The capture and the destruction of Jerusalem was owing to its utter immorality. Josiah’s reforms were frustrated by the immorality prevalent among all classes. The prophet sees evil triumphing, but we must not take his words so literally as to conclude that there were no good men then in Jerusalem ... [ Continue Reading ]
THE BROAD PLACES - The open spaces next the gates, and other places of concourse. A MAN - Or, anyone. THAT EXECUTETH - “That” practiceth. TRUTH - uprightness, probity (so in Jeremiah 5:3).... [ Continue Reading ]
Though they take the most binding form of oath, they do so only as a means of deceiving others.... [ Continue Reading ]
UPON THE TRUTH - God looks to the “faith,” the upright purpose of the heart, and without it the nominal fealty of an oath is an abomination.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEREFORE - More simply “and.” THEY ARE FOOLISH - Or, they act foolishly (see Numbers 12:11), not having that knowledge which would enable them to guide their ways with discretion.... [ Continue Reading ]
THEY HAVE KNOWN ... - Men of education, who read the Scriptures, and learn from them the nature of God’s judgments. BUT THESE - literally, surely they (compare Jeremiah 5:4). THE YOKE - The Mosaic law. AND BURST ... - They have torn off, torn themselves loose from. THE BONDS - The fastenings by... [ Continue Reading ]
EVENINGS - See the margin. From its habit of skulking about in the twilight the wolf is often called the “evening wolf” Habakkuk 1:8; Zephaniah 3:3, but the word used here means a sandy desert. LEOPARD - panther.... [ Continue Reading ]
Rather, Why, “for what reason” should “I pardon thee?” WHEN ... - Or, “though I bound them to me by oath, yet they committed adultery.” THE HARLOTS’ HOUSES - The harlot’s house, i. e., the temple of an idol; the prophet had also in view (see Jeremiah 5:8) the unchastity which accompanied most form... [ Continue Reading ]
IN THE MORNING - Render, they rove about. Some prefer, “(horses) from Mesech.”... [ Continue Reading ]
HER WALLS - It is Possible that not the city walls, but those of a vineyard are meant. Judaea is God’s vineyard Isaiah 5:1, and God permits the enemy to enter the vineyard to destroy her. BATTLEMENTS - tendrils. The tendrils and branches of Judah’s vine are given up to ruin, but not the stock. See... [ Continue Reading ]
IT IS NOT HE - i. e., Who speaks by the prophets.... [ Continue Reading ]
WORD - Rather, speaker. Literally, And he who speaketh is not in them, i. e., there is no one who speaketh in them; what the prophets say has no higher authority than themselves. THUS ... - i. e., May the evil which the prophets threaten fall upon their head.... [ Continue Reading ]
Israel is not put here for the ten tribes, but for the whole house of Jacob, of which Judah was now the representative. MIGHTY - “permanent, enduring.” The word is the usual epithet of the rocks Numbers 24:21, and of ever-flowing streams Deuteronomy 21:4, Hebrew). It describes therefore a nation, w... [ Continue Reading ]
THEIR QUIVER - See Jeremiah 4:29, note.... [ Continue Reading ]
Or, It shall eat “thine harvest and thy bread:” They shall eat “thy sons and thy daughters.” It shall eat thy sheep and thy cattle: It shall eat “thy vines and thy fig-trees.” THEY SHALL IMPOVERISH ... - Or, It shall batter thy “fortified cities, wherein thou” trustest, with weapons of war. The... [ Continue Reading ]
The reason why God so chastises His people. As they in a land especially consecrated to Yahweh had served “strange” (i. e., foreign gods, so shall they in a land belonging to others be the slaves of strangers.... [ Continue Reading ]
Against the God (1) of Creation Jeremiah 5:22, and (2) of Providence Jeremiah 5:24, They sin, not merely by apostasy, but by a general immorality extending to all classes Jeremiah 5:25. It is in this immorality that their idolatry has its root. Jeremiah 5:22 The sea is the symbol of restless and... [ Continue Reading ]