THE CAMBRIDGE BIBLE ;] 
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 i!a i mart t M mimtm»» miW m Mttff m iweata ■■ ■ 
 
 JEREMIAH 
 
 A N D 
 
 LAMENTATiONS 
 
 EDITED BY 
 
 A.W. STREANE. M:a. 
 
 GENERAL EDITOR 
 
 J. J, -S/JPEROWNE, D. D. 
 
 BISHdP OF WORCESTER 
 
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 anU Colleges. 
 
 General Editor :— J. J. S. PER( 
 
 Bishop of Worcester. r\rr 21 1947 
 
 THE BOOK OF THE PROPHE(^ 
 
 JERE 
 
 TOGEXkE 
 
 LAMENtAT'lONS, 
 
 WITH MAP NOTES^AND INTRODUCTION 
 
 TH^ |rEV J^W. STR^NE, D.D. 
 
 ^^r-C>^Cfi,peiJS CHRIST! COylEGE, CAMBRIDGE. 
 
 EDITED FOR THE SVKDICS OF THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
 STEREOTYPED EDITION. 
 
 AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 1895 
 
 {All Rights reserved.^ 
 
Sontion: C. J. CLAY and SONS, 
 
 CAMBRIDGE UNIVERSITY PRESS WAREHOUSE, 
 
 AVE MARIA LANE. 
 
 ®laSfiOto: 263, ARGYLE STREET. 
 
 ILetpjis: F. A. BROCKHAUS. 
 
 i^efaj larft: MACMILLAN AND CO. 
 
 aSombag: GEORGE BELL AND SONS. 
 
 First Edition, 1881. 
 
 Reprinted 1882, 1883, 1885, 1887, 1888, 1889, 
 
 1891, 1892, 1895. 
 
PREFACE 
 BY THE GENERAL EDITOR. 
 
 The General Editor of The Cambridge Bible for 
 Schools thinks it right to say that he does not hold 
 himself responsible either for the interpretation of 
 particular passages which the Editors of the several 
 Books have adopted, or for any opinion on points of 
 doctrine that they may have expressed. In the New- 
 Testament more especially questions arise of the 
 deepest theological import, on which the ablest and 
 most conscientious interpreters have differed and 
 always will differ. His aim has been in all such 
 cases to leave each Contributor to the unfettered 
 exercise of his own judgment, only taking care that 
 mere controversy should as far as possible be avoided. 
 He has contented himself chiefly with a careful 
 revision of the notes, with pointing out omissions, with 
 
PREFACE. 
 
 suggesting occasionally a reconsideration of some 
 question, or a fuller treatment of difficult passages, 
 and the like. 
 
 Beyond this he has not attempted to interfere, 
 feeling it better that each Commentary should have 
 its own individual character, and being convinced 
 that freshness and variety of treatment are more 
 than a compensation for any lack of uniformity in 
 the Series. 
 
CONTENTS. 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 I. Introduction. pages 
 
 Chapter I. Life and Times of Jeremiah ix — xxv 
 
 Chapter II. Character and Style of the Book . . . xxv — xxx 
 
 Chapter HI. Contents and Arrangement xxx — xxxviii 
 
 II. Text and Notes i — 352 
 
 LAMENTATIONS. 
 
 I. Introduction. 
 
 Chapter I. Name, Position, Date and Structure 
 
 of the Book 353—355 
 
 Chapter II. Authorship of the Book 355 — 358 
 
 Chapter III. Subject-matter and Purpose of the 
 
 Book 359, 360 
 
 II. Text and Notes 361 — 391 
 
 Appendix. 
 
 Note I. Traditions relating to Jeremiah 393 — 395 
 
 Note II. Other Prophecies ascribed to Jeremiah. . 395, 396 
 
 Note III. Jeremiah as a Type of Christ 396 
 
 Note IV. Approximation to a chronological Ar- 
 rangement of the Contents of the Book 396 
 
 Index 397 — 404 
 
 Map of Jerusalem. 
 
 The Text adopted in this Edition is that of Dr Scrivener's 
 Cambridge Paragraph Bible. A few variations from the ordi- 
 nary Text, chiefly in the spelling of certain words, and in the 
 use of italics, will be noticed. For the principles adopted by 
 Dr Scrivener as regards the printing of the Text see his In- 
 troduction to the Paragraph Bible, published by the Cambridge 
 University Press. 
 
 JEREMIAH b 
 
•"'It is difficult to conceive any situation more painful than tliat 
 of a great man, condemned to watch the lingering agony of an ex- 
 hausted country, to tend it during the alternate fits of stupefaction 
 and raving which precede its dissolution, and to see the symptoms 
 of vitality disappear one by one, till nothing is left but coldness, 
 
 darkness, and corruption." 
 
 Lord Macaulay. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 LIFE AND TIMES OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 1. The public life of Jeremiah, author of the Book which 
 bears his name, embraces a period marked by political and 
 social changes of no ordinary character, and the Book itself dis- 
 plays to us the circumstances and relations of the people of the 
 time to a degree which the writings of none of the other prophets 
 can approach. The events, of which the detailed narrative is 
 here given, affected both the Jewish people, to whom it was his lot 
 to declare the will of God, and the neighbouring nations, on 
 whose relative strength and disposition, favourable or the re- 
 verse, then depended the prosperity and even the existence of 
 Judaea as a nation. We shall therefore take in order 
 
 The few notices which we possess of Jeremiah anterior to 
 
 his call to public office as a prophet ; 
 The political condition of neighbouring nations, so far as ' 
 
 it affected Judaea ; 
 The social condition of Judaea at the time of the prophet's 
 
 call; 
 His call and subsequent history. 
 
 2. Notices of Jeremiah before his call to prophetic office. 
 Chap. i. I gives us {a) his name, ib) his parentage, {c) his 
 
 descent, and family dwelling-place. 
 
 {a) In the Hebrew his name takes the form Yirmyahu, or 
 (shortened) Yirmyah. Its meaning has not been reached with 
 any certainty. Conjectures are, 
 
 b2 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 i. that of Gesenius ^ ' appointed of Jehov^.' 
 
 ii. that of Hengstenberg^, 'Jehovah throws/ thus tracing the 
 origin of the word as a Jewish name to the opening of Moses' 
 song of triumph (Exodus xv.) on the occasion of the overthrow 
 of the Egyptians, 'the horse and his rider hath he thrown 
 into the sea/ and further making the individual appHcation 
 in the prophet's case to be the work which (chap. i. lo) was 
 specially given into his charge. " See, I have this day set thee 
 over the nations, and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull 
 down, and to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to 
 plants." 
 
 iii. That of Simonis*, 'exalted of the LORD;' i.e. (i) the 
 Lord's exalted one, 'Jehovah shall exalt/ or (ii) the Lord's (i.e. 
 the greatest) exaltation, compare Moses ' exceeding fair/ marg. 
 fair to God (Acts vii. 20). This is at least as good as either of 
 the former. 
 
 We have the name several times in the enumeration of 
 David's mighty men. 
 
 ip) We are told (chap. i. i) that Jeremiah was the son of Hil- 
 kiah. The same is the name of the high-priest, who in the 
 eighteenth year of Josiah's reign, and therefore five years sub- 
 sequently to Jeremiah's call (chap. i. 2), discovered the Book of the 
 Law in the house of the Lord (2 Kings xxii. 8). Were we sure 
 that these two notices refer to one and the same person, we 
 could with more certainty picture to ourselves the character of 
 Jeremiah's bringing up, and the nature of the influences which 
 would be brought to bear upon him from the fact of his father's 
 holding not only the chief position in religious matters but also 
 the foremost place in the reforms instituted by Josiah. And 
 although Hilkiah seems to have been not an uncommon name 
 
 ^ 'Jecit; id est, collocavit, constituit.' He refers it to a Chaldee 
 root, occurring Dan. vii. 9, ' I beheld till the thrones were (cast down, 
 A. V. or) sef {Thesaurus, sub v.). 
 
 ^ Christologie des a. B. (Clarke's Library), ii. 361. •* He who bore 
 it (the name) was consecrated to that God who with an Almighty 
 hand throws to the ground all His enemies." 
 
 s But see note on chap. i. i. 
 
 "* Onomasticoti, p. 535. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 at the time\ there is some amount of probability in this 
 conjecture. The respect with which the prophet was as a rule 
 treated by the princes and by the successive kings of Judah 
 (chaps, xxxvi. 19, 25, xxxviii. 8—10), as shewn in particular by 
 the contrast between the treatment with which he met and that 
 which fell to the lot of Urijah (chap. xxvi. 23, 24), accords with 
 this view, as does the fact that Baruch, a man of good birth 2 
 and brother of Seraiah, who held high office in Zedekiah's court 
 (chap. li. 29), was willing to be in his employ as scribe. The 
 remaining part of the opening sentence of the Book of Jeremiah 
 has indeed been adduced as an objection. For 
 
 {c) it is there stated that Jeremiah was (not only a priest, 
 but) of the priestly city oi A7iathoth. The priests were not dis- 
 tributed over the country, but lived together in certain cities 
 which with the lands in their neighbourhood had been assigned 
 to their use. From thence they went up by turns to minister 
 in the Temple at Jerusalem. Thus the religious instruction of 
 the people in the country generally was left to the heads of 
 families, until the establishment of synagogues, an event which 
 did not take place till the return from the captivity, and which 
 was the main source of the freedom from idolatry that became 
 as marked a feature of the Jewish people thenceforward as its 
 practice had been hitherto their great national sin. 
 
 Anathoth is mentioned as a city of the priests in Joshua xxi. 
 18. At the end of David's life also we read that Abiathar the high- 
 priest, after the failure of Adonijah's attempt to obtain the throne 
 of Israel, retired to Anathoth I Now Abiathar's descent from 
 Aaron was through Ithamar (this younger branch of Aaron's 
 descendants seem to have possessed the office from the time 
 of Eli to that of Abiathar only), while Hilkiah, the high-priest 
 of Josiah's time, traced his lineage through Phinehas, son of 
 Eleazar, the elder son of Aaron (i Chron. vi. 4 — 13). Hence it 
 has been inferred that Hilkiah would not be connected with 
 
 1 Comp. chap. xxix. 3. Hilkiah, father of Gemariah an envoy sent 
 by Zedekiah to Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 2 According to Josephus 'one of a very eminent family,' Ant. 
 X. 9 § r (Whiston's Edition, 1864). 
 
 * I Kings ii. 26. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Anathoth. In reply, however, it has been pointed out that there 
 is nothing to shew the impossibility or even improbability that 
 descendants of both sons of Aaron should dwell in the same 
 priestly town, and that it is even likely that the dominant 
 family would secure for its high-priest a dwelling in a place 
 so conveniently adjacent to Jerusalem^. And further we may 
 notice that Hilkiah is not the only name which is common to 
 the historical and to the prophetic record of these times. Shal- 
 lum is uncle of Jeremiah (chap, xxxii. 7), and Shallum is also 
 husband to Huldah the prophetess (2 Kings xxii. 14); and again, 
 Ahikam the son of Shaphan, joined with Hilkiah the high-priest 
 and others as one of Josiah's chief supporters in his work of 
 external reformation, can scarcely be any other than Ahikam son 
 of Shaphan, who in the reign of Jehoiakim protected Jeremiah, 
 when the elders of the land were compassing his death. 
 
 Jeremiah speaks of himself at the time of his call as a child 
 (chap. i. 6), and although the expression might be taken merely to 
 signify a sense of incompetence for the work to which he was 
 being summoned, yet it was probably not without a hteral fit- 
 ness, as we find him apparently in full vigour of manhood for 
 the space of forty years from that date. 
 
 3. The political conditio7i of neighbotiring nations so far 
 as it affected Judaea. 
 
 The position of Judaea exposed it to attack from Egypt on 
 the one side, from the eastern empire of Nineveh on the other. 
 It was not strong enough to cope with either of these without 
 the countenance, if not active support, of the other kingdom, 
 and therefore the problem which it had to solve was, with 
 which of these it should throw in its lot. In the time of Isaiah, 
 
 ^ 'Anata,' on a broad ridge 1^ hours N.N.E. from Jerusalem. The 
 cultivation of the priests survives in tilled fields of grain with figs and 
 olives. There are the remains of walls and strong foundations, and 
 the quarries still supply Jerusalem with building stone. Grove, Art. 
 in Smith's Bibl. Diet. It was discovered by Dr Robinson who tells 
 us [Researches, i. p. 437, 3rd edition) that it seems to have been a 
 walled town and a place of strength, but is apparently not directly 
 mentioned by any writer since the days of Jerome. His party found 
 the fragments of a column or two among the ruins. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 whose prophecies terminated in the reign of Hezekiah, that 
 prophet had earnestly dissuaded his countrymen from an 
 Egyptian alliance. "Woe to the rebellious children, saith 
 the Lord... that walk to go down into Egypt and have not 
 asked at my mouth ; to strengthen themselves in the strength 
 of Pharaoh, and to trust in the shadow of Egypt. Therefore 
 shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the trust in the 
 shadow of Egypt your confusion... For the Egyptians shall help in 
 vain, and to no purpose" (Is. xxx. i — 7). The same in substance 
 was said by Sennacherib, king of Assyria, to Hezekiah through his 
 messenger Rabshakeh (Is. xxxvi. 5, 6). Hezekiah's reliance on 
 God and his prayerful spirit were presently rewarded by the 
 miraculous overthrow of Sennacherib's host (Is. xxxvii. 36) and 
 the violent death, thirteen years later, of their leader, who was 
 succeeded by his son Esarhaddon. This destruction of Senna- 
 cherib's army in the 14th year of Hezekiah (B.C. 693)^ secured 
 Judaea against the fate which had befallen the Northern kingdom 
 at the hands of Shalmanezer. There was no important ex- 
 pedition made against Palestine during Esarhaddon's reign 
 (B.C. 679 — 666) except that which he early undertook against 
 Jerusalem in vengeance for his father's overthrow. This resulted 
 in the removal of Manasseh, Hezekiah's son and successor, as 
 a captive to Babylon ■'^; but Manasseh was soon allowed to re- 
 turn, and seems to have been left in peace during the rest of his 
 reign, Esarhaddon finding troubles nearer home quite sufficient to 
 occupy his attention. His son Assurbanipal made expeditions 
 into Egypt, which he divided into twelve small principahties, 
 thus delivering Judaea from all present fear from that quarter. 
 He is thought to have been 'the great and noble Asnapper' 
 (Ezra iv. 10) who brought over various tribes and settled them 
 in the cities of Samaria, but, although the king of Judah is 
 mentioned in the recently-discovered Assyrian inscriptions, yet 
 
 ^ So Neteler in examination of Schrader's ' Die Keilinschriften und 
 das Alte Testament ' as quoted in the Introduction to the Book of 
 Jeremiah in the Speaker's Comvietiiary . 
 
 2 Esarhaddon was the only king of Nineveh who lived at Babylon. 
 This shews the accuracy of the sacred record. He dwelt there for 
 the last eleven years of his life, and there died. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the Ninevite king would appear to have left Judaea undisturbed. 
 Meanwhile Psammetichus reunited Egypt under his sovereignty, 
 and during his long reign (B.C. 658 — 605) succeeded in making 
 his country extremely formidable to its Jewish neighbour. In 
 his time Manasseh died, Amon his son followed for two years, 
 and was succeeded by his son Josiah, whose reign was marked by 
 an outward reformation of morals and renewal of religious rites 
 long in abeyance. In the 6th year of his reign the Scythians, 
 who had marched into Palestine, were checked by Psammetichus 
 and induced to return. Thus the Scythian incursion had 
 made no real difference in the political position. Judaea was 
 still wavering between the old established power of Egypt, 
 whose prestige had been fully restored under Psammetichus, 
 and the rapidly growing Eastern power, at present lodged at 
 Nineveh, but soon to be transferred to Babylon. 
 
 The manner in which external nations affected Judaea in 
 times subsequent to Jeremiah's call to be a prophet we shall 
 trace later. 
 
 4. The social condition of Jtidaea at t/ie time of the prophefs 
 call. The religious reform of Hezekiah's time had been fol- 
 lowed by a terrible reaction in the reign of Manasseh. " He built 
 altars for all the host of heaven in the two courts of the house 
 of the Lord" (2 Chron. xxxiii. 5), he set up an idol in the Temple 
 itself and dedicated his sons to Moloch by making them 
 pass through the fire in the valley of the son of Hinnom 
 (ibid. ver. 6). His subsequent repentance, of which the Books 
 of Chronicles tell us, seems to have come too late to have 
 much permanent effect upon the ordering of the kingdom, and 
 no improvement was likely under such a man as his son Amon 
 shewed himself to be during 'his brief reign. This was the 
 state of affairs when Josiah came to the throne. The land 
 was now recovering from the effects of the frequent and de- 
 structive attacks of the Assyrian monarchs, and its continued 
 rest in the earlier years of Josiah was in itself favourable 
 to the plans of that king for his country's moral and spiritual 
 welfare. With good advisers in Ahikam, Hilkiah and others, 
 and with a nation probably more than half weary of idolatry 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 and its attendant evils, even before the alarm was sounded by 
 the discovery of the lost Book of the Law, it was an oppor- 
 tunity not to be neglected for an attempt at the revival of 
 religion such as Josiah undertook. And yet the reformation, as 
 in the time of Hezekiah, seems not to have penetrated much 
 below the surface. The picture which Jeremiah draws of the 
 condition of the people, of the prevalence of dishonesty, of 
 open licentiousness, of murder, adultery, false swearing, is 
 such that never does there appear to have been more need than 
 then of one who should convict men of their sins, and stir them 
 to a sense of the requirements of the Divine Law. 
 
 5. Jeremiah^s call and subsequent history. We cannot say 
 whether Jeremiah at any period of his life received a formal 
 training in the schools of the prophets instituted by Samuel 
 and existing at Ramah, Bethel, Jericho, Gilgal, and elsewhere. 
 They answered in some respects to our Theological Colleges, 
 and the chief subjects of study were the Law, music and sacred 
 poetry. The sacred narrative itself would suggest that Jeremiah, 
 so far as human means went, was prepared for his work rather 
 by the instruction and associations which he would have in 
 Anathoth, and was thence called direct to the task of declaring 
 the will of the Almighty to His disobedient people. In par- 
 ticular the discovery of the Book of the Law by Hilkiah, made 
 a few years after Jeremiah's call, but apparently before he had 
 entered upon his life's work, must have made much stir at his 
 native town, as we know that it did in Jerusalem. Whatever 
 portion of the five Books of Moses, as we now possess them, it may 
 have contained, it must, we are sure, have included those 
 graphic pictures which stand in Deut. xxviii. of the punish- 
 ments which were to follow neglect of God and lapse into 
 idolatry. That Book made upon Jeremiah a profound im- 
 pression, of which we see the fruit in the references to and 
 quotations from it which abound in his prophecies ^ The 
 
 ^ Compare ii. 6 with Deut. xxxii. 10; v. 15 with Deut. xxviii. 49, 
 etc.; vii. 33 with Deut. xxviii. 26; xi. 3 with Deut. xxvii. 26; xi. 4 
 with Deut. iv. 20; xi. 5 with Deut. vii. 12, 13 ; xv. 4, xxiv. 9, xxix. 
 18, xxxiv. 17 with Deut. xxviii. 25; xxii. 8, 9 with Deut. xxix, 24 — 26; 
 xxiii. 17 with Deut. xxix. 18, etc. ; xxxiv. 13, 14 with Deut. xv. 12. 
 
xvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 solemn covenant entered into by the nation (2 Kings xxiii. 3) 
 must have fixed itself deeply in his mind and heart. "The 
 king went up into the house of the Lord... and all the people, 
 both small and great ; and he read in their ears all the words of 
 the book of the covenant that was found in the house of the 
 Lord. And the king stood by a pillar and made a covenant be- 
 fore the Lord, to walk after the Lord, and to keep his command- 
 ments... with all their heart and with all their soul... and all 
 the people stood to the covenant." These solemn words and 
 the no less significant acts that followed, contrasted as they 
 were with the state of wickedness which existed around the 
 prophet, wrought upon his mind that effect, which God em- 
 ployed as the means of calling forth his declarations of im- 
 pending woe, and thus making him the typical prophet of 
 sorrow, and a derivative from his name (jeremiad) a synonym 
 for lamentation. 
 
 6. It was under such circumstances as these that the actual 
 call occurred, and in a form evidently altogether unlooked for. It 
 does not come to him in the shape of a vision of the Divine Ma- 
 jesty as to Isaiah (chap, vi,), or of the mysterious living creatures 
 and wheels within wheels such as was given to Ezekiel (chap, i.), 
 but without startling symbol or ecstatic trance the command 
 is received. He shrinks from the prospect, not from fear of 
 the innocent blood which the Jews, following the example 
 of their late king Manasseh (2 Kings xxi. 16), " shed very 
 much," but from honest distrust of his own power to take the 
 lead and deal boldly and successfully with the evils of the day, 
 gaining a hearing and producing an impression by the power 
 of his language joined to the solemn import of his message. The 
 Lord reassures him, touches his mouth, and sends him forth 
 as His prophet to the nations! The visions, by which He 
 strengthens his hands and suggests the burden of his pro- 
 phecy, we shall treat in their place in chap. i. 
 
 7. Jeremiah now addresses himself to the impurity and 
 crime which he sees around him. The worship of Baal and As- 
 tarte, and the unholy pleasures to which that worship ministered, 
 were the subjects at once of bitter mourning and of stern rebuke. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 The example of the Gentiles around stimulated the Jews to break 
 through all restraint, and the sacrifice of their children to Moloch 
 was but the attempt of an alarmed conscience to atone for other 
 crimes. The restoration of the Temple and celebration of the 
 Passover Jeremiah tells them are of no avail so long as their 
 hearts are as foul as they were before. Nothing short of a com- 
 plete amendment can avert the calamities of which they read 
 in the newly discovered Book (vii. 4 — 7). Such was Jeremiah's 
 teaching during the eighteen years which lay between his call 
 and the death of Josiah. There is but little of incident to 
 record during this period. He presented himself from time to 
 time " rising early and speaking " (xxv. 3), and was exposed to 
 '^reproach and derision daily" (xx, 8). The men of Anathoth 
 itself sought his life (xi. 21), and his brethren "dealt treache- 
 rously" with him (xii. 6). He is sometimes inclined to be silent 
 and leave the world to take its course, seeing that he was but "a 
 man of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth" (xv. 10). 
 Towards the end of Josiah's reign the question arose whether 
 he should side with the new Chaldaean power or with Egypt. 
 Jeremiah declared for the former, and Josiah going forth in 
 obedience probably to this decision of the prophet to arrest the 
 progress of Pharaoh-nechoh, son of Psammetichus, who was 
 marching against Chaldaea, was slain in battle at Megiddo. 
 
 8. Jehoahaz (the Shallum of chap. xxii. 11), Josiah's son and 
 successor, reigned but three months. He was the second son 
 of Josiah, and probably on account of his personal qualifications 
 was raised to the throne in preference to the eldest son 
 Jehoiakim. In accordance with the custom of all kings ~ 
 whose title was disputed, he was anointed with the holy oil, as 
 though he were the founder of a new dynasty, and adopting 
 what appears to have been another custom of that period (a 
 custom which has been adopted also by the Popes) he assumed 
 a new name (Jehoahaz = the Lord possesses), which was pro- 
 bably intended to serve as a charm or happy omen\ If so, 
 it grievously failed of its object. In spite of the conse- 
 quences of his father's opposition to Egypt he maintained 
 
 ^ Stanley's Jewish Churchy li. 447. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 the same policy, as is shewn by his being presently carried 
 off by Pharaoh-nechoh to Riblah, while the land was put 
 under tribute (2 Kings xxiii. 33). Although he did that which 
 was evil in the sight of the Lord (ver. 32), Jeremiah speaks of 
 him, as of his father, with kindness and sorrow. " Weep sore 
 for him that goeth away, for he shall return no more, nor see his 
 native country" (chap. xxii. 10). 
 
 9. Jehoiakim, another and elder (2 Chron. xxxvi. 2, 5) 
 brother, was placed on the throne by the king of Egypt and 
 reigned eleven years (according to the received chronology 
 B.C. 609—597), during which period Jeremiah occupies a most 
 important position. The favour of the court was no longer, as 
 in the days of Josiah, and probably in those of Jehoahaz, on 
 the side of the godly. Jehoiakim " did evil in the sight of the 
 Lord" (2 Kings xxiii. ^y). He laid exorbitant tribute upon the 
 people of the land, already impoverished by war, and desired 
 apparently to surpass even the palmy days of his predecessor 
 Solomon in the magnificence of the palaces which should mark 
 his reign and minister to his comfort. Forced labour, the exac- 
 tion of which had produced much discontent even in Solomon's 
 time (i Kings xii. 4), excited still more indignation in the present 
 condition of the people. Their new king's desire for his own 
 glorification and neglect of the worship of God is the subject of 
 a striking portion of Jeremiah's writings, viz. chap, xxvi., and 
 also chap, xxii., "Woe to him that buildeth his house by un- 
 righteousness, and his chambers by wrong ; that useth his neigh- 
 bour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work ; 
 that saith, I will build me a wide house and large chambers, 
 and cutteth him out windows ; and it is ceiled with cedar and 
 painted with vermilion" (xxii. 13, 14). The disregard of religion 
 on the part of the king was thus the means of effecting a speedy 
 separation between the true servants of God and the empty pro- 
 fessors. The latter fall back into idolatry and wickedness ; the 
 former are refined by the adversity, and their faithfulness shines 
 the more brightly. 
 
 10. Real and not pretended service is the lesson which 
 Jeremiah in the above chapters enforces, and in so doing he 
 
INTRODUCTION. xix 
 
 exasperates priests and false prophets alike by the very truth 
 of the charges which he brings. They accuse him before the 
 princes and people of disloyalty and demand his death ; 
 while he replies that the message does not consist of his own 
 words, " The Lord sent me to prophesy against this house, and 
 against this city, all the words that ye have heard" (xxvi. ii, 12). 
 The judges, probably appointed in the days of Josiah, at any 
 rate persons willing to deliver a righteous decision, gave the lie 
 direct to the accusation, saying, 'this man is not worthy to die.' 
 In so doing they followed the precedent adduced to them of 
 Hezekiah's conduct towards the prophet Micah in a similar 
 case, rather than conform to the arbitrary and cruel procedure 
 of the present king in the murder of Urijah the prophet (xxvi. 
 17—24). 
 
 1 1. During the two years which followed, Jeremiah continued 
 to declare the signs of the times, and to maintain in opposition 
 to those who still advocated alliance with Egypt against Babylon, 
 that the latter kingdom would assuredly prevail. He affirmed, 
 as did Ezekiel later (Ezek. xxix. 18 — 20), that "all these lands 
 are given into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar," the "servant" of 
 God. He illustrated his words by the symbols of the moulding 
 and remoulding of the potter's clay, and by the solemn breaking 
 of an earthen vessel in the valley of Hinnom in presence of the 
 chief of the priests and people (chaps, xviii. xix.). This excited 
 the wrath of Pashur, son of Immer (to be distinguished from the 
 son of Melchiah of chap, xxi.), who appears to have been like 
 Jeremiah both priest and prophet, but who prophesied lies 
 in the name of the Lord (chap. xx. 6). At his hands Jeremiah 
 underwent ignominious treatment (chap. xx. 2), including ap- 
 parently imprisonment for a time. 
 
 12. About this period occurred the first and partial fulfilment 
 of his prophecies concerning the supremacy to be asserted by 
 Babylon. In the 4th year of Jehoiakim's reign Nebuchadnezzar 
 smote the army of Pharaoh-nechoh in Carchemish, an ancient 
 fortress which commanded the passage of the river Euphrates 
 (see note on chap. xlvi. 2)^ He then advanced into Palestine, 
 
 ^ Stanley's Jewish Church, ii. 451. 
 
XX INTRODUCTION. 
 
 driving many of its inhabitants to seek refuge within the walls of 
 Jerusalem. Among others who thus came within reach of Jere- 
 miah's words were the Rechabites, and this was accordingly the 
 occasion of the interview which the prophet had with them, and 
 from which he pointed a moral for his countrymen (chap, xxxv.)- 
 Nebuchadnezzar advanced to Jerusalem, and carried away Daniel 
 and others as well as vessels from the Temple to Babylon (2 Chron. 
 xxxvi. 6, 7; Dan. i. i). Nebuchadnezzar's father Nabopolassar, 
 joined with Cyaxares the Mede, as leader of the insurrection at 
 Babylon, had just succeeded in overthrowing the ancient Empire 
 of Nineveh, of which Assurbanipal, mentioned above (§ 3), was 
 the last monarch. Nebuchadnezzar was in command of the 
 army, and would doubtless have taken more effectual measures 
 for the subjugation of Judaea, but for the report of his father's 
 illness, which caused him to return hastily in order to secure 
 his succession to the throne. 
 
 13. The Jews failed to profit by the warning which God thus 
 granted them. In the course of the year following the with- 
 drawal of Nebuchadnezzar, Jeremiah, himself hidden in some re- 
 treat from the wrath of the king which he knew would be excited by 
 what he was about to do, sent Baruch his follower with a roll to be 
 read in the Temple on a solemn feast day in the ears of all the 
 people. The substance of it was reported to the king ; the roll was 
 fetched by his order, read before him, and in spite of the inter- 
 cession of certain of the princes who were present, was burned 
 piece by piece in the fire that was upon the hearth. Whereupon 
 there was written by Baruch at the prophet's dictation and 
 communicated to the king another roll containing in addition to 
 the contents of the former a rebuke to him for his impious 
 act and further announcements of God's coming vengeance. 
 These words, though received by the king with a mixture 
 of anger and contempt, had no doubt^ the effect which God 
 designed in preserving the salt of the people during those evil 
 times, and supporting them through the captivity which was 
 approaching in the reign of Jehoiakim's two successors. So 
 when Luther's books were publicly burned by order of the Papal 
 Nuncio, the remark made to the Emperor Charles's ministers 
 
INTRODUCTION. xxi 
 
 , was ^Do you imagine that Luther's doctrines are found only 
 in those books that you are throwing into the fire? They are 
 ' written where you cannot reach them, in the hearts of the na- 
 I tion^' To this time are most naturally to be referred Jere- 
 miah's absence from Jerusalem, and the symbol of the linen 
 girdle which he was commanded (chap, xiii.) to take to the 
 river Euphrates and hide in a hole of the rock^. Jeremiah 
 and Baruch would probably find it unsafe to return to Je- 
 rusalem for some years, in fact until towards the close of 
 Jehoiakim's reign. The king received no more warnings. 
 It would appear from the indignation and dismay with 
 which Jeremiah's words were greeted, that up to that date 
 the Chaldaeans had not actually come to Jerusalem. The 
 time of judgment however at length arrived, and from the 
 brief notices we have of this period, we can but gather that Je- 
 hoiakim after three years of unwilling payment as tribute of the 
 money which he yearned to spend upon his own luxurious 
 indulgences, rebelled against Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. i), was 
 attacked (Nebuchadnezzar being too much occupied to come in 
 person) by numerous bands of Chaldaeans, Ammonites, Moabites, 
 and Syrians, the subjects of Babylon (2 Kings xxiv. 2), and, 
 probably in an engagement with some of these, came to a 
 violent end and a dishonoured burial. His body was cast out 
 and exposed ignominiously, dragged away and in accordance 
 with Jeremiah's prophecy (xxii. 18, 19, where see notes ; compare 
 xxxvi. 30) buried with the burial of an ass beyond the gates of 
 Jerusalem. 
 
 14. Jehoiachin ( = Jeconiah, chaps, xxiv. i, xxvii. 20, xxviii. 
 4, xxix. 2, and = Coniah, chaps, xxii. 24, 28, xxxvii. i), son and 
 successor of Jehoiakim, and set up by Nebuchadnezzar, reigned 
 like Jehoahaz but three months (B.C. 597). At the end of that 
 time, the city being besieged by Nebuchadnezzar, he yielded 
 himself up. The king himself, the people of the land, except 
 the poorest, the treasures of the Temple and of the king's house, 
 
 ^ D'Aubigne, Bk. vi. chap. XI. (White's Translation, Vol. 11. p. 
 216). 
 2 See further in the notes. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 were taken to Babylon, where Jehoiachin was detained in prison 
 for thirty-six years, till Evil-Merodach, son and successor of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, released him. Of Jeremiah's prophecies un- 
 doubtedly belonging to this reign we have but a few sentences 
 (xxii. 24 — 30). 
 
 15. Zedekiah (B.C. 597 — 586), who received this name in 
 place of Mattaniah from Nebuchadnezzar (2 Kings xxiv. 17), 
 differed much from Jehoiakim. He was well-meaning, but 
 weak. As Nebuchadnezzar's nominee he was more inclined 
 than his predecessors had been to listen to that doctrine of sub- 
 mission to the Babylonian power which Jeremiah preached. But 
 on the other hand he had no real zeal for the service of God, and 
 he was essentially vacillating in disposition, yielding now to the 
 suggestions of the prophet, now to those of the princes of the 
 people, who advocated resistance single-handed or in alliance 
 with Egypt. It was as in the days described in Isaiah i. 21 — 
 23. Through the overthrow of lawful authority in the Chaldaean 
 invasions, certain of the most energetic spirits got the rule of the 
 city virtually into their own hands. Zedekiah did what he 
 could for the preservation of Jeremiah, but was practically 
 powerless against the stronger wills and more vigorous leaders 
 opposed to him. To this time belongs the vision of the good 
 and evil figs (chap, xxiv., where see notes). All the best and 
 worthiest part of the nation had been carried captive. Those 
 left were like the " naughty figs, which could not be eaten, they 
 were so bad," and they also, the prophet announced, were shortly 
 to be consumed from off the land. To this time belongs also 
 chap, xxix., containing his letter of advice to the exiles, viz. to 
 submit to their captivity and await restoration to their land. 
 There was a false prophet at Babylon at this time, She- 
 maiah, who sought to stir up the priests and people at Jerusa- 
 lem against Jeremiah as a madman. In another letter written 
 at the same time Jeremiah foretells this man's punishment (xxix. 
 
 32). 
 
 16. At the beginning of the ninth year of Zedekiah a Chal- 
 daean army approached Jerusalem. The wealthiest of the 
 people, who had taken advantage of the prevailing distress to 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 make slaves of their brethren, consented under this pressure to 
 release them. But on the departure of the besieging army to 
 meet that of Pharaoh- Hophra, which was thought to be about 
 to attempt to raise the siege, the princes withdrew this boon from 
 those lately manumitted. To this withdrawal Zedekiah was op- 
 posed, but was, or considered himself to be, powerless to prevent 
 it, while Jeremiah denounced in the strongest terms the act and 
 those concerned in it, including the king (xxxiv. 17 — 22). The 
 prophet had already several years previously appeared in the 
 streets with a yoke upon his neck to symbolize the impend- 
 ing servitude of the nation; and when Hananiah, who pro- 
 phesied deliverance, had broken the yoke, he received the 
 sentence of speedy death at the mouth of Jeremiah, because 
 he had " spoken rebellion against the Lord." It was natural 
 for self-reliant irreligious men to be highly displeased with 
 such acts and words as these, and now Jeremiah's attempt 
 during the temporary absence of the Chaldaeans to go forth to 
 Anathoth in order to obtain provisions ^ gave his enemies the 
 opportunity they desired to seize and imprison him as a deserter. 
 From this after " many days " he was delivered by Zedekiah, 
 who gave him liberty and a daily supply of food (xxxvii. 21). 
 Although still declaring the speedy overthrow of Jerusalem, he 
 now also prophesied plainly of the future restoration, and like 
 the Roman, the report of whose having purchased at full value 
 the ground on which Hannibal's army was encamped, carried 
 dismay to that general's heart (Livy, xxvi. 11), he gave practical 
 proof of his belief in the brighter days in store for his country- 
 men^. But the captains, unmoved by the distant visions of 
 hope, again seized him, Zedekiah shewing once more his weak- 
 ness (chap, xxxviii. 5). Each house in Jerusalem had a cistern for 
 storing up water to be used in the dry season. Into one of these, 
 damp and miry as it was, they let down the prophet, who was 
 
 ^ See the note on chap, xxxvii. 12. 
 
 2 His purchase of a portion of a field for seventeen shekels (about 
 £%. 2s. dd. but representing a much larger amount according to the 
 present value of money) shews that Jeremiah could not even then have 
 been in needy circumstances. 
 
 JEREMIAH C 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 rescued by Ebedmelech an Ethiopian eunuch. Another inter- 
 view, first with the feeble-minded king, and then with Pashur 
 (not the one mentioned chap, xx.) and with Zephaniah, effects 
 no change in the position of affairs, and in the nth year of 
 Zedekiah the city is sacked, the Temple burnt, and he and his 
 attendants taken prisoners while in the act of flight. Zedekiah 
 is taken to Riblah on the northern frontier of Palestine, his sons 
 are slain in his presence, and his eyes being then put out, he 
 is immured in a dismal dungeon. 
 
