Here the Prophet gives a short account of the sermon, in which he severely reproved the people, because his labor had been useless, though he had sharply and severely reproved them. He says then, that he had a command from above to _stand at the gate _of the Temple. This was indeed usually done by t... [ Continue Reading ]
_Make good_, he says, _your ways and your doings, then will I dwell in this place _(189) This promise contains an implied contrast; for the Prophet intimates, that the people would not long survive, unless they sought in another way to pacify God. “I will dwell, “he seems to say, — in this place, wh... [ Continue Reading ]
Then the Prophet comes closer to them when he says, _Trust ye not in words of falsehood. _For had not this been expressly said, the Jews might, according to their usual way, have found out some evasion: “Have we then lost all our labor in celebrating our festivals with so much diligence, in leaving... [ Continue Reading ]
Interpreters do not agree as to the meaning of this passage. Some render כי אם, _ki am_, “But rather, “or, “But.” I indeed allow that it is so taken in many places; but they are mistaken who read כי אם, _ki am_, as one word; for the Prophet, on the contrary, repeats what he had said, and that is, th... [ Continue Reading ]
Then he adds, _if ye will not oppress the stranger and the orphan and the widow _This also belonged to the judges: but God no doubt shews here generally, that injustice greatly prevailed among the people, as he condemns the cruelty and perfidy of the judges themselves. As to strangers and orphans an... [ Continue Reading ]
Then follows the latter part, _Then I will make you to dwell_, (192) etc. God sets this clause in opposition to the false confidence of the people, as though he had said, “Ye wish me to be propitious to you; but mock me not by offering sacrifices without sincerity of heart, without a devout feeling;... [ Continue Reading ]
He again teaches what we observed yesterday, — that the glorying of the Jews was foolish, while they boasted of the Temple and of their sacrifices to God. He calls their boastings the words of falsehood, as we have explained, because they wholly turned to a contrary end what God had instituted. It w... [ Continue Reading ]
The meaning seems to be suspended in the first verse, when he says, _Whether to steal, to kill, and to commit adultery, _etc.; but there is nothing ambiguous in the passage. For though there is something abrupt in the words, we yet infer this to be the meaning, “Will you steal, “etc.? Verbs in the i... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet now adds, _Ye come, _that is, after ye have allowed yourselves to steal, and to murder, and to commit adultery, and to corrupt the whole worship of God, — at last, _Ye come and stand before me in this temple. _God proceeds with the same subject; for it was not only his purpose in this pl... [ Continue Reading ]
He afterwards adds, _Is this house, which is called by my name, a den of robbers? _This is the conclusion of the passage, which contains an amplification of their vices. For the Prophet had allowed the Jews to form a judgment, as though he had been discussing an obscure or doubtful subject, “Behold,... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet confirms by an example what he said yesterday, — that the Jews deceived themselves in thinking that they were covered by the shadow of the Temple, while yet they disclosed themselves, and when the whole world were witness of their impious rebellion. He therefore mentions what had before... [ Continue Reading ]
_Therefore, _he says, _I will do to this house, which is called by my name, etc_. He anticipates, no doubt, all objections, as though he had said, “I know what you will say, — that this place is sacred to God, that his name is invoked here, and that sacrifices are here offered: all these things, he... [ Continue Reading ]
He concludes the former verse. The Prophet had indeed sufficiently explained himself; but this confirmation was necessary for a people so refractory. He then alleges nothing new, but only shews that there would be no defense to his own people against God’s vengeance any more than to the Israelites:... [ Continue Reading ]
God, in order to exonerate his servant from every ill-will, forbids him to pray for the people. This might have been done for the sake of the Prophet, as well as of the whole people; for no doubt Jeremiah regarded the ruin of his own nation with great grief and sorrow: as we shall see elsewhere, he... [ Continue Reading ]
Here God shews first why he ought to be implacable towards the people: for the command to the Prophet not to pray for them seems at the first hearing to be very severe; and it might have been objected and said, “What if they repent? Is there no hope of pardon?” God shews that they were past remedy —... [ Continue Reading ]
_The children, _he says, _gather wood _He ascribes the collecting of wood to the young; for it was a more laborious work. As then that age excels in strength, they collected wood; and _the fathers kindled the fire: _the women, what did they do? They were busy with the meal. Thus no part was neglecte... [ Continue Reading ]
