Jeremiah 40:3

Now the LORD hath brought it, and done according as he hath said: because ye have sinned against the LORD, and have not obeyed his voice, therefore this thing is come upon you. YE HAVE SINNED - (note, ). His address is directed to the Jews as well as to Jeremiah. God makes the very pagan testify for him against them, (, "All nations shall say, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this land? What meaneth the heat of His great anger? Then men shall say, Because they have forsaken, the covenant of the Lord God of their fathers," etc.)...

But before he says this, he administers reproof to the people, and says, _Jehovah thy God hath spoken evil on this city; and he hath brought it, and made it to come. _Here Nebuzar-adan undertook the prophetic _office, _and spoke in high terms of God’s righteous vengeance on the people. There is no doubt but that God had raised up such a teacher to the Jews; for they had for forty years and more obstinately rejected celestial truth. God had not ceased kindly to invite them to repentance, and to promise them pardon and salvation, provided they repented. As then God had not ceased for so long a time, and continually to address them according to his paternal goodness, and at the same time had spoken to the deaf, they deserved to hear such a preacher as Nebuzaradan, who now contumeliously upbraided them, that they had brought this evil on themselves, because they had been disobedient and rebe...

1-6 The captain of the guard seems to glory that he had been God's instrument to fulfil, what Jeremiah had been God's messenger to foretell. Many can see God's justice and truth with regard to others, who are heedless and blind as to themselves and their own sins. But, sooner or later, all men shall be made sensible that their sin is the cause of all their miseries. Jeremiah has leave to dispose of himself; but is advised to go to Gedaliah, governor of the land under the king of Babylon. It is doubtful whether Jeremiah acted right in this decision. But those who desire the salvation of sinners, and the good of the church, are apt to expect better times from slight appearances, and they will prefer the hope of being useful, to the most secure situations without it....

EXPOSITION The first of a series of chapters (40-45.) describing Jeremiah's fortunes and ministry after the fall of Jerusalem. JEREMIAH 40:1 The liberation of Jeremiah. JEREMIAH 40:1 THE WORD THAT CAME TO JEREMIAH. The formula seems to announce a prophecy; but no prophecy follows. It is not allowable to suppose, with Keil and others, that "the word" describes the entire body of prophetic utterance in ch. 40-45 (in spite of the fact that Jeremiah 44:1. and 45. have special headings). The use would be unexampled; and a prologue of forty verses (see...

NOW THE LORD HATH BROUGHT [IT], AND DONE ACCORDING AS HE HATH SAID,.... As he purposed, so it came to pass; as he foretold by his prophet, so it was brought about by his providence. This Heathen captain acknowledges the hand of the Lord in all this; and suggests, that his master, the king of Babylon, himself, and the rest of the generals, were only instruments the Lord made use of; which is very piously as well as wisely said; and more is here acknowledged by him than by the Jews themselves; who were not willing to believe that God had determined evil against them, or would bring it on them; at least, this they did not care to believe and own before, whatever they did now; he goes on to observe the cause of all this: BECAUSE YE HAVE SINNED AGAINST THE LORD, AND HAVE NOT OBEYED HIS VOICE, THEREFORE THIS THING IS COME UPON YOU; meaning not Jeremiah particularly, but his countrymen; and p...

III. AFTER THE FALL OF JERUSALEM (40-45) Chapter S 40-41 The Treachery in the Land and the Flight to Egypt _ 1. Jeremiah's choice (Jeremiah 40:1) _ 2. Gedaliah and Ishmael's deed (Jeremiah 40:7; Jeremiah 41:1) 3. Ishmael's further atrocities and retreat (Jeremiah 41:4) Jeremiah 40:1. The opening paragraph of this chapter tells us of the choice which was given to Jeremiah. He was loosed from the prisoner's chains and told by the captain of the guard “If it seems good unto thee to come with me i

JEREMIAH 40-44. The next five Chapter s continue the biography of Jeremiah, including connected events, after the capture of Jerusalem. JEREMIAH 40:1. RELEASE OF JEREMIAH. This paragraph is possibly a later expansion of Jeremiah 39:11 f.; the opening words do not suit what follows, and Nebuzaradan, the Babylonian general, would not speak as in Jeremiah 40:2 f., whilst, according to Jeremiah 39:14, Jeremiah had been given into Gedaliah's charge a month before. Jeremiah, one of a band of captives to be deported to Babylon, was released at Ramah ...

BECAUSE YE HAVE SINNED, &C. Reference to Pentateuch....

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN TRAGEDY BEYOND TRAGEDY Jeremiah 40:1 to Jeremiah 45:5 Chapter s 40-44 are a continuation of the narrative begun in chapter 37 which was interrupted briefly by the oracle to Ebed-melech in Jeremiah 39:15-18. The events take place in two geographical areasJudah (Jeremiah 40:1 to Jeremiah 43:7) and Egypt (Jeremiah 43:8 to Jeremiah 44:3

GEDALIAH AS GOVERNOR (586 B.C.) Jeremiah 40:7 to Jeremiah 43:6 are briefly summarised in 2 Kings 25:22. The account in the book of Kings mentions merely the accomplished results; while here the process by which these results were brought about are fully detailed. We learn here in particular that Ishmael benNethaniah was prompted to assassinate Gedaliah by the Ammonite king, Baalis, and that Gedaliah was warned of the plot by Johanan, but that he refused to believe that Ishmael would do such a thing. Full details of the slaughter of the people at Mizpah are also given here, as well as an account of the pursuit of Ishmael by Johanan and the recovery of the captives. We are told here also what is omitted in Kings