 17. As for Jeremiah, Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, 
 receives a special charge concerning his welfare (chap, xxxix. 
 II, 12), and having been recognised among the prisoners of war 
 at Ramah a village about five miles from Jerusalem, he is of- 
 fered his choice of remaining under the new governor of Judaea, 
 Gedaliah, or living in an honourable captivity at Babylon. Geda- 
 liah was of a family friendly to Jeremiah. He was son of Ahi- 
 kam, and grandson of Shaphan, the friend of Hilkiah the high- 
 priest, and perhaps identical with Hilkiah the father of the pro- 
 phet^. Within two months however Gedaliah was murdered 
 by Ishmael a prince of the blood royal. Many were slain Je- 
 remiah was probably among the prisoners, who while being car- 
 ried off by Ishmael were rescued by Johanan. This last was one 
 of those warlike captains who, as we saw, had sprung up during 
 the later years of the kingdom. The prophet in vain warned 
 the people against going down into Egypt, and foretold the 
 want and misery which would ensue, if they disobeyed. The 
 expectation of security from war and famine (chap. xlii. 14) pre- 
 vailed ; they forced Jeremiah to accompany them, and from 
 Tahpanhes, a town near the eastern border of Lower ( = Nor- 
 thern) Egypt, we draw the last certain notices that we pos- 
 sess of his life. He declares that Nebuchadnezzar's throne 
 shall be set up there at the entry of Pharaoh's house (chap, xliii. 
 10), and (chap, xliv.) makes a dying protest against the idolatry 
 of his countrymen, and their wanton worship of the moon ("the 
 queen of heaven"). We have no notice in Scripture of his death. 
 
 ^ See above, § 2. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 'The noble form of Jeremiah, the greatest of all the his- 
 torical and literary prophets, fades from our sight together with 
 the monarchy. In misery and continual peril of death he wit- 
 nessed the fall of the State and the destruction of Jerusalem ; — 
 he survived it, but in the silent tomb of an alien land^.' 
 
 For traditions, &c., concerning Jeremiah and for the prophet 
 considered as a type of Christ, see Appendix. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 CHARACTER AND STYLE OF THE BOOK. 
 
 1. Jeremiah is personally the most interesting to us of all 
 the prophets, because, unlike the others, he shews us the inmost 
 recesses of his mind. The various qualities which made up the 
 man are quickly and easily gathered from his own lips. There is 
 hardly a clearer illustration of the Providence of God in raising 
 up men for special sorts of work than is afforded by Jeremiah. 
 We have just seen that they were no ordinary times in which he 
 lived. *The snake' of idolatry had been 'scotched not killed' by 
 Hezekiah and Josiah. The spirit of disobedience and rebellion, 
 which had been so long working in his countrymen, was now 
 past remedy by all common means. Nothing but the nation's 
 total overthrow, at least for a time, could effect a radical cure. 
 
 2. Glowing appeals, such as had been made by an Isaiah, a 
 Hosea, a Micah in former days, would now have been of no 
 avail. Those prophets had fulfilled their task, and the Holy 
 Spirit had employed their special gifts for the work which 
 belonged to their age. Jeremiah's office on the other hand was 
 to utter and reiterate the warning, though sensible all the while 
 that the sentence of condemnation was passed and would speedily 
 be put into execution. It was not for him as for those who had 
 preceded him to proclaim the certainty of God's protection, to 
 urge resistance to the foe, to present scarce any but bright 
 pictures of the future. Hopes like these, bestowed through 
 
 ^ Bunsen's God in History (Winkworlh and Stanley), Vol. I. p. 67. 
 
 C 2 
 
xxvi INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Isaiah, had since been forfeited, and now hardly anything re- 
 mains save to mourn the downfall of the kingdom, to point 
 again and yet again to the canker that had eaten out the vitals 
 of the nation. 
 
 3. Such a task as this demanded one who, however weak in 
 body, should be a man of rare courage, unterrified by popular 
 clamour or princely disfavour, fixed in resolve, and thoroughly 
 devoted to the ascertained will of God. He needed not natural 
 gifts of oratory. His work was not to persuade, but rather to 
 testify, to express the thoughts of the few remaining pious ones 
 of the nation, not to gain the ear or influence the hearts of the 
 abandoned crowd. The wearing effect of constant failure, the 
 intense pain of seeing his nation advance step by step on the 
 road to its overthrow, his powerlessness to avert the evils which 
 he saw impending, the hostility and abuse which it was his daily 
 lot to bear from those whom he sought to warn, a solitary life 
 and prohibition of marriage^— these required as a counterpoise 
 a heroic spirit that should not shrink from the encounter, as 
 well as ceaseless devotion to Him whose commission he had 
 borne even from the womb 2. 
 
 4. And yet he was naturally of a shy and timid disposition, 
 shrinking from pubHc life, deprecating all possibility of pro- 
 phesying in God's name^. And after he had entered upon his 
 work, his naturally desponding mind would suggest not only 
 that the message he bore was a sad one, but that he had not had 
 afforded him the proofs — the credentials which marked a true 
 prophet — such as were granted to his predecessors. No miracle 
 was Wrought to attest his words. No prediction was fulfilled 
 with speed, so as to indicate the solidity of his claims. On the 
 contrary "the word of the Lord was a reproach to him, and a 
 derision daily ^." 
 
 5. At times he seems to have well-nigh despaired not only 
 of success but of life itself. "Woe is me, my mother, that thou 
 hast borne me a man of strife and a man of contention to the 
 
 1 Chap. xvi. 2. 2 Chap. i. 5. 
 
 8 Chap. i. 6. * Chap. xx. 7. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 whole earth!... every one of them doth curse me^." Immediately 
 afterwards he contrasts the joy in which, inspired no doubt 
 by the promises given him 2, he had entered upon the prophetic 
 office, with the disheartening reception that awaited him. 
 " Thy words were found and I did eat them ; and thy word was 
 unto me the joy and rejoicing of my heart... Why is my pain 
 perpetual and my wound incurable, which refuseth to be healed?" 
 Such is the bitterness of his sufferings that on one occasion we 
 find him relating his resolve to keep silence. "The word of the 
 Lord was made a reproach unto me and a derision daily. Then 
 I said, I will not make mention of him, nor speak any more in 
 his name : but his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut 
 up in my bones, and I was weary with forbearing, and I could 
 not stay^." 
 
 6. Belonging to the orders both of Priest and Prophet, and 
 living at the very time when each had sunk to its lowest state of 
 degradation, he was compelled to submit to the buffeting which 
 they each bestowed upon a man who was by his every word and 
 deed passing sentence upon themselves. He saw them permitted 
 to vent their rage upon his person, he saw them held in esteem by 
 the people, their way prospering, those that dealt treacherously 
 happy. "For the greater part of his mission he 'had no man 
 likeminded with him.' From the first moment of his call he was 
 alone, amidst a hostile world ^." But through it all conscientious 
 devotion to duty maintained its place within his heart. The 
 promise that he should be as a brasen wall made at the time of 
 his call*^ and renewed later ^ never failed him. 
 
 7. Jeremiah has been likened to several characters in profane 
 history — to Cassandra, the Trojan prophetess, whose fate it was 
 never to be beheved, though prophesying nothing but the truth ; 
 to Phocion, the rival of Demosthenes in the last generation of 
 Athenian greatness, who maintained the unpopular but sound 
 doctrine that, if Athens were to escape worse evils, she must 
 submit peaceably to the growing power of Macedon ; to Dante, 
 
 1 Chap. XV. 10. 2 Chap. i. 10, 18. 
 
 3 Chap. XX. 8, 9. ^ Stanley's Jewish Churchy ii. 439. 
 
 ^ Chap. i. iS. •' Chap. xv. 20. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 whose native state, Florence, was in relation to France and the 
 Empire as Palestine was to Egypt and Babylon, while the poet 
 like the prophet could only protest without effect against the 
 thickening ills. 
 
 8. His style corresponds closely with what we should expect 
 from his character. It displays 
 
 (a) Absence of ornament. This thoroughly befits his inarti- 
 ficial nature. He is not only pre-eminently the prophet of sor- 
 row, but, as shrinking from anything like display of himself, and 
 full of humility as of zeal for God's honour, he naturally was led 
 to the simplest form of words to express the painful images 
 which ever held possession of his thoughts. In him the glowing 
 language and vivacity which characterize Isaiah's writings have 
 no place, and while his style has a beauty of its own, it has 
 at its best a shade of sadness, and its fervour, when it rises to 
 such, is the fervour of expostulation or grief. 
 
 {d) Frequent repetition. This also is to be expected, inas- 
 much as the main subject, on which he is charged to deliver 
 himself, is the same throughout. However manifold the images 
 by which he illustrates the thought, however varied the in- 
 tensity with which he regards it, the sins to be denounced and 
 the penalties foretold are in the main identical i. 
 
 ^ Chap. ii. 28 repeated in xi. i^. 
 
 V. 9, 29 ,, ix. 9. 
 
 vi. 13 — 15 ,, viii. 10 — 12. 
 
 vii. 14 ,, xxvi. 6. 
 
 X. 12 — 16 ,, li. 15 — 19. 
 
 xi. 20 ,, XX. 12. 
 
 XV. 2 ,, xliii. XI. 
 
 xvi. 14, 15 ,, xxiii. 7, 8. 
 
 xvii. 25 ,, xxii. 4. 
 
 xxiii, 19, 20 ,, XXX. 23, 24. 
 
 XXX. II ,, xlvi. 28. 
 
 xxxi. 35, 36 ,, xxxiii. 25, 26. 
 
 List of places in which the same thought or image is repeated — 
 The brasen wall, chap. i. 18, xv. 20. 
 The turned back, ii. 27, vii. 24, xxxii. 33. 
 Fury that burns like fire, iv. 4, xxi. 12. 
 The travailing woman, iv. 31, vi. 24, xiii. 21, xxii. 23, xxx. 6. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 {c) Frequent cases of coincidence in language with earlier 
 prophets, as well as especially with the Book of Deuteronomy. 
 Of this also we may easily perceive the reason. It was natural 
 that one daily exposed to so much obloquy for the nature of his 
 predictions should be anxious to vindicate himself by shewing 
 that there was no break, no want of harmony, between himself 
 and the older prophets, that what he maintained was the same 
 that they had ever maintained, viz. that idolatry and national 
 crimes entailed national overthrow i. The newly-discovered 
 Book of the Law would, we might well expect, supply him with 
 many examples of this teaching. 
 
 {d) Numerous images used by way of illustration. But here 
 we notice a peculiar mingling of the image and the thing signified 
 by it. Jeremiah's vehemence and rapidity of thought are so great, 
 that before he has done more than present us with a portion 
 of the figure, he dismisses it, and falls back upon the subject 
 itself. Thus e.g. (chap. i. 15) he speaks of the attack of hostile 
 nations upon Jerusalem under the guise of judges sitting in the 
 
 Rising up early, vii. 13, 25, xi. 7, xxv. 3, 4, xxvi. 5, xxix. 19, 
 xxxii. 33, XXXV. 14, 15, xliv. 4. 
 
 Water of gall, viii. 14, ix. 15, xxiii. 15. 
 
 The incurable wound, xv. 18, xxx. 12. 
 
 The figs too bad to be eaten, xxiv. 8, xxix. 17. 
 
 Phrases which often recur — 
 
 Walking in the stubbornness of the heart, chap. iii. 17, vii. 24, 
 ix. I4, xi. 8, xiii. 10, xvi. 12, xxiii. 17. 
 
 The evil of men's doings, iv. 4, xxi. 12, xxiii. 2, 22, xxv, 5, xxvi. 
 3, xliv. 22. 
 
 The voice of mirth and the voice of gladness, the voice of the 
 bridegroom and the voice of the bride, vii. 34, xvi. 9, xxv. 10, xxxiii. 
 II. 
 
 Men dying in the siege by the sword, by the pestilence, and by 
 famine, xiv. 12, 15, 16, xv. 2, xvi. 4, xviii. 21, xxi. 7, 9, xxiv. 10, xxvii. 
 8, 13, xxix. 17, xxxii. 24, 36, xxxiv. 17, xxxviii. 2, xlii. 17, 22, xliii. 11, 
 xliv. 13. (Taken with slight additions from the Speaker'' s Co}7inientary .) 
 
 ^ Parallels between Jeremiah and older books, exclusive of those 
 supplied by Deuteronomy, which have been already given (Introd. chap. i. 
 § 5), are Is. iv. 2, xi. i with Jer. xxiii. 5, 6, xxxiii. 15; Is. xiii., xlvii. 
 with Jer. 1., H. ; Is. xv. with Jer. xlviii. ; Is. xl. 19, 20 with Jer. x. 
 3 — 5; Is. xlii. 16 with Jer. xxxi. 9; Hos. viii. 13 with Jer. xiv. 10; 
 Ps. Ixxix. 6 with Jer. x. 25 ; Ps. cxxxv. 7 with Jer. x. 13. (See Art. 
 yeremiak in Sm. Bibl. Diet.) 
 
3ixx INTRODUCTION. 
 
 city gates for judgment. But no sooner has he indicated the 
 simile, than he returns to language not of judgment but of war^. 
 In regard to variations of style within the Book itself, the 
 prophet shews more calmness and uniformity of tone in the 
 earlier parts ; the latter have more traces of individual suffering. 
 
 9. The Hebrew of Jeremiah displays a considerable number 
 of words and grammatical forms, which do not belong to the 
 language in its purer state. For his use of the species of cypher, 
 or secret writing, called Atbash, see notes on chaps, xxv. 26, 
 li. I. 
 
 10, Jeremiah's style, however it may form a contrast 
 with that of Isaiah and others, is yet truly poetical. ' If we 
 compare Jeremiah's land with the fruitful Carmel and cedar-forest 
 of Isaiah, it is a waste, but a poetic waste, and a true image of 
 the melancholy state of things, which lay before his eyes'.' ^ He 
 is certainly the greatest poet of desolation and sorrow, because 
 he most deeply feels them 3.' 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 CONTENTS AND ARRANGEMENT. 
 
 I. The prophecies of Jeremiah cover, as we have seen, 
 a period of at least some thirty years. But when we proceed to 
 read the Book in which they and the events which accompanied 
 them are contained, we find that the order of arrangement is not 
 that of time. Prophecies uttered in the reign of Zedekiah occur 
 in the midst of those that relate to Jehoiakim. The Jewish 
 captives carried to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar are addressed, 
 in words of comfort, several chapters earlier than the announce- 
 ment made to Jehoiakim that that event is imminent, while the 
 prophecies which chiefly form the later portion of the Book 
 and relate to foreign nations (chaps, xlvi. — li.), were most or all 
 
 ^ A similar characteristic is found chaps, iii. i, vi. 3 — 5, 27 — 30, 
 xxii. 6, xxv. 16, where see notes. 
 
 '-^ Umbreit quoted in Speaker's Cojnmentary. "^ Ibid. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 of them delivered before the final overthrow of the city and 
 kingdom. 
 
 2. So far as any order is observable, it is an order not of 
 time but of subject-matter. The following is a summary 
 of the contents of the Book. 
 
 (i) Chaps, i. — xlv. Prophecies mainly relating to home events 
 
 and history of the times, 
 (ii) Chaps, xlvi. — li. Prophecies relating to foreign nations, 
 (iii) Chap. lii. Supplementary and historical. 
 (i) may be subdivided thus : — 
 
 [a] Chaps, i. — xx. Prophecies mostly from the time of Jeremiah's 
 call (13th year of Josiah) to the 4th year of Jehoiakim. 
 
 (d) Chaps, xxi. — xxv. 14. Prophecies directed at various times 
 against the kings of Judah and against the false prophets. 
 
 {c) Chap. xxv. 15 — 38. A kind of summary of the fuller pre- 
 dictions against foreign nations which occur chaps, xlvi. — li. ; perhaps 
 placed here as suggested by the announcement of the approaching 
 overthrow of Babylon, which ends {5). 
 
 [d) Chaps, xxvi. — xxviii. Prophecies concerning the fall of 
 Jerusalem, with historical notices interspersed. These belong to diffe- 
 rent periods of Jeremiah's life, and seem grouped together here in 
 accordance with the principle of arrangement mentioned above. 
 
 [e] Chap. xxix. Letter and message to the captives in Babylon. 
 (/) Chaps. XXX., xxxi. Prophecies mainly of comfort and hope. 
 {g) Chaps, xxxii. — xliv. History of the two years preceding the 
 
 capture and destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans, and the 
 prophecies of Jeremiah during that time. Chaps xxxv., xxxvi. break 
 the chronological order here. 
 
 {h) Chap. xlv. A supplementary notice on the part of Baruch. 
 
 (ii) may be subdivided thus : — 
 
 (a) Chap. xlvi. i. Superscription. 
 
 {b) Chap. xlvi. 2 — 28. Against Egypt. 
 
 (c) Chap, xlvii. Against the Philistines. 
 
 (d) Chap, xlviii. Against Moab. 
 
 {e) Chap. xlix. i — 6. Against Ammon. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 (/) Chap. xlix. 7—22. Against Edom. 
 
 (g) Chap. xlix. 23—27. Against Damascus. 
 
 (/t) Chap. xlix. 28—33. Against Kedar and Hazor. 
 
 (/) Chap. xlix. 34—39- Against Elam. 
 
 ij) Chaps. 1., li. Against Babylon. 
 
 3. Such being the arrangement of the contents, we have 
 now to enquire whether we have any clue which will guide us 
 in an attempt to explain it. Such a clue is to be found in 
 chap, xxxvi. We there read, as we have noticed already \ 
 that Baruch writes (ver. 2) in a roll Jeremiah's prophecies 
 "against Israel and against Judah, and against all the 
 nations " from the days of Josiah till the present (4th) year of 
 Jehoiakim. When this roll was burned by the king, Baruch 
 wrote another at the dictation of Jeremiah, as before, containing 
 all the words of the previous one, while "there were added 
 unto them many like words " (ver. 32). This therefore gives us 
 the nucleus of the present Book, although the portion which 
 precedes this part of the narrative, as we have it, cannot 
 have been wholly contained in the roll which Baruch then 
 wrote. Chap. xiii. (see notes there) belongs in ail probability 
 to the very end of Jehoiakim's reign or even to that of his 
 successor. Chaps, xxi. and xxiv. also belong to the days of 
 Zedekiah, as do chaps, xxvii. — xxxiv. 
 
 4. It appears then that Jeremiah, like other prophets, wrote 
 or caused to be written by his scribe groups of prophecies either 
 as he uttered them, or after some lapse of time. The title to the 
 Book (chap. i. i — 3) next suggests to us by the peculiar form 
 which it assumes, something of the way in which this was done. 
 If we compare it with the Introduction to other prophecies, 
 e.g. Isaiah or Hosea, we shall see not only that it differs 
 from them in form, but that the difference is of a kind that im- 
 plies repeated alteration from the original shape. Verses i, 2 
 might very well be the heading of a prophecy including only the 
 utterances of Josiah's reign. Verse 3 is evidently an addition 
 
 Chap. i. § 13. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 made when a further group was added, and even as it stands 
 does not include that part of the history of the Book which 
 belongs to the period after the overthrow of the Jewish king- 
 dom. It is most probable therefore that at some earlier period 
 than that treated of in chap, xxxvi. Jeremiah had written one 
 or more groups of predictions, which would all no doubt be 
 incorporated by him with the new matter contained in the roll 
 of chap, xxxvi. 
 
 5. Again, by the close of Zedekiah's reign, much new matter 
 was ready to be introduced into the Book. If we ask why this 
 was not done in the chronological order that we might expect, 
 the answer is to be found m the history of the period. At the 
 very time that the collection of which the roll (chap, xxxvi.) 
 consisted was made, Jeremiah was a prisoner, and presently 
 had to fly for his life. He did not return to Jerusalem for some 
 years. Secrecy had to be observed during this period, and in 
 fact we have no prophecy of Jeremiah in the Book until the 
 Chaldaeans' approach at the end of Jehoiakim's reign. Again, 
 after the troubles and imprisonment which befel him during the 
 reign of Zedekiah, on the capture of the city Jeremiah was taken 
 in chains to Ramah, and though presently set free, yet by the 
 death of Gedaliah and the forced flight into Egypt, followed pro- 
 bably by a speedy and violent death there, he would be hindered 
 from an orderly arrangement of the whole Book of his prophe- 
 cies. Accordingly the fulfilment of this duty, as we may suppose, 
 fell to his trusty follower Baruch. Thus we find in the Book, 
 as we now have it, certain portions of Jeremiah's later prophe- 
 cies (e.g. chaps, xiii., xxi., etc.) inserted in the earlier roll; we 
 find also the history connected with the last years of the king- 
 dom, and the events which immediately followed, and the pro- 
 phecy addressed by Jeremiah to Baruch himself (chap. xlv.). 
 
 6. We cannot, however, think Baruch to have been in any 
 sense the author of the Book. The very words of that chapter, 
 which is so strictly personal to himself (xlv., see especially ver. 
 5), shew what a gulf he felt to lie between him and his master. 
 This feeling seems to be that which prevented him from ven- 
 turing upon any thing like an elaborate arrangement of the 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 Greek form differs could venture to compete with it. Still 
 there is sufficient difference to make it interesting to enquire, 
 which text represents Jeremiah's own arrangement most truly. 
 
 II. Some^ maintain the claims of the LXX., others^ those 
 of the Hebrew^. 
 
 By the former is pleaded : 
 
 {a) That the earlier position of the prophecies directed 
 against foreign nations is that which they are more likely to have 
 occupied in Jeremiah's roll (compare the words of xxv. 13). To 
 this it may be replied that Jeremiah himself or Baruch might 
 well have deemed the end of the Book the fitting place for them, 
 written as they may have been on separate parchments, and by 
 this position leaving the prophecies which had to do with the 
 Jews themselves distinct and preceding them. See further, 
 however, in note on xxv. 13. 
 
 {b) That chaps, xxix. 16 — 20, xxxiii. 14 — 26, xxxix. 4 — 13, Hi. 
 28 — 30 and some shorter passages do not occur in the LXX., and 
 are not of a character to be accidentally omitted. For remarks 
 on these see notes. 
 
 {c) That chap. xxv. 26 (last words of verse) introduces in 
 Hebrew a Kabalistic mode of naming (omitted in LXX.) which 
 Jeremiah would not have made use of. See note on verse for 
 reply. 
 
 By the latter is pleaded : 
 
 Either {a) The arbitrary character of the renderings in the 
 LXX. So Graf*, "After the innumerable instances given above 
 of the arbitrariness and capriciousness of the Alexandrian trans- 
 lator it is altogether impossible to give his new edition — for one 
 can scarcely call it a translation — any critical authority, or to 
 draw from it any conclusion as to the Hebrew text having ever 
 
 * e.g. Michaelis, Movers, Hitzig, Bleek. 
 
 '■* e.g. St Jerome, and many others in ancient times; among moderns, 
 Ewald, Havernick, Keil, and others. 
 
 •' For further remarks on the respective claims of Heb. and LXX., 
 see note on chap. xxv. 13. 
 
 * Einleitung, Ivi., translated as above in Speaker's Conunentary. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 
 
 existed in a different form from that in which we have it at 
 present." 
 
 Or {b) That, without bringing any such charge of arbitrari- 
 ness against the Greek translator, the general nature of the 
 omissions (about 2700 words in all) points to the conclusion that 
 necessity for haste, not caprice, was the motive. The omis- 
 sions here spoken of are such as do not curtail the sense, viz. 
 the words 'the prophet' after 'Jeremiah,' the words 'saith the 
 Lord,' or any such expression as 'the Lord of hosts, the God 
 of Israel,' instead of simply 'the Lord.' On the death of 
 Jeremiah, which seems to have occurred soon after Baruch 
 had been forcibly conveyed to Egypt, the latter, both in deference 
 to the opinion of his master and through dislike of the princes 
 (chap. xHii. 3), who had brought him there, would desire to 
 return. Several persons may then have been employed to 
 transcribe in all haste, probably on more than one parchment 
 roll, the original words which Baruch would undoubtedly wish 
 to bring back to Palestine with himself. There occur in the 
 course of the Book but few omissions which may not be ex- 
 plained on this hypothesis, which is that of Dean Payne Smiths 
 The LXX. is simply the Greek translation of this the authorita- 
 tive form of the Book among the Egyptian exiles. Finally the 
 frequency of intercourse between Egypt and Palestine caused 
 the speedy addition of chap. lii. to the text possessed by the 
 former. 
 
 12. Such a conjecture, in a matter which cannot but be ob- 
 scure, is perhaps as good a one as can be offered. At any rate 
 we find that Ezra and the men of the 'great Synagogue,' to 
 whose labours we owe in so large a measure the determination 
 of the Canon of the Old Testament, deliberately adopted the 
 Hebrew form of the Book in preference to the Greek. That 
 therefore is the form which had authority for the Jews of Pales- 
 tine, and through them has now authority for us. 
 
 13. The following Table shews how, as has been said 
 above in § 9 {&), the order of succession of the prophecies 
 against foreign nations differs in the two. 
 
 ^ Speaker''s Coftimentary^ Vol. v. p. 324. 
 
A-AAVill iX^ 
 
 X J.V\ 
 
 ^ \-j Kj \^ y i.\ 
 
 J L^ . 
 
 Hebrew. 
 
 
 
 Septuagint. 
 
 xlix. 34—39 (Elam). 
 
 
 
 XXV. 14—18. 
 
 xlvi. (Egypt). 
 
 
 
 xxvi. 
 
 L (Babylon). 
 
 
 
 xxvii. 
 
 li. (Babylon). 
 
 
 
 xxviii. 
 
 xlvii. (Philistines). 
 
 
 
 xxix. I — 7. 
 
 xlix. 7 — 2 2 (Edom). 
 
 
 
 M 7-23. 
 
 ,, I — 6 (Ammon). 
 
 
 
 XXX. I — 5. 
 
 „ 28-33 (Kedar 
 
 and 
 
 Hazor). 
 
 „ 6— ri. 
 
 ,, 23 — 27 (Damascus). 
 
 
 „ 12—16. 
 
 XXXI. 
 
 xlviii. (Moab). : 
 
 Thereupon the LXX. (chap, xxxii., etc.) takes up the Heb. 
 chap. XXV. 15, etc. 
 
THE BOOK OF THE PROPHET 
 
 JEREMIAH. 
 
 Chap. I. i — 3. Words of Introduction. 
 
 THE words of Jeremiah the son of Hilkiah, of the priests 1 
 that were in Anathoth in the land of Benjamin : to 2 
 
 Chap. I. 1 — 3. Words of Introduction. 
 
 1. The words of yereviiah\ A more common introduction to the 
 prophetical books is "the word of the Lord." Certain Jewish com- 
 mentators have suggested that a different phrase is used here because 
 the words which follow are not confined to prophecies, but contain as 
 well many notices of the personal history of Jeremiah. This reason 
 would apply also to the opening words of the prophet Amos, where we 
 find a phrase similar to that used here, and again to the opening of 
 Ecclesiastes, in which book the Preacher gives various particulars of his 
 life. 
 
 yereniiaK\ For speculations on the meaning of the name, see Intro- 
 duction chap. i. § 2. The derivation proposed by Hengstenberg 
 "Jehovah throws" is unlikely inasmuch as the ill omen which it 
 suggests is hardly in accordance with the fact that the name was far 
 from uncommon. Some other Jeremiahs are mentioned in the Bible, 
 viz.: (i) the father-in-law of Josiah {2 Kings xxiii. 31); (2) the head 
 of a house in Manasseh (i Chron. v. 24); (3, 4, 5) three mighty men in 
 David's army (i Chron. xii. 4, 10, 13); (6) the head of a priestly course 
 (Neh. X. 2, xii. i, 12); (7) the father of Jaazaniah, the Rechabite Qer. 
 xx!fv. 3). 
 
 the son of Hilkiah'] The small number of proper names among the 
 Jews rendered it necessary to add the father's name for purposes of dis- 
 tinction. Compare the Welsh custom ap-Thomas, ap-Richard, etc. 
 If we were to render by Ben-Hilkiah we should no longer be in danger 
 of connecting the words that follow with Hilkiah rather than with the 
 name of the prophet himself. 
 
 Anathoth] See Introduction, chap. i. § 2 {c). 
 
 Benjamin] The territory of this tribe was 26 miles in length by 12 
 in breadth, and was thus about the size of the county of Middlesex. It 
 was bounded on the south by Judah, on the north by Ephraim, and was 
 
 JEREMIAH J 
 
JEREMIAH, I. [vv. 3, 4. 
 
 whom the word of the Lord came in the days of Josiah the 
 son of Amon king of Judah, in the thirteenth year of his 
 3 reign. It came also in the days of Jehoiakim the son of 
 Josiah king of Judah, unto the end of the eleventh year of 
 Zedekiah the son of Josiah king of Judah, unto the carry- 
 ing away of Jerusalem captive in the fifth month. 
 
 4 — 10. Jereinialis Call. 
 .J Then the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, 
 
 for the most part hilly, being crossed by deep ravines which, mounting 
 from the Philistine country on the west, descend precipitously into the 
 valley of the Jordan on the east. The tribe of Benjamin is noteworthy 
 as having supplied the first of the Jewish kings, as well as his name- 
 sake " Saul, who is also called Paul," the great Apostle of the Gentiles. 
 
 2. ca77ie\ was. The Hebrew implies more than one Divine commu- 
 nication. 
 
 in the days of, etc.'\ For this and the following verse, as in all proba- 
 bility repeatedly altered from the original shape, see Introduction, chap. 
 
 iii. § 4- 
 
 in the thirteenth year of his reigtt] According to the ordinary 
 reckoning, B.C. 629, or perhaps two years later. Josiah had the year 
 before (2 Chron. xxxiv. 3) commenced his reforms. These words, as 
 forming part of the original heading of Jeremiah's prophecies, strictly 
 speaking include only ch. i. 5 — iii. 5, there being afterwards many pro- 
 phecies which refer to other parts of Josiah's reign. Preserved, there- 
 fore, through the changes made in the title, they serve to illustrate the 
 alterations which it has undergone. The period included in these two 
 verses is one of 402 years, viz. the latter part of Josiah's reign = 
 18 years; that of Jehoahaz=3 months; that of Jehoiakim= 11 years; 
 that of Jehoiachin = 3 months; that of Zedekiah=ii years. The 
 omission of the names of Jehoahaz and Jehoiachin is probably due to 
 the shortness of their reigns. 
 
 3. in the fifth month'] In this month took place the burning of the 
 city by Nebuzaradan, Nebuchadnezzar's captain. The walls of the city 
 also were then broken down. It had been captured in the preceding 
 month (2 Kings xxv. 4, 8 — 10). The mourning appointed to take place 
 in the fifth month in memory of the overthrow is mentioned in Zecha- 
 riah (vii. 3). 
 
 4—10. Jeremiah's Call. 
 
 4. Then the word, etc.] Here, in accordance with what has been 
 said above, we revert from the title in its present form, adapted and re- 
 adapted to the later prophecies, to the words which doubtless originally 
 introduced the utterance of "the days of Josiah... in the thirteenth year of 
 his reign" {v. 2). They are at once Jeremiah's plea and his support, 
 the credentials of his mission to which he might refer the people when 
 
w. 5, 6.] JEREMIAH, I. 
 
 Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee ; and before 5 
 thou earnest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I 
 ordained thee a prophet unto the nations. Then said I, 6 
 
 hostile and himself in seasons of despondency. They are words that 
 serve to place him from the outset in his true position before his country- 
 men, as one who spoke in virtue of God's commission, and not of 
 his own choice. We have in this section the declaration of God's pur- 
 pose concerning him {v. 5) ; Jeremiah's protest (z/. 6) ; God's reply 
 \w. 7, 8) ; the act of divine consecration (p. 9) ; the nature of the 
 charge itself (z/. 10). 
 
 6. / knew thee] meaning not mere acquaintance, but approval as a 
 consequence of this. The parallelism of contrast, frequent in the poeti- 
 cal books of the Bible, shews this to be the sense of the word in Ps. i. 6, 
 "The Lord knoweth the way of the righteous, but the way of the tin- 
 godly shall /^r/j/4;" and when read in the light of that verse, two other 
 passages (" For I know him, that he will command his children and his 
 household after him, and they shall keep the way of the Lord," 
 Gen. xviii. 19; and "The Lord is good, a strong hold in the day of 
 trouble; and he knoweth them that trust in him," Nahum i. 7) throw 
 light on the expression as used here. 
 
 before thou catnest] Compai-e the promise of the angel to the father of 
 John the Baptist, "he shall be filled with the Holy Ghost, even from 
 his mother's womb " (Luke i. 15); and the yet more mysterious promise 
 made to the Virgin-mother of One greater than John, " The Holy Ghost 
 shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow 
 thee" (Luke i. 35). Compare also Judges xiii. 5. 
 
 / sanctified thee] Solemn utterances like this have a tendency in 
 Hebrew to take the form of parallel clauses either of similarity of sense 
 as here ('knew — sanctified'), or of contrast, as in the first of the 
 instances above given. 
 
 and I ordained thee] I have ordained thee. The verb literally is 
 *have given.' The absence of ^ and'' in the Hebrew points to this 
 change from the indefinite to the definite form of the perfect. Thus, 
 while the verbs ' knew,' ' sanctified,' refer to the time preceding the 
 prophet's birth, that which follows relates to the time of his call. 
 
 unto the nations] This points out a distinction between the work of 
 Jeremiah as a prophet, and that of many of his predecessors, such as 
 Elijah, or Elisha, whose predictions were concerned with the Jews only. 
 Those of Jeremiah on the other hand had to do with the heathen world 
 of that day as well as with the nations of subsequent ages. He unfolded 
 to them the order of Divine Providence, and foretold the blessings 
 coming on the earth through the Advent of the Messiah (xxiii. 5, xxxiii. 
 15). The Jewish interpretation limits the reference of the words to 
 judgments on the heathen nations, as contained in xxv. 8, etc. This is 
 proved to be wrong by ver, 10 (which see with notes). 
 
 6. Jeremiah shews that the prophetic office was not one of his own 
 seeking. 
 
 I 2 
 
JEREMIAH, I. [vv. 7—9. 
 
 Ah, Lord God, behold, I cannot speak : for I am a child. 
 
 7 But the Lord said unto me, Say not, I ^w a child : for thou 
 shalt go to all that I shall send thee, and whatsoever I com- 
 
 8 mand thee thou shalt speak. Be not afraid of their faces : 
 
 9 for I am with thee to deliver thee, saith the Lord. Then 
 the Lord put forth his hand, and touched my mouth. And 
 
 Ahf\ Rather, Alas ! The same word in the Hebrew is used, e.g. 
 Joshua vii. 7 ; 2 Kings iii. 10, and expresses not so much an entreaty that 
 "things should be arranged otherwise, as a lament that they are as they 
 are. Jeremiah's position is thus different from that of Moses (Exod. iv. 
 10). The latter pleaded inability, "0 my Lord, I am not eloquent," 
 while the former acquiesces in the appointment, now announced to have 
 been made so long before, pleads not inability but only youth and inex- 
 perience (compare Is. vi. 5; Ezek. iii. 15), and replies to the Almighty 
 in the same spirit as Solomon at the beginning of his reign (i Kings 
 iii. 7), " I am but a little child : I know not how to go out or come in." 
 
 / cannot speak] meaning, I have not the powers of oratory necessary 
 to win the attention and so sway the conduct of hostile numbers. For 
 the prophet of those days eloquence, natural or acquired, was as neces- 
 sary as for one who would be a popular preacher or prominent statesman 
 in our own time. 
 
 / am a child] meaning, a very young man. The same word (na-ar) 
 is used of Joshua (Exod. xxxiii. 1 1) at a time when we know him to 
 have been forty-five years of age. In the case of Jeremiah, however, 
 the length of his prophetic ministry shews that he must have been very 
 youthful at its commencement. So Isaiah was probably not more 
 than twenty years old when he began to prophesy. 
 
 7. Here again there is brought out the contrast between Moses and 
 Jeremiah. The former had brought one excuse after another (Exod. iii. 
 II, 13, iv. r, 10, 13), and consequently, as we read (iv. 14) "the anger 
 of the Lord was kindled against Moses." But in Jeremiah's case en- 
 couragement alone was needed, and it is given at once in word and then 
 in act. 
 
 8. Be not afraid] This is addressed not so much to the reason 
 which Jeremiah had pleaded, viz. youth, but to that which, as tlie 
 Lord saw, formed another cause for his shrinking from the task, viz. 
 fear of those whom he was to address. 
 
 to deliver thee] Note the form of expression. The promise is not 
 that the prophet in the exercise of his mission shall be preserved unhurt, 
 although we are not without an instance of this sort of interposition 
 (xxxvi. 26), but that he shall be delivered from destruction at the 
 hands of his enemies. 
 
 9. touched] caused it to touch. An outward symbol of the gift of 
 eloquence, which was being then and there bestowed. The same part 
 of the verb (with a causative force) is used in the corresponding passage 
 of Isaiah (vi. 7), where the solemn inauguration of his ministry is 
 recorded. On the other hand, in Daniel (x. 16), where the object was 
 
vv. lo, II.] JEREMIAH, I. 5 
 
 the Lord said unto me, Behold, I have put my words in 
 thy mouth. See, I have this day set thee over the nations 10 
 and over the kingdoms, to root out, and to pull down, and 
 to destroy, and to throw down, to build, and to plant. 
 
 II — 19. The Lord shews the Prophet the Vision of (\) the 
 Almojid Tree, (ii) the Boiling Caldron. He adds Words 
 of Good Cheer. 
 
 Moreover, the word of the Lord came unto me, saying, n 
 
 merely to restore the power of articulate speech, the verb is '• touched," 
 not "caused to touch." The nature of God's dealing with Ezekiel was 
 distinct from either of these (ii. 8). 
 
 10. to I'oot out] The prophet is said to do in his own person that 
 which he announces as about to be done by God. Compare xv. i, 
 "cast them out of my sight;" Is. vi. 10, "Make the heart of this 
 people fat, &c.;" Ezek. xiii. 19, where the false prophets are spoken of 
 as " slaying the souls that should not die " and " saving the souls alive 
 that should not live ;" Ezek. xliii. 3, where the prophet speaks of the 
 vision that he saw when he " came to destroy the city." This last is 
 softened off in the margin by the English translators, but quite un- 
 necessarily. So in profane literature we find prophets spoken of as 
 though they had a share in influencing the course of the future, which it 
 was theirs only to predict. 
 
