Jeremiah 4:30

And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do? Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou deckest thee with ornaments of gold, though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair; thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. WHEN THOU ART SPOILED - rather, 'thou, O destroyed one:' O ruined people and city (Maurer). RENTEST THY FACE WITH PAINTING. Oriental females paint their eyes with stibium, or antimony, to make them look full and sparkling, the black margin causing the white of the eyes to appear the brighter by contrast, (, margin) He uses the term rentest, i:e., distendest, in derision of their effort to make their eyes look large (Maurer): or else, rentest, i:e., dost lacerate by puncturing the eyelid, in order to make the antimony adhere (Rosenmuller). So the Jews use every artifice t...

The Prophet boldly ridicules the Jews, in order to cast down their pride and haughtiness. It was indeed his object to check that pride with which they were elated against God. The Prophet could not have done this without assuming a higher strain than usual, and by rendering his discourse more striking by using metaphorical words. It is indeed the language of derision; he exclaims, _What wilt thou do, thou wretched one? _The Jews had hitherto been inflated with contempt towards God, and their high spirits had not been subdued. Since, then, their haughtiness continued untamed, the Prophet cries out and says, “Thou wretched, what wilt thou do?” as though he had said, “In vain do they flatter themselves and promise themselves aid from this and from that quarter, for their condition is past any remedy.” (124) He afterwards adds, _Though_, etc.; for so I consider the connection of the verse; a...

19-31 The prophet had no pleasure in delivering messages of wrath. He is shown in a vision the whole land in confusion. Compared with what it was, every thing is out of order; but the ruin of the Jewish nation would not be final. Every end of our comforts is not a full end. Though the Lord may correct his people very severely, yet he will not cast them off. Ornaments and false colouring would be of no avail. No outward privileges or profession, no contrivances would prevent destruction. How wretched the state of those who are like foolish children in the concerns of their souls! Whatever we are ignorant of, may the Lord make of good understanding in the ways of godliness. As sin will find out the sinner, so sorrow will, sooner or later, find out the secure....

Verse Jeremiah 4:30. _THOUGH THOU RENTEST THY FACE WITH PAINTING_] This probably refers to the custom of introducing _stibium_, a preparation of antimony, between the eye and the lids, in order to produce a fine lustre, which occasions a distension of the eye-lid in the time of the operation. In order to heighten the effect from this, some may have introduced a _more than ordinary quantity_, so as nearly to rend the eye-lid itself. Though thou make use of every means of address, of cunning, and of solicitation, to get assistance from the neighbouring states, it will be all in vain. Reference is here particularly made to the practice of _harlots_ to allure men....

Translate, And thou, O plundered one, what effectest thou, that “thou clothest thyself with” scarlet, that “thou deckest” thyself “with ornaments of gold,” that thou enlargest thine eyes with antimony (2 Kings 9:30 note)? “In vain” dost thou beautify thyself; “thy lovers” despise” thee, they” seek “thy life.” Jerusalem is represented as a woman who puts on her best attire to gain favor in the eyes of her lovers, but in vain....

EXPOSITION JEREMIAH 4:1, JEREMIAH 4:2 The form and structure of the translation require a change. Render, _If thou wilt return_,_ O Israel_,_ saith Jehovah_,_ wilt return unto me_;_ and if thou wilt put away_,_ _etc; _and not wander_;_ and wilt swear_,_ As Jehovah liveth_,_ with good faith_,_ with justice_,_ and with righteousness_;_ then shall the nations bless themselves by him_,_ and in him shall they glory_. The clause, "and not wander," seems too short; the Septuagint had a choicer reading, "and put away, etc; from his [thy] mouth, and not wander from before me." It is the close of the prophecy which we have here. The prophet subjoins a p

AND WHEN THOU ART SPOILED, WHAT WILT THOU DO?.... Or, "O thou spoiled" k, wasted, and undone creature, how wilt thou help thyself? by what means dost thou think thou canst be delivered? it suggests that her ruin was inevitable; that she could not be recovered from it by herself, or any other: THOUGH THOU CLOTHEST THYSELF WITH CRIMSON; and so look like some rich and noble person; hoping thereby to find mercy, and to have quarter given and kindness shown: THOUGH THOU DECKEST THEE WITH ORNAMENTS OF GOLD; as a person of high and princely dignity: or rather all this is to be understood of the manner of harlots, who dress rich and grand, in order to allure men; since it follows, THOUGH THOU RENDEST THY FACE WITH PAINTING; or, eyes l; which painting dilates as Jezebel did, 2 Kings 9:30, in vain shalt thou make thyself fair

CHAPTER 4 _ 1. True repentance and what it means (Jeremiah 4:1) _ 2. The alarm sounded: judgment comes (Jeremiah 4:5) 3. The doom of the rebellious people (Jeremiah 4:14) 4. The desolation of Israel's land through judgment (Jeremiah 4:23) Jeremiah 4:1. A return must be a return unto Him, Jehovah; anything less is insufficient. Their abominations must be judged and put away. Every return of backsliders must be in the same way--a true return to the Lord with confession of sin, self-judgment, and abandonment

THE VISION OF DESOLATION (Jeremiah 4:23) most impressively describes the Divine visitation of Judah. The earth becomes like the chaos before creation (_mg._) under a sky that has lost its lamps; the very mountains have no longer stability; the denizens of earth and air are gone; the garden-land is wilderness; the cities are overthrown (_cf._ Jeremiah 1:10). Jeremiah has actually seen all this in some ecstatic state, just as George Fox saw its opposite, the paradise of God in which all things were new and all the creation gave another smell! (_Journal,_ i. 28). There follows the application of the vision (Jeremiah 4:27), viz such an interpretation of its meaning as would subsequently come into the pr

THOU. Figure of speech _Prosopopoeia_, Put for idolatrous Israel. An adulterous woman. RENTEST. enlargest (with paint). FACE. eyes. LIFE. soul. Hebrew. _nephesh._...