Jeremiah 16:12

And ye have done worse than your fathers; for, behold, ye walk every one after the imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken unto me: YE - emphatic; so far from avoiding your fathers' bad example, "ye have done far worse" (; ). IMAGINATION - rather, stubborn perversity. THAT THEY MAY NOT HEARKEN - rather, connected with "ye;" 'ye have walked ... so as not to hearken to me.'...

I was constrained yesterday to leave unfinished the words of the Prophet. He said that the children were _worse _than their fathers, and gave the reason, _Because they followed the wickedness of their evil heart, and hearkened not to God _He seems to have said before the same thing of the fathers: it might then be asked, Why does he say that the children had done worse than their fathers, and pronounce their sins worse? Now we have already seen that sins became worse before God, when the children strengthened themselves in wickedness by following the examples of their fathers. We must also notice, that not only the law had been set before them, but that also Prophets had been often sent to them, who added their reproofs: and this is what Jeremiah seems to have expressed at the end of the verse, by saying that they _hearkened not, _though daily spoken to by the Prophets. It was then their...

10-13 Here seems to be the language of those who quarrel at the word of God, and instead of humbling and condemning themselves, justify themselves, as though God did them wrong. A plain and full answer is given. They were more obstinate in sin than their fathers, walking every one after the devices of his heart. Since they will not hearken, they shall be hurried away into a far country, a land they know not. If they had God's favour, that would make even the land of their captivity pleasant....

Verse Jeremiah 16:12. _AND YE HAVE DONE WORSE THAN YOUR FATHERS_] The sins of the fathers would not have been visited on the children, had they not followed their example, and become even worse than they....

IMAGINATIONS - Read stubbornness....

EXPOSITION With this chapter should be taken the first eighteen verses of Jeremiah 17:1. The heading of the Authorized Version well expresses the contents of Jeremiah 17:1, provided that "the types" are understood to be typical actions of the prophet himself. "The prophet, under the types of abstaining from marriage, from houses of mourning and feasting, foreshoweth the utter ruin of the Jews." To the inquiry, why these calamities should come upon them, the old and well-known answer is to be given (Jeremiah 17:10), accompanied by a definite prediction of captivity (Jeremiah 17:13). Then, to relieve the p

AND YE HAVE DONE WORSE THAN YOUR FATHERS,.... Not only committed the same sins, but greater, or, however, attended with more aggravating circumstances; they were wilfully and impudently done, and obstinately persisted in; and therefore deserving of the great evil of punishment pronounced against them. FOR, BEHOLD, YE WALK EVERYONE AFTER THE IMAGINATION OF HIS EVIL HEART; they walked not as the word of God directs, but as their own evil heart dictated; the imagination of which was evil, and that continually, Genesis 6:5. THAT THEY MAY NOT HEARKEN UNTO ME; to the word of the Lord, and obey that; their minds being blinded, and their hearts hardened, and they obstinately bent on their own evil ways....

THE COMING CALAMITIES: RESTORATION PROMISED, RUIN IMMINENT ON ACCOUNT OF JUDAH'S SIN AND CONCERNING THE SABBATH (16-17) CHAPTER 16 _ 1. The coming calamities (Jeremiah 16:1) _ 2. The coming days of restoration and blessing (Jeremiah 16:14) Jeremiah 16:1. In view of the coming calamities Jeremiah is bidden to remain unmarried and not to raise a family. The verses which describe the coming calamities need no further annotations. Jeremiah 16:14. The great dispersion was announced by the Lord in the preceding verse: “Therefore will I cast you out of this land, into a land that ye know

JEREMIAH 16:1 TO JEREMIAH 17:18. THE COMING DISTRESS A PENALTY FOR SIN. The prophet is forbidden to found a family, because of the coming sorrows (_cf._ 1 Corinthians 7:29 ff.), in which death will be too common even for due mourning and burial. He is to stand aloof from the ordinary expressions of grief (Jeremiah 16:5) or social joy (Jeremiah 16:8 f.; _cf._ Jeremiah 7:34), as a sign that Yahweh will make both to cease in the universal dis

IMAGINATION. stubbornness. Reference to Pentateuch, (see notes on Jeremiah 3:17; Jeremiah 7:24; Jeremiah 9:14; Jeremiah 13:10). App-92. EVIL. Hebrew. _ra'a'._ App-44....