Jeremiah 9:26

Egypt, and Judah, and Edom, and the children of Ammon, and Moab, and all that are in the utmost corners, that dwell in the wilderness: for all these nations are uncircumcised, and all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the heart. EGYPT - put first, to degrade Judah, who, though in privileges above the Gentiles, by unfaithfulness sank below them. Egypt, too, was the power in which the Jews were so prone to trust, and by whose instigation they, as well as the other peoples specified, revolted from Babylon. ALL THAT ARE IN THE UTMOST CORNERS, [ qªtsuwtseey (H7112) pee'aah (H6285)] - rather, 'having the hair shaven (or clipped) in angles' - i:e., having the beard on the cheek narrowed or cut; a Canaanite custom, forbidden to the Israelites ...

However this may be, the Prophet here denounces ruin, not only on the Jews, but also on the Egyptians and on other neighboring nations; but he yet speaks to his own people, for his word was not destined for the Egyptians, nor for the Idumeans and the Moabites. But as the Jews were wont to have recourse to the Egyptians, when any danger arose from the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the Prophet here connects the Egyptians with the Jews, and for the same reason, the other nations. We indeed know that the Idumeans and the Moabites were most hostile enemies to the Jews; but as the state of things changed, they were at one time their enemies, at another their friends; and when they saw that the Chaldeans extended their power, they saw also that they were exposed to plunder, and hence it happened that they willingly helped the Jews. Since then the Hebrews hoped that their neighbors on every side woul...

23-26 In this world of sin and sorrow, ending soon in death and judgement, how foolish for men to glory in their knowledge, health, strength, riches, or in any thing which leaves them under the dominion of sin and the wrath of God! and of which an account must hereafter be rendered; it will but increase their misery. Those are the true Israel who worship God in the Spirit, rejoice in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh. Let us prize the distinction which comes from God, and will last for ever. Let us seek it diligently....

Verse Jeremiah 9:26. _ALL_ THAT ARE _IN THE UTMOST CORNERS_] כל קצוצי פאה _col_ _ketsutsey pheah_. These words have been variously understood. The _Vulgate_ translates: Omnes qui attonsi sunt in comam; "All who have their hair cut short." The _Targum, Septuagint, Syriac_, and _Arabic_ have understood it nearly in the same way; and so our margin. Others think that the _insular_ or _peninsular_ situation of the people is referred to. Dr. _Blayney_ thinks the _Arabians_ are meant, who dwelt in the great desert, between Mesopotamia and Palestine. I really think our marginal reading should be preferred, as expressing the sense of all the ancient Versions....

ALL THAT ARE IN THE UTMOST CORNERS - Really, all who have the corners of their hair shorn. The people meant are those Arabs who cut the hair close upon the forehead and temples, but let it grow long behind. See Leviticus 19:27. FOR ALL THESE NATIONS ARE UNCIRCUMCISED - Or, “for all the pagan are uncircumcised.” circumcision probably prevailed partially in the pagan mysteries as a sign of special sanctity, but to the Jews alone it represented their covenant-relation to God....

EXPOSITION JEREMIAH 9:1 The Hebrew more correctly attaches this verse to Jeremiah 8:1. OH THAT MY HEAD WERE WATERS, etc.! A quaint conceit, it may be said. But "if we have been going on pace for pace with the passion before, this sudden conversion of a strong-felt metaphor into something to be actually realized in nature, is strictly and strikingly natural." So Bishop Dearie, quoting, by way of illustration, Shakespeare's 'Richard II.,' "meditating on his own utter annihilation as to royalty:" "Oh that I were a mockery king of snow, To melt before the sun of Bolingbroke!" The tone of complaint continues in the following verse, though the subject is different....

EGYPT, AND JUDAH, AND EDOM, AND THE CHILDREN OF AMMON, AND MOAB,.... Places and people among which the Jews were dispersed, and whose punishment is predicted in Jeremiah Chapter s forty six through forty nine, and whose countries are now under the dominion of the Turks: h AND ALL THAT ARE IN THE UTMOST CORNERS, THAT DWELL IN THE WILDERNESS; who dwelt in the desert of Arabia; these, according to Kimchi, were the Kedarenes, and the kingdoms of Hazor, a people that dwelt in the utmost corners, whom Nebuchadnezzar smote, as Jeremiah foretold, Jeremiah 49:28. Jarchi's note is, "them that are cut off in a corner of the wilderness;'' that live by themselves, and have no communication with other people; were at the greatest distance, and secure; dwelt alone, and had neither gates nor bars, as is said of the same people,...

Jeremiah 9:1. _Oh that my head were waters, and mine eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!_ Jeremiah foresaw that the Chaldeans would come up, and so many would be slain that the nation would be almost destroyed. Jeremiah 9:2. _Oh that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of wayfaring men; that I might leave my people, and go from them! for they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men._ He mourned because of the doom that awaited them; but he equally mourned because of the sin that would bring that doom upon them. He wished that he could get away into one of those refuges, which were provided in lonely places, where travelers might lodge for a night....

CHAPTER 9 _ 1. The prophet's complaint and Jehovah's answer (Jeremiah 9:1) _ 2. The cause of desolation and destruction (Jeremiah 9:10) 3. The call for the mourning and wailing women (Jeremiah 9:17) 4. Glorying in the Lord in view of judgment (Jeremiah 9:23) Jeremiah 9:1. Here again is a deplorable break. The opening verses of this chapter belong to the preceding one. The prophet still speaks. He is overwhelmed with sorrow; his eyes are fountains of tears. He weeps day and night over the slain. He wish

THE KNOWLEDGE OF YAHWEH: UNCIRCUMCISED ISRAEL. This paragraph contains two originally distinct prophecies, unrelated to their present context, though quite possibly Jeremianic. They teach the glory of Israel's religion (Jeremiah 9:23 f.), and the futility of physical without spiritual circumcision (Jeremiah 9:25 f.). In the second, Israel is degraded to the level of other, uncircumcised nations. Jeremiah 9:26. The corner-clipt (Jeremiah 25:23; Jeremiah 49:32) are those shaved around the brow, according to the practice of some Arab