Jeremiah 6:26

Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the sword of the enemy and fear is on every side. He addresses "the daughter of Zion" (Jeremiah 6:23); caution to the citizens of Jerusalem not to expose themselves to the enemy by going outside of the city walls. SWORD OF THE ENEMY - literally, there is a sword to the enemy; the enemy hath a sword. WALLOW THYSELF IN ASHES - (Micah 1:10, "Roll thyself in the dust"). As they usually in mourning only "cast ashes on the head," wallowing in them means something more-namely, so entirely to cover oneself with ashes as to be like one who had rolled in them (Ezekiel 27:30). A...

The Prophet seems to use more words than necessary; for in a clear matter he appears to extend his discourse too far: but we must consider the design which has been mentioned; for he could not rouse the Jews without urging the matter on them with great vehemence. Known and sufficiently common is the term, “daughter of my people, “as applied to the whole community. _Daughter of my people_, he says, _be thou girded with sackcloth, and roll thyself in the dust _It is doubtful whether the Prophet exhorts them to repent, or whether he denounces mourning on the irreclaimable and the hopeless; for ashes and sackcloth are often mentioned, when there is no hope of conversion or of repentance. However, if this view be approved, I will not object, that is, that the Prophet still makes the trial, whether the Jews would return to a sane mind. _Make thee a mourning_, he says, as for _an only-begotten...

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...

WALLOW THYSELF IN ASHES - Violent distress is accustomed to find relief in eccentric actions, and thus the wallowing in ashes shows that Jerusalem’s grief is unbearable. THE SPOILER - Nebuchadnezzar....

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

O DAUGHTER OF MY PEOPLE, GIRD THEE WITH SACKCLOTH,.... Either as a token of repentance for sin; so the king of Nineveh and his subjects did, to show their repentance, Jonah 3:6 or as a sign of mourning, for the calamities coming on them, Genesis 37:34 AND WALLOW THYSELF IN ASHES; or roll thyself in them, as a token of the same. The Targum is, "cover your heads with ashes.'' MAKE THEE MOURNING AS FOR AN ONLY SON; which of all is the most bitter: and therefore it is added, MOST BITTER LAMENTATION; see Zechariah 12:10. FOR THE SPOILER SHALL SUDDENLY COME UPON US; namely, Nebuchadnezzar, that would spoil their cities, towns, villages, a

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

AND. Some codices, with five early printed editions, omit this "and"....

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