_Thus saith the Lord_ The prophecy which follows to Jeremiah 23:9, was evidently delivered in the reign of Jehoiakim; for it speaks of his immediate predecessor as already gone into captivity, and foretels the death of Jehoiakim himself. Blaney thinks it followed immediately after what is said in th... [ Continue Reading ]
_Thus saith the Lord, Execute ye judgment_, &c. That is, administer justice to all your subjects. The _stranger_, the _fatherless_, and the _widow_ are particularly named, as persons who have the fewest friends, and therefore are the most exposed to the tyranny, injustice, and oppression of the grea... [ Continue Reading ]
_For thus saith the Lord unto_, or, _concerning, the king's house: Thou art Gilead unto me, &c.; yet surely_, &c. “Though thou wert never so precious in my sight, as valuable for riches and plenty as the fat pastures of Gilead, and thy buildings as beautiful for their stateliness as the tall cedars... [ Continue Reading ]
_Weep ye not for the dead_ This seems to be spoken of King Josiah, killed in battle with the Egyptians: see 2 Kings 23:29, concerning whom the prophet here says that he was rather to be rejoiced over than lamented, since, by being taken soon out of life, he escaped the terrible evils which came upon... [ Continue Reading ]
_Wo unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness,_ &c. “The prophet proceeds to denounce God's judgments against Jehoiakim, (see Jeremiah 22:18,) who, it seems, built himself a stately palace in those calamitous times, and took no care to pay the wages of the workmen; but maintained his own l... [ Continue Reading ]
_But thine eyes and thy heart are not but for thy covetousness_ They are for that, and for nothing else. For this cause Jehoiakim is compared to a lion, by the Prophet Ezekiel 19:6. Observe, reader, in covetousness _the heart walks after the eyes, Job 31:7_; it is therefore called _the lust of the e... [ Continue Reading ]
_They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother!_ &c. “The prophet here repeats part of the funeral ditty or song which the public mourners used to sing at funerals, (see note on Jeremiah 9:17; Jeremiah 20:14, and compare 1 Kings 13:30,) signifying, that neither Jehoiakim, nor his queen or fam... [ Continue Reading ]
_Go up to Lebanon, and cry_, &c. The verbs here being in the feminine gender, the city of Jerusalem, or the land of Judea, seems to be addressed and called upon ironically to go to the tops of the high mountains, and to the frontiers of the country, and cry aloud for help to the neighbouring powers,... [ Continue Reading ]
_I spake unto thee in thy prosperity_ Spake by my servants the prophets, in reproofs, admonitions, counsels; _but thou saidst, I will not hear_ Didst manifest by thy conduct that thou wouldest not obey. Such is too often the effect of prosperity. It puffs men up with pride and high- mindedness, and... [ Continue Reading ]
_The wind shall eat up all thy pastors_ Thy kings, princes, priests, and false prophets, who have presided over thy civil and religious affairs, shall be destroyed by my judgments, as plants are blasted by winds. God's judgments are often compared to a scorching and blasting wind. _Thy lovers shall... [ Continue Reading ]
_O inhabitant of Lebanon_ O thou that inhabitest the city which for pleasantness and delight may be compared to Lebanon. Or he alludes to the stately buildings of Jerusalem, elsewhere compared to the tall cedars of a forest: see note on Jeremiah 21:14. _That makest thy nest in the cedars_ Who livest... [ Continue Reading ]
_As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah were the signet_, or, rather, _the ring, upon my right hand_ By Coniah he means Jehoiachin, whose name was Jeconiah, 1 Chronicles 3:16, (for all Josiah's sons had two names, and so had his grandchild Jeconiah,) here, in contempt, called Coniah; _yet would I... [ Continue Reading ]
_O earth_, &c. The word _earth_, or _land_ rather, as ארצ may be properly rendered, is repeated three times by way of emphasis, to engage the deeper attention. The prophet speaks to the land of Judea, which he commands to write down the following prediction, that it might be remembered by them, and... [ Continue Reading ]