 "And thou, O sacred maid, inspired to see 
 The event of things in dark futurity, 
 Give me what heaven has promised to my fate 
 To conquer and command the Latian state." 
 
 Aeneas to the Sibyl. Dryden's Virgil, vi. 100 — 103. 
 Three or four words are used to denote destruction, and two follow 
 them implying restoration. This serves to shew that the earlier as 
 well as the more important portion of the prophet's task was to consist 
 in rebuke and in threatening; while nevertheless out of the ruins a 
 better and more hopeful state of things should arise for Israel. 
 
 11—19. The Lord shews the Prophet the Vision of (i) the 
 Almond Tree, (ii) the Boiling Caldron. He adds Words 
 OF Good Cheer. 
 
 11. the word of the Lord came unto me] The prophets' "gift! 
 of prophesying was neither permanent, nor the result of their own 
 volition, but wholly dependent on the divine pleasure." Archdeacon 
 Lee, from whom the above quotation is made {Inspiration of Holy 
 Scripture i^ih. ed. p. 170), instances 2 Kings iv. 27; Acts xx. 22, as 
 proofs of this statement, and goes on to say tliat there are two 
 classes of revelations, (i) when the action of the external senses is 
 suspended ; (ii) when the prophet is conscious of all that takes place 
 around him. Under the former head come symbolic visions, such as 
 
JEREMIAH, I. [vv. 12, 13. 
 
 Jeremiah, what seest thou ? And I said, I see a rod of an 
 
 12 almond tree. Then said the Lord unto me, Thou hast 
 
 13 well seen : for I will hasten my word to perform it. And 
 the word of the Lord came unto me the second time, saying. 
 What seest thou ? And I said, I see a seething pot ; and 
 
 the two that here follow. In them the things seen either surpass 
 the limits of human experience (e.g. Ezek. i. 4, etc.), or they appertain 
 to the world of sense in such measure that there is no difficulty 
 in describing them by means of human language (as in the present 
 instances). Further, it may be noticed that symbolic visions are thus 
 to be distinguished from symbolic actions; in the former the prophet 
 is but a spectator ; in the latter (e. g. the symbol of the linen girdle, 
 Jer. xiii. r — 7) he takes an active part, 
 
 / see a I'od of an almond tfee'] The almond tree in Palestine has 
 been compared to the snowdrop with us, as giving one of the first 
 signs of approaching spring. Dr Tristram {Natural History of the 
 Bible) tells us that at Bethany in the month of January he gathered 
 the blossoms in full bloom. They appear before the leaves open, like 
 those of the peach-tree in England. The Hebrew used here {shdked) is 
 not the ordinary word for an almond tree, but a poetical expression, 
 meaning that which is awake, and referring to the blossoming of 
 this tree as taking place while others are still in their winter sleep. 
 Accordingly the almond tree is made the subject of this vision — 
 an 'emblem of wakefulness and activity,' as is shewn by the inter- 
 pretation given in ver. 12. The other mode of explanation, which 
 consists in rendering not "rod " but staff, such as is carried by travellers, 
 would quite change the character of the figure, which would then 
 exhibit the Almighty as about to set forth on a journey of vengeance. 
 This is unlikel) and forced. 
 
 12. / will hasteit] Rather, I am wakeful (keep watch, await my 
 opportunity) for. The point of the expression can only be perceived, 
 if we are aware that the Hebrew term is shoked, a participle from 
 the same root as the word for almond tree in the former verse. Since 
 the punishment of captivity inflicted" on Manasseh the Lord had not 
 visited upon His people their sins. That period of rest then was 
 like the winter, at the end of which the almond tree was the first 
 to wake. So now the Lord is rousing Himself, The period of trial 
 is rapidly approaching its end, and the punishment so long delayed 
 is about to be at last inflicted. At the same time there is a brighter 
 side too. The Lord is rousing Himself not only to punish but to 
 save. Through Jeremiah's ministry and Josiah's reforms religion is 
 to be kept alive in a remnant of those carried to Babylon, and so the 
 return from captivity shall at last be brought about. 
 
 13. a seething pot\ The second vision is of a more uniform cha- 
 racter than the first. It betokens nothing save disaster, and by it 
 the character of the future in store for the nation is more clearly brought 
 
w. 14, 15.J JEREMIAH, I. 
 
 the face thereof is towards the north. Then the Lord said 
 unto me, Out of the north an evil shall break forth upon all 
 the inhabitants of the land. For lo, I will call all the 
 families of the kingdoms of the north, saith the Lord ; and 
 they shall come, and they shall set every one his throne at 
 
 out. The word sir, here rendered pot, was a large vessel, as it was 
 used in preparing pottage for a considerable number in 2 Kings iv. 38. 
 It was also used for washing (Ps. Ix. 8). Some render instead of 
 "seething" (boiling) blmon upon; i.e. a pot placed upon a fire made 
 to burn brightly by blowing, A passage in Job (xli. 20) rather supports 
 this view from the words which follow. "Out of his (leviathan's) nostrils 
 goeth smoke, as out of a seething pot or caldron. His breath kindleth 
 coals. " The figure of a pot boiling over is found also in Arabic poetry 
 to express as here a war carried on with vehemence and ardour. 
 
 tozuards'] from the face of. The pot is leaning away from the north. 
 As the materials on which it is standing are consumed, it settles un- 
 evenly, and the southern side sinks. Thus it will presently be over- 
 turned, and send its scalding contents in that direction. 
 
 14. Out of the north'\ Interpretation of the second vision. It 
 clearly points to the irruption of a hostile army into Judaea from a 
 northerly direction. Some have taken this army to be the Scythian 
 hordes. For reasons against this view see notes on iv. 6. The true 
 explanation seerns to be the following. The boiling pot is the region 
 of Mesopotamia, where four great nations, Babylon, Nineveh, Elam, 
 and Media are engaged in strife. The danger to Judaea had always 
 depended on the fact that it lay on the direct road from the East to 
 Egypt and thus was exposed to attacks by the way on the part of 
 armies directed against the latter power. Esarhaddon, king of Assyria, 
 had broken up Egypt into twelve small states, which had no thought of 
 any foreign contest, and thus the Jews had had some relief from invasion. 
 But besides this, the constant struggles of the four nations above 
 mentioned with one another had the same effect. These constant 
 struggles are the boiling caldron. The contest however gives signs 
 of coming to an end. The caldron is settling down on one side. 
 Victory is declaring for the Chaldaeans of Babylon, and when they 
 have established their superiority, that fury which has hitherto been 
 put forth in strife within Mesopotamia will be directed against the 
 Jews. The boiling contents of the caldron will be poured over Judaea. 
 
 an evil] the evil, — the evil which was to be expected, foretold by all 
 the prophets as the result of national sin. 
 shall break forth] shall be opened, shall disclose itself. 
 
 15. all the families of the kingdoms] Each kingdom was composed of 
 a mixture of races, here called families. The rendering however may be, 
 all the families, even the kingdoms, in which case kingdoms would be 
 only an explanation of the sense in which the word, families is used. 
 
 they shall set every one his throne] The chiefs of the combined army, 
 the rulers who are suggested by the word kingdoms, post themselves 
 
 14 
 
JEREMIAH, I. [v. i6. 
 
 the entering of the gates of Jerusalem, and against all the 
 walls thereof round about, and against all the cities of 
 i6 Judah. And I will utter my judgments against them touch- 
 ing all their wickedness, who have forsaken me, and have 
 burnt incense unto other gods, and worshipped the works of 
 
 around the walls of the besieged city. Some take the sense to be that 
 the blockade is thus made more sure. The generals take up their posi- 
 tion at all the gates, that none may go out or come in. It ie better 
 however to take the word throne, to denote the seat from which judg- 
 ment is delivered. The function of administering justice, which among 
 us is delegated by the monarch to judges, was in the East exercised by 
 the king in person, and the gate of the city, or rather a large space in 
 its neighbourhood, was reserved free of buildings, and was the ordinary 
 place at which trials were held and sentences declared. Cp. Deut, xvi. 
 i8, xvii. 8; Ruth iv. i. Here then the rulers of the invader's army, by 
 a figure taken from the familiar proceedings of criminal justice, are 
 said to be about to sit in judgment on the crimes of the people and 
 inflict punishment on the guilty. For the word throne as used to denote 
 the judgment-seat see Ps. ix. 4, cxxii. 5; Prov. xx. 8. The general 
 sense of the verse is that it is not without reason, or as the blind act of 
 ambitious and more powerful nations, that Jerusalem is to be over- 
 thrown. That overthrow will take place as a judicial act, as a conse- 
 quence of wickedness, and after the case has been duly weighed in the 
 balances. 
 
 and against all the walls thereof round about, and against all the 
 cities of yudaK\ It is difficult to know whether we should connect this 
 with 'shall come' or 'shall set.' The reason of the ambiguity lies in 
 the fact that Jeremiah mingles the two thoughts of a besieging army 
 and of a judicial sentence and its execution. It is in point of fact by 
 the scaling of the walls of Jerusalem and the capture of the other cities 
 of the country that the sentence is to be carried out, and Jeremiah here 
 as elsewhere (see Introduction, chap. ii. § 8 {d) and note) breaks off his 
 simile or metaphor vdth abruptness and takes up anew the literal state- 
 ment. 
 
 16. / will utter my Judgments against theni] Literally, I will 
 ■ speak my judgments with them. An almost identical phrase in the 
 Hebrew occurs again in this book, when Zedekiah is brought before 
 Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, and it is said that the latter "gave judg- 
 ment upon him," marginal "spake with him judgments" (xxxix. 5); 
 compare iv. 12. 
 
 touching all their wickedness"] This is defined in the three clauses 
 that follow, (i) the forsaking of the true God, (ii) the burning of incense 
 to other gods, (iii) the worshipping of images. 
 
 other gods'] The Greek (Septuagint) and Latin Vulgate translations 
 seem to have felt a difficulty in this expression, since "there is none 
 other God but one." Cp. St Paul "we know that an idol is nothing in 
 the world" (i Cor. viii. 4). Inasmuch then as the idols worshipped by 
 
w. 17—19.] JEREMIAH, I. 
 
 their own hands. Thou therefore gird up thy loins, and 17 
 arise, and speak unto them all that I command thee : be 
 not dismayed at their faces, lest I confound thee before them. 
 For behold, I have made thee this day a defenced city, and 18 
 an iron pillar, and bras en walls against the whole land, 
 against the kings of Judah, against the princes thereof, 
 against the priests thereof, and against the people of the 
 land. And they shall fight against thee ; but they shall not 19 
 prevail against thee ; for I am with thee, saith the Lord, to 
 deliver thee. 
 
 Gentiles represented things non-existent, beings of fancy only, the 
 Greek and Latin render here gods of foreign nations. 
 
 17. Words of encouragement in this and the two next verses. 
 Thou therefore gird up thy loins'] Gather up the lower part of the 
 
 flowing Eastern robe. This was done in preparation for (i) a journey 
 (Exod. xii. 11; 2 Kings iv. 29, ix. i), (ii) a race (i Kings xviii. 46), 
 (iii) a conflict (Job xxxviii. 3, xl. 7). It implied (i) readiness for 
 effort, (2) energy in action. As the sin of the people was great and 
 manifold, and as the impending danger was not only near but terrible 
 and destructive in its nature, so was it needful that without fear or 
 favour the warning should be given, and that he to whom that warning 
 was entrusted should 'deliver his soul,' and not by apathy or want of 
 boldness involve himself in any way in the people's guilt. 
 
 be not dismayed...'] The literal rendering would be, be not broken 
 down before them, lest I break thee down before them. There is 
 thus a play upon words in the Hebrew, which can hardly be reproduced 
 in idiomatic English. 
 
 18. a defenced city, and an iron pillar, and brasen walls] Jeremiah 
 was to be fortified by divine strength against the attacks which he 
 should have to confront throughout his prophetic life. When all else 
 was fluctuating and yielding to pressure from within and without, he 
 alone was to represent resistance. The assaults would be severe, and 
 hence the force of the three figures under which he is described. And 
 as Jeremiah would need strength in a pre-eminent degree, so the 
 figures under which it is described are more forcible than that used in the 
 similar case of Ezekiel: "As an adamant harder than flint have I made 
 thy forehead: fear them not" (Ezek. iii. 9). 
 
 against the kings of Judah] Josiah, Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoia- 
 chin, Zedekiah. The use of the plural 'kings' shews him that his 
 career is probably to be a long one. 
 
 the princes] the chief military and civil officers. 
 
 19. As fear on the part of the prophet was to forfeit all claim to 
 God's protecting care of him in the fulfilment of his duty ; so here there 
 comes the promise, on the assumed condition of faithfulness to his trust, 
 that his cause should be successful. 
 
 they shall not prevail against thee] When we compare portions of 
 
lo JEREMIAH, II. [v. i. 
 
 Chap. II. i — 13. Under the Figure of Husband and Wife 
 the Lord reminds the People of His Past Favours and 
 charges them with Faithlessness to their First Love, 
 
 2 Moreover the word of the Lord came to me, saying, 
 
 the subsequent history of Jeremiah, we find that in point of fact the 
 prophet was from time to time thrust aside by his foes. The sense 
 therefore here is shall not finally prevail. Before the prophefs death 
 his cause should be vindicated, his predictions verified, and good seed 
 sown. Compare the nature of the fulfilment of our Saviour's prayer 
 for the Apostle Peter: "I have prayed for thee that thy faith fail not," 
 Luke xxii. 32. This prayer did not prevent the Apostle from desert- 
 ing and then denying Christ, although it was abundantly answered 
 in his subsequent history. Even as our Lord's own prayer for His 
 Father's help in the same chapter, "Father, if thou be willing, remove 
 this cup from me," was answered not by its removal but by support 
 from heaven; so Jeremiah was to hold his ground not in his own 
 strength, but through the Almighty's constant presence. 
 
 Chap. II. 1—13. Under the Figure of Husband and Wife 
 THE Lord reminds the People of His Past Favours 
 and charges them with Faithlessness to their First 
 Love. 
 
 1. Moreover'] And, thus connecting with Jeremiah's Call the words 
 which follow. They form the beginning of a long prophecy extending 
 to the end of Chap, vi., and which has but one well-marked break, 
 viz. at the end of Chap. iii. 5. More than one opinion has been held 
 as to the time at which these prophecies were delivered. By far the 
 most probable view however is that they form the substance of those 
 which were given during the reign of Josiah. For 
 
 [a) The name of Josiah is expressly introduced in connexion with 
 them (iii. 6), and accordingly any other view would require that this 
 should be a later insertion in the text: 
 
 {b) The order of the prophecies, though far from chronological 
 throughout the book, yet may be held to be so in any individual case, 
 in which there is no reason for the contrary belief, and this is specially 
 probable at the beginning of the book, and where there is no apparent 
 cause for deviation from the order of time : 
 
 (c) The character of the prophecies themselves falls in with this. 
 In most cases of the later prophecies we find headings which tell us 
 at what time they were uttered. In this portion we have but one 
 such instance, and that somewhat vague (iii. 6 as referred to above). 
 Again, these chapters seem to be not so much addresses or sermons 
 delivered to the people on distinct and definite occasions as the later 
 
vv. 2,3.] JEREMIAH, II. il 
 
 Go and cry in the ears of Jerusalem, saying, Thus saith j 
 the Lord ; I remember thee, the kindness of thy youth, the 
 love of thine espousals, when thou wentest after me in the 
 wilderness, in a land that tvas not sown. Israel zvas holi- 3 
 ness unto the Lord, and the firstfruits of his increase : all 
 
 ones are, but rather given as the gist of the prophet's teaching during 
 all those early years of his ministry. Once more, in these chapters so 
 far from there being references to matters of later date than Josiah, such 
 as abound in the subsequent parts (e.g. invasion by the Babylonians, &c.), 
 there is no allusion to any contemporary events. 
 
 It has been held on the other hand that the mention of Egypt (ii. 16, 
 18, 36) compels us to consider these prophecies as spoken later. We 
 are reminded that Josiah was slain in fighting against the Egyptian 
 king. How then, it is asked, could the Jewish nation in his reign have 
 sought to ally themselves with that country? It does not however 
 follow that there may not have been then, as at other times, a large 
 and influential number who desired to connect themselves with Egypt, 
 and it was against them that Jeremiah directed his words of warning. 
 Another but an extremely improbable way of understanding the references 
 to Egypt in these chapters is a sort of compromise between the two 
 views, and consists in the supposition that Jeremiah, or Baruch at his 
 dictation, wrote down what was in substance at least his discourses to 
 the people in the days of Josiah, but modified them in accordance with 
 the more recent tenor of his words and of events. 
 
 The whole prophecy then (chaps, ii. i — iii. 5) is the first recorded ' 
 utterance of Jeremiah after his Call, and consists of expostulation with 
 Israel for their idolatry. 
 
 2. the kindness of thy youth, the love of thine espousals'] This has 
 been taken as meaning, the kindness and love a) of Israel towards God, 
 or b) of God towards Israel. In favour of b) is urged that Israel as a 
 matter of fact was ever in past time also straying from God. But on 
 the whole a) is more probable, (i) as being the more natural sense of 
 the words themselves, (ii) in that the 'kindness' and *love' spoken of 
 evidently refer to the past, while God's attitude of grace towards 
 Israel is the same still that it has ever been, (iii) in that even in past 
 time Israel as a rule followed God. The exceptions from their veiy 
 nature would form the history and so fix themselves in the mind, just as 
 the brief reign of Queen Mary, and again the temporary overthrow of 
 the House of Stuart (1649 — 1660), in English History are more con- 
 spicuous than many long periods of tranquillity and peace. 
 
 3. Israel was holiness unto the Lord, and the firstfricits of his in- 
 crease] Israel is as something set apart from ordinary uses, dedicated 
 to God. He is as the most precious part of the harvest, that part 
 which is consecrated as God's portion. The notion was familiar to the 
 people's minds through the yearly custom, prescribed Lev. xxiii. 10 — 14, 
 that a measure of the firstfmits should be waved by the priest before 
 
12 JEREMIAH, 11. [vv. 4— 6. 
 
 that devour him shall offend ; evil shall come upon them, 
 
 4 saith the Lord. Hear ye the word of the Lord, O house 
 
 5 of Jacob, and all the famiHes of the house of Israel : Thus 
 saith the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in 
 me, that they are gone far from me, and have walked after 
 
 6 vanity, and are become vain ? Neither said they, Where is 
 the Lord that brought us up out of the land of Egypt, that 
 led us through the wilderness, through a land of deserts 
 
 the Lord, and that none of the harvest should be enjoyed till this rite 
 had been fulfilled. 
 
 all that devour him shall offend'] The priest and his family alone 
 were to eat of the firstfruits. No stranger was allowed to partake. 
 See Lev. xxii. lo, i6. If any unhallowed person profaned the firstfruits 
 by taking of them, he bore the iniquity of trespass in his eating. The 
 word used there for trespass is from the same root as that which 
 in this passage is rendered 'shall offend.' Thus the sense is that 
 "Heathen, i.e. unconsecrated, nations, must not meddle with Israel, 
 because it is the nation consecrated to God. If they do, they will bring 
 such guilt upon themselves as those incur who eat the firstfruits." 
 {Speaker's Comni.) 
 
 4. all the families of the house of Israel] addressed not to the ten 
 tribes, but to the nation as a whole. 
 
 6. have walked after vanity] 'vanity' is here used in the same sense 
 as in I Kings xvi. 13, "provoking the Lord God of Israel to anger with 
 their vanities." The Jews regarded idols simply as unsubstantial, unreal, 
 a breath. Hence vanity (emptiness) expresses their view. Compare "we 
 know that an idol is nothing in the world" (i Cor. viii. 4) and note on 
 chap. i. 16. A further stage is reached in ver. 8, "things that do not 
 profit" (compare ver. 11). Chap. x. 10 contrasts God as "the true 
 God," "the living God;" while the notions of the unreal and the 
 positively injurious are combined in xvi. 19, "Surely our fathers have 
 inherited lies, vanity, and things wherein there is no profit." 
 
 a7id are become vain] a want of reality and of sense are the qualities 
 which naturally become the marks of those who follow the empty and 
 unprofitable. Compare Rom, i. ^\ — 23, they "became vain in their ima- 
 ginations... they became fools, and changed the glory of the incorrup- 
 tible God into an image made like unto corruptible man, and to 
 birds and fourfooted beasts and creeping things." 
 
 6. The prophet brings their thanklessness into bolder relief by 
 depicting in the strongest colours the care lavished upon them of old. 
 Utter forgetfulness is their return for the deliverance from Egyptian 
 bondage, the preservation from the various dangers of the wilderness, 
 and the bestowal of Canaan. 
 
 the wilderness] not in the sense which the word conveys to our ears. 
 The expression in the original means merely the land not occupied 
 
V. 7-] JEREMIAH, II. 13 
 
 and of pits, through a land of drought, and of the shadow 
 of death, through a land that no man passed through, and 
 where no man dwelt ? And I brought you into a plentiful 7 
 country, to eat the fruit thereof and the goodness thereof; 
 
 by any settled inhabitants. It by no means excludes the notion of 
 abundant pasturage for cattle, just as it is described (xxiii. 10) 
 as having its "pleasant places," but is yet liable as is there shewn to 
 become a desert at any time through the drying up of the springs and 
 rivers on which its vegetation was dependent. 
 
 deserts\ really barren. 
 
 pits\ one of the difficulties and dangers of travellers consisted in 
 the rifts or clefts which had to be crossed or avoided by a circuitous 
 route. 
 
 droughf] hence perhaps the Rabbinic story that a rock followed the 
 Israelites through the wilderness, to supply their thirst. St Paul, 
 without in any way taking the story under his protection, applies it in 
 the way of spiritual adaptation; "They drank of that spiritual Rock 
 that followed them, and that Rock was Christ" (i Cor. x. 4). 
 
 shadow of death'] the Hebrew word may mean nothing beyond 
 darkness, but the other rendering is the more probable one, and denotes 
 the gloom which the traveller must feel in passing through a region, 
 where the supply of the necessaries of life is so precarious. 
 
 that no man passed through, and where no man dwelt] the two , 
 words for ' man ' differ in the original. The first means man in ', 
 the strength, either of natural vigour, as here, or of rank or riches; 
 the second denotes man as a member of the human race, and is equiva- 
 lent to 'human being.' We have the same contrast elsewhere in the 
 Hebrew, where however the English rendering differs; (Psalm xlix. 2), 
 "High and low, rich and poor, one with another;" and (Is. ii. 9), 
 "The mean man boweth down, and the great man humbleth himself." 
 Compare St John vi. 10, where "men" on its first occurrence means 
 simply persons. 
 
 7. a plentiful conntry] Literally, a country of the Carmel. The 
 word Carmel properly means a piece of ground fertile and well cul- 
 tivated, but was commonly used as the actual name of one such 
 spot of Palestine, which, as the only promontory that the sea-board of 
 the country possesses, juts out into the Mediterranean, and bounds the 
 great plain of Esdraelon. It was the scene of the testing of the true God i 
 proposed by Elijah to the followers of Baal (i Kings xviii.). This appli- 
 cation of terms wholly or partly descriptive of natural features to denote 
 an individual place which answers to such a description seems common 
 in all languages. To it we owe in English such names as Newhaven, 
 Newport, New Forest, Sandwich ( = a sandy bay), Chelsea ( = a shingle 
 island) and Fairfield, the last being a good counterpart to the Hebrew 
 name in the present case. Compare also as names for country houses 
 'The Woodlands,' 'The Plantations,' &c. 
 
M JEREMIAH, IT. [v. 8. 
 
 but when ye entered, ye defiled my land, and made mine 
 
 8 heritage an abomination. The priests said not, Where is 
 
 the Lord ? and they that handle the law knew me not : 
 
 dejiled] with (i) idolatry, (ii) sacrifices of their children ; so Ps. 
 cvi. 37, "they sacrificed their sons and their daughters unto devils." 
 And as the land had been thus defiled by God's own people, the possess- 
 ors of it, so now the heathen were about to obtain permission to do 
 the like. Compare Ps. Ixxix. i, *'0 God, the heathen are come into 
 thine inheritance; thy holy temple have they defiled." 
 
 7?iine heritage] Elsewhere it is generally Israel itself that goes by 
 this name; e.g. "For the Lord's portion is his people; Jacob is the lot 
 of his inheritance " (Deut. xxxii. 9). Compare i Sam. x. i ; i Kings 
 viii. 51; Ps. xxviii. 9, Ixxviii 71; Is. xix. 25; Jer. x, 16. 
 
 8. The wickedness of the people is matched and encouraged by 
 that of the chief men both in Church and State. Three classes of 
 persons are spoken of. 
 
 (i) (this class is subdivided into two) the priests. The duty of the 
 tribe of Levi was not only to minister at the altar, but to handle the 
 law; i.e. to instruct the people in its precepts. Compare the words of 
 " the blessing wherewith Moses the man of God blessed Israel before 
 his death" (Deut. xxxiii. ). He there says of Levi, "They shall teach 
 Jacob thy judgments and Israel thy law " (ver. lo). 
 
 (2) the pastors, meaning, not ordained ministers according to the 
 familiar application of the word in modern times, but, as elsewhere in 
 the Old Testament, temporal rulers, kings, compare iii. 15. So in 
 I Kings xxii. 17, when Micaiah the prophet desired to express to 
 king Ahab his sense of his worthlessness as a ruler, he said, "I saw 
 all Israel scattered upon the hills, as sheep that have not a shepherd. " 
 The same is the sense in Ezek. xxxiv. 2, "Woe be to the shepherds 
 of Israel that do feed themselves ! should not the shepherds feed tlie 
 flocks?" So in Homer the kings are "shepherds of the people." 
 
 (3) the prophets, whose duty it was to declare the will of God 
 from time to time, and urge upon the people reformation and a 
 religious life. Jeremiah felt most keenly the wickedness of both 
 priest and prophet, since in his own person he represented both 
 orders, and "by a singularly tragical fate he lived precisely at that 
 age at which both of those great institutions seemed to have reached 
 the utmost point of degradation and corruption " (Stanley's Jewish 
 Church, Vol. ii. p. 439, 440). " He who by each of his callings was" 
 naturally led to sympathise with both, was the doomed antagonist 
 of both, victim of one of the strongest of human passions, the hatred 
 of Priests against a Priest who attacks his own order, the hatred of 
 Prophets against a Prophet who ventures to have a voice and a will 
 of his own" (/^zV/.). 
 
 said not, Where is the Lord?] i.e. they were indifferent to God's 
 will, and thought of nothing less than consulting Him. 
 
 they that handle the law] In addition to the remarks above made 
 
vv. 9, lo.] JEREMIAH, II. 15 
 
 the pastors also transgressed against me, and the prophets 
 prophesied by Baal, and walked after things that do not 
 profit. Wherefore I will yet plead with you, saith the Lord, 9 
 and with your children's children will I plead. For pass 10 
 over the isles of Chittim, and see; and send unto Kedar, 
 and consider diligently, and see if there be such a thing. 
 
 on these words compare for the priest's share in the interpretation of 
 the law chap, xviii. 18; Ezek. vii. 26. 
 
 Baal\ The chief male object of worship on the part of the Phoe- 
 nician nations. His worship prevailed at an early date among the 
 Moabites (Numb. xxii. 41). Among the Jews that worship was 
 celebrated with much pomp, and cruel rites frequently accompanied 
 it, the priests cutting themselves with knives, and human sacrifices 
 being sometimes offered. The word entered much into Phoenician 
 (Carthaginian) proper names, Hannibal, Hasdrubal, Adherbal, etc. 
 Some consider Baal to have been represented to his worshippers by 
 the planet Jupiter, while others with more probability take him to 
 be the sun -god, and so to be coupled with Ashtoreth, the moon-god- 
 dess, the chief female object of worship on the part of the same 
 nations. 
 
 9. with your children's children will I plead^ Even though it be 
 necessary to continue the remonstrance to future generations, God 
 will not fail to carry out His part, but will plead His cause still against 
 those who desert Him. 
 
 10. the isles of Chittim'] The Chittim ("Kittim") are mentioned as 
 descendants of Javan in Gen. x. 4. Josephus identifies the original 
 seat of the tribe with the town of Citium in Cyprus. Gradually the 
 name seems to have been extended, so as to include not only the 
 neighbouring islands, but even Macedonia (which word Ma-^^^-onia 
 may have been fancifully believed to be connected with Chittim) and 
 Italy. 
 
 Kedar"] As Chittim represented the parts of the world that lay to 
 the westward of Palestine, so Kedar represented those which lay to the 
 eastward. Kedar was the second son of Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 13) and 
 seems from the many subsequent notices of his tribe in the Bible to 
 have been destined to be in his posterity the most distinguished of 
 the twelve brethren, princes, given in the genealogy. They dwelt 
 on the north-west of Arabia, and extended to the borders of Palestine. 
 Kedar occurs among the ancestry of Mohammed. In Psalm cxx. 5 
 ("Woe is me... that I dwell in the tents of Kedar") they are spoken 
 of as a barbarous tribe, to dwell amongst whom was to be utterly cut 
 off from the worship of the true God. Even they however, the 
 Lord declares, do not furnish a parallel for the baseness which 
 appertains to the Jews. 
 
i6 JEREMIAH, II. [w. ii— 13. 
 
 11 Hath a nation changed their gods, which are yet no gods ? 
 but my people have changed their glory for that which doth 
 
 12 not profit. Be astonished, O ye heavens, at this, and be 
 
 13 horribly afraid, be ye very desolate, saith the Lord. For 
 my people have committed two evils ; they have forsaken 
 me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out 
 cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water. 
 
 11. a nation] Not meaning any nation, for it was true of Israel that 
 they had done this, but any heathen nation, according to the force of the 
 Hebrew word. 
 
 which are yet no gods] Therefore it need not have occasioned 
 surprise, if their worshippers had at some time deserted them. 
 
 their glory] Him, through Whom they had attained pre-eminence 
 over all other nations, or better. Him to Whom all honour and glory 
 were due. This latter accords more with the passage "Thus they 
 changed their glory into the similitude of an ox that eateth grass " 
 (Ps. cvi. -20). 
 
 12. be ye very desolate] Literally, be ye dry. By a figure common 
 in all poetry nature is called upon to adapt herself, as though a 
 living being, to the complexion of human affairs. So " He shall call 
 to the heavens from above, and to the earth, that he may judge his 
 people." "And the heavens shall declare his righteousness" (Ps. 
 1. 4, 6). "Sing, O ye heavens... shout, ye lower parts of the earth; 
 break forth into singing, ye mountains, O forest, and every tree 
 therein: for the Lord hath redeemed Jacob and glorified himself in 
 Israel" (Is. xliv. ^s). "Sing, O heavens; and be joyful, O earth; 
 and break forth into singing, O mountains ; for the Lord hath com- 
 forted his people, and will have mercy upon his afflicted" (Is. xlix. 
 13). So here the heavens are bid to shrivel up in horror at the be- 
 haviour of the people. 
 
 13. For my people have committed two evils] The one sin of the 
 heathen is idolatry, whereas this people have in addition renounced 
 the service of God. 
 
 the fountain of living waters] More properly the reservoir (tank) 
 into which living waters (those of wells and streams) are drawn and 
 where they are stored. Isaiah (xliv. 3) had already spoken of God's 
 blessing under this figure, "I will pour water upon him that is thirsty 
 and floods upon the dry ground; I will pour my spirit upon thy seed, 
 and my blessing upon thine offspring," a passage to which our Lord 
 perhaps alludes in John vii. 37 — 39. 
 
 cisterns] These were very familiar objects to those whom the 
 prophet addressed. "There are thousands of these ancient cisterns 
 in upper Galilee, where Josephus says there were two hundred and 
 forty cities in his day, and the site of every one was pierced like a 
 honeycomb with them" (Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 287). 
 It was no doubt into such a one that Joseph was cast by his brethren. 
 
vv. 14, 15.] JEREMIAH, II. 
 
 14 — 30* Wickedness and obstinacy and consequent calajnities 
 of Israel. 
 
 Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave! why is he m 
 spoiled? The young lions roared upon him, ^//^ yelled, and 15 
 
 broken cisterns, that can hold no water'] "No comparison could 
 more keenly rebuke the madness of a people who changed their glory 
 for that which doth not profit. The best cisterns, even those in solid 
 rock, are strangely liable to crack... and if by constant care they are 
 made to hold, yet the water collected from clay roofs or from marly 
 soil has the colour of weak soapsuds, the taste of the earth or the 
 stable, is full of worms, and in the hour of greatest need it utterly 
 fails... I have never been able to tolerate this cistern wa'.er except in 
 Jerusalem, where they are kept with scrupulous care, and filled from 
 roofs both clean and hard" {ibid.). The failure of the broken cistern, 
 discovered at the moment of need, is the point of the comparison made 
 by the prophet. 
 
 14—30. Wickedness and obstinacy and consequent cala- 
 mities OF Israel. 
 
 14. Is Israel a servant? is he a homeborn slave?] The relationship 
 of master and servant, in our sense of the words, as a contract was 
 unknown among the Jews. Domestic service was discharged by slaves, ' 
 who might be roughly divided into two classes, (i) those captured in war 
 or bought, (ii) those bom and brought up in their master's house. For 
 the latter there was more opportunity of escape from servitude than for 
 the former. On the other hand the position of the latter was often 
 preferable. In general the condition of the slave depended much on 
 the character of his master, and from this consideration have sprung 
 two different explanations of the passage. Some understand the ques- 
 tions as meaning, Israel is the object of God^s most careful protection. 
 He is His tnost cherished possession, a member of His fajuily. Hozu is 
 it then that he has been spoiled? The answer is given in ver. 17. Others 
 take it thus : — Is Israel a slave, subject to all the miseries of such a lot, 
 a prey to each whim of a cruel master? Far as this tvould seem from 
 the truth, we are yet driven to suppose that his state is in 7io way superior 
 to this, for he has been spoiled and carried captive. This latter explana- 
 tion falls in better with the form of the enquiries, as compared with 
 the somewhat similar passages ver. 31, viii. 4, xiv. 19 ; and specially 
 with xxii. ■zS, xlix. i. The prophet no doubt has in particular before 
 his view the captivity of the Ten Northern Tribes. 
 
 15. The youjtg lions roared upon him, and yelled] This may be 
 meant literally as what befell the land of Israel after the captivity of 
 the Ten Tribes, and the introduction of the inhabitants of foreign cities 
 in their room (2 Kings xvii. 25). It is more likely however to have 
 reference to the cruelties practised upon the exiles by their captors, as 
 well as to the frequent Assyrian invasions. Compare for this figure of 
 speech words spoken by Isaiah (v. 29) of an attacking host, "Their 
 roaring shall be like a lion, they shall roar like young lions ; yea, they 
 
 JEREMIAH 2 
 
i8 JEREMIAH, II. [vv. i6— 18. 
 
 they made his land waste : his cities are burnt without 
 i6 inhabitant. Also the children of Noph and Tahapanes 
 17 have broken the crown of thy head. Hast thou not pro- 
 cured this unto thyself, in that thou hast forsaken the Lord 
 i8 thy God, when he led thee by the way ? And now what 
 
 shall roar and lay hold of the prey, and shall carry it away safe and 
 none shall deliver it." See also Mic. v. 8. 
 
 burnt] Many prefer to render the Hebrew, are levelled to the 
 ground. 
 
 16. Also] Even. The sense is, those in whom thou most trustedst. 
 NopK\ either a town in the South of Egypt, or, as it is more generally 
 
 taken, Memphis the capital of Lower (i.e. Northern) Egypt, the word 
 Noph representing some colloquial Shemitic or Egyptian pronuncia- 
 tion of the name. 
 
 Tahapanes] The Greek Daphnae Pelusii, which Herodotus mentions 
 (Book II. 30) as a town in which a garrison was maintained against the 
 Syrians and Arabians. It bears an important part in the history contained 
 in the later chapters. Johanan and the other captains went there in dis- 
 obedience to the words of the prophet (xliii. 7). We gather from this 
 that it was one of the towns of Egypt nearest to the border of Palestine. 
 Jeremiah here prophesies that Egypt shall be smitten by Nebuchad- 
 nezzar. The Jews continued during Jeremiah's time to dwell there. 
 The towns of Noph and Tahapanes would both be well known to the 
 Jews even in Josiah's day, the foi^mer as a capital city, the latter from 
 its local position. 
 
 have broken] Or, if the present Heb. text is right, shall feed upon. 
 The tense in the original makes it more likely that a prophecy is in- 
 tended, while 'feed upon,' the proper sense of the verb, is illustrated by 
 the mention of shepherds (captains of hostile armies) in vi. 3, xii. 10. 
 It is possible, however, that a past event may be referred to, such as 
 the attack upon Jerusalem by Shishak, king of Egypt, in the reign of 
 Rehoboam, son of Solomon. In this case the sense will be, Egypt has 
 in past times shewn what she could do as a foe. Do not seek to ally 
 youi'selves with her now. 
 
 the crown of thy head] Baldness was considered among the Jews a 
 reproach. This is shewn in the history of Elisha (2 Kings ii. 23. See 
 also Jer. xlviii. 45). Or the sense may be, afflict thee, cause thee to 
 mourn, a shaven head being a sign of mourning (Is. iii. 24, xv. 2, 
 xxii. 12). 
 
