I have said that there is here a new prophecy; for the Prophet is said to buy for himself a girdle or a belt, or, according to some, a truss or breeches; and as mention is made of linen, this opinion may be probable; but אזור, _asur_, means not only the breeches which they then wore, but also a gird... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet, by saying that he went to the Euphrates, confirms what he had narrated: he did not indeed mean that he actually went there, but his object was to give the Jews a vivid representation. It is then what Rhetorians call a scene presented to the view; though the place is not changed, yet the... [ Continue Reading ]
As to the application of the Prophecy, the Prophet then distinctly describes it; but he sets forth with sufficient clearness the main point, when he says, _Thus will I mar the stateliness ( __altitudinem _ _, _the altitude or height) _of Judah and the great stateliness of Jerusalem _Other interprete... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet said, according to what we observed yesterday, that the people would be like the belt which he had hidden in a hole and found putrified: but now the cause is expressed why God had resolved to treat them with so much severity. He then says that he would be an avenger, because the Jews had... [ Continue Reading ]
He confirms what we noticed yesterday, — that the Jews entertained a foolish confidence, and promised themselves perpetual happiness, because God had chosen them as his people. This indeed would have been a perpetual glory to them, had they not violated their pledged faith; but their defection rende... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet denounces here by another similitude the vengeance of God, for he says that all would be _filled with drunkenness: _but he is bidden at first simply to set before _them _the metaphor, _Every bottle_, or flagon, he says, _shall be filled with wine _The word רבל, _ubel, _means a bladder; b... [ Continue Reading ]
It may now be asked, What was this drunkenness which the Prophet announces? It may be understood in two ways, — either that God would give them up to a reprobate mind, — or that he would make them drunk with evils and calamities; for when God deprives men of a right mind, it is to prepare them for e... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet shews here more fully what we have stated, — that so refractory was the temper of those with whom he had to do, that it was necessary to use various means to subdue them. And it was not in vain that he added this exhortation, which manifests indignation; nor was it without displeasure th... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah pursues the subject, which we began to explain yesterday, for he saw that the Jews were but little moved by what he taught them. He bid them. to regard what he said as coming from God, and told them that they could by no means succeed by their pride. For the same purpose he now adds, _Give... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet had indirectly threatened them; but yet there was some hope of pardon, provided the Jews anticipated God’s judgment in time and humbled themselves before him. He now declares more clearly that a most certain destruction was nigh at hand, _If ye will not hear, _he says, _weep will my soul... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet is here bidden to address his discourse directly to King Jehoiakim and his mother; for the term lady is not to be taken for the queen, the wife of Jehoiakim, but for his mother, who was then his associate in the kingdom, and possessed great authority. (86) And there is no doubt but that... [ Continue Reading ]
By the _cities of the south, _almost all understand the cities of the tribe of Judah, whose portion was towards the south; and by the cities being shut up, they consider that what is meant is, that they would be forsaken; for they say, that cities are open when they are frequented. But I am con- str... [ Continue Reading ]
We here see that Egypt and Chaldea are set in opposition, the one to the other; as though the Prophet had said, “Whenever anything is said to you about the Chaldeans, ye turn your eyes to Egypt, as though that would be a quiet residence for you; but God will prevent you from having any escape there.... [ Continue Reading ]
As the Prophet observed that the Jews were in no way moved, he addressed them still further, and set before them what seemed then incredible, even the calamity, from which they thought they were able easily to defend themselves by means of their auxiliaries. He then adds, _What wilt thou then say?... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet again declares that God’s judgment would be just, which he had previously foretold; for hypocrites, we know, do not cease to quarrel with God, except they are often proved guilty; and it is always their object, where they cannot wholly excuse themselves, to extenuate in some measure thei... [ Continue Reading ]
God declares in this verse, that the people were so hardened in their wickedness, that there was no hope of their repentance. This is the sum of what is said. But it was a very bitter reproof for the Prophet to say that his own nation were past hope — that they had so entirely given themselves up to... [ Continue Reading ]
This is an inference which Jeremiah draws from the last verse. As long as there is any hope of repentance, there is also room for mercy; God often declares that he is long-suffering. Then the most wicked might object and say, that God is too rigid, because he waits not until they return to a sound m... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet no doubt wished to strip the Jews of their vain confidence, through which they acted arrogantly and presumptuously towards God, while yet they professed his name and claimed his favor. They said that they had obtained that land by an hereditary right, because it had been promised to thei... [ Continue Reading ]
He continues the same subject, — that God did not deal with his people with so much severity without the most just cause; for it could not be expected that he should treat them with more gentleness, since they rejected him and had recourse to vain confidences. _I also, _he says; for the particle גם,... [ Continue Reading ]
Here the Prophet explains at large what I have before stated, — that the people were justly punished by God, though very grievously, because they had provoked God, not at one time only, but for a long time, and had obstinately persisted in their evil courses. Moreover, as their sins were various, th... [ Continue Reading ]