Jeremiah 26:3

If so be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do unto them because of the evil of their doings. IF SO BE THEY WILL HEARKEN - expressed according to human conceptions; not as if God did not foreknow all contingencies, but to mark the obstinacy of the people, and the difficulty of healing them, and to show His own goodness in making the offer which left them without excuse (Calvin)....

In this verse God briefly shows for what end he sent his Prophet. For it would not have been sufficient for him to announce what he taught, except it was known to have been the will of God. Here then God asserts that he would not be propitious to the people, except they complied with what he required, that is, to repent. Thus he testifies that what was taught would be useful to them, because it had reference to their safety; and a truth cannot be rendered more entitled to our love than when we know that it tends to promote our wellbeing. Therefore God, when he saw the people rushing headlong through blind despair into all kinds of impiety, designed to make the trial whether or not some of them were healable; as though he had said, “What are ye doing, ye miserable beings? It is not yet wholly over with you; only obey me, and the remedy for all your evils is ready at hand.” We now see what...

1-6 God's ambassadors must not seek to please men, or to save themselves from harm. See how God waits to be gracious. If they persisted in disobedience, it would ruin their city and temple. Can any thing else be expected? Those who will not be subject to the commands of God, make themselves subject to the curse of God....

JEREMIAH'S TRIAL AND DELIVERANCE. EXPOSITION The prophecy in Jeremiah 26:2 is a summary of that contained in Jeremiah 7:1; the narrative, which stands in no connection either with Jeremiah 24:1 or Jeremiah 27:1, relates the consequences of that bold declaration of the word of the Lord. The present position of the chapter is only surprising to those who assume that the works of the prophets were necessarily arranged chronologically. How many violations of chronological order meet us in other books, e.g. in Isaiah. It is only reasonable to

IF SO BE THEY WILL HEARKEN,.... And obey; which is expressive not of ignorance and conjecture in God, but of his patience and long suffering, granting space and time for repentance, and the means of it; which disregarded, leave without excuse: AND TURN EVERY MAN FROM HIS EVIL WAY; his series and course of life, which was evil, and was the case of everyone; so that as their sin was general, the reformation ought to be so too: THAT I MAY REPENT ME OF THE EVIL WHICH I PURPOSE TO DO UNTO THEM; or "am thinking", or "devising d to do unto them"; which repentance must be understood not of a change of mind, but of the course of his providence towards them, which, by his threatenings, and some steps taken, portended ruin and destruction; yet, in case of repentance and reformation, he would change his method of action agreeably to his will: BECAUSE OF THE EVIL OF THEIR DOINGS; this was the reas...

REPENT (_ See Scofield) - (Zechariah 8:14). _...

CHAPTER 26 Threatened with Death and His Deliverance _ 1. The temple like Shiloh, and Jerusalem to be a curse (Jeremiah 26:1) _ 2. Threatened with death (Jeremiah 26:8) 3. Jeremiah's defense (Jeremiah 26:12) 4. History remembered and the prophet's deliverance (Jeremiah 26:16) Jeremiah 26:1. We are now taken back to the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. (Compare with chapter 7.) The Lord still waits in patience for their repentance. With holy boldness the prophet stands in a place w

JEREMIAH 26. DESTRUCTION OF THE TEMPLE FORETOLD: JEREMIAH'S PERIL (608 B.C.). Jeremiah is told to proclaim in the Temple (_cf._ Jeremiah 19:14; probably at some festival) a perilous message (keep not back a word, Jeremiah 26:2), in the hope that it may produce a change (Jeremiah 18:8). Unless the people obey Yahweh, He will destroy the Temple, like that of Shiloh (Jeremiah 7:14) and make the city (an example of) a curse (Jeremiah 29:22). The priests and prophets declare that Jeremiah must die for this blasphemy ...

EVERY MAN. Hebrew. _'ish._ EVIL. Hebrew. _ra'a'._ REPENT ME. Figure of speech _Anthropopatheia._ App-6....

For a discussion as to the relation of these _vv_. to chs. 7 10 see introductory note there. Gi. points out that the use of the 3rd person with reference to Jeremiah as well as other features of the ch. indicate the probability that it is a compilation made by Baruch, upon which the following chs. also to 45 evidently draw considerably. We may note that owing to Baruch's habit of dating the events which he mentions, a light is thrown upon them which is often lacking in regard to the prophet's discourses....