 17. Has not thy desertion of God in old time brought upon thee 
 this trouble ? 
 
 when he led thee by the ivay] Way is not here used in the secondary 
 sense that it often bears as 'way of sinners,' 'way of the righteous,' 
 'way of the ungodly,' but, as is shewn by its meaning in the next two 
 verses, in the sense of a literal path or journey, viz. — that through the 
 wilderness. The worship of the golden calf and of Baal-peor was but the 
 earliest exhibition of that same idolatrous spirit, which had broken out 
 
V. 191 JEREMIAH, II. 19 
 
 hast thou to do in the way of Egypt, to drink the waters of 
 Sihor? or what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria, to 
 drink the waters of the river ? Thine own wickedness shall 19 
 correct thee, and thy backslidings shall reprove thee : know 
 
 again and again, was now so terribly prevalent, and formed the cause 
 of the calamities which beset the kingdom. 
 
 18. what hast thou to do in the way of Egypf] The thought is the 
 same as that expressed by Isaiah (xxx. i — 3) "Woe to the rebellious 
 children... that walk to go down into Egypt, and have not asked at my 
 mouth... There fore shall the strength of Pharaoh be your shame, and the 
 trust in the shadow of Egypt your confusion." Ever since the time . 
 when Psammetichus king of Egypt reduced under his own sway the 
 twelve separate kingdoms into which that country had been formed, there 
 was a party of statesmen at Jerusalem who favoured an Egyptian alliance. 
 To this party Jeremiah ceased not to oppose himself. 
 
 to drink the zvaters of Sihor'\ to hold communication with Egypt, 
 and espouse its cause. The figure has been already suggested by the 
 mention of fountains and cisterns (ver. 13). 
 
 Sihor\ The word, which properly means turbid, is shewn by the 
 context to be equivalent to the Nile, a word which itself denotes blue, 
 or dark. On the other hand the same name (though perhaps in each 
 case qualified by some explanatory addition) is sometimes at any rate 
 given apparently to a much smaller river, near the Egyptian frontier. 
 
 what hast thou to do in the way of Assyria] It has been objected 
 that Nineveh and with it the Assyrian empire had probably been some 
 time before overthrown, and that of Babylon established upon its ruins. 
 This however is far from certain, while, even granting it, the use of the 
 old name Assyria presents no difficulty, as we have a parallel more than 
 once in the case of this same empire. In 2 Kings (xxiii. 29) Pharaoh- 
 Nechoh (on the occasion of the battle of Megiddo) is spoken of as going 
 up "against the king of Assyria," meaning Nabopolassar ; and again in 
 the Book of Ezra (vi. 22) Darius is spoken of under the same title. It 
 is very possible however that the mention of Assyria is to be quite 
 otherwise explained; that the prophet, as in ver. 16 (see notes there), 
 is speaking of past acts. Both Israel and Judah had vacillated for 
 many reigns between Egypt and Assyria. Menahem king of Israel 
 bribed Pul king of Assyria to support him, and to him also his successors 
 Pekahiah and Pekah seem to have looked, while Hoshea, who ended 
 the line of Israel, sought the aid of Egypt. Hezekiah looked towards 
 Egypt, Josiah met his death in fighting against it and on behalf of 
 the Eastern empire, Assyria's successor. Thus subservience now to 
 one now to the other quarter was a familiar thought to those whom 
 Jeremiah addressed. 
 
 to drink the waters of the river"] Euphrates, the great river, on which 
 was built Babylon. Compare Is. viii. 7, "Now the Lord bringeth up 
 upon them the waters of the river, strong and many, even the king of 
 Assyria, and all his glory." 
 
 19. Thine own zuickedness shall correct thee] Thy misdeeds shall 
 
20 JEREMIAH, II. [vv. 20, 21. 
 
 therefore and see that it is an evil thing and bitter, that 
 thou hast forsaken the Lord thy God, and that my fear is 
 
 20 not in thee, saith the Lord God of hosts. For of old time 
 I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands; and thou 
 saidst, I will not transgress; when upon every high hill 
 and under every green tree thou wanderest, playing the 
 
 21 harlot. Yet I had planted thee a noble vine, wholly a right 
 
 bear their own punishment with them. Correct in the sense (now grow- 
 ing obsolete) of chastise. So " Correct thy son and he shall give thee 
 rest" (Prov. xxix. 17). The word occurs several times in Jeremiah in 
 this sense (x. 24, xxx. 11, xlvi. 28). 
 
 and that my f earl depending on *' it is an evil thing and bitter." In 
 other words the evil and bitterness is twofold; [a) desertion, {b) 
 indifference. 
 
 my fear\ The fear of me. 
 
 20. I have broken thy yoke, and burst thy bands'] A reference to the 
 deliverance from slavery in Egypt. It is possible however to render 
 the original as a continuance of the words of reproof contained in the 
 previous verses; Thou didst break thy yoke 6^^., i.e. thou didst cast off 
 all allegiance to Me, thy Maker. 
 
 transgress] serve. Transgress is no doubt a later reading formed 
 by a very slight change in one of the letters of the verb in the original. 
 
 ■whe7i\ for. The Hebrew word possesses both senses. The only 
 reason however for its having that of when is removed by the correc- 
 tion of the preceding word. 
 
 wanderest] iDOwest down. The reference is to the rendering of 
 idolatrous worship, renouncing of allegiance to the true God Who 
 has espoused the people to Himself, and readiness to do homage to 
 any and every object beside. 
 
 21. a noble vine] a Sorek vine, the word Sorek probably referring 
 to the colour of the fruit, a vine bearing dark-purple grapes. It is the 
 "choice vine" spoken of by Jacob in his blessing of his sons (Gen 
 xlix. 11). 
 
 vine] the first plant the cultivation of which is recorded in the Bible 
 (Gen. ix. 20). The dream of Pharaoh's butler and the ancient Egyptian 
 and Assyrian sculptures shew that it was cultivated early in Egypt and 
 Assyria, while the same is proved for Palestine by the frequent mention 
 of it in Scripture and the numerous remains of winepresses hewn out of 
 the rock. In the Temple over the gates leading to the Holy Place was 
 an extensive vine ornamentation "from which hung clusters of grapes 
 the length of a man's stature." It was made from the gold offered 
 from time to time in the temple and was the embodiment of a symbol 
 often used by the prophets. "The charge made against the Jews, that 
 they worshipped Bacchus, probably rose from this temple ornament; 
 and it is not nnpossible that our Lord may have had a reference to 
 it, when He spoke of Himself as the True Vine" (St John xv. i), 
 (See Geikie's Life and Words of Christ, i. 552.) 
 
vv. 22, 23.] JEREMIAH, II. 
 
 seed : how then art thou turned ijito the degenerate plant of 
 a strange vine unto me ? For though thou wash thee with 22 
 nitre, and take thee much sope, yet thine iniquity is marked 
 before me, saith the Lord God. How canst thou say, I am 23 
 not polluted, I have not gone after BaaHm .? see thy way 
 in the valley, know what thou hast done : thou art a swift 
 
 wholly a right seed] In a somewhat similar passage in Isaiah (v. 
 I — 7) Israel is not as here the vine, but the vineyard in which it is 
 planted. 
 
 hazo then art thou ttirned] That which had been sown, in other 
 words the people, when first chosen to be God's, was uncorrupt. How 
 is it then, He asks, that such 'right seed' can have produced such 
 rotten boughs? 
 
 mito me] to my grief — a frequent use of the dative case. 
 
 22. nitre] not saltpetre, in which sense we now use the word, but 
 carbonate of soda [natron). That this was the sense intended by our 
 "translators, is shewn by Holland, who in his translation of Pliny (xxxi. 
 
 10) distinguishes between saltpetre (called by Pliny, Aphro-natrum) and 
 nitre. Pliny there describes the soda-lakes about 50 miles west of 
 Cairo. " The natron occurs in whitish or yellowish efflorescent crusts, 
 or in beds three or four feet thick and very hard, which in the winter 
 are covered with water about two feet deep; during the other nine 
 months of the vear the lakes are dry, at which period the natron is 
 procured" (the Rev. W. Houghton in Sm. Bibl. Diet.). 
 
 sope] As natron is a mineral so this is a vegetable alkali. The word 
 is itself the Arabic name [alkali) for one of the plants salsolakali 
 (saltwort) which are chiefly used in its production, and are found in 
 abundance on the Mediterranean coast of Palestine, as well as on the 
 shores of the Dead Sea. This and other plants on being burnt furnish 
 ashes, the lye of which (formed by passing water through them) was 
 used in Jeremiah's time for cleansing purposes. The immense heaps of 
 rubbish frequently found in Palestine shew the extent of the manufac- 
 ture. The admixture of oils or animal fat was much later than Jeremiah's 
 time. 
 
 thine iniqnity is marked] No mode of cleansing however diligently 
 applied will suffice to remove the ingrained stain of sin. 
 
 marked] staijied, according to the Old English use of the word, 
 continued still in certain phrases, as to mark a sheep (with a brand), 
 to mark a handkerchief. 
 
 23. Hotv canst thou say] The people probably pleaded in their 
 defence that the law of Moses was observed and the public worship of 
 God revived by the king. *' But," replies the prophet, " you still follow 
 false gods, and that not only in secret, but in the public view." 
 
 Baalim] The Hebrew plural. Compare Cherubim, Seraphim. The 
 word therefore is equivalent to the "other gods" of chap. i. i6. 
 
 the valley] In all probability this was the valley of Hinnom on the 
 south side of Jerusalem. It was devoted under idolatrous kings to 
 
22 JEREMIAH, II. [vv. 24—28. 
 
 24 dromedary traversing her ways ; a wild ass used to the wil- 
 derness, that snuffeth up the wind at her pleasure ; in her 
 occasion who can turn her away ? all they that seek her will 
 not weary themselves; in her month they shall find her. 
 
 25 Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat from 
 thirst : but thou saidst, There is no hope : no ; for I have 
 
 26 loved strangers, and after them will I go. As the thief is 
 ashamed when he is found, so is the house of Israel 
 asham.ed ; they, their kings, their princes, and their priests, 
 
 27 and their prophets, saying to a stock. Thou art my father ; 
 and to a stone, Thou hast brought me forth : for they have 
 turned their back unto me, and not their face : but in the 
 time of their trouble they will say, Arise, and save us. 
 
 28 But where ai'e thy gods that thou hast made thee ? let them 
 
 impure sacrifices and human offerings to Moloch, who no doubt was 
 one of the gods called collectively Baalim. (Compare vii. 31, 32, xix. 
 5, xxxii. 35.) The valley was defiled by Josiah in order that such 
 sacrifices might cease, and here dead bodies of men and animals were 
 cast. From the Hebrew word in a Greek dress {Gehenna) comes one 
 of the names for the place of future punishment, of which this valley 
 was considered by the later Jews a symbol, and which some of them 
 believed to contain the entrance to hell. See note on chap. vii. 31. 
 
 dromedary] The Hebrew denotes a female that has not yet had a foal. 
 
 traversing] (literally, entangling) running quickly hither and thither 
 in the eagerness of her passion, crossing and recrossing her own course. 
 So Israel runs now here now there, ever in search of a fresh object of 
 devotion, and forsaking her lawful spouse. 
 
 24. a wild ass used to the wilderness] casting off all trammels and 
 revelling in uncontrolled licence. 
 
 snuffeth np the wind] looking out for every occasion that offers to sin. 
 The false gods have no need of courting her favour. She is eager to 
 enjoy them. 
 
 at her pleasure] or, in her desire. 
 
 25. Withhold thy foot from being unshod, and thy throat front thirst] 
 This hardly refers to approaching captivity, to be averted on repentance, 
 but rather means, Do not pursue thy shameless quest in recklessness and 
 heat ; and with this accord the words of the reply, which expresses the 
 resolve to continue in sin, while yet the next verse intimates that the 
 people are not altogether insensible to the disgrace of continuing in 
 such a course. 
 
 27. saying] inasmuch as they say. In this consists their disgrace. 
 They attribute to their idols the honour due to the Creator alone. 
 
 itt the time of their trouble they will say. Arise, atid saveus] Their 
 idols are but fair-weather friends. When a crisis comes, they will re- 
 cognise this, and appeal for help to Him "Whom they have rejected. 
 
w. 29-32.] JEREMIAH, II. 23 
 
 arise, if they can save thee in the time of thy trouble : for 
 according to the number of thy cities are thy gods, O Judah. 
 Wherefore will ye plead with me ? ye all have transgressed 29 
 against me, saith the Lord. In vain have I smitten your 30 
 children; they received no correction : your own sword hath 
 devoured youi prophets, like a destroying lion. 
 
 31 — 37. Israel is an unfaithful spouse^ and shall be 
 punished as such. 
 O generation, see ye the word of the Lord. Have I 
 been a wilderness unto Israel ? a land of darkness ? where- 
 fore say my people, We are lords ; we will come no more 
 unto thee ? Can a maid forget her ornaments, or a bride 
 
 31 
 
 32 
 
 28. gods that thoii hast made thee] There is a savour of irony through- 
 out this verse. The sarcasm here lies in the people's belief that the 
 gods which their own hands had made were worth invoking. 
 
 for according to the number of thy cities are thy gods\ The irony is 
 continued. // cannot be through any scarcity in number that the gods 
 ivhojH thou hast chosen come not to thine aid. Each several city has 
 its onvn favourite object of worship. Surely one at least of all these ?night 
 be found to hear and help. 
 
 O Judah] A change in the mode of address from 'House of Israel.' 
 Judah, though not yet afflicted with the evils which have fallen to the lot 
 of the Ten Tribes, is solemnly warned that she is deeply involved in the 
 sin for which they are already suffering. 
 
 29. plead with me] remonstrate against my wrath. 
 all] all the families of Israel. 
 
 30. your prophets] referring perhaps to Isaiah and Zechar ah, perhaps 
 to those whom Manasseh slew (2 Kings xxi. 16. Compare Nehem. ix. 
 26; Matt, xxiii. 35), or possibly to those slain by Jezebel (i Kings 
 xviii. 4, 13). 
 
 31 — 37. Israel is an unfaithful spouse, and shall be 
 
 PUNISHED as such. 
 
 31. O generation, see ye] generation that ye are, see. 
 
 a wilderness] Have I been like a place where ye lacked sustenance? 
 It is not the word which denotes absolutely barren, evil ground. (See 
 note on ver. 6.) 
 
 a land of darkness] a land of intense darkness. Have I been to you 
 as a place, whose dangers were magnified to your imagination by the 
 very fact of its deep gloom? 
 
 We are lords] We wander free. The same Hebrew verb occurs Gen. 
 xxvii. 40, rendered in the English Version "thou shalt have the 
 dominion." The notion of being master, of having power to carry out 
 one's own will, is at the bottom in each case. 
 
24 JEREMIAH, II. [vv. 33—36. 
 
 her attire ? yet my people have forgotten me days without 
 
 33 number. Why trimmest thou thy way to seek love ? there- 
 
 34 fore hast thou also taught the wicked ones thy ways. Also 
 in thy skirts is found the blood of the souls of the poor 
 innocents : I have not found it by secret search, but upon 
 
 35 all these. Yet thou sayest, Because I am innocent, surely 
 his anger shall turn from me. Behold, I will plead with 
 
 36 thee, because thou sayest, I have not sinned. Why gaddest 
 thou about so much to change thy way ? thou also shalt be 
 
 32. attire] a band or girdle worn round the waist. The same word 
 is translated head-bands in Is. iii. 20. It was an ornament which the 
 
 , bride assumed upon her wedding-day, and thus it marked a married 
 woman. A matron would cherish this token of married life. Not so 
 Israel, which has now for a long time forgotten her Husband. 
 
 33. Why trimmest, thou thy way] Literally, Why makest thou thy 
 way good? The same phrase is used later (vii. 3, 5) but in a somewhat 
 differert sense. There it means, to amend the life, but here, to shew 
 carC; to devote oneself (to the worship of false gods). 
 
 the wicked ones thy ways] %la.Y VTdiy^ to wickednesses; i.e. thou hast 
 accustomed thy ways to the sight and practice of evil, trained thy ways 
 in the wickedness which characterizes them. 
 
 34. blood of the souls] souls used simjily in the sense of persons, as is 
 found in the New Testament also (Rev. xviii. 13) **souls of men." 
 
 / have not found it by secret search] not at house-breaking didst thou 
 catch them. The allusion, which ir completely obscured m the English 
 Version, is to the law (Ex. xxii. 2) by which it wa? permitted to slay a 
 thief caught in the act of breaking irtc a house. The persons whom 
 Israel had thus treated were in no such position, but such was never- 
 theless their fate. Those spoken cf are probably, in part at any rate, the 
 victims of the cruelty cf Manasseh, of whom we read (a Kings xxi. 16) 
 that he "shed innocent blood very much, till he had filled Jerusalem 
 from one end to another. ' 
 
 bw upon all these] The words are obscure. The sense may be (i) it 
 was (not because those prophets were caught in any crime, but rather) 
 because they exposed and denounced all thy crimes that thou hast thus 
 sheo their innocent blood ; or, perhaps better, (ii) it was because of this 
 thy lust for idolatry, that thou could'st not abide them. 
 
 35. Because] But, a protest against the whole of the preceding accu- 
 sation. 
 
 surely his anger shall ttirn from ?ne] because of the reformation since 
 Manasseh's da}s. For 'shall turn' we should rather render hath turned, 
 hath not fallen, and thus I am proved innocent. 
 
 / will plead with thee] a different word from that used earlier in the 
 chapter, and meaning rather, I will act the judge towards thee. 
 
 36. to change thy ivay] See ver. 18 for some detail of the vacillation 
 
vv. 37;i-] JEREMIAH, II. III. 25 
 
 ashamed of Egypt, as thou wast ashamed of Assyria. Yea, 37 
 thou shalt go forth from him, and thine hands upon thine 
 head : for the Lord hath rejected thy confidences, and thou 
 shalt not prosper in them. 
 
 Chap. III. i — 5. Israel has forfeited her privileges. 
 They say, If a man put away his wife, and she go from 3 
 him, and become another man's, shall he return unto her 
 
 of Israel's policy. Manasseh and Amon also may have made a league 
 with Egypt. 
 
 thou also shalt be ashamed of Egypt"] This was literally fulfdled, when 
 the Egyptians were expected to raise the siege of Jerusalem in the reign 
 of Zedekiah, but failed to do so (Jer. xxxvii. 5). 
 
 thou ivast ashamed of Assyria] One conspicuous instance of this was 
 in the reign of Ahaz, when in spite of his presents to the king of As- 
 syria, that monarch helped him not {2 Chron, xxviii. 21. See also Is. 
 vii., viii). From this verse as from ver. 8 above it has been inferred by 
 some that these chapters must have been, if not written, at any rate 
 recast in the days of Jehoiakim ; since in the days of Josiah, when 
 Assyria was declining, there could have been no reason, it is thought, 
 for seeking an alliance with Egypt. There is however nothing to prevent 
 one supposing that the Jews looked with suspicion on the Eastern 
 Empire, and that an influential party at any rate were willing to make 
 overtures to Egypt, until Josiah finally committed himself to hostilities 
 with that power by the act which led to his death at Megiddo. Further 
 the whole tone of the discourse implies that the kingdom of Judah was 
 still politically independent, a state in which it certainly was not during 
 the reign of Jehoiakim. 
 
 37. thou shalt go forth fro77i him] Egypt shall repulse thy advances, 
 and thou shall return mourning. 
 
 thine hands upon thifie head] Compare Tamar, who after the wrong 
 put upon her by Amnon, "laid her hand on her head, and went on 
 crying." (2 Sam. xiii. 19.) 
 
 thy confidences] those in whom thou confidest, Egypt and Assyria. 
 
 Chap. III. 1 — 5. Israel has forfeited her privileges. 
 
 1. They say] The Hebrew is simply saying. It probably is to be 
 connected with the words 'hath rejected' (ii. 37) and to be rendered, 
 saying, or, for he saith. The connexion of thought is : the Lord refuses 
 to recognise either Egypt or Assyria as the lawful spouse of his 
 people, at the same time saying that as they have chosen to forsake 
 Him for them. He will act in accordance with the law of divorce and 
 will refuse to receive Israel again. 
 
 shall he return unto her again ?] When a woman left her husband 
 in accordance with a bill of divorce and was married to another, even a 
 bill of divorce given her by her new husband did not set her free to 
 
26 JEREMIAH, III. [w. 2—5. 
 
 again ? shall not that land be greatly polluted ? but thou 
 hast played the harlot with many lovers ; yet return again 
 a to me, saith the Lord. Lift up thine eyes unto the high 
 places, and see where thou hast not been lien with. In the 
 ways hast thou sat for them, as the Arabian in the wilder- 
 ness ; and thou hast polluted the land with thy whoredoms 
 
 3 and with thy wickedness. Therefore the showers have been 
 withholden, and there hath been no latter rain ; and thou 
 
 4 hadst a whore's forehead, thou refusedst to be ashamed. Wilt 
 thou not from this time cry unto me, My father, thou art 
 
 5 the guide of my youth ? Will he reserve his anger for ever ? 
 
 be reunited to the former one. See Deut xxiv. i — 4 for the words of 
 the law on the subject. 
 
 yei reticrn'\ and thinkest thou to return. This is by far the most 
 probable sense. There is no invitation to the people, such as the 
 English Version would suggest, to come back to God, but an expression 
 of surprise that those who must be familiar with the teaching of the law 
 on the subject of earthly marriage and divorce should fail to see the 
 impossibility of playing fast and loose with God in such a matter — a 
 thing forbidden even in human affairs. This explanation also accords 
 better with ver. 2. 
 
 2. Israel is shameless and wholly given up to idolatrous excesses. 
 high places'] bare heights, without trees. 
 
 the Arabian in the wilderness] the Bedaween freebooters, such as even 
 at the present day make descents upon parties in that country for 
 purposes of plunder. As is their eagerness to despoil a passing caravan 
 or other company of travellers, so is that of Israel for the worship of 
 false gods. 
 
 3. latter rain] that which fell in March and April, the second of the 
 rainy seasons, the "early rain" (James v. 7) occurring in October and 
 November. See chap. v. 24. 
 
 4. IVilt thou not... cry] Hast thou not cried. 
 
 from this time] from the time of Josiah's reforms. These were begun 
 in the twelfth year of his reign and completed six years later on the 
 occasion of his great celebration of the Passover feast (2 Chron.xxxiv. 3, 
 XXXV. 19). This period of reforms, is shewn by the expression 'this 
 time ' to be not long past, and so confirms the general view given above ■ 
 as to the date of this portion of the prophecy. 
 
 guide] The word may be rendered ' husband,' a sense which the 
 original bears also in Prov. ii. 17. 
 
 5. The first part of the verse is a continuation of the words of 
 Israel, expressing her confidence that the anger of her Divine Spouse 
 will pass in spite of her faithlessness. 
 
 7-esen'e] the sense of keep back, restrain in which we so often use this 
 word might for a moment mislead the English reader. The context 
 shews that the sense is retain, keep in exercise. 
 
w. 6, 7-] JEREMIAH, III. 27 
 
 will he keep it to the end ? Behold, thou hast spoken and 
 done evil tilings as thou couldest. 
 
 6 — 20. Grievously as both Israel and Judah have sinned^ 
 yet forgiveness awaits both, but conditionally oti their re- 
 pentance. 
 
 The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the 6 
 king, Hast thou seen that which backshding Israel hath 
 done ? she is gone up upon every high mountain and under 
 every green tree, and there hath played the harlot. And I ^ 
 said after she had done all these things^ Turn thou unto 
 me. But she returned not. And her treacherous sister 
 
 thou hast spoken and done evil things as thou couIdest'\ tliou hast 
 spoken thus but hast done evil things and carried them through. 
 The English Version makes the words and deeds of Israel to have been 
 alike evil, whereas there is a contrast drawn between her specious 
 words and her idolatrous ways. The last verb of the sentence, literally 
 * thou couldest,' expresses the power which Israel had not omitted to 
 exercise for evil. 
 
 6 — 20. Grievously as both Israel and Judah have sinned, 
 
 YET forgiveness AWAITS BOTH, BUT CONDITIONALLY ON THEIR 
 REPENTANCE. 
 
 6. The Lord said also unto me in the days of Josiah the king] It is 
 clear that this prophecy like the last is a summary or condensation 
 of Jeremiah's teaching at the time, and does not represent any one dis- 
 course. It is also clear that we are to take this and the preceding 
 part together. Not only are the two alike in subject, but the very 
 phrases used are to a great extent identical. One marked distinction how- 
 ever between the two lies in this, that while in the former no hope of for- 
 giveness was held out (it being there assumed that there was no genuine 
 repentance), we have here the distinct assurance of pardon on the 
 appearance of contrition. It is possible that the mention of the days 
 of Josiah may imply that this part of the prophecy is more immediately 
 connected with the time of his reforms. Judah has not taken warning 
 by the example of Israel's sin and punishment. Nay, she has added to 
 apostasy treachery. Nevertheless an acknowledgment of sin from either 
 portion of the nation will bring pardon. 
 
 backsliding Israel] The Hebrew is stronger. Israel, the backsliding 
 one., literally '(which is) fl/i?^'/^^/ (itself).' So too in ver. 7 'treacherous' 
 is \\\.QX2i)\y faithlessness. 
 
 7. I said] to myself; I thought. 
 
 after she had done all these things. Turn thou unto me] better, after 
 she has done all these things, she will return unto me. 
 treacherous] See ver. 6, above. 
 
28 JEREMIAH, III. [vv. 8—12. 
 
 8 Judah saw it. And I saw, when for all the causes whereby 
 backsliding Israel committed adultery I had put her away, 
 and given her a bill of divorce ; yet her treacherous sister 
 
 9 Judah feared not, but went and played the harlot also. And 
 it came to pass through the lightness of her whoredom, 
 that she defiled the land, and committed adultery with stones 
 
 10 and with stocks. And yet for all this her treacherous sister 
 Judah hath not turned unto me with her whole heart, but 
 
 11 feignedly, saith the Lord. And the Lord said unto me. 
 The backsliding Israel hath justified herself more than 
 
 12 treacherous Judah. Go and proclaim these words toward 
 the north, and say. Return, thou backsliding Israel, saith 
 
 8. This and the seventh ver. correspond in the order of their thoughts 
 and in the thoughts themselves. 'I said' (ver. 7) corresponds to 'I 
 saw' (ver. 8). Israel's conduct is the subject of the first part in each 
 sentence, and Judah's imitation of it that of the second part. 
 
 for all the causes whereby] On account of all the causes for luhich, was 
 perhaps the actual legal phraseology with which the bill of divorce com- 
 menced. 
 
 9. stones and with stocks'] idols of stone and of wood. 
 
 10. for all this] In spite of the warning thus afforded in the sin 
 and consequent downfall of the sister-kingdom, Judah has put on a 
 mere semblance of reformation, thereby aggravating her guilt. The 
 surface only and not the core of the nation was affected by king Josiah's 
 reforms. 
 
 11. Having thus thrice declared the part which 'her treacherous sister 
 Judah' had played in forsaking the Lord for idols, He pronounces the 
 sentence of condemnation, once more giving each kingdom the epithet 
 appropriate to its sin, and charging Judah with hypocrisy as well as de- 
 sertion. In spite of 
 
 (i) greater privileges, 
 
 (a) succession of kings of the same family, {b) Temple, (r) 
 Levites ; 
 
 (ii) the warning example of Israel ; 
 Judah has proved faithless. 
 
 "The verse is further important, yfrj/ as accounting for the destruction 
 of Jerusalem so soon after the pious reign of Josiah. Manasseh's 
 crimes had defiled the land, but it was by rejecting the reforms of Josiah 
 that they profaned it, and sealed their doom ; secondly, as shewing that 
 it is not by the acts of its government that a nation stands or falls. Ahaz 
 and Manasseh lent the weight of their influence to the cause of idolatry : 
 Hezekiah and Josiah to the cause of truth. But the nation had to deter- 
 mine which should prevail." {Spcakcr''s Comtfi.) 
 
 12. tozvard the ftorth] towards Assyria and Media, whither the Ten 
 Tribes had been carried captive by Shalmaneser, king of the former 
 country. 
 
w. 13—15.] JEREMIAH, III. 29 
 
 the Lord ; and I will not cause mine anger to fall upon you : 
 for I am merciful, saith the Lord, and I will not keep ajiger 
 for ever. Only acknowledge thine iniquity, that thou hast 13 
 transgressed against the Lord thy God, and hast scattered thy 
 ways to the strangers under every green tree, and ye have 
 not obeyed my voice, saith the Lord. Turn, O backsliding 14 
 children, saith the Lord ; for I am married unto you : and 
 I will take you one of a city, and two of a family, and I 
 will bring you to Zion : and I will give you pastors accord- 15 
 
 mine anger] my face. The sense is, I will not look severely upon 
 you. Compare for the same phrase Gen. iv. 5, "Cain was very wroth 
 and Ais countenance fell ^ 
 
 The offer in this verse is plainly conditional upon the repentance of 
 Israel, and as in point of fact they were not restored, we may gather 
 with certainty that the condition was not fulfilled. 
 
 13. Repentance and acknowledgment of definite sin alone are neces- 
 sary to ensure pardon. 
 
 hast scattered thy ways] hast wandered hither and thither. Comp. ii. 23. 
 strangers] strange gods. Compare ii. 25. 
 
 14. children] sons. Although they have wandered and are now in 
 **a far country" and "in want" (Luke xv. 13, 14) they can count on a 
 Father's welcome, if they return in a filial spirit. By this rendering the 
 mixture of metaphors is made more prominent. The people are at 
 once sons that have left their Father's house, and a wife that has been 
 divorced. "I am married unto you." 
 
 one of a city, and tiuo of afa-mily] One or two shall be converted to 
 a sense of their guilt. Both 'family' and 'city' refer still to Jews, not 
 to their Gentile captors. lamily to the Jewish ear suggested a larger 
 number than city. A mere village might bear the name of a city, 
 while a family denoted the larger subdivisions of the tribes, admitted 
 of many ramifications, and contained persons whose connexion with 
 one another would according to our notions be but very slender. In 
 this verse then the offer is, so to speak, individualised. The exiles 
 are told that, even though there be no national repentance, yet as it is 
 open to each one to return, so each shall be dealt with on his merits. 
 At the return from the captivity in Babylon certain of the Ten Tribes 
 may have accepted the invitation here given, and thus been the means 
 of the partial fulfilment of the promise. In a fuller sense it has been 
 in course of being carried out ever since, first in the conversion of 
 Jews in the time of our Lord and the Apostles, and secondarily in the 
 Christian Church. In the former period there were still dwelling within 
 Palestine those who traced their descent from one or other of the Ten 
 Tribes (Luke ii. 36), while the thought of the original unity of those 
 descended from Israel's twelve sons appears elsewhere in the New 
 Testament (Acts xxvi. 7 ; James i. i). 
 
 15. pastors] For the sense see chap. ii. 8, and for the different sort 
 of rulers which Israel had had compare Hosea viii. 
 
30 JEREMIAH, III. [vv. i6, 17. 
 
 ing to mine heart, which shall feed you with knowledge and 
 [6 understanding. And it shall come to pass, when ye be 
 multiplied and increased in the land, in those days, saith 
 the Lord, they shall say no more. The ark of the covenant 
 of the Lord : neither shall it come to mind : neither shall 
 they remember it ; neither shall they visit it; neither shall 
 t7 that be done any more. At that time they shall call Jeru- 
 salem the throne of the Lord ; and all the nations shall be 
 gathered unto it, to the name of the Lord, to Jerusalem : 
 neither shall they walk any more after the imagination of 
 
 16. A brief sketch of the exceeding blessings that shall follow, if 
 Israel hearken. The ark, hitherto the seat of the special manifestation 
 of God's glory, shall be forgotten, because He will shew Himself 
 throughout Jerusalem, and the whole city shall be filled with His 
 presence. 
 
 in those days] an ordinary phrase with the prophets to denote the 
 time of the Messiah. Compare v. 18; xxxiii. 16. 
 
 tAey shall say no more. The ark of the covenant of the Lord] It shall 
 be forgotten by those who have God Himself walking in the midst of 
 their city. The ark with its top forming the mercy-seat, on which the 
 visible brightness marking God's presence, the Shekinah, rested, was 
 the centre of reverence, although hidden by the veil of the Temple 
 which parted the Holy of Holies from the rest of the building. For 
 the thought of the ark with the figures of the Cherubim upon it as 
 God's throne, compare Ps. Ixxx. i, xcix. i ; also Exod. xxv. 22; Numb. 
 vii. 89. As a matter of fact the ark of Mosaic times perished no doubt 
 in the destruction of Jerusalem by the Chaldaeans. 
 
 come to iniiid] The marginal reading 'come upon the heart illustrates 
 the custom of speaking of the heart as the abode of the intelligence. 
 
 visit] or, possibly, miss, feel the want of. 
 
 neither shall that be done any more] The words might also be ren- 
 dered neither shall it {the ark) be made any more; that is, no repairs 
 shall be done to it. 
 
 17. they shall call fei'tisalem the throne of the Lord] God's glory 
 and visible presence shall be manifested, not as heretofore on the 
 covering of the ark alone, but throughout the holy city. He will thus 
 shew that His presence is not necessarily confined to the ark or temple, 
 and therefore that the possession of these, on which the people were 
 relying so much, by no means ensures protection from the foe or spiritual 
 blessing. 
 
 ah the nations] Gentile peoples shall be gathered into the Church of 
 God, which shall thus become Universal. 
 
 neither shall they] the Jews and Gentiles thus united. 
 
 imagination] stubbornness. So the word doubtless means on its 
 fiist occurrence in the Bible, Deut. xxix. 19 (of which this is apparently 
 a citation), Ps. Ixxxi. 12 (" lust"), and seven other times in Jeremiah. 
 
w. 18—20.] JEREMIAH, III. 
 
 their evil heart. In those days the house of Judah shall 18 
 walk with the house of Israel, and they shall come together 
 out of the land of the north to the land that I have given 
 for an inheritance unto your fathers. But I said, How shall 19 
 I put thee among the children, and give thee a pleasant 
 land, a goodly heritage of the hosts of nations ? and I said. 
 Thou shalt call me. My father; and shalt not turn away 
 from me. Surely as a wife treacherously departeth from her 20 
 
 18. with^ 'To,' the marginal rendering, is nearest the usual sense 
 of the Hebrew word. If this be its proper rendering here, the clause 
 will imply that the Ten Tribes will be the first to repent, and that then 
 Judah, seeing this, will join them, that all may return together out of 
 captivity. The prophet thus implies the subordinate position which 
 Judah shall take in the future in comparison with the other Tribes, 
 and that because of her greater iniquity, as already set forth. The word 
 rendered 'with' in the Text need not however denote anything further 
 than the coupling together of Israel and Judah. In Exod. xxxv. 22 we 
 have the Hebrew word in this sense 'both men awdf women.' 
 
 The whole verse may be compared with Isaiah xi. 12, 13, he "shall 
 assemble the outcasts of Israel, and gather together the dispersed of 
 Judah from the four corners of the earth... Ephraim shall not envy Judah, 
 and Judah shall not vex P^phraim." The unity there pictured as exist- 
 ing between the formerly rival kingdoms is the same idea as that of 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 19, 20. The prophet is about to describe the thoughts of Israel. 
 These verses form the transition. In them he introduces the Lord as 
 telling of His own affection for Israel, and of the ingratitude with 
 which that affection had been repaid. His manner of expressing the 
 former of these thoughts is no doubt suggested by the language of 
 the previous verse. The mention there of the land of promise leads 
 Him to speak of the 'pleasant land,' the 'goodly heritage' that He 
 was ready to bestow. 
 
 19. Bui\ And. No opposition is intended. 
 
 I said] The pronoun should be emphatic. Whatever Israel's conduct 
 may be, God's purposes and love are sure. The time referred to is 
 the Exodus from Egypt. 
 
 Hozu] Not a question as in the English Version, but How gloriously ! 
 How honourably ! 
 
 among the children] the nations, which, as created all of them by 
 God, are all of them His children, while Israel, unless it forfeits the 
 right, may claim to be His first-born. Compare Exod. iv. 22, "Thus 
 saiththe Lord, Israel is my son, even my firstborn." 
 
 goodly heritage of the hosts] heritage of the chief splendour, or, good- 
 liest heritage. The sense is that Israel shall have a more glorious land 
 than any other nation. Compare a "land. ..flowing with milk and 
 honey, which is the glory of all lands." (Ezek. xx. 6, 15.) 
 
 Thou shalt. ..and shalt not...] Better, Ye shall. ..and shall not.... 
 
32 JEREMIAH, III. [vv. 21—24. 
 
 husband, so have you dealt treacherously with me, O house 
 of Israel, saith the Lord. 
 
 21 — 25. Confession of sin on the part of Israel. 
 
 n A voice was heard upon the high places, weeping anti 
 supplications of the children of Israel : for they have per- 
 verted their way, and they have forgotten the Lord their 
 
 22 God. Return, ye backsHding children, a/id 1 will heal your 
 backslidings. Behold, we come unto thee ; for thou art the 
 
 23 Lord our God. Truly in vain is salvation hoped for from 
 the hills, and from the multitude of mountains : truly in the 
 Lord our God is the salvation of Israel. For shame hath 
 
 ^4 
 
 20. O house of Israel] Israel here used of the Ten Tribes, but 
 yet with a reference to Judah, as the latter would see her own misdeeds 
 reflected in Israel. 
 
 21 — 25. Confession of sin on the part of Israel. 
 
 21. high places'] See note on ver. 2 above. The voice comes from 
 them not only as having been the places where idolatry had been prac - 
 tised, but in accordance with Eastern custom to choose some lofty 
 or prominent place on which to make public lamentation. Compare 
 chap. vii. 29 ; also Moab's overthrow lamented by that nation upon its 
 "high places" (Is. xv. 2), and Jephthah's daughter bewailing her 
 virginity "up and down upon the mountains" (Judg. xi. 37). 
 
