Jeremiah 6:24

We have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail. FAME THEREOF - the report of them....

Jeremiah proceeds in the same strain; for he sets before the eyes of the Jews the judgment of God, and draws them, as it were against their will, into the middle of the scene. And this was done by the prophets, as it has been already said, because by plain words they could not move the hearts of the people on account of their contempt of God, and of the long obduracy in which they had settled. Hence he says, that _heard _had been the _report _of the enemy, and that immediately _dissolved _had their _hands _When the Prophet spoke, the Jews did not think that their enemies were so near. But the phrase is to be thus explained: “As soon as ye shall hear the report, your hands shall be relaxed, and lay hold on you shall distress.” The similitude of a woman in travail is often found in Scripture; and what is to be understood in most places is sudden and unexpected pain: but in this place the P...

18-30 God rejects their outward services, as worthless to atone for their sins. Sacrifice and incense were to direct them to a Mediator; but when offered to purchase a license to go on in sin, they provoke God. The sins of God's professing people make them an easy prey to their enemies. They dare not show themselves. Saints may rejoice in hope of God's mercies, though they see them only in the promise: sinners must mourn for fear of God's judgments, though they see them only in the threatenings. They are the worst of revolters, and are all corrupters. Sinners soon become tempters. They are compared to ore supposed to have good metal in it, but which proves all dross. Nothing will prevail to part between them and their sins. Reprobate silver shall they be called, useless and worthless. When warnings, corrections, rebukes, and all means of grace, leave men unrenewed, they will be left, as...

The effect upon the Jewish people of the news of Nebuchadnezzars approach. WAX FEEBLE - Are relaxed. It is the opposite of what is said in Jeremiah 6:23 of the enemy, “They lay hold etc.” Terror makes the hands of the Jews hold their weapons with nerveless grasp....

EXPOSITION A prophecy, in five stanzas or strophes, vividly describing the judgment and its causes, and enforcing the necessity of repentance. JEREMIAH 6:1 Arrival of a hostile army from the north, and summons to flee from the doomed city. JEREMIAH 6:1 O YE CHILDREN OF BENJAMIN. The political rank of Jerusalem, as the capital of the kingdom of Judah, makes it difficult to realize that Jerusalem was not locally a city of Judah at all. It belonged, strictly speaking, to the tribe of Benjamin, a tribe whose insignificance, in comparison with Judah, seems to have led to the adoption of a form of expression not literally accurate (see Psa 128:1-6 :68). The true state of the ease is evident from an examination of the two par

WE HAVE HEARD THE FAME THEREOF,.... Meaning not the prophet's report then, but the rumour of the enemy's coming from another quarter, at the time he was actually coming. These are the words of the people, upon such a rumour spread; or the words of the prophet, joining himself with them, describing their case, when it would be strongly reported, and they had reason to believe it, that the enemy was just coming, and very near: OUR HANDS WAX FEEBLE; have no strength in them, shake and tremble like men that have a palsy, through fear and dread: ANGUISH HATH TAKEN HOLD OF US; tribulation or affliction; or rather anguish of spirit, on hearing the news of the near approach of the enemy: AND PAIN, AS OF A WOMAN IN TRAVAIL; which comes suddenly, and is very sharp; and this denotes that their destruction would come suddenly upon them, before they were aware, and be very severe....

CHAPTER 6 _ 1. The call to the children of Benjamin (Jeremiah 6:1) _ 2. Corruption and the deserved judgment (Jeremiah 6:9) 3. The prophet addressed (Jeremiah 6:27) Jeremiah 6:1. The children of Benjamin are exhorted to flee for safety on account of the evil from the north. There were probably among the Benjamites God-fearing men. Those who heeded the call fled and escaped. It is a warning message which follows: “Be thou instructed, O Jerusalem, let my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee desolate, a land not inhabited.” But they heeded it not....

THE FOE FROM THE NORTH is again described (_cf._ Jeremiah 5:15) in his advance against Jerusalem (Jeremiah 6:22). Its inhabitants utter their dismay (wax feeble, Jeremiah 6:24; Heb. are slack). The prophet warns of the danger without (Jeremiah 6:25), and bids the (individualised) people mourn (Amos 8:10; Zechariah 12:10) for the coming disaster. Jeremiah 6:22

The last of the four divisions. See introd. note to the ch....

5. _Description of the foe_ (Jeremiah 6:22-26) TRANSLATION (22) Thus said the LORD: Behold, a people is about to come from a north land, a great nation shall be aroused from the uttermost parts of the earth. (23) Bow and spear they bear. They are ruthless and have no compassion. Their voices roar like the sea. Upon horses they ride equipped as men for war against you, O daughter of Zion. (24) We have heard the report of them. Our hands are feeble. Anguish has taken hold of us, pain as a woman in childbirth. (25) Do not go out into the field nor walk in the way for the enemy has a sword, terror round about. (26) O daughter of My people, Gird on sackcloth and wallow in the dust; make for your selves the mourning of an only son, most bitter lamentation for suddenly the spoiler shall come upon us. COMMENTS In order to impress once again upon the m