He then subjoins, _Do they provoke me, and not rather to the shame of their own faces? _God here intimates, that however reproachfully the Jews acted towards him, they yet brought no loss to him, for he stood in no need of their worship. Why then does he so severely threaten them? Because he had the... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah proceeds still with the same subject, and explains more at large what we have noticed in the preceding lecture, that the ruin of Mount Sion and of the Temple was nigh at hand, according to what God had before done to Shiloh, where the Ark had long been kept. But that his threatening might h... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet here taunts the Jews for being so sedulous in their attention to sacrifices, while they had no care for piety. Hence he says by way of ridicule, “Offer your sacrifices, and accumulate burnt-offerings and victims, and eat flesh.” The last clause proves that God regarded as nothing their s... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet therefore adds, _I spoke not to your fathers, nor commanded them, in the day I brought them forth from the land of Egypt, concerning sacrifices or burnt _—_offerings: but this only I commanded them, to hear my voice, and to walk in all the way which I commanded them. _Jeremiah seems to h... [ Continue Reading ]
_I spoke not _then to _your fathers, nor commanded them in the day I brought them forth from the land of Egypt, etc. _The Prophet calls the attention of the Jews to the first condition of the Church; for though God had made his covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, yet he then only formed or fram... [ Continue Reading ]
_They hearkened not nor inclined their ear _Here the Prophet shews, that the Jews did not then begin to be rebellious against God and his word; for they imitated the impious contumacy of their fathers: and he dwells on this more at large. He now says, “I gave no command about sacrifices, but only th... [ Continue Reading ]
God complains of the perverse wickedness of the people, — that he had lost all his labor in endeavoring to lead them to repentance, not only in one age, but that the children succeeded their fathers in their corruptions, and that thus the imitation had become perpetual. This might indeed appear as a... [ Continue Reading ]
He afterwards subjoins, _And they hearkened not _There is here a change of person; for he said in the last verse, “_your _fathers,” “I sent to _you_; ” but now he says, _They hearkened not, nor inclined their ear _It is indeed true, that the reference is to the fathers; but in the next verse God inc... [ Continue Reading ]
Here is seen more clearly what I have stated, — that the Jews were not addressed, because they had no ears. Here then God addresses his Prophet and says, “The children will be like their parents: for thou shalt indeed bear the commands which I give thee, but it will be without any advantage; for the... [ Continue Reading ]
God shews now that he must act in a new way. The first duty of teachers is to set forth the will of God, to shew what is right, and then to exhort, if plain teaching proves not sufficient. But God intimates here that he was under the necessity to change his manner, because they were wholly irreclaim... [ Continue Reading ]
Here again Jeremiah exhorts his own people to lament; and he uses the feminine gender, as though he called the people, the daughter of Sion, or the daughter of Jerusalem. He then, according to a common mode of speaking, calls the whole people a woman. (211) He first bids her to _shave off the hair _... [ Continue Reading ]
Lest the Jews should murmur and complain that God was too rigorous, the Prophet adds, that they were not given up to destruction without the justest reasons. How so? They had _done evil _To do evil here means, that they had not offended in one thing, but had given themselves up to wickedness and evi... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah in this verse also inveighs against those superstitions by which the Jews had corrupted the true and pure worship of God. He says, that they had _builded high places, _which was prohibited in the law. (Leviticus 26:30.) Now God, as it has been before said, prefers obedience to all sacrifice... [ Continue Reading ]
The Prophet denounces a punishment, though the Jews thought that they deserved a reward. The case is the same with the Papists at this day, who thoughtlessly boast, when they heap together many abominations; for they think that God is bound as it were by a law, not to overlook so much diligence. But... [ Continue Reading ]
Jeremiah threatens them with something more grievous than death itself, — that God would impress the marks of his wrath even on their dead bodies. It is indeed true what a heathen poet says, _“That the loss of a grave is not great,” ( _Virgil, _aeneid;) _ but we must on the other hand remember that... [ Continue Reading ]
He still continues the same subject; for he denounces on the Jews the punishment which they had deserved. He more fully expresses what he mentioned in the last verse respecting the shameful and dreadful barbarity that would follow the slaughter; for the whole country would not only be harassed by th... [ Continue Reading ]