 22. God's reply to the lamentation and expressions of repentance. 
 The Hebrew is striking in its play on the word turn, Turn, ye turned 
 children ; I will heal your turnings. 
 
 Behold, we cojne] The offer of pardon is accepted. The picture is 
 an impressive one; the cries of repentance on the part of a nation — their 
 wandering on the hills in sorrow — the utterance of forgiveness — their 
 return into favour. 
 
 23. Truly in vain is salvatioji hoped for from the hills, and from the 
 multitude of mountains] Tridy in vain is it from the hills, in vain 
 is revelry on the mountains. The construction is obscure in the 
 original. The returning Israelites contrast the orgies that belong to 
 idol worship with the security and spiritual blessing which the Lord" 
 imparts. 
 
 24. Vain was the boisterous service spoken of in ver. 23. It is not 
 merely without profit, but most hurtful. 
 
 shame] Bosheth = Baal, the god of shame, the god who brings disgrace, 
 whose worship is an opprobrium to the worshipper. The Hebrew word is 
 often elsewhere used as an equivalent for Baal. Compare xi. 13, where 
 the two are identified, also Hos. ix. )o; so too as parts of compound 
 proper names Baal and Bosheth are identified; Jerubbaal (Judg. vi, 32) 
 = Jerubbesheth (2 Sam. xi. 21); Eshbaal (i Chron. viii. 33) = Ish- 
 bosheth (2 Sam. ii. 8). 
 
w. 25; 1,2.] JEREMIAH, III. IV. 33 
 
 devoured the labour of our fathers from our youth ; their 
 flocks and their herds, their sons and their daughters. We lie 25 
 down in our shame, and our confusion covereth us : for we 
 have sinned against the Lord our God, we and our fathers, 
 from our youth even unto this day, and have not obeyed the 
 voice of the Lord our God. 
 
 Chap, IV. i — 11. Swnming up of the ?nessage to Israel and 
 Jicdah. Announcement of mipending destruction to Jeru 
 salem. 
 
 If thou wilt return, O Israel, saith the Lord, return unto 4 
 me : and if thou wilt put away thine abominations out of 
 my sight, then shalt thou not remove. And thou shalt 2 
 
 hath devoured the labour\ hath consumed the possessions (as enu- 
 merated immediately afterwards). Labour is here used for the fruits 
 of toil. The verse seems to refer simply to the sacrifices offered to 
 Baal, which were sometimes even human. Although flocks and herds 
 yielded sacrifices to the Lord also, yet there could be no real similarity 
 between such offerings and those which were exacted by a god like 
 Baal. Others however take the devouring to consist in the tem- 
 poral misfortunes resulting from estrangement from the true God, so 
 that it is equivalent to saying, We have been ruined as a nation 
 by our wickedness and idolatry. 
 
 25. We lie down\ We will lie down, or, Let us lie down. Repentance 
 for the misdeeds of the past shall be so strong that we shall be over- 
 whelmed with emotion and shall lie prostrate under its influence. 
 Compare for such a custom when under very painful feelings 1 Sam. 
 xii. 16, xiii. 31; i Kings xxi. 4. 
 
 covereth^ shall cover, or, let (our confusion) cover. For the thought 
 compare Ps. cix. 29. 
 
 Chap. IV. 1—11. Summing up of the message to Israel and 
 JuDAH. Announcement of impending destruction to Je- 
 rusalem. 
 
 In verses i — 4 a severer mode of address is used towards Judah 
 (3, 4) than towards Israel (i, 2). 
 
 1. If thou wilt return'] both in the sense of a change of mind, 
 and of a literal return from captivity, as its consequence. 
 
 i-eturn unto me] unto me triou shalt return. 
 
 abominations] false gods. Compare i Kings xi. 5, 7 where the 
 two are shown to be identical; compare also 2 Kings xxiii. 13, and 
 many passages in Jeremiah. 
 
 then shalt thou not remove] and not stray. This clause is not the 
 completion of the sentence, as the English Version makes it to be, 
 but merely expresses the thought of the previous clause in diff"erent 
 
 JEREMIAH 3 
 
34 JEREMIAH, IV. [v. 3. 
 
 swear, The Lord liveth, in truth, in judgment, and in right- 
 eousness ; and the nations shall bless themselves in him, 
 3 and in him shall they glory. For thus saith the Lord to 
 the men of Judah and Jerusalem, Break up your fallow 
 
 language ; verse 1 (the apodosis to the preceding protasis) expresses the 
 consequence, in case the previous conditions are fulfilled. '• Stray " 
 refers to the restless search after one or another unreal object of wor- 
 ship, as described already (ii. 23, iii. 13). 
 
 2. And thou shalt'\ Then thou shalt. 
 
 The Lord liveth] As the Lord liveth. From the Eng. Version we 
 might suppose that this is itself the subject, and not simply the form, 
 of the oath. The Living God is "not the thing sworn to, but the 
 thing sworn by" {Speaker's Commentary). Oaths by other gods are to 
 be dismissed from their mouths. The people, while yet in the wilder- 
 ness, are commanded by Moses to "cleave" to the Lord " and swear 
 by His name. He is thy praise and He is thy God" (Deut. x. 20, 21). 
 So now if they will give the same proof that in their minds He is 
 supreme, there shall follow their own restoration, and through them 
 a blessing to all nations of the world. 
 
 and the stations'] then the nations. 
 
 shall bless themselves in him'] in the LORD, not in Israel, as is 
 shewn by the last clause, where in that case the verb to glory would 
 be inappropriate. Jeremiah however doubtless alludes here, as is his 
 wont, to the earlier Scriptures, such as "In thee shall all families of the 
 earth be blessed" (Gen. xii. 3), etc. Compare Ps. Ixiii. 11, "Every one 
 that sweareth by him (God) shall glory." On the assumption that Israel 
 repents, it will be through her that the Gentile nations shall obtain the 
 blessing of God. This Jeremiah implies by his undoubted reference to 
 the covenant made with Abraham, as quoted above. Thus then the 
 end of the former part of ver. i, and of the latter part of ver. 2, are 
 the consequences of the conditions (single and threefold respectively), 
 which precede them. 
 
 3, For\ This with the following verse contains a direct applica- 
 tion of the foregoing words to Judah. They were after all the part 
 of the nation in which the prophet was most directly interested, and he 
 thus naturally seeks to bring them within the compass of his prophecy, 
 and to rouse them to do that which he had urged upon Israel. 
 
 Break up] Make fallow for yourselves. The contrast is not between 
 uncultivated ground and that which bears a crop, but between that 
 which receives much and that which receives but little attention. The 
 figure is accordingly drawn from land allowed to lie fallow, in order that 
 it might thereby be presently made the fitter for cultivation. Land in 
 this condition would be overgrown by thorns, and it was that there 
 might be the opportunity to free the soil from these that the cultivator 
 permitted it to be at rest from time to time for a short period. The 
 point of the command then is this : — as the farmer is careful to clear 
 the soil of weeds, before sowing his seed, so do you use care in the 
 
vv. 4, 5.] JEREMIAH, IV. 35 
 
 ground, and sow not among thorns. Circumcise yourselves 4 
 to the Lord, and take away the foreskins of your heart, ye 
 men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem : lest my fury 
 come forth like fire, and burn that none can quench //, 
 because of the evil of your doings. Declare ye in Judah, 5 
 and publish in Jerusalem ; and say. Blow ye the trumpet in 
 the land : cry, gather together, and say. Assemble yourselves, 
 
 work of repentance. No hasty or scanty sowing in this case will bear 
 fruit that I can accept. It must be done thoughtfully and with sus- 
 tained diligence in order to prove effectual. 
 
 4. Circuvicise yourselves to the Loj'd^ The addition of the last three 
 words mark that the verb is used in a spiritual sense, as is further 
 shewn by the mention of the 'heart' in the same connexion. The 
 nature of the injunction then is that all impurity, and especially 
 idolatry as the crying sin of the nation, should be put away. 
 
 like fire'\ consuming all that opposes itself to its progress. 
 
 5. With this verse begins a group of addresses here given in substance, 
 and reaching to the end of chap. x. The general subject is the same 
 throughout, a declaration of the coming evil. The words as we have 
 them, in all probability, formed a part of the roll as read in the ears of 
 Jehoiakim, or afterwards enlarged, and represent the gist of Jeremiah's 
 preaching during the latter part of Josiah's reign, that of Jehoahaz, 
 and the beginning of that of Jehoiakim. During the greater part of 
 this time it was still possible for the people to avert calamity by 
 repentance and amendment of life. After Jehoiakim's reign had fairly 
 begun and he had shewn that even the check which Josiah's personal 
 character and influence had put upon idolatry was now removed, the 
 condition of the nation became desperate. The near approacli or 
 actual arrival of that condition therefore was present to Jeremiah's 
 mind throughout this section and coloured all his utterances. He speaks 
 of the hostile army and of the destruction which it is about to deal. 
 Judgment comes from the north, like the hot blast of the tempest 
 not to be warded off by any human devices. At the beginning of chap, 
 vii. there is a break caused by a new heading, and that with the three 
 chapters that follow probably give us the exact words spoken by Jere- 
 miah on a special occasion during this period. See notes there. 
 
 This and the subsequent verses are connected with the preceding as 
 being an expanded description of the punishment there threatened. 
 They give us a graphic picture of the excitement and dismay caused ' 
 throughout the defenceless portions of the land by the approach of the 
 enemy, and the hasty retreat to walled towns on the part of the country 
 people. 
 
 Blow ye'\ addressed either to those whose duty it was so to do, or to 
 those who should first become aware of the danger. 
 
 cry, gather togethe?-'] cry aloud. 
 
 Assemble yourselves] The inhabitants of the villages meet at a rendez- 
 vous and seek refuge in a body in the nearest fortified towns. So we 
 
 3—2 
 
36 JEREMIAH, IV. [w. 6, 7. 
 
 6 and let us go into the defenced cities. Set up the standard 
 toward Zion : retire, stay not : for I will bring evil from the 
 
 7 north, and a great destruction. The lion is come up from 
 his thicket, and the destroyer of the Gentiles is on his way; 
 he is gone forth from his place to make thy land desolate ; 
 and thy cities shall be laid waste, without an inhabitant. 
 
 find e.g. that the Rechabites have done (chap, xxxv.) Compare the 
 crowding of the inhabitants of Attica within the walls of Athens on the 
 occasion of a Spartan invasion (Thuc. ii. 52). 
 
 6. Set up the standard^ This was to be done not so much as 
 affording a place of comparative security on a height, as to mark 
 out the safest route to those who were seeking to attain the shelter 
 of the walls of Jerusalem. The erection of lofty poles with banners 
 waving from them would be a signal reaching further and therefore 
 more expeditious than even the trumpet blast. 
 
 standard^ Our Authorized English Version, as first published (in 
 ' 161 1), has by mistake standards. The mistake was not corrected 
 till the first careful revision of that Versi6n, made at Cambridge, 
 1629. 
 
 retire'\ save yoiir goods by fliglit. The same Hebrew word is used 
 and in the same sense in Exod. ix. 19; Is. x. 31 (English Vers, 
 "gather"). 
 
 evil from the north"] Some have taken the reference to be to the 
 Scythians. It is true that they made a descent in the direction of 
 Judaea during the reign of Josiah (see Introduction, chap. i. § 3), and 
 were checked by Psammetichus, king of Egypt. Even granting how- 
 ever that their invasion was made as late as or later than the time of 
 this prophecy, there are two reasons fatal to the supposition that it has 
 to do with them : 
 
 (i) There is nothing to shew that they ever invaded Judaea, 
 (ii) The description of the invading force does not suit them. We 
 have no knowledge that they used chariots. On the contrary, 
 the description exactly fits in with what we know otherwise of 
 the armies of Chaldaea, who are therefore no doubt here 
 meant. 
 
 7. The lion'] A lion. 
 
 thicket] the usual lurking place of such. 
 
 the destroyer of the Gentiles] a destroyer of nations. He is 
 not like an ordinary lion a destroyer of individuals, but of whole 
 nations. 
 
 he is gone forth from his place] literally, he has struck his tents, as 
 does an army. After Jeremiah's usual manner, he suddenly drops 
 his metaphor, and begins to express his meaning directly and without 
 figure. 
 
 without an inhabitant] fulfilled, as related chap, xliii. 5 — 7> " Johanan 
 the son of Kareah...took all the remnant of Judah...So they came into 
 the land of Egypt." 
 
vv. 8— lo.] JEREMIAH, IV. 37 
 
 For this gird you with sackcloth, lament and howl : for the 8 
 fierce anger of the Lord is not turned back from us. And y 
 it shall come to pass 'at that day, saith the Lord, that 
 the heart of the king shall perish, and the heart of the 
 princes ; and the priests shall be astonished, and the pro- 
 phets shall wonder. (Then said I, Ah, Lord God ! surely ic 
 thou hast greatly deceived this people and Jerusalem, saying, 
 Ye shall have peace ; whereas the sword reacheth unto the 
 
 8. is not turned back from us\ The wickedness of the days ot 
 Manasseh has not been repented of. Any reformation has been merely 
 on the surface, and those who imagine that it has been sufficient to 
 recover God's favour towards His people will find their mistake. 
 
 9. heari\ understanding. Their intellect shall be paralyzed. 
 
 the priests s halt be asto7tished'\ because of the punishment which has 
 followed upon their idolatries. 
 
 the prophets shall wonder'] because of the non-fulfilment of their pro- 
 phecies. 
 
 10. This verse has caused some perplexity to commentators. The 
 difficulty consists in the fact that in it God is spoken of as em- 
 ploying deceit. The chief modes in which the difficulty has been 
 met are 
 
 (i) Jeremiah is not speaking his own words but those of the false 
 prophets, on finding that their predictions of peace are not coming to 
 pass. 
 
 (ii) The words are those of Jeremiah himself, but used against the 
 false prophets, whom he thus ironically assumes to have been inspired 
 by God to utter vain predictions of prosperity. 
 
 (iii) God is said to have done Himself that evil which in point of fact 
 He has only permitted to occur. 
 
 (i) and (ii) are harsh and far fetched, while (iii) was a mode of 
 thought and speech familiar to the Jew (compare i Kings xxii. 21 — 23), 
 who accordingly would not feel that there was any irreverence in this 
 mode of expressing his difficulty. For the emotion which must have 
 possessed Jeremiah at the time and drawn from him this startling ex- 
 clamation, we may compare Elijah's case in i Kings xix. 10, 14. The 
 prophet "broke into a wild cry, in which he gave expression to his 
 pain, and, relieved, he felt the fire of duty burn bright again, and took 
 up again the work of life." Christ in Modern Life (Rev. S. Brooke), 
 
 P- 155- 
 
 **To me alone there came a thought of grief, 
 A timely utterance gave that thought relief. 
 And I again am strong." 
 
 Wordsworth. 
 That the prophets were very eager to understand what was obscure 
 in the predictions they uttered, we gather from i Pet. i. 10, 11. In 
 this particular case the fulfilment, though sure, was in the yet distant 
 future. 
 
38 JEREMIAH, IV. [vv. ii— 13 
 
 soul). At that time shall it be said to this people and to 
 Jerusalem, 
 
 T I — 18. Description of the efiemy's attack. 
 
 A dry wind of the high places in the wilderness toward 
 
 the daughter of my people, 
 Not to fan, nor to cleanse, 
 
 Even a full wind from \kiO?>Q places shall come unto me : 
 Now also will I give sentence against them. 
 Behold, he shall come up as clouds, 
 And his chariots shall be as a whirlv/ind : 
 
 souI\ life. 
 
 11. Having given vent to the wail characteristic of his disposition he 
 resumes his prophetic utterance. 
 
 At that time shall it be said'\ When the invader is advancing, the 
 tidings shall be borne by messengers and fugitives as follows : 
 
 11 — 18. Description of the enemy's attack. 
 
 A dry wind^ A hot wind. A wind from the east, such as is pre- 
 valent in that country, accompanied by a cloudless sky. As it comes 
 down from the hills and across the barren wastes it withers up all 
 vegetation, besides producing the utmost discomfort. " The air becomes 
 loaded with fine dust, which it whirls in rainless clouds hither and thither 
 
 at its own wild will The eyes inflame, the lips blister and the 
 
 moisture of the body evaporates, under the ceaseless application of this 
 persecuting wind" (Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 295). 
 " We have two kinds of sirocco, one accompanied with vehement wind, 
 which fills the air with dust and fine sand " [ibid. p. 536). 
 
 high places] bare heights. Compare note on iii. 2. 
 
 not to fan, nor to cleanse] alluding to the Eastern mode of winnowing. 
 By the vehemence of this wind wheat and chaff alike shall be swept 
 av/ay. 
 
 12. a full wind from those places] X2i\her, fuller than those {winds) 
 that are used to winnow and cleanse. Such a storm is meant as that 
 described forcibly in Joel (ii. 30, 31), where the sun, as seen through 
 columns of sand and dust, is the colour of blood, while those columns 
 themselves are likened to " pillars of smoke." 
 
 unto] for; at My command. 
 
 now also will I] The pronoun is emphatic. I, in reply to their 
 atlnck on me in the way of idol- worship, will, etc. 
 
 13. as clouds] So in Ezekiel (xxxviii. 16) the enemy Gog is said to 
 be coming up against Israel "as a cloud to cover the land;'' and in 
 the prophecy of Joel (ii. 2) the invading army is extended over the land 
 like "clouds and thick darkness, as the morning spread upon the 
 mountains." 
 
 his chariots shall be as a whirlwind] The same comparison is used 
 twice by the prophet Isaiah (v. 28, Ixvi. is)- 
 
w. 14—16.] JEREMIAH, IV. 39 
 
 His horses are swifter than eagles. 
 
 Woe unto us ! for we are spoiled. 
 
 O Jerusalem, wash thine heart from wickedness, that thou 
 
 mayest be saved. 
 How long shall thy vain thoughts lodge within thee ? 
 For a voice declareth from Dan, 
 And pubhsheth affliction from mount Ephraim. 
 Make ye mention to the nations ; behold, pubHsh against 
 
 Jerusalem, 
 That watchers come from a far country, 
 
 szvifter than eagles] Compare chap, xlviii. 40; 1 Sam. i. 23; Lam. iv. 
 19; Hab. i. 8. 
 
 Woe unto us! for we arc spoiled] This represents either the cry of 
 the people on finding themselves hopelessly in the hands of the invading 
 force, or the lament of the prophet himself as he realizes the state of 
 things that he has just depicted. The former view is the more likely 
 one. Compare ver. 19, etc. 
 
 14. thine heart] as opposed to mere surface-reform. Compare 
 *'hath not turned unto me with her whole heart but feignedly," (iii. 10). 
 
 How long] Thou hast wearied me with thy prolonged faithlessness. 
 
 vai7t] sinful, idolatrous. The Hebrew word, properly denoting sin 
 of any kind, is used specially of the worship of idols. Thus Beth-el 
 (house of God) is called (Hos. iv. 15, etc.) in consequence of the worship 
 there practised, Beth-aven (house of iniquity, house of an idol). At the 
 same time there is a play on the word which we cannot reproduce in 
 English. This appears in the original of ver. 15 where the same word is 
 used in another of its senses affliction, thus enforcing the truth that 
 idolatry and disaster are necessarily conjoined. 
 
 15. The connexion is, It is high time to amend, for, etc. 
 
 Dan] on the northern border of Palestine, see Deut. xxxiv. i. It 
 is mentioned frequently in conjunction with Beersheba, the other limit ; 
 e. g. Judges xx. i ; i Sam. iii. 20, etc. It was a conspicuous seat of 
 idolatry, sharing as it did with Bethel the distinction of being selected 
 by Jeroboam as the seat of a golden calf (i Kings xii. 29). 
 
 afflicfioft] See ver. 14, 
 
 mount Ephraim] the range dividing Ephraim from Judah, eight or 
 ten miles at most from Jerusalem itself. The language thus intimates 
 the rapid approach of the enemy. It was but now they were at Dan, 
 and already they are crossing the hills in the very neighbourhood of the 
 Assyrians, as described in Is. x., and of the capital of the southern 
 kingdom. Compare the rapid advance of the Etruscans as described 
 in Macaulay's "Horatius," [Lays of Ancient Rome,) " Now from the 
 rock Tarpeian," etc. 
 
 16. Make ye tnention] The nations are summoned to witness the venge- 
 ance about to be taken even on the chosen people. The event is itself 
 of the utmost importance, and the lesson will be a most impressive one. 
 
 watchers] besiegers, the Chaldaeans. 
 
40 JEREMIAH, IV. [vv. 17—20. 
 
 And give out their voice against the cities of Judah. 
 
 17 As keepers of a field, are they against her round about ; 
 Because she hath been rebelUous against me, saith the 
 
 Lord. 
 
 18 Thy way and thy doings have procured these things unto 
 
 thee; 
 This is thy wickedness, because it is bitter, 
 Because it reacheth unto thine heart. 
 
 19 — 26. Picture of the. horror and desolation that are at 
 hand. 
 
 19 My bowels, my bowels ! I am pained at my very heart ; 
 My heart maketh a noise in me; I cannot hold my peace, 
 Because thou hast heard, O my soul, the sound of the 
 
 trumpet, the alarm of war. 
 
 20 Destruction upon destruction is cried ; for the whole land 
 
 is spoiled : 
 
 17. keepers of a field] "In the time of our translators it may be 
 y doubted whether the term Jield was ever used of enclosed plots of 
 
 ground. Such enclosures were called parks, while the field was the 
 open country. (Lev. xiv. 7, xvii. 5, etc.). In it not only was it 
 necessary to watch the cattle (Luke ii. 8), but also the crops (Job xxvii. 
 18). Jeremiah therefore compares the tents of the besiegers on guard 
 round Jerusalem to the booths erected by shepherds or husbandmen 
 for the protection of their flocks or produce." {Speaker'' s Comm.) 
 
 18. wickedness] The Hebrew word means either wickedness, or its 
 result, viz. calamity. The latter is the sense here, as the succeeding 
 words shew. 
 
 bitter] Owing to the remembrance that it is virtually self-inflicted. 
 reacheth unto thine heart] inflicteth deadly wounds. Compare ver. 10. 
 
 19—26. Picture of the horror and desolation that 
 
 ARE AT hand. 
 
 19. at my very heart] the walls of my heart ! a separate ex- 
 clamation. These brief utterances well represent the pangs to which 
 the speaker is being subjected. That speaker is not Jeremiah only, 
 but the people as a whole. This appears from the next verse, and 
 from chap. x. 20. 
 
 maketh a noise] The word in the Hebrew denotes tumultuous 
 movement, pain, and the expression of it in sound, 
 
 20. Destruction upon destruction] the tidings of one calamity 
 after another, as in the case of the successive announcements to Job. 
 So Macaulay's " Horatius " as referred to above: 
 
 "Every hour some horseman came 
 With tidings of dismay." 
 
vv. 21—26.] JEREMIAH, IV. 41 
 
 Suddenly are my tents spoiled, and my curtains in a mo- 
 ment. 
 
 How long shall I see the standard, and hear the sound 21 
 of the trumpet ? 
 
 For my people is foolish, they have not known me ; 22 
 
 They are sottish children, and they have none understand- 
 ing: 
 
 They are wise to do evil, but to do good they have no 
 knowledge. 
 
 I beheld the earth, and lo, // was without form, and void; 23 
 
 And the heavens, and they had no light. 
 
 I beheld the mountains, and lo, they trembled, 24 
 
 And all the hills moved lightly. 
 
 I beheld, and lo, there was no man, 25 
 
 And all the birds of the heavens were fled. 
 
 I beheld, and lo, the fruitful place was a wilderness, 26 
 
 is spoiled'^ assuming that this had aheady taken place; so certain 
 was it. 
 
 tents] This seems not merely a name for dwellings, retained from i 
 nomadic times, but a representation of the real state of things with 
 much of the pastoral and agricultural part of the nation even then. 
 Compare for the expression 2 Sam. xviii. 17, xx, i ; i Kings viii. 66, 
 xii. 16. 
 
 curtains'] another way of saying tents; so x. 20; Cant. i. 5; Is. 
 liv. 2. 
 
 21. standard] as above in ver. 6. 
 
 trtimpet'] not as summoning hosts to battle, but admonishing fugitives 
 to hasten their flight. Those who have not yet fled for refuge to the 
 cities are constantly warned of fresh reason for so doing. The term 
 is prolonged, and the end of it is not in sight. How long shall this 
 state of things last ? 
 
 22. Fot-] The last verse contained an appeal addressed to God 
 to know the cause why this invasion was permitted. This verse 
 contains God's reply. It is not without cause, for, etc. 
 
 kjiown] had regard to. 
 
 23. The prophet sees in vision the vastness of the desolation that 
 is coming upon the land. It is a return to the state of things described 
 in the History of the Creation. Matter is as yet lying "without form 
 and void." Wildness, solitude, and general disorder are indicated. 
 All is chaotic. 
 
 24. moved lightly] In spite of their vast size they were shaken 
 to and fro as though they were "a very little thing." 
 
 25. all the birds of the heavens were fled] as expecting some dread 
 convulsion of nature. 
 
 26. the fruitful place] Heb. Carmel, (see ii. 7), probably taken 
 
42 JEREMIAH, IV. [vv. 27—29. 
 
 And all the cities thereof were broken down 
 
 At the presence of the Lord, and by his fierce anger. 
 
 27 — 31. The suffering and dismay that shall attend upon the 
 overthrow of the kingdom cannot by any devices be averted. 
 
 For thus hath the Lord said. 
 
 The whole land shall be desolate ; 
 
 Yet will I not make a full end. 
 
 For this shall the earth mourn, and the heavens above be 
 
 black : 
 Because I have spoken //, I have purposed it, 
 And will not repent, neither will I turn back from it. 
 The whole city shall flee for the noise of the horsemen 
 
 and bowmen ; 
 
 however here as representing the most fruitful portions of the land in 
 general. 
 
 a wilderness'] literally, the wilderness, i.e. "changed into the 
 wilderness with all its attributes" (Hitzig, as quoted by Keil). There 
 is a complete reversal of the natural features of the soil. 
 
 "In no country is the contrast between the glorious past and the 
 miserable present so startling and sad ..The whole land is a venerable 
 ruin." (.Through Bible Lands, p. 387, P. Schafif., D.D., New York, 
 1878). 
 
 27 — 31. The suffering and dismay that shall attend upon 
 
 THE overthrow OF THE KINGDOM CANNOT BY ANY DEVICES 
 BE AVERTED. 
 
 27. This is no mere picture or flight of fancy, but a tremendous 
 reality, For, etc. 
 
 yet will I not make a full end] The overthrow shall not be such 
 as that which sooner or later befalls all other kingdoms. The contrast 
 between the chosen people and the rest of the nations is thus very 
 remarkable, as is also the frequency and consistency with which the 
 promise of final deliverance appears even in the midst of the severest 
 threatenings. This feature of prophecy is found as early as Lev. xxvi. 
 44. Compare chap. v. 10; also Is. vi. 13, xi. ii, 16; Ezek. xx. 34; 
 Amos ix. 8 : Mic. ii. 12. 
 
 28. For this] because of the desolation of the whole land. 
 shall the earth mourn] as deprived of her products. 
 
 be black] be in mourning from sympathy. Observe in the latter part 
 of the verse the emphatic assurance of the certainty of the coming woe. 
 
 29. This verse is in point of fact the resumed description of the 
 desolating effect of the invasion, verses 27, 28 being almost a parenthesis. 
 
 The whole city] Every city. That this is the right rendering is shewn 
 by the last word of the verse, which is literally in thein (not, in it). 
 
V. 30.] JEREMIAH, IV. 43 
 
 They shall go into thickets, and climb up upon the rocks: 
 Every city shall be forsaken, and not a man dwell therein. 
 And when thou art spoiled, what wilt thou do ? 30 
 
 Though thou clothest thyself with crimson, though thou 
 
 deckest thee with ornaments of gold. 
 Though thou rentest thy face with painting, in vain shalt 
 
 thou make thyself fair ; 
 
 A new feature is thus introduced into the description. Not only shall \\ 
 the country people flee to Jerusalem, but the inhabitants of the various ; 
 towns as well. The whole city would mean Jerusalem only. 'City' 
 is here used for its inhabitants, as in i Sam. iv. 13 ("all the city cried 
 out"). 
 
 bowJTteri] These formed the chief feature in the armies of the Assyrians. 
 See Layard's Mo7itiments of AHneveJu 
 
 thickets'] The word in the original according to the pure Hebrew 
 use means clouds, but in local dialects it came to be used in the sense in 
 which Jeremiah here employs it. 
 
 rocks] These, and the caves which they contained, were often used 
 as places of refuge in the course of Jewish history. See chap. xvi. 16, 
 also Judges vi. 2; i Sam. xiii. 6; and compare Is. ii. iq, 21. 
 
 30. And when thou art spoiled] And thou, plundered one. The 
 singular is put collectively for the plural. Compare ver. 31 'the 
 daughter of Zion;' so also Ps. xlv. 12 ("the daughter of Tyre," meaning 
 Tyrian maidens). 
 
 rentest thy face with painting] This is illustrated by an Egyptian 
 "practice universal among the females of the higher and middle classes 
 and very common among those of the lower orders, which is that of 
 blackening the edge of the eyelids both above and below the eye with 
 a black powder called kohl. This is a coUyrium commonly composed 
 of the smoke black, which is produced by burning a kind of liban, an 
 aromatic resin, a species of frankincense. ...At?/?/ is also prepared of the 
 smoke black produced by burning the shells of almonds.... y^;///;//^;z>', it 
 is said, was formerly tised for painting the edges of the eyelids. The 
 kohl is applied with a small probe of wood, ivory, or silver, tapering 
 towards the end, but blunt: this is moistened, sometimes with rose- 
 water, then dipped in the powder and drawn along the edges of the 
 eyelids.... The custom of thus ornamenting the eyes prevailed among both ' 
 sexes in Egypt in very ancient times : this is shewn by the sculptures 
 and paintings in the temples and tombs of this country, and y(Wz/-vessels 
 with the probes and even with remains of the black powder have 
 often been found in the ancient tombs" (Lane's Modern Egyptians, vol. i. 
 pages 45, 46). 
 
 rentest thy face] dividest thine eyes, forcibly partest thine eyelids, 
 i.e. by the process above described. Rent is the older form of rend and 
 is the present not the past tense. It now occurs here only, but in older 
 editions of the Bible is found in eleven other passages. As instances 
 of its use in Shakespeare, compare 
 
44 JEREMIAH, IV. V. [w. 31 ; i. 
 
 Thy lovers will despise thee, they will seek thy life. 
 
 For I have heard a voice as of a woman in travail, and 
 
 the anguish as of her that bringeth forth her first child, 
 The voice of the daughter of Zion, that bewaileth herself, 
 
 that spreadeth her hands, 
 Saying, Woe is me now ! for my soul is wearied because 
 
 of murderers. 
 
 Chap. V. i — 9. Is the punishment too severe ? Nay; God 
 cannot but punish the wickedness that p7'evails amofig high 
 and low alike. 
 
 Run ye to and fro through the streets of Jerusalem, and 
 
 "And will you rent our ancient love asunder." 
 
 Mids. Night's Dr. iii. 2. 215. 
 "Where sighes and groanes, and shrieks that rent the ay re 
 Are made, not mark'd." 
 
 Macbeth, iv. 3 (Ed. 1623). 
 {The Bible- Word Book, by Eastwood and Wright.) 
 thy lovers] those whom thou wouldest have as paramours, those for 
 whose support thou carriest on intrigues (ii. 33, 36J are the very on-es, 
 O Jerusalem, who seek thy hurt. 
 
 31. Thy wiles shall have no effect; for already I hear thy cries of 
 agony and dismay. 
 
 that bezvaileth herself] she sig-hetli. 
 
 that spreadeth her hands] she stretcheth out her hands (in the 
 attitude of a suppliant). 
 
 is wearied] sinketh exhausted. 
 
 Chap. V. 1 — 9. Is the punishment too severe? Nay; God can- 
 not BUT PUNISH THE WICKEDNESS THAT PREVAILS AMONG HIGH 
 AND LOW ALIKE. 
 
 1. JRun ye to and fro] Instead of saying simply that good men 
 were difficult or impossible to find in Jerusalem, the prophet seeks to 
 arrest the attention by challenging his hearers to find one by a thorough 
 and extensive search. The last words of the verse are evidently an 
 allusion to the history contained in Gen. xviii. 23 — 33. As Abraham 
 obtained by a series of requests that ten righteous found within Sodom 
 should procure its safety, so here one godly man is to do the like for 
 Jerusalem. The statement, as seeming to imply that there was not 
 even an individual exception to the universal depravity that reigned 
 there, has caused to some a difficulty which they have sought to evade 
 by saying that the righteous would be afraid to walk abroad, and so 
 would remain shut up, as did Jeremiah and Baruch after the publication 
 of the contents of the roll in the time of Jehoiakim. Others have taken 
 
w. 2—5.] JEREMIAH, V. 45 
 
 see now, and know, and seek in the broad places thereof, if 
 ye can find a man, if there be any that executeth judgment, 
 that seeketh the truth ; and I will pardon it. And though 2 
 they say, The Lord liveth ; surely they swear falsely. O 3 
 Lord, a7'e not thine eyes upon the truth ? thou hast stricken 
 them, but they have not grieved; thou hast consumed them, 
 but they have refused to receive correction : they have made 
 their faces harder than a rock ; they have refused to return. 
 Therefore I said. Surely these are poor ; they are foolish : 4 
 for they know not the way of the Lord, nor the judgment 
 of their God. I will get me unto the great men, and will s 
 
 this verse as proof that the prophecy must be later than Josiah. There 
 is however no need of adopting either of these views. The words 
 were never meant to be taken literally. They are but an emphatic and 
 lively way of stating what was doubtless the case even towards the end 
 of Josiah's reign, viz. — that the little good that was left in the land was 
 driven out of sight by the prevailing wickedness, and exercised no ap- 
 preciable effect upon it. Some righteous were then left, even as later in 
 the time of Zedekiah the last king of Judah (xxiv. 5). 
 
 broad places] the market-places and other chief places of resort. 
 
 exeaitet/i] doetli. Execute has acquired a more contracted and 
 formal sense since the time when the Eng. Version was made. 
 
 truth] sincerity, good faith ; by no means confined to truth in words. 
 
 2. Though they take the most solemn form of oath, as opposed to 
 those by heaven, by the earth, by Jerusalem, by the head, (Matt. v. 34, 
 35,) which were all held to be less binding, they yet use it to give weight 
 to a lie. See note on iv. 2. 
 
 3. The reply of the messengers as to the result of their search. 
 
 the truth] sincerity. See ver. i. They have thought to please Thee 
 by outward blandishments and the appearance of reverence, but Thou 
 hast seen their heart. 
 
 they have made their faces harder than a rock] Compare Ezek. iii. 
 7—9. 
 
 4. Therefore] And. 
 
 The prophet thinks, surely it is poverty and ignorance that misleads 
 them. 
 
 foolish] The same word is rendered "dote" in chap. 1. 36. It 
 seems however if not to include at least to be nearly akin to the sense 
 of sinful. See Numb. xii. ri. 
 
 the way of the Lord] the way prescribed by God to man that he 
 should walk in it. 
 
 the judgment of their God] that which God judges or decrees to be 
 right and lawful. The rendering of the word in 2 Kings xvii. 26 
 well illustrates its meaning here. The Samaritan immigrants "knew 
 not tht ?na7iner of the God of the land." 
 
46 JEREMIAH, V. [vv. 6, 7. 
 
 speak unto them; for they have known the way of the Lord, 
 and tliQ judgment of their God: but these have altogether 
 
 6 broken the yoke, and burst the bonds. Wherefore a Hon 
 out of the forest shall slay them, a/id a wolf of the evenings 
 shall spoil them, a leopard shall watch over their cities: 
 every one that goeth out thence shall be torn in pieces: 
 because their transgressions are many, a^id their backslidings 
 
 7 are increased. How shall I pardon thee for this ? thy chil- 
 dren have forsaken me, and sworn by t/ie^n that are no gods : 
 when I had fed them to the full, they then committed adul- 
 
 5. they have knoivn'] They have had leisure to study the Law, and 
 to learn therefrom the will of God. 
 
 broken the yoke, and burst the bonds] of the Law and of obedience. 
 The bonds are the fastenings of the yoke upon the neck of the beasts 
 that bear it. 
 
 This verse suggested to Dante the images in the opening Canto of his 
 Inferno : 
 
 "A lion's aspect, which appeared to me, 
 He seemed as if against me he were coming 
 With head uplifted, and with ravenous hunger, 
 So that it seemed the air was afraid of him; 
 And a she-wolf, that with all hungerings 
 Seemed to be laden in her meagreness, 
 And many folk has caused to live forlorn ! " 
 
 Canto I. 11. 45 — 51. Longfellow's Trans. 
 
 6. The beasts here mentioned are literally meant, and are not 
 figurative of the enemy. This is shewn by the different sorts which are 
 enumerated. Compare for this form of punishment Lev. xxvi. 12 ; 
 1 Kings xvii. 25; and so Ezek. xiv. 15. 
 
 evenings'] deserts. The mistake arose from the similarity of the 
 two words in Hebrew. That deserts (as opposed to a word, meaning 
 time) is the right rendering is farther shown by the parallelism with "a 
 lion out oi the forest. ^^ 
 
 leopard] panther. 
 
 watch over] lie in wait for, about to spring, as is the custom of 
 these animals. Compare Hos. xiii. 7. 
 
