathers; for this is the meaning of the word, banding or joining together. For when the Israelites concurred in a body in ungodly superstitions, it was more excusable at the beginning, for they ha... [ Continue Reading ]
He also adds, that they _had returned, etc. _He shews for what purpose they had conspired, even to _return to the vices of their fathers, who had been before them _Some render the word “ancestors;” but the meaning of the Prophet is not thus sufficiently expressed, for what he means is, that the Isra... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet now denounces on them a calamity; for it is probable that for many years he had been as their teacher threatening them, but all in vain. Hence he now confirms what we have before observed, — that their impious conspiracy was fully known and proved, so flint they were not now to be called... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet then shews in these words that they were not touched by a true and sincere feeling of repentance who cried thus indiscriminately to God and to idols. (40) But another question may be here raised, How could they flee to God and to foreign gods too? The ready answer is this, that the unbel... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet shews here that the dews were not only polluted with one kind of superstition, but that they sought for themselves fictitious gods from all quarters, so that the land was fined and, as it were, deluged with innumerable superstitions. He says, that in proportion to the _number of cities w... [ Continue Reading ]
That the Jews might understand that a sore calamity was nigh, and that God would not be appeasable, the Prophet himself is forbidden to intercede for them. There is no doubt but that even when he reproved the people in the severest strain, he made supplications to God for them; for he sustained a tw... [ Continue Reading ]
As the words are concise, this passage is in various ways perverted by interpreters: brevity is commonly obscure. But the explanation almost universally received is this, — that the Prophet in this sense, think also that the Temple is called his house, on account of his concern for religion, for whi... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet says first that the Jews had indeed been for a time like a fruitful and a fair olive; then he adds, that this beauty would not prevent God from breaking its branches and entirely eradicating it. He afterwards confirms this declaration, and says, _For God who had planted it, can also root... [ Continue Reading ]
But the next verse must be joined, _For Jehovah of hosts, who hath planted thee, etc._; as though he had said, “Your beauty and whatever that is valuable in you, is it from you? Surely, all your dignity and excellency have proceeded from the gratuitous kindness of God: know ye then that nothing come... [ Continue Reading ]
We know that they were all very wicked; and though they were proved guilty, yet they were not wining to yield, to acknowledge and confess their fault; but they raged against God and rose up against the prophets. And as they dared not to vomit forth their blasphemies against God, they assailed his se... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet adds here, as I think, that he did not retaliate private wrongs: for the Jews might, under this pretext, have rejected his doctrine, and have said, that he was moved by anger to treat them sharply and severely. And doubtless, whosoever allows his own reelings to prevail in the least degr... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the Prophet, after having found that the impiety of the people was so great that he was speaking to the deaf, turns his address to God: _O Jehovah of hosts, _he says, _who art a great Judge, who searchest the reins and the heart, may I see thy vengeance on them _The Prophet seems here inconsist... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet here expressly denounces vengeance on his own people: for we have seen at the beginning of this book that he belonged to the town of Anathoth. Now it appears from this passage, that the holy man had not only to contend with the king and his courtiers, and the priests, who were at Jerusal... [ Continue Reading ]