_The word that came to Jeremiah_ As the date of the following transaction and prophecy is here stated to have been in the tenth year of Zedekiah's reign, while the Chaldeans invested the city, and Jeremiah was confined in the court of the prison, it must have been after the Egyptians had retreated b... [ Continue Reading ]
_Jeremiah was shut up_ in _the court of the prison_ He was afterward put in the dungeon, Jeremiah 37:16; and Jeremiah 38:6. But now he was not under so severe a restraint. Compare Jeremiah 32:26; Jer 32:28 of that chapter. _For Zedekiah had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy and say_,... [ Continue Reading ]
_The word of the Lord came unto me_ “Jeremiah, after having just informed us why he was put in prison, returns to his design, and tells us that God had advised him, probably in a dream or vision, that Hanameel, his cousin, should come to him with the offer of a field in Anathoth; the right of redeem... [ Continue Reading ]
_I weighed him the money_ In ancient times all money was paid by weight, a custom still used in several countries; _even seventeen shekels of silver_ A sum which, in our money, is not much above forty shillings; a small price for a field or piece of ground. It must be considered, however, “that the... [ Continue Reading ]
_I subscribed the evidence, and sealed it_ I wrote down an account of the transaction in a book. The method it appears then in use among the Jews when any purchase was made was, that the purchaser, as well as those who sold, testified his consent by some writing signed before witnesses. _I took the... [ Continue Reading ]
_When I had delivered the evidence, I prayed unto the Lord_ What he prayed for we learn in the following verses: by which it appears that he was not without some doubts and perplexities in this business. And though he yielded a ready and absolute obedience to God's command, yet he prays for a cleare... [ Continue Reading ]
_And they came in and possessed it_ In the former two verses he acknowledges God's goodness to Israel, here he owns his truth and faithfulness in bringing them into the land which he had promised them. _But they obeyed not thy voice_ Having borne testimony to God's power, wisdom, and faithfulness, h... [ Continue Reading ]
_Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah_ To this difficulty of Jeremiah, between what was commanded him, and the prospect of its being, not only useless, but disadvantageous to him, the Lord answered, _Behold, I am the God of all flesh_ Of all men: _is any thing too hard for me?_ The difficult... [ Continue Reading ]
_Now therefore_, &c. In this and the following verses God returns an answer to the prophet's expostulation, Jeremiah 32:25. Or the words may be thus translated, _But now, notwithstanding_, [all this,] _thus saith the Lord; concerning this city, whereof ye say, It shall be delivered into the hand_, &... [ Continue Reading ]
_And I will make an everlasting covenant with them_ The Jewish covenant, even with respect to the ceremonial ordinances contained in it, is sometimes called an _everlasting_ covenant; see Genesis 17:13; Leviticus 24:8; Isaiah 24:5; because those ordinances were to continue for a long succession of a... [ Continue Reading ]