 7. How] Why. 
 t?iis] thy faithlessness. 
 
 thy children] the people of Jerusalem at large. 
 
 / had fed thetn to the ftdl] or, according to another reading, 7 had 
 bound them to me by oath. This reading, which differs to the slightest 
 possible extent in the Hebrew from that rendered in the English Ver- 
 sion, is on the whole the more probable one. 
 
 The last part of the verse is best understood in the sense of faithless- 
 ness to their Divine Spouse, but perhaps with at least an allusion 
 to the imj)ure rites which accompanied idolatry. 
 
vv. 8— 14.] JEREMIAH, V. 47 
 
 tery, and assembled themselves by troops in the harlots' 
 houses. They were as fed horses in the morning : every 8 
 one neighed after his neighbour's wife. Shall I not visit 9 
 for these things 1 saith the Lord: and shall not my soul be 
 avenged on such a nation as tliis r 
 
 10 — 18. In spite of the feeling of security which prevails, the 
 Lord will speedily bring a desolating foe. 
 
 Go ye up upon her walls, and destroy; but make not a full lo 
 end: take away her battlements; for they <2r<? not the Lord's. 
 For the house of Israel and the house of Judah have dealt n 
 very treacherously against me, saith the Lord. They have 12 
 belied the Lord, and said, // is not he; neither shall evil 
 come upon us; neither shall we see sword nor famine: and 13 
 the prophets shall become wind, and the word is not in 
 them: thus shall it be done unto them. Wherefore thus 14 
 
 8. in the morning\ roving alDOUt. 
 
 10 — 18. In spite of the feeling of security which prevails, 
 THE Lord will speedily bring a desolating foe. 
 
 10. upoiil rather, into. 
 
 her walls] probably the thought in the prophet's mind is that of a 
 vineyard walled in. Hence the use of the preposition into above. He 
 had already likened Jerusalem to a vine (ii. 21). Compare for the 
 figure Is. V. I, etc. 
 
 make not a full end] For the characteristic of prophecy here shewn 
 see iv. 27 above, with the remark and references there. 
 
 battle77ients] tendrils, so as to keep up the figure of the vine. Com- 
 pare for the thought Is. xviii. 5. Observe that it is the tendrils only, 
 not the vine itself, that must be removed. The degenerate members 
 of the nation, whose connexion with the central stalk has virtually 
 ceased, and who no longer draw sap from the root, are to be pruned 
 away by adversity. 
 
 12. // is not he] When a prophet bears to them God's message of 
 warning, their reply is : The prophet is preaching his own inventions ; it 
 is not God who speaks by him. Another view is that their reply is 
 equivalent to that of the fool (Ps. xiv. i). "There is no God:" but 
 this is less likely. 
 
 13. and the prophets shall become wind] still the words of the 
 rebellious. 
 
 the word] He who speaks, the Lord. 
 
 thus] In accordance with the prophet's own threats may it happen 
 to them. "The Lord do so to you and more also" is the reply of the 
 unbelieving Jews. 
 
48 JEREMIAH, V. [vv. 15—18. 
 
 saith the Lord God of hosts, Because ye speak this word, 
 behold, I will make my words in thy mouth fire, and this 
 
 15 people wood, and it shall devour them. Lo, I will bring a 
 nation upon you from far, O house of Israel, saith the Lord : 
 it is a mighty nation, it is an ancient nation, a nation whose 
 language thou knowest not, neither understandest what they 
 
 16 say. Their quiver is as an open sepulchre, they are all 
 
 17 mighty men. And they shall eat up thine harvest, and thy 
 bread, which thy sons and thy daughters should eat: they 
 shall eat up thy flocks and thine herds: they shall eat 
 up thy vines and thy fig trees: they shall impoverish thy 
 
 18 fenced cities, wherein thou trustedst, with the sword. Never- 
 theless in those days, saith the Lord, I will not make a full 
 end with you. 
 
 14. Because ye (the people) deny that the word is firom me, I will 
 make thy (Jeremiah's) words to come to pass and their fulfilment to 
 devour the people as fire devours wood, 
 
 15. house of Israel] This address includes of course Judah and is 
 even made to her principally, but only as representative of the whole 
 nation, both the captive part and that which still remained in Palestine 
 and which contained members of all the tribes. 
 
 mighty] enduring, not to be got rid of is rather the sense of the 
 Hebrew. 
 
 ancient] Compare Genesis xi. 31. Even at the time of Terah's 
 migration from Ur, it was a city of the Chaldees. 
 
 whose language thou knowest not] This was one of the terrors fore- 
 told in Deut. (xxviii. 49) as a consequence of disobedience. Appeals 
 for mercy would be fruitless when made in a tongue not understood by 
 the stranger. 
 
 16. Their quiver is as an open sepulchre] The figure of speech here 
 differs somewhat from that in Psalm v. 9, "Their throat is an open 
 sepulchre." There the sense is that it snatches down whatever comes 
 within reach. Here the point of comparison is that "as an open grave 
 is filled with dead men, so the quiver of this enemy is filled with 
 deadly missiles." (Keil.) 
 
 Their quiver] For the mention of the enemy as bowmen compare 
 iv. 29. 
 
 17. which thy sons and thy daughters should eat] or, They shall eat 
 thy sons and thy daughters. 
 
 they shall impoverish] it shall break down. This is the most likely 
 sense of the Hebrew verb, which is also in the singular, as are the 
 earlier verbs in the verse with the exception of the second. 
 
 sword] meaning weapons of war generally, as in chap, xxxiii. 4; 
 Ezek. xxvi. 9 ("axes"). 
 
 18. A renewal of the promise at the beginning of the section (v. 10). 
 
w. 19—24.] JEREMIAH, V. 49 
 
 19 — 29. The cause of this is Judah's rebellious spirit, and 
 her devotion to unjust and deceitful gai?is. 
 
 And it shall come to pass, when ye shall say. Wherefore 19 
 doth the Lord our God all these things unto us? then shalt 
 thou answer them, Like as ye have forsaken me, and served 
 strange gods in your land, so shall ye serve strangers in a 
 land that is not yours. Declare this in the house of Jacob, 20 
 and publish it in Judah, saying, Hear now this, O foolish 21 
 people, and without understanding; which have eyes, and 
 see not ; which have ears, and hear not : fear ye not me ? 22 
 saith the Lord : will ye not tremble at my presence, which 
 have placed the sand for the bound of the sea by a per- 
 petual decree, that it cannot pass it : and though the waves 
 thereof toss themselves, yet can they not prevail; though 
 they roar, yet can they not pass over it? But this people 23 
 hath a revolting and a rebellious heart; they are revolted 
 and gone. Neither say they in their heart, Let us now fear 24 
 
 19—29. The cause of this is Judah's rebellious spirit, and 
 
 HER devotion TO UNJUST AND DECEITFUL GAINS. 
 
 19. The connexion of thought with the last section is that while the 
 punishment was to be severe, the wickedness which had called it forth 
 was gross. Notice also the adaptation of the punishment to the nature 
 of the offence. 
 
 in a land that is not yotcrs] Such an expression as this would by no 
 means have been suitable, if the enemy threatened by the prophet were 
 the Scythians, who were a roving people, having no fixed habitation. 
 
 20. Addressed to all bystanders, who will share in the prophet's 
 sorrow and zeal for reformation. The two great divisions of the people 
 are here mentioned distinctly in order to give greater universality and 
 consequent solemnity to the appeal which Jeremiah makes. 
 
 21. For the severe language employed compare chap. iv. 22; Hos. 
 vii. II. 
 
 22. which have placed the sand] God's poiver as shewn in nature 
 illustrated. The sand appears but a feeble means of resisting blows ' 
 administered by tons of water, yet He has ordained by the laws of 
 nature that it shall be sufficient for the purpose. Is not such a God to 
 be feared ? 
 
 23. The people are not obedient as even inanimate nature is. 
 
 a revolting and a rebellious heart] They are not content with revolt, 
 i.e. drawing back from the true God, quitting His service; but actually 
 take up the position of foes. 
 
 24. God's grace as shewn in nature illustrated. As the people 
 refused to fear Him in consideration of His power (ver. 22), so now 
 they fail to fear Him who bestows the weather which shall bring to 
 
 JEREMIAH A 
 
so JEREMIAH, V. [vv. 25—27. 
 
 the Lord our God, that giveth rain, both the former and 
 
 the latter, in his season: he reserveth unto us the appointed 
 25 weeks of the harvest. Your iniquities have turned away 
 
 these things, and your sins have withholden good things 
 =6 from you. For among my people are found wicked 7nen: 
 
 they lay wait, as he that setteth snares; they set a trap, they 
 27 catch men. As a cage is full of birds, so are their houses 
 
 full <?/■ deceit: therefore they are become great, and waxen 
 
 maturity the produce of the field. The prophet thus makes a second 
 appeal on somewhat different grounds from the former one. As this 
 proof addresses itself chiefly to the thoughtful he says "m their hearth 
 ^ Any one can perceive that God is a Being possessed of power. It is 
 necessary to consider and reflect upon His actions in the world of 
 nature before we perceive that He is also a God who uses that power 
 for loving purposes towards man. 
 
 rain, both the former and the latter^ The former ( = early) rain was 
 between October and December, the latter fell in March and Api-il. 
 The former marked the period of growth and nourishment of the 
 corn, as that which followed preceded its ingathering. 
 
 the appointed weeks of the harvest'] the seven weeks which intervened 
 between the Feast of the Passover, and that of Weeks. At the former 
 Feast on the day after the Sabbath the priest waved a sheaf of the first- 
 fruits before the Lord (Lev. xxiii. ro), and again at the Feast of 
 Weeks, bread of the first-fruits was offered (ver. 17). On the earlier 
 occasion barley was the offering, on the latter wheat, the two harvests 
 thus having a considerable interval between them. 
 
 25. The most natural sense of the verse is, not that these blessings 
 are continued, while only the rich reap the benefit from them (so that 
 the prophet would be addressing the poverty-stricken mass only), but 
 that on account of the sins of the nation, there has been a real failure 
 in the amount of rain and consequently in harvest. 
 
 26. are fou?td wicked mejt] men of such great wickedness as to 
 infect all. 
 
 they lay wait] In the Hebrew this verb is in the singular, in order 
 to express the individual, solitary, stealthy action of these wicked men. 
 
 as he that setteth snares'] as fowlers stoop. " Birdcatchers hide 
 behind the extended nets till the birds have gone in, so as then to draw 
 them tight" (Keil). Thus these men attack the poor and honest. 
 Compare Is. xxix. 21; Mic. vii. 2. 
 
 trap] . literally, destj'oyer. 
 
 they catch men] They by their wiles do as Nimrod is supposed by 
 ancient commentators to have done by force. The Chaldee paraphrase 
 on Gen. x. 9 speaks of him as "a hunter of the sons of men." 
 
 27. cage] a wicker basket, in which the birds, as they were caught, 
 were placed. It was closed with a lid. It is identical with that men- 
 tioned in Amos (viii. i), **a basket of summer fruit." 
 
 deceit] riches gained by deceit. 
 
vv. 28—31.] JEREMIAH, V. 51 
 
 rich. They are waxen fat, they shine: yea, they overpass 28 
 the deeds of the wicked: they judge not the cause, the 
 cause of the fatherless, yet they prosper; and the right of 
 the needy do they not judge. Shall I not visit for these 29 
 tJwigsl saith the Lord: shall not my soul be avenged on 
 such a nation as this? 
 
 30, 31. Prophets^ priests and people share the guilt. 
 A wonderful and horrible thing is committed in the land ; 30 
 the prophets prophesy falsely, and the priests bear rule by 31 
 their means; and my people love to have it so: and what 
 will ye do in the end thereof? 
 
 28. waxen fat] Fatness was looked on as a mark of prosperity. 
 Compare Deut. xxxii. 15 (** Jeshurun waxed fat and kicked"); Ps. xcii. 
 14 ("They shall be fat and flourishing"); Prov. xxviii. 25 ("He that 
 putteth his trust in the Lord shall be made fat"). 
 
 shmel referring to their sleekness of skin. 
 
 overpass the deeds of the wicked] go beyond bound in -wickedness. 
 yet they prosper] that they may prosper, i.e. that the orphans by 
 their help may receive succour. 
 
 29. The refrain taken up again from ver. 9. 
 
 30, 31. Prophets, priests and people share the guilt. 
 
 30. This verse and the following contain a summing up of the charge 
 against the people. Leaders and people unite in disaffection. 
 
 wonderful] terrible. The word properly means desolation, de- 
 struction. 
 
 31. "When Amos and Isaiah attacked the priesthood of Judah, 
 they still felt that there remained the Prophets on whom the nation 
 could fall back. But when Jeremiah mourned for Israel, he felt that 
 there was no reserve in Judah. And when the Priesthood closed in 
 hostile array around him, he felt that, as far as Jerusalem was con- 
 cerned, the Prophets were no supporters." (Stanley's Jeivish Churchy 
 II. 441.) 
 
 by their means] at their hands. 
 
 and my people love to have it so] The subject class are only too 
 willing to be misled by their rulers. Love of idolatry has led the whole 
 nation to turn their backs upon Him who chose them as His own. 
 
 Chap. VI. 1—8. The Foreign Army approaches and prepares 
 TO besiege Jerusalem. A brief invitation to learn 
 wisdom even now. 
 In this chapter Jeremiah furnishes the people with a lively representa- 
 tion of the troubles that were at hand. The chapter may be divided 
 into four sections, each, after the first, beginning with the woi;ds, "Thus 
 saith the Lord." The first (i — 8) depicts the approach of the army and 
 the preparations for a siege; the second (9 — 15) describes the capture of 
 
52 JEREMIAH, VI. [w. i, 2. 
 
 Chap. VI. i — 8. The Fo?'eign Army appi-oaches and pre- 
 pares to besiege Jerusale?n. A brief invitation to learn 
 7visdom even now. 
 
 6 O ye children of Benjamin, gather yourselves to flee out 
 of the midst of Jerusalem, and blow the trumpet in Tekoa, 
 and set up a sign of fire in Beth-haccerem : for evil appeareth 
 
 2 out of the north, and great destruction. I have likened the 
 
 the city; the third (16 — 21) declares that the formal offerings made to 
 God shall not help them in the day of their trouble; the fourth (22 — 30) 
 sets out the cruelty with which the enemy shall treat them. 
 
 Calvin considers the lively description of the invasion and siege as a 
 last attempt to reach ears, which had shewn themselves too dull to 
 attend to the simple announcement of impending disaster. 
 
 1. O ye children of Benj anting [a] Jeremiah was himself a Benjamite 
 (chap. i. i), {b) Jerusalem was in Benjamin, the boundary between that 
 tribe and Judah lying in the valley of Hinnom, to the south of the city. 
 
 Tekod\ A village on an elevated and spreading hill about eleven 
 miles south of Jerusalem forming part of the range which stretches from 
 Hebron towards the Dead Sea. St Jerome writing in Palestine speaks 
 of it as daily before his eyes. The name, derived from a Hebrew root 
 meaning to strike, doubtless refers to the fastening of tent-pegs into the 
 ground, and thus denotes the pastoral character of the inhabitants. From 
 Tekoa came Joab's "wise woman" (2 Sam. xiv. 2). It was the birthplace 
 of Amos (Am. i. i ), and it or its inhabitants are mentioned on several other 
 occasions. It is still known by the same name (Teku'a). The ruins 
 which are found there however are probably all of Christian times. 
 There is a play on words in the original, depending on the close similarity 
 ' between the proper name and the Hebrew for "blow the trumpet." 
 Doubtless therefore it is partly for this reason that Tekoa is mentioned, 
 although it is also thoroughly appropriate as a town far south in Judea, 
 and thus in the direction which would be taken by the inhabitants in 
 the event of flight before an invading host from the north. 
 
 a sign offir^ Although the Hebrew word denotes properly a signal, 
 and has no necessary reference to fire, the English is probably correct, 
 as a word closely connected with this one is used in later Hebrew to 
 denote the fire lighted to give notice of the appearance of the new 
 moon. The same word as that used here is found (Judges xx. 38, 40), 
 to denote a pillar of smoke agreed upon as a signal. 
 
 Beth-haccercjfi] (House of the vineyard) mentioned elsewhere only 
 in Nell. iii. 14. St Jerome speaks of a village Beth-acharma on a hill 
 between Jerusalem and Tekoa. This position corresponds to a conical- 
 shaped hill called the Frank mountain, conspicuous from Bethlehem, 
 and would be a very suitable spot for a beacon station. 
 
 appeareth] is looking forth, implying eagerness. Compare Judges v. 
 28 ("looked out"). 
 
 2. / have likened] I have destroyed. The Hebrew verbs are iden- 
 tical in form, but the sense here requires the latter. 
 
vv. 3—6.] JEREMIAH, VI. 53 
 
 daughter of Zion to a comely and delicate woman. The 3 
 shepherds with their flocks shall come unto her; they shall 
 pitch their tents against her round about; they shall feed 
 every one in his place. Prepare ye war against her; arise, 4 
 and let us go up at noon. Woe unto us ! for the day goeth 
 away, for the shadows of the evening are stretched out. 
 Arise, and let us go by night, and let us destroy her pa- 5 
 laces. For thus hath the Lord of hosts said. Hew ye down 6 
 trees, and cast a mount against Jerusalem : this is the city 
 
 to a cojnely and delicate woman] comely and delicate (as she is). 
 This is probably right, the verse constituting a tender lament over the 
 ill-fated city, and the feminine singular being used in accordance with 
 Hebrew idiom to denote the inhabitants collectively. Another render- 
 ing which is quite possible is *'/(? a pasturage, yea^ a luxurious pas- 
 turage have I likened the daughter of Zion. " 
 
 3. The devastation produced by the enemy is spoken of under the 
 figure of shepherds, whose flocks eat up the herbage on every side. For 
 shepherds in the sense of persons in authority, compare chap. iii. 15. 
 There is, as elsewhere, a mixing of metaphor and fact. See Introd. 
 chap. ii. § 8 d. 
 
 every 07ie in his place] The Hebrew is literally, each his hand. They 
 shall not need to encroach upon one another. They will each be able 
 abundantly to satisfy themselves in their own portion. 
 
 4. Prepare] Sanctify. Compare Is. xiii. 3, "my sanctified ones," 
 said of the armies summoned to destroy Babylon. See also Jer. li. 
 27, 28. The entering upon war was looked upon as a solemn religious 
 act, and was accompanied by corresponding ceremonies. For those used 
 by the Jews in accordance with the Mosaic Law see Deut. xx. 2, etc. 
 For the employment of rites on such an occasion by the Babylonians, 
 compare Ezek. xxi. 21 — 23. 
 
 at noon] At this time an army would generally be resting after the 
 morning march, and awaiting the cooler time of the day to resume 
 active operations. Such is the eagerness of the enemy in this case 
 however that they will brave the full power of the sun's rays. Noon 
 also would be an unlikely time to be attacked, and so would be in 
 favour of the besiegers. Compare xx. 16. 
 
 5. The impatience of the soldiers at the delay takes the form of a 
 demand for a night assault. 
 
 6. Hew ye down trees] It is true that the Jews cut down trees for 
 the purpose of using the wood in making their approaches to a city. 
 Compare "Thou shalt build bulwarks (with trees not being fruit trees) 
 against the city that maketh war with thee," Deut. xx. 20. It cannot 
 however be discovered from the Assyrian monuments that such was 
 the custom of that nation. We must therefore suppose the command to . 
 imply simply a clearing away of all obstacles to the approach of the enemy. 
 
 trees] probably her (the city's) trees. 
 
 cast a mount] Earth was carried in baskets, and poured in a heap, 
 
54 JEREMIAH, VI. [vv. 7—9. 
 
 to be visited; she is wholly oppression in the midst of her. 
 
 7 As a fountain casteth out her waters, so she casteth out her 
 wickedness: violence and spoil is heard in her; before me 
 
 8 continually is grief and wounds. Be thou instructed, O 
 Jerusalem, lest my soul depart from thee; lest I make thee 
 desolate, a land not inhabited. 
 
 9 — 30. Sin, hardness of heart, and the absence of any save 
 formal service are bringing this punishment on the people. 
 
 9 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, They shall throughly glean 
 the remnant of Israel as a vine : turn back thine hand as a 
 
 until it was on a level with the walls. The assault was then made. 
 Compare for this method, 1 Kings xix. 32; Is. xxix. 3. Herodotus 
 speaks of it thus, in describing the campaign of Harpagus, general of 
 Cyrus in Ionia : "Forcing the enemy to shut themselves up within their 
 defences, he heaped mounds of earth against their walls, and thus carried 
 the towns" (i. 162, RawUnson's Trans.). 
 
 to be visited'\ literally, visited (with punishment). 
 
 7. This verse expands the thought of the last clause of ver. 6. 
 
 As a fountain casteth out] The Hebrew verb here used occurs very 
 rarely elsewhere, and then in the sense of digging for water. A substan- 
 tive however derived from the root, and bearing the undoubted sense of 
 spring or well, seems to make the interpretation of Hebrew commen- 
 tators the more likely, viz. — as the Eng. Version renders. The other 
 translation proposed is as a cistern cooleth, referring to the store of 
 rain water preserved fresh and cool in the cistern of a Jewish house for 
 many months at a time. This however would be rather forced when 
 applied to the next clause, where the verb recurs. 
 
 grief and wounds'] sickness and smiting, i, e. disease produced by 
 want, and deeds of violence. 
 
 8. instructed] The word is elsewhere translated reformed, or cor- 
 rected, which illustrates its meaning here; e.g. Lev. xxvi. 23; Prov. 
 xxix. 19. 
 
 lest my soul depai-t] The verb in the original is much stronger than 
 depart, lest my soul be parted. 
 
 9—30. Sin, hardness of heart, and the absence of any 
 save formal service are bringing this punishment on the 
 people. 
 
 9. The beginning of the second of the four sections. See ver. i. 
 I'he spoiling shall be thorough. The gleaners shall go over and over 
 again. Calamity shall not visit the land once only, but many times. 
 
 remnant of Israel] ** Not the kingdom of Judah at large, but 
 Judah already reduced by judgments " (Keil). 
 
 turn back thine hand] addressed to Nebuchadnezzar, or in general 
 to the leader of the attack upon the land. 
 
vv. JO— 12.] JEREMIAH, VI. 55 
 
 grapegatherer into the baskets. To whom shall I speak, 1 
 and give warning, that they may hear ? behold, their ear is 
 uncircumcised, and they cannot hearken ; behold, the word 
 of the Lord is unto them a reproach ; they have no delight 
 in it. Therefore I am full 0/ the fury of the Lord ; I am : 
 weary with holding in : I wi// pour // out upon the children 
 abroad, and upon the assembly of young men together : for 
 even the husband with the wife shall be taken, the aged 
 with /lim that is full of days. And their houses shall be ] 
 
 baskets] tendrils. The Hebrew word occurs only in this place. 
 It bears a certain resemblance to the word used for basket, Gen. xl. 
 16 — 18, and comes from a root meaning to twine. It is still more 
 like however to another word, whose meaning of vine-shoots is 
 undoubted. 
 
 10. The thought of the indifference of the people suddenly lays 
 hold on Jeremiah, and causes him to despair of finding any one to 
 heed his warnings. 
 
 give warning] testify. 
 
 their ear is uncircumcised] not hallowed or dedicated to God's 
 service, but devoted to profane uses only. This epithet is applied to 
 the ear but once elsewhere (Acts vii. 5 1 ), and there it is used of the 
 ear in conjunction with the heart, of which it is frequently spoken. It 
 is applied in the Bible to the lips also. 
 
 a reproach] They treat it with contempt, and utterly fail to recognise 
 its solemn importance. 
 
 11. Therefore] But. 
 
 the fury of the Lord] not, I am inspired with ardour for His cause, 
 but, The wrath which He feels has been infused into me His prophet, 
 that I may make it known to men. 
 
 / will pour it out] pour it out (imperative). This command is 
 addressed by the prophet to himself, rather than by God to the prophet. 
 The declaration is made without distinction of age, because the ap- 
 proaching punishment includes all alike. Five periods of life are 
 mentioned. 
 
 abroad] in the street, at play. Compare Zech. viii. 5. 
 
 takeii] detected, overtaken by punishment, not necessarily, taken 
 captive. Compare viii, 9 ; Josh. vii. 15 ; i Sam. xiv. 41. 
 
 full of days] more than merely aged, one who has filled up the 
 measure of life and is in the last stage of existence. See i Chron. 
 xxix. 28. 
 
 12. These verses are almost identical with chap. viii. 10 — 11. All 
 that they hold most dear shall be taken from them and given to others. 
 The possessions thus to be transferred are enumerated as those which 
 will be considered most desirable by their new possessors, for they 
 stand at the beginning of the list in that form of the tenth commandment 
 which appears in Deut. (v. 21). 
 
56 JEREMIAH, VI. [vv. 13—15. 
 
 turned unto others, with their fields and wives together : for 
 I will stretch out my hand upon the inhabitants of the land, 
 
 13 saith the Lord. For from the least of them even unto the 
 greatest of them every one is given to covetousness ; and 
 from the prophet even unto the priest every one dealeth 
 
 14 falsely. They have healed also the hurt of the daughter of 
 my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace ; when there is no 
 
 15 peace. Were they ashamed when they had committed 
 abomination? nay, they were not at all ashamed, neither 
 could they blush : therefore they shall fall among them that 
 fall : at the time that I visit them they shall be cast down, 
 
 I will stretch out my hand'\ Compare for this phrase "He hath 
 stretched forth his hand against them and hath smitten them," Is. v. 25. 
 
 13. That the calamity will come from the Lord is declared in 
 the latter part of ver. 12. The cause of it is here given. 
 
 from the least of them even unto the greatest of them'] Already in 
 chap. V. 5 Jeremiah had gone from the poor to the rich with the vain 
 hope that in the latter he should find the good which the former 
 lacked. 
 
 is given to covetousness] is greedy of gain, not necessarily implying 
 the hankering after that which is one's neighbour's, although this would 
 naturally accompany an inordinate love of gain, as well as be suggested 
 by the previous verse. 
 
 14. They] the leaders, prophets and priests. 
 the hurt] the shortcomings and sins of the nation. 
 
 of the daughter of my people] of my people collectively; see ver. 1 above. 
 
 slightly] viakitig nothing of it is the literal rendering of the earliest 
 Greek version (the Septuagint). These leaders are like worthless 
 surgeons. They refuse to examine or probe the wounds of those who 
 are under their charge, and for the sake of their own ease assure their 
 patients that all is well. 
 
 15. Were they ashatned jvhen they had committed abomination ?] 
 They are brought to shame, because they have committed abomina- 
 tion. This part of the verse is made interrogative in the English 
 in order to avoid the difficulty which the seeming contradiction contained 
 in the following words produces. Others have rendered They ought 
 to have been ashamed. The sense of the whole however is simply, the 
 shamefulness which really belonged to their acts they were too hardened 
 to feel. 
 
 nay, they were not at all ashamed] yet they take not shame to 
 themselves. 
 
 among them that fall] They shall not escape, when their country- 
 men whom they have led astray suffer. 
 
 visit] Compare for this expression ver. 6. 
 
 be cast do7vn] stumble. 
 
vv. i6— 18.] JEREMIAH, VI. 57 
 
 saith the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Stand ye in the 16 
 ways, and see, and ask for the old paths, where is the good 
 way, and walk therein, and ye shall find rest for your 
 souls. But they said, We will not walk therein. Also I 17 
 set watchmen over you, sayi?7g, Hearken to the sound of the 
 trumpet. But they said. We will not hearken. Therefore is 
 hear, ye nations, and know, O congregation, what is among 
 
 16. The beginning of the third section, see ver. i. 
 
 Take up your position on the public roads, and enquire which 
 of the branching paths is the old established one. It will prove the 
 good path, and that which alone ye may follow with divine sanction. 
 Under this figure Jeremiah urges upon the people to enquire how their 
 fathers walked, and what their course of conduct was, and thus to 
 convince themselves that the precepts and threatenings which God 
 put forth now were no new truths. 
 
 the good way] literally, the way of the good. Good is in the Hebrew 
 a substantive. The sense is not that there are many old ways, amongst 
 which by enquiry ye may find the best; but that the search for old 
 paths will ensure their finding that one path which God approves. 
 "Look enquiringly backM^ards to ancient history (Deut. xxxii. 7) and 
 see how success and enduring prosperity forsook your fathers when 
 they left the way prescribed to them by God, to walk in the ways of 
 the heathen (Jer. xviii. 15); learn that there is but one way, the way of 
 the fear of the Lord, in which blessing and salvation are to be found" 
 (Jer. xxxii. 39, 40). (Graf as quoted by Keil.) 
 
 17. watchmeni sentinels (2 Sam. xiii. 34, xviii. 24 — 27), and thence 
 used figuratively for the prophets (e.g. Ezek. iii. 17, xxxiii. 7). 
 
 over you\ If we have regard to the 3rd person which follows (" they 
 said") this you should be them. The 2nd person is accounted for 
 by the fact that the address on the part of God to the people was still 
 in the prophet's mind. 
 
 the sound of the ti'iwipet'] the mode of announcing the approach of 
 danger. (Compare ver. i ; Amos iii. 6.) As sentinels are posted on 
 the walls of a city to warn the inhabitants of the enemy's approach, so 
 have the true prophets of the nation warned them of the consequences 
 of their ways. 
 
 18. The Gentiles are summoned to bear witness to the justice of the 
 punishment. 
 
 O congregation] This has been understood to refer to (i) righteous 
 Jews, (ii) Gentiles, (iii) both together, (iii) appears the least likely of 
 these, and (ii) on the whole the best, from the parallelism of the clauses. 
 If we make the reference to be to the Jews, we have the awkwardness 
 of thus diminishing the width of the appeal, while at once in ver. 19 
 it is again extended to the whole * earth. ' 
 
 %vhat is among them] This again is obscure. Does it refer to (i) 
 their wickedness, or (ii) its penalty? Probably the latter, from the 
 
58 JEREMIAH, VI. [vv. 19—21. 
 
 19 them. Hear, O earth : behold, I will bring evil upon this 
 people, even the jruj t of their th^ ghts, because they have 
 not hearkened unto my worcls,~nor to my law, but rejected 
 
 ■10 it. To what purpose cometh there to me incense from 
 Sheba, and the sweet cane from a far country? your burnt 
 offerings are not acceptable, nor your sacrifices sweet unto 
 
 2c me. Therefore thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will lay 
 stumblingblocks before this people, and the fathers and the 
 
 words of the next verse, and thus the Latin Vulgate renders. The 
 sense therefore is, know what great things I will do to them. 
 
 19. The conclusion of the threefold appeal. Thus God pledges 
 Himself as it were in the sight of the whole world, that He will no 
 longer forbear. 
 
 /] Emphatic in the Hebrew. They are to take notice that it is 
 God who speaks. 
 
 fruit of their thoughts] Compare *' fruit of their doings'''' (spoken 
 however of the righteous), Is. iii. 10, and "the reward of the wicked's 
 hands" in ver. 11. Here things are traced further towards their 
 source. 
 
 20. "To obey is better than sacrifice" (i Sam. xv. 22). The use- 
 lessness of ceremonial, if the heart be cold, is set forth elsewhere by 
 Isaiah (i. 11); Hosea (vi. 6); Amos (v. 21, &c.); Mic. (vi. 6); and in 
 the Psalms (1. 8). 
 
 incense from Sheba] Compare Virgil's mention of the honour paid 
 to Venus at Paphos, " Centumque Sabaeo Ture calent arae" [Aen. i. 
 416 — 7). Incense (frankincense) was the resin of coniferous trees, and 
 the true sort was obtained from the south of Arabia ( Sheba = Yemen 
 = Arabia Felix) or the opposite coast of Africa. Theophrastus and 
 others attest this, Ecclus. i. 8 (Apocrypha) however speaks of a tree 
 growing in Palestine and known as the frankincense tree. The Israelites 
 a year after leaving Egypt were commanded (Exod. xxx. 34) to use 
 frankincense, and as there was no tree in Egypt which would produce it, 
 they must have either used the gum or resin of some tree in the wilder- 
 ness, or somehow procured a supply from a greater distance. See 
 J. Sm\\.\i's History of Bible Plants, pp. 173 — 6. 
 
 the sweet cajte] Compare Is. xliii. 24, and {^'' sweet calamus'''') Exod. xxx. 
 23, and {^'' calaf?ius^'') Cant. iv. 14; Ezek. xxvii. 19. "It was probably 
 what is now known in India as the Lemon Grass {Andropogon Schoe- 
 nanthus). Aromatic reeds were known to the ancients as the produce 
 of India and the region of the Euphrates" [Sp. Covun. Exod. /. c). 
 J. Smith (see above) on the other hand takes the sweet cane to be the 
 sugar cane. " Although the art of making sugar from them was proba- 
 bly then unknown to the Jews, the canes would nevertheless be highly 
 valued for sweetening food or drink" (pp. 33—4). 
 
 21. stumblingblocks] the invasion of the enemy, which shall as it 
 were trip them up in their easy-going ways. 
 
w. 22—26.] JEREMIAH, VI. 59 
 
 sons together shall fall upon them ; the neighbour and his 
 friend shall perish. Thus saith the Lord, Behold, a people 22 
 Cometh from the north country, and a great nation shall be 
 raised from the sides of the earth. They shall lay hold on 23 
 bow and spear ; they are cruel, and have no mercy ; their 
 voice roareth like the sea ; and they ride upon horses, set in 
 array as men for war against thee, O daughter of Zion. We 24 
 have heard the fame thereof: our hands wax feeble: anguish 
 hath taken hold of us, and pain, as of a woman in travail. 
 Go not forth into the field, nor walk by the way; for the 25 
 sword of the enemy a7id fear is on every side. O daughter 26 
 
 the fathers and the sons together] There shall be a general and pro- 
 miscuous destruction. 
 
 22. The last of the four sections. 
 
 from the north counti-y] See note on i. 14. 
 
 shall be raised] shall rouse itself. 
 
 the sides of the earth] an expression for the far distance, the extremity 
 of the earth. Compare xxv. 32 ("the coasts of the earth"); Ps. xlviii. 2 ; 
 Is. xiv. 13. It has been supposed from the terms of this verse that the 
 Scythians must be the enemy spoken of. Chap. xxxi. 8 however, which 
 gives these very epithets to the country whither Israel was carried 
 captive, shews that we may quite as fairly interpret them of Chaldaea. 
 
 23. cruel] "The word means ruthless, inhuman. In the Assyrian 
 monuments we constantly see warriors putting the vanquished to death ; 
 in others, rows of impaled victims hang round the walls of the besieged 
 towns ; and in others, men are collecting in heaps hands cut from the 
 vanquished. Sennacherib even boasts that he salted the heads of 
 slaughtered Edomites, and sent them in wicker baskets to Nineveh." 
 [Sp. Comvi.) 
 
 they ride tipon horses] Compare iv. 13, viii. 16. 
 
 set in array as men for war] equipped as a man for war. This 
 should begin a new sentence. The verb is in the singular in the Hebrew, 
 and thus means not the horsemen, but the whole army. 
 
 24. Jeremiah places himself in the position of his fellow-countrymen 
 on the arrival of the news. 
 
 fame] report. Compare Gen. xlv. 16, "And the fame thereof was 
 heard in Pharaoh's house," &c. 
 
 25. the szv or d of the enemy] literally, (there is) a sword to the enemy, 
 i. e. the enemy is armed. Elsewhere the enemy is himself spoken of as 
 the instrument in God's hands, e.g. Isaiah x. 5, "O Assyrian, the rod oi 
 mine anger, and the staff in their hand is mine indignation." Ps. xvii. 13 
 is an instance only if the rendering of the English Version be accurate, 
 which is at the least doubtful. 
 
 and fear is on every side] The and should be omitted. The re- 
 maining words are a favourite expression with Jeremiah. Borrowing from 
 
6o JEREMIAH, VI. [vv. 27—29. 
 
 of my people, gird thee with sackcloth, and wallow thyself in 
 ashes : make thee mourning, as for an only soii^ most bitter 
 lamentation : for the spoiler shall suddenly come upon us. 
 
 27 I have set theey^r a tower and a fortress among my people, 
 
 28 that thou mayest know and try their way. They are all 
 grievous revolters, walking with slanders : they ai'e brass and 
 
 29 iron ; they are all corrupters. The bellows are burnt, the 
 
 Ps. xxxi. 13, he uses them chap. xx. 3, 10, xlvi. 5, xHx. ■29. See 
 especially notes on the first-named chapter. 
 
 26. daughter of my people] collective, as in chap. iv. i r . Compare 
 vi. 2. 
 
 wallo^v thyself in\ This is probably right, as also in chap. xxv. 34; 
 Ezek. xxvii. 30; Mic. i. 10. The earlier rendering was spruikle thyself 
 with. The Hebrew word is thought by Gesenius to be actually con- 
 nected etymologically with the German wdlzcn (our wallow). 
 
 as for an only son] The importance attributed by the Jews to the 
 possession of children involved extreme grief, if posterity were thus cut 
 off. Compare xxii. 30, and Amos viii. 10; Zech. xii. 10. 
 
 27 — 30. In these verses the Lord reassures Jeremiah of his divine 
 commission. He appears under the figure of one testing metal, while 
 after Jeremiah's manner the figure and the thing signified by it are 
 intermingled in expression (see for other cases Introd. chap. ii. § 8 d). 
 The result of the testing process is that no precious metal is found. 
 All is dross. 
 
