Jeremias 10:16

The portion of Jacob. — As in Salmos 16:5; Salmos 119:57, God is described as the “portion,” i.e., as the treasure and inheritance of His people. He is no powerless idol, but the former, i.e., the creator, of all things, or more literally of the all, i.e., of the universe.

The rod of his inheritance. — The phrase was familiar in the poetry of Israel (Salmos 74:2; Isaías 63:17 — Heb.), but its exact meaning is not clear. The word may be “rod” in the sense of “sceptre,” as in Gênesis 49:10; Miquéias 7:14. Israel is that over which, or by means of which, God rules. But the other meaning in which it stands for “stem,” “division,” “tribe” (as in Isaías 19:13; Êxodo 28:21), is equally tenable.

The Lord of hosts is his name. — The time-honoured and awful name is obviously brought in as in emphatic contrast to all the names of the gods of the heathen. Among them all there was no name like “Jehovah Sabaoth,” the Lord of the armies of heaven, of the stars in their courses, of the angels in their ordered ranks, and of the armies of Israel upon earth.