Here Jeremiah pursues more at large what he had briefly touched upon before; for the Hebrews were wont, in a few words, to state the substance of the whole, and then to explain more diffusely what, they had briefly said. Jeremiah had before told us that some of the Babylonian generals had been sent... [ Continue Reading ]
But before he says this, he administers reproof to the people, and says, _Jehovah thy God hath spoken evil on this city; and he hath brought it, and made it to come. _Here Nebuzar-adan undertook the prophetic _office, _and spoke in high terms of God’s righteous vengeance on the people. There is no d... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah goes on with the same discourse, that Nebuzar-adan dealt bountifully with him, and permitted him to go wherever he wished. We hence conclude that Nebuchadnezzar was fully convinced of the honesty and uprightness of Jeremiah. For he knew how he was regarded among his own people, and that he... [ Continue Reading ]
Here is shown to us the firmness of the Prophet, that he hesitated not to reject, what Nebuzaradan kindly offered to him, and yet he might have committed a great offense in making light, as it were, of Chaldea. It was, as we know, a very pleasant country, and very fertile; and tyrants cannot bear th... [ Continue Reading ]
Mention has been before made of Gedaliah. We have seen that the Prophet was once rescued from death through his kindness, for he interposed for him when almost all with one consent doomed the holy Prophet to death. (119) And God bestowed on him no common honor, that while he was seeking nothing, Neb... [ Continue Reading ]
_They _then and _their men, came to Gedaliah, _when they _heard _that the king of Babylon had set Gedaliah, the son of Ahikam, over Judea, and that men, women, and children were committed to his power or keeping. And then he adds, _from the poverty of the land, _that is, from the dregs of the people... [ Continue Reading ]
Here, as I have hinted, is explained the great humanity of Gedaliah, and also his pious solicitude for his own nation, in order that the perfidy and cruelty of the son of Nethaniah might appear the more detestable, who slew a man so well deserving in his conduct to him and to others, having been led... [ Continue Reading ]
And he ordered them to _gather _wine, and corn, and fruit, and to store them up, as there would be no danger from war. He also ordered them to dwell in the _cities _which they had taken, or to which they had been driven. The verb here is ambiguous; but I prefer its most literal meaning, _which ye ha... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet shews here, that except intestine wickedness had arisen, the condition of the people would have been endurable until the time of exile had elapsed. God had pre-fixed, as it has been before stated, seventy years. Nebuchadnezzar had already so withdrawn the flower of the people, that still... [ Continue Reading ]
He says that _all the Jews; _he puts in the particle גם, _gam, _for the sake of emphasis, _and even all the Jews, _who had fled either to the Moabites or to the children of Ammon, or to the Idumeans, or to other parts in other countries. There is no doubt but they made up a considerable number. Then... [ Continue Reading ]
A sad history is here given, from which we may conclude, that God’s wrath against the people had not been appeased by the destruction of the city and the burning of the Temple. It was some token of mercy, when Gedaliah was set over the remnant of the people and the poor, who had been allowed to dwel... [ Continue Reading ]
They therefore came and _said, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah _was suborned by the king of Ammon It may have been that the king of Ammon had hoped to be the king of Judea, or to have all that land as his own after the departure of the Chaldean army. But as his expectation was disappointed, he beg... [ Continue Reading ]
We here see that the holy man was blinded, so that he not only disregarded the counsel given to him, but also rejected the help offered to him. It is again a thing worthy of praise, that he was unwilling that Ishmael should be rashly killed, the cause being not known; but he ought to have carefully... [ Continue Reading ]