 27. a tozver] a tester {trier). It was owing to a difficulty presented 
 by the following substantives that this was rendered toiver. 
 
 a fo7'tress] probably the right rendering. Compare i. r8. Jeremiah 
 is promised that he shall receive protection while carrying out the 
 duty which so exasperates the people against him. The brief, paren- 
 thetical character of the assurance has caused difficulty. Other proposed 
 renderings are (i) gold and silver ore, (ii) a cutter of ore, (iii) a separater. 
 Beyond the fact however that the Hebrew root signifies to cut, much 
 support cannot be had for these conjectures, w\vX& fortress is the ordinary 
 sense which the word bears elsewhere. 
 
 28. grievous revolters] Heb. revolters of revolters, one of the ways 
 of expressing the superlative in that language. Compare Gen. ix. 25. 
 So Ezek. xxxii. 21, "The strong among (literally, of) the mighty." 
 
 7valking with slanders] going about with slanderous intent. The 
 same thought is expressed chap. ix. 4. 
 
 they are brass and iron] a recurrence to the metaphor, which is 
 however again immediately deserted. They have none of the precious 
 metal in them. 
 
 brass] copper. 
 
 29. The best rendering probably is The bellows glow; by reason of 
 the fire the lead is used up ; in vain hath the smelter smelted, and 
 the wicked have not been separated. 
 
 are burnt] This is by no means an impossible rendering, denoting 
 
vv. 3o; I.] JEREMIAH, VI. VII. 6i 
 
 lead is consumed of the fire ; the founder melteth in vain : 
 for the wicked are not plucked away. Reprobate silver shall 30 
 men call them, because the Lord hath rejected them. 
 
 Chaps. VII. — X. Address delivered by Jeremiah at the gate 
 of the Temple. 
 
 Chap. VII. i — 7. Safety lies not in ceremonial excellence^ 
 but in fnoral uprightness. 
 
 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 7 
 
 that through the long continued effort to find something not dross in 
 the nation, not only the lead but also the bellows were consumed. 
 
 the lead is consii/ned of the fire'\ There is an alternative rendering 
 arising from various readings in the Hebrew, viz. ',—fro?}i their fire lead 
 only; i.e. no trace of anything more valuable appears to reward the 
 long assay. 
 
 30. Reprobate .. .rejected] There is a play on the words in the Hebrew. 
 Refuse — refused. 
 
 Chaps. VII. — X. Address delivered by Jeremiah at the 
 
 GATE OF THE TeMPLE. 
 
 Chap. VII. 1 — 7. Safety lies not in ceremonial excellence, 
 
 BUT IN MORAL UPRIGHTNESS. 
 
 The chief question to be answered in regard to these chapters as a 
 whole is the date to which they are to be referred, whether to the reign of 
 (i) Josiah or (ii) Jehoiakim. In seeking to determine this, we must at 
 once take into consideration chap, xxvi., whose opening verses have a 
 marked resemblance to these, and which is expressly stated (ver. i) to 
 have been delivered in the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim. If the 
 prophecy of that chapter therefore be merely a summarised form of that 
 which is contained in these, no more is to be said. In favour of that later 
 date also is urged that {a) Jeremiah seems to be now dwelling not at 
 Anathoth but at Jerusalem, since he is told not as in (ii. 2) to " Go and 
 cry," &c. but simply (vii. 2) to "stand in the gate of the Lord's house," 
 &c.; [b) idolatry is represented as practised openly in the streets of 
 Jerusalem (vii. 17) and in the Temple itself (vii. 30); {c) children are 
 burned in the valley of Tophet in honour of Moloch (vii. 31). In favour of 
 the earlier date it may be said that {a) these chapters are closely connected 
 with those which precede them and which confessedly belong to the 
 time of Josiah ; (b) the agreement of chap. vii. and chap. xxvi. is 
 by no means such as to warrant us in the belief that they are merely 
 a full and an abbreviated report respectively of the same discourse, 
 especially when we remember the frequency with which Jeremiah 
 is wont to repeat himself; [c] the circumstances which immediately 
 followed upon the threat that Jerusalem should become as Shiloh 
 (given in chap. xxvi. 8, &c.) by no means accord with the long prophecy 
 
62 JEREMIAH, VII. [vv. 2—4. 
 
 2 Stand in the gate of the Lord's house, and proclaim there 
 this word, and say, Hear the word of the Lord, all ye of 
 Judah, that enter in at these gates to worship the Lord. 
 
 3 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, Amend 
 your ways and your doings, and I will cause you to dwell in 
 
 4 this place. Trust ye not in lying v/ords, saying, The temple 
 
 contained in the remainder of these chapters. The last argument 
 seems of considerable weight. Perhaps the best conjecture on a subject 
 which must always involve some uncertainty is that the discourse (which 
 may well be the summary of several) belongs to the later period of 
 Josiah's reign. Thirteen years intervened between the completion of his 
 measures of reformation and his death. Probably towards the end of 
 this period matters were changing rapidly for the worse, and the 
 enmity of individuals against Jeremiah (a marked feature of the time of 
 Jehoiakim and Zedekiah) was becoming already prominent. 
 
 The discourse has three natural divisions: [a) vii. i — viii. 3, Rebuke 
 for shameless idolatry and pollution of the very Temple ; [b] viii. 4 — ix. 
 22, Announcement of punishment that shall come on the people for 
 their sin ; {c) ix. 23 — x. 25, Reasoning with the people on the folly 
 of idolatry and exhortation to follow the true and only God. 
 
 2. the gate of the Lord''s house\ The scantiness of our knowledge as 
 to the details of the Temple courts hinders us from going beyond a 
 conjecture as to Jeremiah's exact position. In Herod's Temple there 
 were seven gates connecting the inner with the outer court, viz. three 
 on the north, three on the south, and one on the east. If this repre- 
 sented the state of things in Solomon's Temple, Jeremiah would pro- 
 bably have stood at one of these looking down upon the people 
 who were assembled in the outer court prepared to pass in. It may have 
 been " the new gate," that at the entry of which Baruch read the roll 
 (xxxvi. 10) in the adjoining chamber of Gemariah in the inner (Eng. 
 Version, "higher") court. 
 
 all ye offudah] all Judah. The occasion was in all probability one 
 of the three great annual feasts or other solemn gatherings. If this dis- 
 course were spoken on such an occasion towards the end of Josiah's 
 reign, we can easily understand how a repetition of the first part of it 
 (chap, xxvi.) on a recurrence of the circumstances at the beginning of 
 the reign of Jehoiakim might provoke the attack upon the prophet 
 which immediately followed. 
 
 3. The thought is the same as that of Deut. vii. 12 — 15, one of 
 the many passages of that book which influenced the language of 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 your ways and your doings] a favourite combination \vith Jeremiah 
 (compare ver. 5, iv. r8, xviii. 11, xxvi. 13, xxxv. 15), and in a less 
 degree with Ezekiel (xiv. 22, 23, xx. 43, xxxvi. 17), see also Zech. i. 4, 
 6. Ways will mean rather the settled habits, doings the separate acts 
 which go to form them. 
 
 4. lying zvords] those of the false prophets, who maintained that 
 
w. 5— 9-] JEREMIAH, VII. 63 
 
 of the Lord, The temple of the Lord, The temple of the 
 Lord, are these. For if you throughly amend your ways and 5 
 your doings ; if you throughly execute judgment between a 
 man and his neighbour ; if ye oppress not the stranger, the 6 
 fatherless, and the widow, and shed not innocent blood in 
 this place, neither walk after other gods to your hurt: then 7 
 will I cause you to dwell in this place, in the land that I 
 gave to your fathers, for ever and ever. 
 
 8 — 20. Shiloh's sanctity was no protection to it, neither shall 
 Jerusalem or its Temple save those who openly disown their 
 God. 
 
 Behold, ye trust in lying words, that cannot profit. Will \ 
 
 the possession of the Temple was enough. God would never suffer 
 it to be overthrown, and thus its presence would be a kind of charm 
 that would protect Jerusalem and its inhabitants. 
 
 The temple of the Lord\ The threefold repetition is for the sake of 
 emphasis. Compare xxii. 29; Is. vi. 3. In this particular case how- 
 ever it further suggests "the energy of iteration that only belongs to 
 Eastern fanatics " (Stanley's Jewish Chui'ch, II. 438), and may be com- 
 pared with the cry of the priests of Baal on Carmel, who "called on 
 the name of Baal from morning even until noon, saying, O Baal, hear 
 us" (i Kings xviii. 26), "as the Mussulman Dervishes work themselves 
 into a frenzy by the invocation of 'Allah, Allah ! ' until the words them- 
 selves are lost in inarticulate gasps " (Stanley, ii. 254). 
 
 these'\ the buildings of the Temple, to which Jeremiah would doubt- 
 less point his finger, as he spoke. 
 
 6. If ye oppress not the stranger, the fatherless, and the rvidoiv] The 
 Mosaic Law was strong in its denunciation of such conduct; Exod. 
 xxii. 21, &c.; Deut. xxiv. 17, &c. 
 
 shed not innocent blood\ by oppression, by judicial murders, e.g. 
 that of Urijah by Jehoiakim (chap. xxvi. 23), which may be among 
 those here referred to, although it had probably not yet taken place. 
 
 in this place"] in Jerusalem, as shewn in ver. 7. 
 
 to your hurt] These words belong to the whole of the verse. 
 
 7. The land was given them, conditionally on their observing their 
 part of the covenant, as "an everlasting possession" (Gen. xvii. 8). 
 The last words of the verse however, if we follow the arrangement of 
 the Hebrew stops, belong, not to "gave," but to "dwell in." 
 
 8 — 20. Shiloh's sanctity was no protection to it, neither 
 SHALL Jerusalem or its Temple save those who openly 
 DISOWN their God. 
 
 8. that cannot profit] Or perhaps, so that ye profit not. 
 
64 JEREMIAH, VII. [vv. 10—13. 
 
 ye steal, murder, and commit adultery, and swear falsely, 
 
 and burn incense unto Baal, and walk after other gods 
 to whom ye know not ; and come and stand before me in this 
 
 house, which is called by my name, and say, We are de- 
 [I livered to do all these abominations? Is this house, which 
 
 is called by my name, become a den of robbers in your 
 [2 eyes ? Behold, even I have seen it^ saith the Lord. But 
 
 go ye now unto my place which was in Shiloh, where I set 
 
 my name at the first, and see what I did to it for the wicked- 
 [3 ness of my people Israel. And now, because ye have done 
 
 all these works, saith the Lord, and I spake unto you, 
 
 9. Will ye steal] Stealing, &c. All the verbs are in the infinitive 
 in the original, a mood which is used when the object is to present 
 the action itself in the strongest light. See the hke usage in xxxii. 33 ; 
 Is. xxi. 5. The prophet follows an order almost the exact converse of 
 that in the Decalogue, to "walk after other gods" being a breach of 
 the first commandment, and the words "w^hom ye know not" an 
 allusion to the words introductory to the whole in Exodus xx., "I am 
 the Lord thy God, which brought thee out of the land of Egypt, out 
 of the house of bondage." 
 
 10. We are delivered] We are by the discharge of this religious 
 formality set free for a return to wickedness. That this is the sense of 
 the Hebrew words, according to Jeremiah's use of them, is abundantly 
 shewn by Graf in his notes on this passage. 
 
 11. den of robbers] a place of retreat in the intervals between acts of 
 violence. This verse is alluded to (in connexion with Is. Ivi. 7) in Matt, 
 xxi. 13, and the parallel passages (Mark xi. 17 and Luke xix. 46). 
 
 12. Shiloh] A town of Ephraim and in a central position in the 
 land. For this reason doubtless among others it was chosen by Joshua 
 as the resting place of the ark and tabernacle. It was a considerable 
 town in the time of the judges (Judg. xx. 47 compared with xxi. 12, 19, 
 23). It fell into grievous idolatry (Ps. Ixxviii. 58, &c.), and hence its 
 fate, viz. loss of the ark in the last days of Eli (i Sam. iv.) and capture 
 with attendant cruelties on the part of the Philistines. It thenceforward 
 was a place of utter insignificance. Jeroboam passed it by when setting 
 up calves for his worship. In Jeremiah's time it existed as a small 
 village (chap. xli. 5). St Jerome {Comm. on Zcph. i. 14) remarks, *' At 
 Silo, where once was the tabernacle and ark of the Lord, there can 
 scarcely be pointed out the foundation of an altar." It is the modern 
 village of Scilun, about half way between Jerusalem and Nablous. 
 "A Tell, or moderate hill, rises from an uneven plain, surrounded by 
 other higher hills, except a narrow valley on the south, which hill 
 would naturally be chosen as the principal site of the town. The taber- 
 nacle may have been pitched on this eminence, where it would be a 
 conspicuous object on every side. The ruins found there at present are 
 very inconsiderable." Siai. Bibl. Diet. Art. Shiloh. 
 
w. 14-18.] JEREMIAH, VII. 65 
 
 rising up early and speaking, but ye heard not; and I 
 called you, but ye answered not ; therefore will I do unto 14 
 this house, which is called by my name, wherein ye trust, 
 and unto the place which I gave to you and to your fathers, 
 as I have done to Shiloh. And I will cast you out of my 15 
 sight, as I have cast out all your brethren, even the whol.e 
 seed of Ephraim. Therefore pray not thou for this people, 16 
 neither lift up cry nor prayer for them, neither make inter- 
 cession to me : for I will not hear thee. Seest thou not 17 
 what they do in the cities of Judah and in the streets of 
 Jerusalem ? The children gather wood, and the fathers 18 
 kindle the fire, and the women knead their dough, to make 
 cakes to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink offer- 
 
 13. rising up early and speaking] This phrase either as here or 
 with slight variations is frequent with Jeremiah (ver. 25, xi. 7, xxv. 3, 
 4, xxvi. 5, xxix. 19, xxxii. 33, xxxv. 14, 15, xliv. 4), while not occurring 
 elsewhere. 
 
 14. unto this house\ to the Temple and its precincts where Jere- ' 
 miah and his hearers were standing. This had been the fate not of the 
 Tabernacle only but of the buildings adjacent. That there were such 
 we see from the histoiy in i Sam. i — iii. 
 
 15. all your brethj-en'] Not only Shiloh, but the whole northern king- 
 dom was an illustration of the consequences of unfaithfulness. 
 
 Ephraini\ stands for the whole of the northern tribes,. as being the 
 leading one amongst them : so in Is. vii. 2, and often elsewhere. 
 
 16. pray not thoti] Another way of shewing the people to what a 
 pitch their wickedness had come. So in chap. xiv. 7, &c. when Jere- 
 miah does intercede, the prayer is refused (ver. ii), and in chap. xv. i 
 even the intercession of Moses and Samuel it is declared would be of 
 no avail, although earlier in the history, and therefore before they had 
 become utterly depraved, Moses had more than once interceded with 
 success (Numb. xi. 2, xiv. 19, xvi. •22). 
 
 17. The Lord reminds the prophet of facts, which prevent prayer 
 from being any longer listened to on behalf of the people. 
 
 18. Both sexes and all ages unite in the public dishonouring of God's 
 name by shameless idolatries. 
 
 cakes] The Hebrew word has a foreign appearance, as though the 
 things signified were introduced from without, like the form of idolatry 
 of which they made a part. Bread mixed with oil or roasted herbs 
 (Suidas), cakes containing pine-seeds and raisins (Theodoret), malted 
 grain, a species of confection called in Egypt Ne'ideh (De Sacy), are 
 three of the opinions as to their nature. " These cakes were prolDably 
 like those which were offered in Athens at the full moon in the middle 
 of the month Munychion to Artemis as the moon goddess ; they were 
 shaped like the full moon and had lights stuck in them." Graf. 
 
 the queen of heaven] If we take the Heb. reading from which the 
 
 JEREMIAH c 
 
66 JEREMIAH, VII. [vv. 19—22. 
 
 ings unto other gods, that they may provoke me to anger. 
 
 19 Do they provoke me to anger ? saith the Lord : do they not 
 provoke themselves to the confusion of their own faces? 
 
 20 Therefore thus saith the Lord God ; Behold, mine anger 
 and my fury shall be poured out upon this place, upon man, 
 and upon beast, and upon the trees of the field, and upon 
 the fruit of the ground; and it shall burn, and shall not be 
 quenched. 
 
 21 — 28. The fact that the moral has always taken precedence 
 of the ceremonial law in God's sight has never been ac- 
 knowledged by Israel. 
 
 21 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Put 
 your burnt offerings unto your sacrifices, and eat flesh. 
 
 22 For I spake not unto your fathers, nor commanded them 
 
 marginal translation {frame, or workmanship) is drawn, we should rather 
 render service of heaven. This however is unnecessary. The "queen of 
 heaven" is the moon, worshipped by the Assyrians as the receptive power 
 in nature, and contrasted with the sun, Baal, the fertilising power. Her 
 worship is to be distinguished from that of Astarte, a star, viz. Venus. 
 They were similar however in so far as they were both accompanied 
 by impure rites. The foreign form of the Heb. for queen, as in the case 
 of the word cakes above, is probably meant as a hit at the foreign origin 
 of the worship. 
 
 19. Will they not bring about their own vexation and shame? 
 
 21—28. The fact that the moral has always taken pre- 
 cedence OF the ceremonial law in God's sight has never 
 
 BEEN acknowledged BY ISRAEL. 
 
 21. Put your burnt offeri7tgs unto your sacrifices'] Burnt offerings 
 (holocausts) were consumed whole, while of sacrifices certain portions 
 were reserved to be eaten by the priest and the offerer. Accordingly 
 the sense here is either (i) reserve, if you like, of the offerings of 
 which ye now consume the whole : I care not, for in either case ye are 
 breaking a higher law; or (ii) add one sacrifice to another. Multiply 
 your victims ad libitum, it will avail you nought. The latter of 
 these explanations avoids the objection that the Jews would abhor the 
 idea of failing rigidly to consume those animals which were offered in 
 burnt offering. 
 
 22. Some have seen a difficulty in reconciling this verse vidth the in- 
 stitution of sacrifices through Moses. They accordingly consider that 
 such passages of the Pentateuch as enjoin them did not exist in its 
 original form, that the Book of Deuteronomy as a whole is the compo- 
 sition of Jeremiah, and that the entire notion of laws concerning sacrifice, 
 ^c. can^e ip in the time of Ezra. To this we may reply that (i) regu- 
 
vv. 23—27.] JEREMIAH, VII. 67 
 
 in the day that I brought them out of the land of Egypt, 
 concerning burnt offerings or sacrifices : but this thing com- 23 
 manded I them, saying, Obey my voice, and I will be your 
 God, and ye shall be my people : and walk ye in all the 
 ways that I have commanded you, that it may be well unto 
 you. But they hearkened not, nor inclined their ear, but =4 
 walked in the counsels and in the imagination of their evil 
 heart, and went backward, and not forward. Since the day 25 
 that your fathers came forth out of the land of Egypt unto 
 this day, I have even sent unto you- all my servants the 
 prophets, daily rising up early and sending them: yet they =6 
 hearkened not unto me, nor inclined their ear, but hardened 
 their neck : they did worse than their fathers. Therefore 27 
 thou shalt speak all these words unto them ; but they will 
 
 larly instituted sacrifices are expressly mentioned in chap, xxxiii. 18, 
 as well as referred to in vi. -20, vii. 21, xiv. 12, xvii. 26; (ii) Hosea 
 and Amos, prophets prior in date to Jeremiah, testify the same; (iii) 
 the frequent censure of sacrifice offered as a perfunctory task shews 
 that it was a powerful institution to the supposed efficacy of which men 
 could thus trust; (iv) the discovery of the Book of the Law in Josiah's 
 reign in all probability before this prophecy was uttered, (whether 
 that Book were the Pentateuch or Deuteronomy) as well as the feeling 
 which it produced, precludes such a supposition. The sense of the verse is 
 sufficiently clear. The phraseology of Jeremiah (see below) proves 
 that he had in his mind the promulgation of the Ten Commandments 
 on Sinai. Now among these we find no direction concerning sacrifice, 
 and they were the only precepts which had the honour of being 
 treasured up in the Ark. Thus they from the first received the chief 
 place. The Jews, it may be added, in their public service read this 
 portion of the prophets along with Lev. vi — viii. , thus shewing their 
 belief that the sacrifices are but secondary. Compare for the sentiment ' 
 of the verse i Sam. xv. 22. 
 
 23. From the fact that obedience to the moral Law always ranked 
 first, it follows (and this is Jeremiah's special point) that sacrifices were 
 wholly worthless when offered by the immoral. 
 
 Obey my voice] not an exact quotation; the nearest approach is 
 Exod. xix. 5. 
 
 in all the ways] Only once elsewhere does this precise phrase occur, 
 viz. Deut. v. 33, immediately after the repetition of the Ten Command- 
 ments. 
 
 24. imagination] stubbornness. Compare iii. 17. 
 
 went] literally were. That has been their condition ever since the 
 exodus from Egypt. 
 
 26. hardened their neck] Compare for the phrase chap. xix. 15; 
 2 Kings xvii. 14; Neh. ix. r6, 17, 29; Prov. xxix. i. 
 
 27. Therefore thou shall] The Hebrew is And thou shalt... and 
 
68 JEREMIAH, VII. [w. 28—30. 
 
 not hearken to thee: thou shalt also call unto them; but 
 
 28 they will not answer thee. But thou shalt say unto them, 
 This is a nation that obeyeth not the voice of the Lord 
 their God, nor receiveth correction : truth is perished, and 
 is cut off from their mouth. 
 
 29 — 34. The Scene of their Wickedness shall be also that 
 of their Punishment. 
 
 29 Cut off thine hair, O Jerusalem^ and cast // away, and 
 take up a lamentation on high places ; for the Lord hath 
 
 30 rejected and forsaken the generation of his wrath. For the 
 children of Judah have done evil in my sight, saith the 
 Lord : they have set their abominations in the house which 
 
 they will not... and thou shalt... and they will not. It is not a command 
 so much as a statement that the rule on which the people have acted 
 still holds good. We might render ^^ Speak... and they will not hearken 
 to thee: call unto them, and," &c. 
 
 28. But'] Yet. Although they have been, and will be, consistent 
 in iniquity, yet Jeremiah must fulfil his part as prophet. 
 
 a nation] the nation. They stand out prominent, as the disobedient 
 people, a disobedience the guilt of which is enhanced by their privi- 
 leges, by the Lord's being "their God." 
 
 truth] faithfulness. Compare chap. v. 3. 
 
 29 — 34. The Scene of their Wickedness shall be also that 
 OF their Punishment. 
 
 29. Cut off thine hair] The verb is feminine in the original, thus 
 shewing that the English Version is right in the inserted words, the inha- 
 l)itants collectively being spoken of as elsewhere in the fem. sing. 
 Hair is literally crown. The word from its use of the Nazarite's 
 hair as a crown or consecrated diadem (Numb. vi. 7), comes to have 
 the sense it bears here. So the anointing-oil on the head of the high- 
 priest is called his diadem (Lev. xxi. 12). When the Nazarite was 
 defiled by contact with a dead body, he was obliged to shave his head. 
 So now must Jerusalem act, as about to be contaminated thus, as -well 
 as because she is faithless to her vows as a virgin consecrated to the 
 Lord. 
 
 cast it away] Those who understand crown or diadem literally, 
 make these words to refer to the overthrow of the monarchy at the 
 Babylonian conquest now approaching. This however is quite unne- 
 cessary. 
 
 high places] bare heights. Compare chap. iii. 2. 
 
 30. they have set their abominations] See 1 Kings xxi. 5, which 
 relates that Manasseh profaned the Temple itself in the manner here 
 menuoned. 
 
vv. 31, 32.] JEREMIAH, VII. 69 
 
 is called by my name, to pollute it. And they have built 31 
 the high places of Tophet, which is in the valley of the son 
 of Hinnom, to burn their sons and their daughters in the 
 fire ; which I commanded them not, neither came it into my 
 heart. Therefore, behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 32 
 that it shall no more be called Tophet, nor the valley of the 
 son of Hinnom, but the valley of slaughter : for they shall 
 
 31. high places] A different word from that in ver. 29, and meaning 
 altars. 
 
 Tophet] A place near the eastern extremity of the southern reach of 
 the valley of Hinnom. Three explanations have been given of the 
 name, (i) A drum^ on account of the noise made to drown the cries 
 of the children being sacrificed to Moloch— 
 
 "for the noise of drums and timbrels loud 
 Their children's cries unheard that passed through fire 
 To his grim idol." 
 
 Milton, P. L. I. 394—6. 
 
 (ii) A burning, compare ricp-pa, tep-idus. (iii) A spitting. This is 
 snewn to be the most likely by a comparison of chaps, xix. 5, xxxii. 35, 
 which scarcely differ from the present passage except in having Boat 
 not Tophet. The substitution then of Tophet for Baal in the present 
 passage is merely a parallel for that of Bosheth (shame) for the same 
 word. Compare chap. iii. 24 and note. The word is almost peculiar 
 to Jeremiah (that of Is. xxx. 33 is somewhat different), its occurrence 
 in 2 Kings xxiii. 10 being possibly in some way due to him. 
 
 valley of the son of Hi7mo?n] Nothing is known of Hinnom. The 
 view that it is not a proper name, but means "wallers" (alluding to the 
 human sacrifices) is disproved by its occurrence as early as Josh. xv. 8. 
 The valley had long an evil name, {a) as the place of impure offerings, 
 {b) as defiled by Josiah, {c) as the receptacle for the offal and filth of 
 the city. Hence it became with the Rabbis the visible sign of the 
 place of future punishment, Gehenna {yhwa, Matt. v. 12). The 
 valley, narrow, with steep and rugged rocks on either hand, formed a 
 natural defence to the city on the western and southern sides, joining 
 the eastern valley of the Kedron. 
 
 to burn their sons and their daughters in the fire] in honour of Mo- 
 loch the fire-god, who is often identified with Baal, the sun-god. Two 
 questions have been asked concerning the nature of this worship, (i) 
 Were the children destroyed or merely passed through the fire as a 
 sort cf purification? The present passage shews that the former was 
 the case, (ii) Granting that they perished, were they slain previously? 
 This we gather Wiih. probability from Ezek. xvi. 21. 
 
 Whether this part belong to the time of Josiah or Jehoiakim, the 
 reference is evidently not to the present but to the sin of the past unre- 
 pented of. 
 
- 70 JEREMIAH, VII. VIII. [vv. 33, 34; i. 
 
 33 bury in Topliet, till there be no place. And the carcases of 
 this people shall be meat for the fowls of the heaven, and 
 for the beasts of the earth ; and none shall fray thein away. 
 
 34 Then will I cause to cease from the cities of Judah, and 
 from the streets of Jerusalem, the voice of mirth, and the 
 voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegioom, and the 
 voice of the bride : for the land shall be desolate. 
 
 Chap. VIII. i — 3. The dead bodies shall meet with 
 ijidignities woi'se than death. 
 
 8 At that time, saith the Lord, they shall biing out the 
 bones of the kings of Judah, and the bones of his princes, 
 and the bones of the priests, and the bones of the prophets, 
 and the bones of the inhabitants of Jerusalem, out of their 
 
 32. till there be no place] Two appalling features connected with the 
 bloodshed that is coming are set forth — {a) The valley defiled by bloody 
 sacrifice? shall now be defiled by the carnage of war. {b) This carnage 
 shall extend far beyond the valley, 'They shall bury in Tophet for want 
 of room elsewhere.' Such is the more approved as well as the oldest 
 rendering. 
 
 33. Burial, owing to the multitude of corpses and fewness of survi- 
 vors, shall be impossible, and birds and beasts shall have their way 
 unmolested. The passage is taken almost word for word from Deut. 
 xxviii. ■26. 
 
 fra)i\ The word is obsolete, except as a provincialism. It is the 
 root of affray (participle, afraid\ "he thought hir to afifraye" (Chau- 
 cer's Clerk's Tale). Wedgwood derives it from the root fj-ay (Latin, 
 frango, fragor) while fray in the sense of rub is connected with the 
 Latin /r/r^. {Bible Word-Book.) 
 
 34. the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride"] a frequent 
 exi:)ression with this prophet. See chaps, xvi. 9, xxv 10, xxxiii. ir. 
 "The marriage feast ... continued usually for seven days, with the 
 greatest mirth. ., Singing, music, and dancing, merry riddles, and 
 the play of wit, amused the house night after night, while the feast 
 was prolonged." Geikie's Life and Wo?'ds of Christ, 1. 474. 
 
 desolate] Properly, a place which has become desolate. 
 
 Chap. VIII. 1 — 3. The dead bodies shall meet with 
 
 INDIGNITIES WORSE THAN DEATH 
 
 1. they shall bri^ig out] Four causes are suggested by Michaelis: 
 {a) The hope of finding spoil, treasures and ornaments of value 
 being often buried with the dead, (compare Darius's fruitless visit to 
 the tomb of Nitocris, Herod, i. 187); (b) accident, in digging a 
 hole in order to hght a fire, (<:) wantonness; {d) the erection of 
 earthworks for the siege. 
 
VV.2—S-] JEREMIAH, VIIT. 71 
 
 graves : and they shall spread them before the sun, and the 2 
 moon, and all the host of heaven, whom they have loved, 
 and whom they have served, and after whom they have 
 walked, and whom they have sought, and whom they have 
 worshipped : they shall not be gathered, nor be buried ; 
 they shall be for dung upon the face of the earth. And 3 
 death shall be chosen rather than life by all the residue of 
 them that remain of this evil family, which remain in all 
 the places whither I have driven them, saith the Lord of 
 hosts. 
 
 4 — 17. The people have been hardened and mib lushing 
 in their iniquity. 
 
 Moreover thou shalt say unto them. Thus saith the Lord; 4 
 Shall they fall, and not arise ? shall he turn away, and not 
 return ? Why then is this people of Jerusalem shdden back s 
 
 2. spread^ scatter^ carelessly, not of any fixed purpose. 
 
 before the stni\ heavenly bodies will not be prevented by all the 
 offerings and devotion they received from using their influence to hasten 
 the rotting of the carcases of their sometime worshippers. 
 
 ivhoDi they have loved'\ The gradual progress in idolatry expressed 
 by this and the succeeding verbs is worthy of notice: fondness, sub- 
 mission, adaptation of conduct, frequency of service, treasonable ac- 
 ceptance in the place of God. 
 
 be gaihered'\ for burial. 
 
 3. The thought and much of the language corresponds with Lev. 
 xxvi. 36 — 39; Deut. xxviii. 65 — 67. 
 
 familyl used of the whole nation. Compare chap. iii. 14 with note; 
 also XXV. 9. 
 
 which remain] This probably did not stand in the text originally, 
 but represents an inadvertent repetition by the copyist of the same 
 Hebrew word in the previous line. 
 
 places] the lands outside Palestine. 
 
 4 — 17. The people have been hardened and unblushing 
 IN their iniquity. 
 
 4. We have had (chaps, vii. 28 — viii. 3) a kind of parenthesis, setting 
 forth the nature of the coming punishment. Jeremiah now returns 
 to the subject of the conduct which has procured it. 
 
 they] one, impersonal. If a man stumble, he will naturally regain 
 his footing ; if he lose his way, he will return to it. But this people 
 doth not so. In the Hebrew ' turn away ' and * return ' are the 
 same verb. Compare for the repetition of the word '■return^ chap, 
 iv. I, where however there is no play on the word. 
 
 6. slidden back . . . backsliding . . . return] All three expressions are 
 
72 JEREMIAH, VIII. [vv. 6, 7. 
 
 by a perpetual backsliding? they hold fast deceit, they 
 
 6 refuse to return. I hearkened and heard, but they spake 
 not aright : no man repented him of his wickedness, sajdng, 
 What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the 
 
 7 horse rusheth into the battle. Yea, the stork in the heaven 
 knoweth her appointed times; and the turtle and the crane 
 and the swallow observe the time of their coming; but my 
 
 from the same root in the original. " Why do they turn away with 
 a perpetual turning .?" 
 
 deceit] either (i) their own treachery towards God, or, better, (ii) 
 their idols, as being a denial of God, and deluding those who confide 
 in them. 
 
 refuse] scorn, loathe. 
 
 6. /] God is still the speaker. 
 
 hearkened and heard] implying an anxiety to give every chance of 
 amendment. 
 
 not aright] virtually one word in the Hebrew, not right- wrong. See 
 note on chap. ii. 8. The same expression occurs chaps, xxiii. 10, 
 xlviii. 30. 
 
 repented] repents. 
 
 What have I done .?] shewing reflection and contrition. 
 
 course] implying rapid motion, an eager plunge into wrong-doing. 
 A more probable reading is the pi. courses^ thus expressing that each 
 follows his individual bent. 
 
 rusheth] literally, overfloweth. Thus two metaphors (a fiery steed, 
 and a torrent) are combined. 
 
 7. Even migratory birds are punctual to their seasons. 
 
 stork] There are two species found in Palestine, the white and the 
 black, the former dispersed generally in pairs over the whole country, 
 the latter living in the marshes and in large flocks. They have been 
 observed to reach Palestine on March 22. After a few weeks they pro- 
 ceed to Northern Europe. 
 
 in the heaven] which makes its nest on high (compare Ps. civ. 17), 
 alluding to its custom of selecting the loftiest situation— a pillar, a ruin, 
 a tall tree ; or, better, which takes flight by day at a great height, unlike 
 other migratory birds. (Tristram, Nat. Hist, of Bible, 246, quoted in 
 Sp. Comtn.) 
 
 turtle] The turtle dove was very abundant in Palestine from early 
 time (Gen, xv. 9). A pair of these formed the alternative offering instead 
 of pigeons for the poor. **One of the first birds to migrate northwards, 
 the turtle... immediately on its arrival pours forth from every garden, 
 grove and wooded hill its melancholy yet soothing ditty." (Tristram in 
 Sm. Bihl. Diet.) 
 
 crane] swift {Cypselus). Several species of it are found in Palestine, 
 from which country the swallow does not migrate. 
 
 stvallow] crane. 
 
vv. 8—12.] JEREMIAH, VIII. Th 
 
 people know not the judgment of the Lord. How do ye 3 
 say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us ? Lo, 
 certainly in vain made he /// the pen of the scribes is in 
 vain. The wise men are ashamed, they are dismayed and 9 
 taken: lo, they have rejected the word of the Lord; and 
 what wisdom is in them ? Therefore will I give their wives 10 
 unto others, ^;?^ their fields to them that j'/m// inherit them: 
 for every one from the least even unto the greatest is given 
 to covetousness, from the prophet even unto the priest 
 every one dealeth falsely. For they have healed the hurt of n 
 the daughter of my people slightly, saying, Peace, peace; 
 when there is no peace. Were they ashamed when they 12 
 
 judgment\ ordinance, law, which is thus recognised by the lower 
 animals. 
 
 8. the law\ The reply of the priests and false prophets was, We 
 have the written Law, and are learned in its language and precepts- 
 Such men were the two Pashurs (chaps, xx. i, xxi. i) and Shemaiah 
 (chap. xxix. 24, &c.) who boasted of the Law newly discovered in the 
 Temple. Some take the Hebrew for wise, here, and in chap, xviii. 18 
 to denote a special class of persons. 
 
 Lo, certainly... 'X In truth lo! the lying pen of the scribes hath 
 made it (the Law) a lie. The English marginal rendering is thus fairly 
 correct ('The false pen of the scribes worketh for falsehood '). They 
 have used their knowledge of the Law to deceive others, in assuring 
 them that they may sin with impunity. 
 
 scribes\ First found as a class in Josiah's time (2 Chron. xxxiv. 
 13). This class probably arose in Hezekiah's day (compare Prov. 
 xxv. i). Hence the preservation of so many prophecies of his time, 
 while most of the words of earlier prophets have been lost. The 
 schools of the prophets (i Sam. xix. 20, &c.) no doubt helped much 
 towards the same result. We gather that the Law must have existed 
 in writing before the class of scribes could have grown up, and there- 
 fore the modern view that the "Books of Moses" were a late fabri- 
 cation may be disproved even from this verse alone. 
 
 9. what ^uisdorn] Wi&r^Wy, zvisdojii 0/ { = in) what f?iatter. 
 
 10 — 12. Almost identical with chap. vi. 12 — 15 above. See notes 
 there. There is no valid ground however for supposing it to be a 
 later insertion here. Jeremiah frequently repeats himself. Compare ver. 
 15 with xiv. 19, v. 9 with 29 and ix. 9, vii. 31 — 33 with xix. 5 — 7 and 
 xxxii. 35, x. 12 — 16 with li. 15 — 19, xv. 13, 14 with xvii. 3, 4, xvi. 14, 
 15 with xxiii. 7, 8, xxiii. 5, 6 with xxxiii. 14 — 16, xxiii. 19, 20 withxxx. 
 23, 24. 
 
 Thereforel Because * my people knozu not ' &c. (end of ver. 7). 
 
 that shall inherit] that shall take possession of. The idea is that 
 of forcible seizure on the part of the invader. 
 
74 JEREMIAH, VIII. [vv. 13—16. 
 
 had committed abomination? nay, they were not at all 
 ashamed, neither could they blush : therefore shall they fall 
 among them that fall : in the time of their visitation they 
 
 13 shall be cast down, saith the Lord. I will surely consume 
 them, saith the Lord : there shall be no grapes on the vine, 
 nor figs on the fig tree, and the leaf shall fade ; and the 
 things that I have given them shall pass away from them. 
 
 14 Why do we sit still? assemble yourselves, and let us enter 
 into the defenced cities, and let us be silent there : for the 
 Lord our God hath put us to silence, and given us water of 
 gall to drink, because we have sinned against the Lord. 
 
 15 We looked for peace, but no good came ; and for a time 
 i6 of health, and behold trouble. The snorting of his horses 
 
 was heard from Dan: the whole land trembled at the sound 
 of the neighing of his strong ones ; for they are come, and 
 
 13. / will surely consume theni\ I will gather and sweep them 
 away. There is a play on the two verbs in the Hebrew which is un- 
 translateable. 
 
 there shall be\ These words had best be omitted. The description 
 concerns the present state of the people, who are the vine and fig tree 
 spoken of. 
 
 shall fade'] fadeth. A contrast to the righteous man, who is like the 
 tree with leaves ever green, chap. xvii. 8; Ps. i. i — 3. 
 
 the things that I have given them shall pass azuay from theni] I 
 appoint unto them those that shall pass over them, viz. the destroy- 
 ing foe, which shall inundate them as a fiood. The same figure is used 
 Is. viii. 8, xxviii. 15. For this somewhat difficult clause in the original 
 other renderings have been proposed, but they are rather forced, (i) / 
 deliver the?n up to those who pass over them, (ii) / gave to them that (viz. 
 my Law) which they trangress. 
 
 14. The people address one another and urge the best course that 
 remains under the circumstances announced in the previous verse. 
 
 be silentl better, /^r/j/z. Compare i Sam. ii. 9. 
 
 hath put ics to silence'] The original is even stronger, has decreed our 
 ruin. 
 
 gall] the margin reads * poison.' It M^as a bitter plant. There have 
 been suggested [\) poppy, hence * water of gall' (also chaps, ix. 15, xxiii. 
 i5) = opium (see Malt, xxvii. 34), but this its grape-like berries (Deut. 
 xxxii. 32) forbid, (ii) hemlock, (iii) colocynth (a kind of cucumber), (iv) 
 tares, (v) night-shade {belladonna). The last seems the most probable 
 meaning. 
 
 16. Dan'] As the northernmost boundary, probably with no reference 
 to its having been one of the great seats of idolatry. 
 
 land] or, earth. 
 
 strong ones] luar-horses. The same epithet is used as a substitute 
 
vv. 17—21.] JEREMIAH, VIII. -jt, 
 
 have devoured the land, and all that is in it; the city, and 
 those that dwell therein. For behold, I will send serpents, t; 
 cockatrices, among you, which will not be charmed, and 
 they shall bite you, saith the Lord. 
 
 18 — 22. A bitter Laineni for the people. 
 When I would comfort myself against sorrow, my heart is is 
 faint in me. Behold the voice of the cry of the daughter of 19 
 my people because of them that dwell in a far country: Is 
 not the Lord in Zion? is not her king in her? Why have 
 they provoked me to anger with their graven images, and 
 with strange vanities? The harvest is past, the summer is 20 
 ended, and we are not saved. For the hurt of the daughter 21 
 
 for the noun, chaps, xlvii. 3, 1. 11 (Eng. Version "bulls"). The horse 
 is the embodiment of strength in Scripture. See Job xxxix. 19; Ps. 
 xxxiii, 17, cxlvii. 10. 
 
 17. cockatrices] vipers. There are several Hebrew words for" 
 serpent. The kind mentioned here probably is that called in Latin 
 regulus. We gather from Isaiah (xi. 8) that it burrowed underground, 
 and (lix. 5) that it produced eggs. The serpent to which Dan is com- 
 pared (Gen. xlix. 17) may be the same. 
 
 which will not be charmed] Compare Eccles. x. 11. The serpent- 
 charming art is still kept up in the East. It is supposed that the sharp 
 shrill sounds which the charmers produce by their voice or an instru- 
 ment are the means by which the desired result is reached. They 
 also "repeatedly breathe strongly into the face of the serpent and 
 occasionally blow spittle, or some medicated composition upon them." 
 Tlie Land and the Booh, p. 1 54. 
 
 18 — 22. A BITTER Lament for the people. 
 
 18. When I would comfort viysslf against] literally, jny comfort 
 in, i.e. O that I cotild cojnfort myself in. 
 
 in me] on me, as an oppressive burden. 
 
 19. because of them that dwell in] from. Jeremiah is in thought 
 anticipating the captivity, and the distressful cries of the exiles in the 
 direction of their home. 
 
 Why have they...] This is the Lord's reply. 
 strange] foreign. 
 
 20. sum77ier] vintage, ingathering of frtiits. As when the harvest 
 was bad, there remained yet hopes from the yield of grapes, figs, olives, 
 &c., and till these hopes had failed to be realized, men did not despair; 
 so the people had lost one chance after another, and were now without 
 any hope. Accordingly it is again the people who speak here, and use 
 what is obviously a proverbial saying. 
 
 21. the htirt] literally, the breakings the bi'each, and so the verb 
 that follows. 
 
-j^ JEREMIAH, VIII. IX. [vv. 22; 1—3. 
 
 of my people am I hurt; I am black; astonishment hath 
 22 taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead ; is there no 
 physician there ? why then is not the health of the daughter 
 of my people recovered ? 
 
 Chap. IX. i — 9. Lament continued. 
 
 9 O 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 ! 
 
 2 O that I had in the wilderness a lodging place of way- 
 
 faring men ; 
 That I might leave my people, and go from them ! 
 For they be all adulterers, an assembly of treacherous men. 
 
 3 And they bend their tongues like their how for lies : 
 
 I am black\ Either (i) I am diseased, for which is quoted Job xxx. 28 
 (compare Ps. xxxviii. 7) ; or better (ii) I am in mourning garb, 
 Ps. XXXV. 14. 
 
 22. balni\ Red balsam from Mecca was grown in Roman times in 
 the gardens of Jericho. That meant here however was gum from (i) the 
 terebinth or mastic tree or (ii) the opobalsamum. It is mentioned as 
 early as Gen xxxvii. 25. 
 
 Gilead\ a mountainous part of Palestine, east of the Jordan, south 
 of Bashan, and north of Moab. 
 
 is there no physician there?] Is there no priest or prophet, who can 
 heal the sin of Israel or apply a remedy? 
 
 why then is not. . . ?] better, why is no healing gone up tcpon the 
 daughter of my people ? 
 
 Chap. IX. 1 — 9. Lament continued. 
 
 1. fountain] reservoir. See chap. ii. 13 and note. 
 
 2. a lodgiyig place] a caravanserai, hospice, (khan), such as were 
 found in lonely places. They differed from the inn in not having any 
 resident host, or supplying food to the traveller. Shelter was all that 
 they afforded. The most desolate spot, if it but sufficed to cover him, 
 is to the prophet an object of yearning, that so he may escape the sights 
 which thrust themselves upon him in Jerusalem. 
 
 adulterers] See note on last words of chap. ii. 20. 
 treacherous] faithless (towards God, chap. v. 11, but here) towards 
 each other, as shewn by what follows. 
 
 3. tongues] tongue. 
 like] wliicli Is. 
 
 for lies] with lying. In the figure the bow represents the tongue 
 and lying the arrow which fills it. The bow was strung by pressure 
 from the foot, while the string was pushed up to the notch. 
 
w. 4— 7.] JEREMIAH, IX. -]-] 
 
 But they are not valiant for the truth upon the earth ; 
 
 For they proceed from evil to evil, 
 
 And they know not me, saith the Lord. 
 
 Take ye heed every one of his neighbour, 
 
 And trust ye not in any brother : 
 
 For every brother will utterly supplant. 
 
 And every neighbour will walk with slanders. 
 
 And they will deceive every one his neighbour, 
 
 And will not speak the truth : 
 
 They have taught their tongue to speak lies, 
 
 And weary themselves to commit iniquity. 
 
 Thine habitation is in the midst of deceit ; 
 
 Through deceit they refuse to know me, saith the Lord. 
 
 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts. 
 
 Behold, I will melt them, and try them ; 
 
 But they are not valiant for the truth'\ And not according to faith- 
 fulness do they rule, i. e. those who in positions of power do not observe 
 fidelity in their dealings with their fellow men. 
 
 knowX acknowledge. 
 
 4. Compare for the general sense Mic. vii. 5, 6. "The violence 
 which had in the earlier period of the divided kingdom characterized 
 the northern dynasty, in the reigns of Manasseh and Josiah penetrated 
 the fortunes of Jerusalem also. It had become a mortal battle between 
 two fierce parties. The persecution of the prophets by Manasseh had 
 provoked the persecution of the idolatrous priests by Josiah. The 
 mutual distrust, which had already in the time of Hezekiah broken up 
 families and divided the nearest friends, and made a man's worst 
 enemies those of his own household, had now reached the highest 
 degree of intensity ; ' Every man had to take heed of his neighbour and 
 suspect his brother'" (Stanley, J. Ch. ii. 437). 
 
 will utterly siipplant'\ "It might be rendered. Every brother is a 
 thorough Jacob" (Sp. Comm.) Gen. xxvii. 36. 
 
 will walk with slanders] slandereth. The present tense is best. 
 Compare chaps, vi. 28 and xii. 6. 
 
 5. Here, as in the previous verse, the verbs had best be rendered in 
 English by present tenses. 
 
 weary themselves'] Their will to do evil outstrips their power. 
 
 6. Thine] The people are still addressed, the sense being a repetition 
 of the thought of ver. 4. Others make these words to be from God to 
 the prophet, pointing out to him his danger ; but this is not so good. 
 
 Through deceit they refuse to know me] Their evil disposition towards 
 one another leads to rejection of God. Compare i John iv. 20. 
 
 7. melt them, and try them] by the essay of affliction. Compare 
 Is. xlviii. 10. The two operations, melting io remove the dross, trying. 
 
78 JEREMIAH, IX. [w. 8— ii. 
 
 For how shall I do for the daughter of my people? 
 Their tongue is as an arrow shot out ; it speaketh deceit: 
 One speaketh peaceably to his neighbour with his mouth, 
 But in heart he layeth his wait. 
 
 Shall I not visit them for these fhmgs ? saith the Lord : 
 Shall not my soul be avenged on such a nation as this? 
 
 lo — 2 2. The calamity set forth in further detail. 
 
 For the mountains will I take up a weeping and wailing. 
 And for the habitations of the wilderness a lamentation, 
 Because they are burnt up, so that none can pass through 
 
 them; 
 Neither can me?i hear the voice of the cattle ; 
 Both the fowl of the heavens and the beast 
 Are fled ; they are gone. 
 And I will make Jerusalem heaps, and 2i den of dragons ; 
 
 in order to ascertain whether the metal is now pure, are brought together 
 again in Zech. xiii. 9. 
 
 how shall I do for ] how should I deal in regard to. The Lord 
 justifies His course of action in bringing correction upon the nation. 
 
 8. an arrow shot out\ better, a murderous arrow. 
 
 9. Repeated from chap. v. 9. 
 
 10—22. The calamity set forth in further detail. 
 
 10. This and the following verses describe the desolation of the 
 land, the exile of its inhabitants and the slaughter of children and 
 young men in the cities. 
 
 For\ On account of, not upon. Although the latter is the primary 
 sense of the Hebrew word, yet that it is not its meaning as used 
 in this particular phrase, is shewn 2 Sam. i. 17, and elsewhere. 
 
 habitations] better, pastures. 
 
 wilderness] a sort of land which would not bear tillage, but was 
 productive of grass. 
 
 burnt up] through lack of any cultivation, which might have counter- 
 acted the scorching effect of the sun's rays. 
 
 men] they. 
 
 11. dragons] Jackals. There are two very similar Hebrew words, 
 which have been confused in the English Version, but which have 
 apparently quite distinct meanings, (i) Tannim, the word found here 
 (also in chaps, x. 22, xiv. 6, xlix. 33, li. 37). It can hardly have the 
 sense of serpent (dragon), for {a) it is often connected with the word for 
 ostrich; (/') the animal is compared (xiv. 6) to the wild asses snuffing 
 
vv. 12—15.] JEREMIAH, IX. 79 
 
 And I will make the cities of Judah desolate, without an 
 inhabitant. 
 
 Who is the wise man, that may understand this ? 12 
 
 And who is he to whom the mouth of the Lord hath 
 spoken, that he may declare it, 
 
 For what the land perisheth 
 
 And is burnt up like a wilderness, that none passeth 
 through ? 
 
 And the Lord saith, Because they have forsaken my law 13 
 which I set before them. 
 
 And have not obeyed my voice, neither walked therein ; 
 
 But have walked after the imagination of their own heart, m 
 
 And after Baalim, which their fathers taught them : 
 
 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of is 
 Israel ; 
 
 Behold, I will feed them, even this people, with worm- 
 wood, 
 
 up the wind ; {c) its wailing is referred to Mic. i. 8, and probably Job 
 XXX. 29. For this last reason specially it is identified witli the jackal, 
 (ii) Tannin, occurring chap. li. 34, where compare note. See Sm. 
 Bibl Diet. Art. Dragon, 
 
 12. Who is the wise man] meaning that there are none such found, 
 with a hint at the would-be wise, the false prophets. 
 
 J^or what the land perisheth'] It is better to make this a new 
 question, itself the explanation of "this." That which the truly wise 
 and taught of God can alone understand and declare is the cause on 
 account of which the ruin comes. Compare Hos. xiv. 9. Wherefore 
 liath ttie land perished ? 
 
 13. / set before the/n] Not referring so much to the first giving 
 of the Law as to the constant enforcing of it by the prophets. We 
 may (with Kimchi a Jewish commentator) compare Deut. xxx. n — 14, 
 (quoted Rom. x. 6, &c.). 
 
 thereiti] The gender in the Hebrew shews that law, not voice, is 
 the thing referred to. 
 
 14. iinagination] stubbornness. See note on chap. iii. 17. 
 Baalim] See note on chap. ii. 8, 23. 
 
 which their fathers taught them] The evil was not the growth of 
 one generation. 
 
 15. The people shall be subjected to the bitterest woes, here" 
 likened to wormwood and water of gall. 
 
 will feed] am feeding. It had already begun. 
 
 wormwood] {absinthium) from a Hebrew root signifying to aljuse, 
 to curse. See note on xxiii. 15. 
 
8o JEREMIAH, IX. [w. 16—19. 
 
 And give them water of gall to drink. 
 
 I will scatter them also among the heathen, whom 
 
 neither they nor their fathers have known : 
 And I will send a sword after them, till I have consumed 
 
 them. 
 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
 Consider ye, and call for the mourning women, that they 
 
 may come ; 
 And send for cunning wome?i, that they may come : 
 And let them make haste, and take up a wailing for us. 
 That our eyes may run down with tears, 
 And our eyelids gush out with waters. 
 For a voice of wailing is heard out of Zion, How are we 
 
 spoiled ! 
 We are greatly confounded, because we have forsaken 
 
 the land, 
 
 water of gall] See note on chap. viii. 14. 
 
 16. "I will scatter you among the heathen, and will draw out 
 a sword after you " is found in Lev. xxvi. 33. This prophecy of 
 long standing was now lo be fulfilled, because the condition of its 
 fulfilment, viz. the iniquity of the nation, was full. For the sword 
 which was to pursue them in Egypt the land of their exile see the 
 still more definite threatenings in chaps, xhi. 16, xliv. 27. 
 
 till I have consu?ned them] not implying that every individual of 
 the people should perish, for this would be contrary both to the fact 
 and to such passages as chap. iv. 27. It is the dross, the impurity, 
 that shall be wholly consumed on a foreign soil. 
 
 17, 18. Many are the dead, slain in battle and through the other 
 horrors of war. Let the survivors bestir themselves and have the 
 usual honours paid to the memory of the loved ones departed. 
 " This custom continues to the present day in Judea, that women 
 with dishevelled locks and bared breasts in musical utterance invite 
 all to weeping." St Jerome. " There are in every city and community 
 women exceedingly cunning in this business. ... When a fresh company 
 of sympathisers comes in, these women * make haste ' to ' take up 
 a wailing' that the newly come may the more easily unite their 
 tears with the mourners. They know the domestic history of each 
 person, and immediately strike up an impromptu lamentation, in which 
 they introduce the names of their relations who have recently died, 
 touching some tender chord in every heart." The Land and the 
 Book, p. 103. 
 
 cunning] skilful. Compare Esau, a cunning hunter (Gen. xxv. 27) ; 
 David, a cunning player on the harp (i Sam. xvi. 18); Uzziah's 
 engines, invented by cunning men (2 Chron. xxvi. 15). 
 
 19. forsaken] left. It was not a voluntary departure. 
 
vv. 20—23.] JEREMIAH, IX. 81 
 
 Because our dwellings have cast us out. 
 
 Yet hear the word of the Lord, O ye women, 20 
 
 And let your ear receive the word of his mouth, 
 
 And teach your daughters wailing, 
 
 And every one her neighbour lamentation. 
 
 For death is come up into our windows, a7id is entered 21 
 
 into our palaces. 
 To cut off the children from without, and the young men 
 
 from the streets. 
 Speak, Thus saith the Lord, 22 
 
 Even the carcases of men shall fall as dung upon the open 
 
 field, 
 And as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall 
 
 gather them. 
 
 23 — 26. The knowledge of God and of His judgments is 
 
 after all the principal thing. 
 Thus saith the Lord, 23 
 
 ojir dwellings have cast us otit\ more probably, they (the enemy) have 
 cast down our dwelling's. That the Hebrew verb can be used in this 
 sense is shewn by Dan. viii. 11" the place of his sanctuary zvas cast dozmi.'^ 
 The occurrence to which the prophet refers is recorded 2 Kings xxv. 9. 
 
 20. Rosenmiiller thinks that the women in particular are called upon 
 to lament, because it was they who were the leaders in the idolatry that 
 had brought about this ruin. He compares chap. xliv. 15 — 19. It seems 
 more probable that they are addressed thus, as those who should na- 
 turally in accordance with custom lead the lament. Compare 2 Sam. 
 i. 24. Such will be the mortality, that the ordinary mourners will by no 
 means suffice, 
 
 Yet'\ For, connected in thought with "let them make haste," etc. 
 (ver. 18). There is a further reason for assembling, besides lamentation. 
 Ye must impart to your daughters and neighbours your own skill. 
 
 21. Death works in a twofold manner, viz. — within and without. In 
 the shape of famine and sickness he steals in at the windows as a thief 
 (compare Joel ii. 9) and the greatest houses are not exempted from his 
 visit : he also cuts off the young and vigorous in the open (Compare Zech. 
 viii. 5). 
 
 22. Speak^ Thus saith the Lord] The very abruptness of this break 
 gives it force and point. 
 
 the handful after the harvestman'] either (i) that which should be 
 bound up with others into sheaves by one following the actual wielder of 
 the sickle, or, perhaps better, (ii) the handful forgotten by the reaper, 
 and left in the field. The neglect, and not the scanty amount, of the 
 leavings will thus be the point of the comparison. 
 
 and none shall gather them] perhaps, which {handful) none gathers. 
 
 JEREMIAH 6 
 
JEREMIAH, IX. [vv. 24—26. 
 
 Let not the wise man glory in his wisdom, 
 Neither let the mighty man glory in his might, 
 Let not the rich man glory in his riches: 
 
 24 But let him that glorieth glory in this, 
 That he understandeth and knoweth me, 
 
 That I am the Lord which exercise lovingkindness, judg- 
 ment, and righteousness, in the earth : 
 For in these things I delight, saith the Lord. 
 
 25 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
 
 That I will punish all them which a7'e circumcised with 
 the uncircumcised ; 
 
 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 : 
 
 23—26. The knowledge of God and of His judgments is after 
 all the principal thing. 
 
 23. From this verse to the end of the whole prophecy (x. 25) Jere- 
 miah sets forth the folly of trusting to man's devices, and specially to 
 the idols, the works of his hands. As examples of men who trusted 
 severally in wisdom, might, riches, an ancient Jewish Commentary gives 
 Solomon, Samson (deceived by a woman and hence meeting his death), 
 Ahab. 
 
 24. The first part of the verse is quoted in the form "he that glorieth, 
 let him glory in the Lord" (i Cor. i. 31 ; 2 Cor. x. 17). 
 
 understandeth and knoweth^ The former relates rather to the intellect, 
 the latter to the emotions, the heart. 
 
 lovingkindness^ judgment, and righteousness'] He who understands 
 and knows God as shewing forth these qualities, will himself be con- 
 formed to His image. Israel as a nation had utterly failed in this 
 respect. 
 
 25. They shall therefore share the fate of all other nations that re- 
 cognise not God. 
 
 all thef?i xvhich are cij'cumcised with the uncircumcised] all (that are) 
 circumcised in (their) uncircumcision, all who, even though posses- 
 sors of the outward pledge of God's favour, are without purity of heart. 
 
 26. Egypt, and yudah, and Edom] The position of Judah between 
 Egypt and Edom is a mark of degradation. 
 
 that are in the utijiost corners] that have the comers of their hair 
 polled, Herodotus (Book iii. 8) ascribes this custom to the Arabs, 
 viz. : — cutting off the hair from the edges of the beard, and from the 
 temples. The practice was forbidden to the Israelites (Lev. xix. 27). 
 See chap. xlix. 28, and 32 with note, shewing that there at least the tribes 
 referred to are those of Kedar. 
 
 the wilderness] the desert of Arabia, eastward of Palestine. 
 
w. 1, 2.] JEREMIAH, IX. X. 83 
 
 For all these nations a7'e uncircumcibcd, 
 And all the house of Israel are uncircumcised in the 
 heart. 
 
 Chap. X. i — 16. The folly of idolatry. 
 
 Hear ye the word which the Lord speaketh unto you, O 10 
 
 house of Israel : 
 Thus saith the Lord, 2 
 
 Learn not the way of the heathen, 
 
 all these nations are uncircumcised'\ Herodotus indeed seems to make 
 the Egyptians to have practised this rite (Book ii. 36, 37, 104), but he 
 probably means to refer only to their princes and priests. 
 
 uncircumcised in the heart'\ and thus virtually on a par with the na- 
 tions, to whom in outward rite they were superior. 
 
 Chap. X. 1—16. The folly of idolatry. 
 
 Exception has been taken to this section, as a later insertion, and three 
 arguments are brought against it. (i) It introduces a break in the 
 sense, the passage not cohering with that which has gone before, -(ii) It 
 must from its subject matter be addressed to a peoplg ^lready in-exile. 
 (iii) I^sja nguage differs m uch ^ ;am t]ia<~'^t J'^-l^j^ZJ^-Tf has accordingly 
 been referred to the wrifer of f^iah xl,^ — Ixyj /who is thought by many 
 on account of difference of style not to be the author of the earlier part 
 of that Book. We reply to (i) that there is a natural connexion between 
 this section and chap. ix. 24, "I am the Lord which exercise loving- 
 kindness, judgment, and righteousness in the earth;" to (ii) that there . 
 was as much need of warning the people against that idolatry which j 
 was daily increasing in strength among them while still at home, as 1 
 there was afterwards, when suffering the consequences of it as captives; \ 
 to (iii) that in several verses Jeremiah's peculiar expressions are found, \ 
 e.g. vain, vanity, applied to idols (verses 3, 15), and that at any rate the \ 
 language is by no means that ot^the later_porti on of Isaiah-4see^peetaity 
 chaps, xl. xli. xliv. xlv, where the same subject is dealt wit h). Thea uthor 
 oTthe- spu riotr5"l6tt6l' froiYi"7eremraTr"foTKe" exiles of Babylon, which 
 forms chap. vi. in the Apocryphal Book of Earuch, seems to have drawn 
 his matter and language to a large extent from this section together - 
 with chap. xxix. i — 23. There is undoubtedly in this whole chapter 
 less smoothness and connexion between the parts than we generally 
 find in Jeremiah. This however is no proof whatever that such smooth- 
 ness and connexion did not exist in the sermon of which this forms 
 the conclusion, since it is quite likely that that conclusion has been 
 preserved to us only in a fragmentary form. 
 
 It is strongly in favour of the genuineness of the section that it is : 
 found in the earliest Greek (Septuagint) Version in spite of the frequent , 
 omissions which there occur. 
 
 6—2 
 
84 JEREMIAH, X. [vv. 3—6. 
 
 And be not dismayed at the signs of heaven ; 
 
 For the heathen are dismayed at them. 
 
 For the customs of the people are vain ; 
 
 For 07ie cutteth a tree out of the forest, 
 
 The work of the hands of the workman, with the axe. 
 
 They deck it with silver and with gold ; 
 
 They fasten it with nails and with hammers, that it move 
 
 not. 
 They are upright as the palm tree, but speak not : 
 They must needs be borne, because they cannot go. 
 Be not afraid of them ; for they cannot do evil, 
 Neither also is it in them to do good. 
 Forasmuch as there is none like unto thee, O Lord ; 
 
 2. the signs of heaven] not the sun, moon and stars (which should 
 be for signs, etc. Gen. i. 14), nor the signs of the Zodiac, but hea- 
 venly portents, comets, meteors and the like. 
 
 For the heathen are dismayed at them'] This is given not as the reason 
 why the Israelites were likely to fall into this sin (through force of ex- 
 ample), but as the reason why it was sinful and forbidden. 
 
 3. mstojus] ordinances. 
 people] nations. 
 
 vain] vanity, Jeremiah's word for an idol. 
 
 For one cutteth a tree] For it is wood, that one hath cut. 
 
 4. The idol is covered with plates of silver and gold, and secured to 
 its place. 
 
 It is clear in spite of certain distinctions of language noticed above, 
 that Is. xl — xliv. is closely connected with these verses. Either then 
 [a) Jeremiah borrowed from Isaiah, in which case the whole of Isaiah 
 in accordance with the traditional belief was written before the Baby- 
 lonian captivity ; or (/->) the writer of those chapters borrowed from Jere- 
 miah, which is refuted by the differences of style; or {c) the section is an 
 insertion in Jeremiah by a later author; but then it would hardly appear 
 in the Septuagint (see above). Sp. Comm. , 
 
 (Other instances of possible quotation from the later portion of | 
 Isaiah on the part of Jeremiah are v. 25 — Is. lix. % ; xii. i — Is. Ivii. i ; | 
 xii. 9 — Is. Ivi. 9; xiii. 16 — Is. lix. 9; xiv. 7 — Is. lix. 1-2; xlviii. 18 — i 
 Is. xlvii. I. Dean Payne Smith, The Authenticity^ etc. of Isaiah Vindi- * 
 cated, p. 107.) 
 
 5. upright as the pahn tree] as a pillar Of turned -work, a pillar 
 resembling a palm tree. These idols are stiff and lifeless as such. 
 ( )lhers render ' ' like pillars in a garden of cucumbers, " in which sense the 
 Hebrew word is found in Is. i. 8. That this was the sense in which 
 the Jews themselves understood it at the time when the book of Baruch 
 was written appears from the verse (Baruch vi. 70) evidently based on 
 this, "as a scarecrow in a garden of cucumbers." 
 
 6. Forasmuch as there is none] None at all is. The Plebrew has a 
 
w. 7—9.] JEREMIAH, X. 85 
 
 Thou art great, and thy name is great in might. 
 
 Who would not fear thee, O King of nations ? for to thee 7 
 
 doth it appertain : 
 Forasmuch as among all the wise men of the nations, 
 
 and in all their kingdoms, there is none like unto thee. 
 But they are altogether brutish and foolish : 8 
 
 The stock is a doctrine of vanities. 
 
 Silver spread into plates is brought from Tarshish, g 
 
 And gold from Uphaz, the work of the workman, and of 
 
 the hands of the founder : 
 
 double negative, thus emphasizing the denial. The English Version has 
 misunderstood one of the negatives, and so rendered xV forasmuch as. 
 
 7. doth it appertain] it is fitting. "Thine is the kingdom" is the 
 comment of the Chaldee paraphrase, which exactly hits the sense. 
 
 wise men] wise ones, gods included. 
 kingdoms] royal estate. 
 there is none] none at all is. 
 kingdoms] royal estate. 
 
 8. altogether] The Hebrew is in one and had therefore best be rendered 
 by the two words all together rather than simply by a word equivalent 
 to wholly. 
 
 The stock is a doctrine of vanities] The teaching of idols is (a piece 
 of) wood. The sense is not that the block of wood teaches foolishness, 
 but that it can never in the instruction wh'ch it gives go beyond itself. 
 As water cannot rise above its source, so the idol is wood and can 
 never get beyond it. 
 
 9. The grammatical construction of the two verses is closer than 
 would appear from the Eng. Version, " a piece of wood, silver beaten 
 into plates, from Tarshish it is brought, etc." 
 
 Tarshish] either (i) Tarsus in Cilicia (Josephus); or (ii) Carthage ' 
 (the Septuagint); or (iii) Tartessus in Spain. This last is the generally 
 received opinion now. The mineral products supplied by Tarshish to 
 Tyre, silver, iron, tin and lead (Ezek. xxvii. 12), were exactly those in 
 which Spain was rich. In Strabo's time the port had ceased to exist ; 
 hence the confusion as to the locality. 
 
 Uphaz] "Probably Uphaz was a place in the neighbourhood of the 
 river Hyphasis (now the Gharra, the S.E. limit of the Punjab), the 
 Sanscrit name for which is Vipa^a." Sp. Comm. Many however 
 identify it with Ophir (there being a considerable similarity in the 
 Hebrew words), about whose position there are very wide differences 
 of opinion, the chief views being (i) India (Josephus); (ii) India or the 
 east coast of Arabia, at any rate some place where Sanscrit was the 
 language spoken, (Max Miiller, Sc. of Layig, Ed. vi. vol. i. 230); (iii) 
 Africa, so Milton, 
 
 "Mombasa, and Quiloa and Melind 
 And Sofala, thought Ophir, to the realm 
 Of Congo and Angola furthest South." P. L. xi. 399 — 401. 
 
80 JEREMIAH, X. [vv. 10—13. 
 
 Blue and purple is their clothing : 
 
 They are all the work of cunning men. 
 
 But the Lord is the true God, 
 
 He is the living God, and an everlasting king : 
 
 At his wrath the earth shall tremble, 
 
 And the nations shall not be able to abide his indigna- 
 tion. 
 
 Thus shall ye say unto them. The gods that have not 
 made the heavens and the earth, eveji they shall perish 
 from the earth, and from under these heavens. 
 
 He hath made the earth by his power. 
 
 He hath estabHshed the world by his wisdom, 
 
 And hath stretched out the heavens by his discretion. 
 
 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters 
 in the heavens, 
 
 And he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of 
 the earth ; 
 
 He maketh lightnings with rain, 
 
 founder] goldsmitli. 
 
 blue atid purple] The former probably was a bluish purple, while 
 the latter had a strong tinge of red. 
 cunning] See note on ix. 17. 
 
 10. the true God] literally, a God who is truth. 
 
 11. The verse appears in Chaldee. Hence some suppose it to be an 
 interpolation. But (i) no one would call attention to his interpolation 
 by writing it in a different language from the text ; and (ii) it harmonizes 
 completely with the context. The object therefore is either {a) that the 
 Jews might thus have put into their mouths the very words in which 
 they should while in exile address their Chaldee conquerors, which is 
 somewhat improbable ; or {b) because it is a proverb and thus given in 
 the language of the common people (Aramaic). 
 
 from under these heavens] more probably, yri?w under the heavens — 
 these Gods. 
 
 12. ' ' The splendour of this glory appeareth unto us in and through the 
 works of his hands," Bp. Pearson on the Creed, Art. i. Some see the doc- 
 trine of the Trinity foreshadowed here — Power, Wisdom, Understanding 
 or Skill {'■discretion^). Verses xi — 16 are repeated li. 15 — ig. 
 
 13. When he uttereth his voice ^ there is a multiitide of waters in the 
 heavens^ and he causeth] When he thundering giveth the roar of waters 
 in the heavens, he causeth. This is probably the best rendering. The 
 literal translation is At the voice of his giving etc. The ascent of the 
 vapours is spoken of poetically as though it were the consequence of 
 the thunder, because it is seen to follow it, 
 
 vapours] tloudsy literally, ascended ones. 
 
VY. 14—17.] JEREMIAH, X. 87 
 
 And bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 
 
 Every man is brutish in /lis knowledge : 14 
 
 Every founder is confounded by the graven image : 
 
 For his molten image is falsehood, and ^/lere is no breath 
 
 in them. 
 They are vanity, and the work of errors : is 
 
 In the time of their visitation they shall perish. 
 The portion of Jacob is not like them : 16 
 
 For he is the former of all things ; 
 And Israel is the rod of his inheritance : 
 The Lord of hosts is his name. 
 
 17 — 22. The prophet returns to the subject of the coming woe. 
 Gather up thy wares out of the land, 17 
 
 with rain] for the rain, i. e. to accompany the rain. 
 
 14. in his knowledge] either (i) without knowledge, i.e. bereft of it; 
 or perhaps better, i^i) fj'om (in) that very thing itt which he thinks he . 
 has shewn skill, viz. : — the idol. The latter seems more in accordance f 
 with the parallelism evidently intended between this and the next clause, j 
 knowledge in the one corresponding to graven image in the other. We ' 
 may compare Rom. i. 22. ' 
 
 founder'] goldsmitli, as in ver. 9. 
 confounded] brought to shame. 
 
 15. work of errors] a work which misleads, deceives. Others how- 
 ever understand the Hebiew in the sense of mockery, a thing to be 
 ridiculed. 
 
 visitation] See vi. 6. 
 
 16. The portion of Jacob] The true God, upon whom Israel has a 
 claim. 
 
 former] maker, fashioner. 
 
 all things] the whole, the universe. 
 
 the rod of his inheritance] The Hebrew word rendered rod some- 
 times means a sceptre. Hence the meaning has been taken to be, Israel 
 is the people over whom God specially rules. But the sceptre is rather 
 the sign than the object of kingly power. Therefore it seems better to 
 refer the word to its other common sense of a measuring rod, so that the 
 import will be, Israel is the people whom God has marked out for 
 Himself as His peculiar possession. 
 
 17 — 22. The prophet returns to the subject of the 
 coming woe. 
 
 17. Some would take this and the following section, which ends 
 the chapter, as composed either {a) in the times of Jehoiakim, when on 
 account of his revolt against Nebuchadnezzar Syrians, Chaldaeans, etc. 
 
88 JEREMIAH, X. [vv. il 
 
 O inhabitant of the fortress. 
 i8 For thus saith the Lord, 
 
 Behold, I will sling out the inhabitants of the land at this 
 
 once. 
 And will distress them, that they may find // so. 
 
 19 Woe is me for my hurt ! my wound is grievous : 
 But I said. Truly this is a grief, and I must bear it. 
 
 20 My tabernacle is spoiled, and all my cords are broken : 
 My children are gone forth <?/"me, and they are not: 
 There is none to stretch forth my tent any more, 
 
 And to set up my curtains. 
 
 were sent against him (2 Kings xxiv. i, 2) or, inasmuch as we do not 
 read of the city as besieged on that occasion, (d) in the days of 
 
 iehoiachin, when this event did occur (2 Kings xxiv. 10). Both views 
 owever are put aside by recollecting that this is a prophecy, not a 
 statement of that which was actually occurring, 
 
 iAy wares] thy bundle. The Hebrew word occurs here only. It 
 seems to mean a few articles gathered together, rather than any consi- 
 derable amount or burden. Hence it suggests hasty flight. 
 
 inhabitant of the fortress] O thou that sittest in the siege., i.e. thou 
 who art in a besieged city. Others less well have suggested {a) in a 
 fortified city, {b) in distress. 
 
 18. sling out] For this strong figure of speech compare i Sam. xxv. 
 29; and for a somewhat similar one Is. xxii. 18. 
 
 at this once] at this time, as opposed to former occasions, when 
 plunder and a tribute imposed formed the utmost punishment. 
 
 they may find it so] In the absence of any expressed object to the 
 verb, interpreters have suggested many, e.g. (i) the distress, (ii) God, 
 (iii) God^s fulfilr/iejit of His th?-eat, (\v) the besieged. If, as seems best, 
 we take this last as the object to be supplied, the sense of the whole 
 will be, I will drive them, as a hunter would do, into a small space (the 
 city), so that the besiegers may find them out. 
 
 19. The prophet now begins a lament in the person of the nation. 
 htirt] literally, breaking, the same word which is rendered destruc- 
 tion in chap. iv. 6. 
 
 a grief] (my) griet The literal sense of the word is sickness^ 
 suffering. 
 
 20. The spoiling and exile are represented under the figure of one 
 whose tent had been captured and children carried away, so that she is 
 at once impoverished and bereaved. 
 
 tabertiaclc] Tents seem frequently to have been used in the country 
 parts. Phrases which imply this are often found, e.g. chap. xxxv. 7; 
 1 Kings xii. 16, etc. See chap. iv. 20 with note. 
 
 cords] of the tent. 
 
 are not] Compare Gen. xlii. 36. 
 
 curtains] which hung round it. 
 
vv. 21—24.] JEREMIAH, X. 89 
 
 For the pastors are become brutish, 
 
 And have not sought the Lord : 
 
 Therefore they shall not prosper ; 
 
 And all their flocks shall be scattered. 
 
 Behold, the noise of the bruit is come, 
 
 And a great commotion out of the north country, 
 
 To make the cities of Judah desolate, 
 
 Ajid a den of dragons. 
 
 23 — 25. Jeremiah in the Name of the People deprecates 
 
 God's Wraih. 
 O Lord, I know that the way of man is not in himself: 
 // is not in man that walketh to direct his steps. 
 O Lord, correct me, but with judgment ; 
 Not in thine anger, lest thou bring me to nothing. 
 
 21. pastors] See note on chaps, ii. 8, and xvii. 16. 
 
 they shall not prosper] they have not prospered, or, better, they 
 have not acted prudently. The Hebrew word occurs in both senses. 
 shall be scattered] are scattered. 
 
 22. Behold^ the tioise of the brtdt is come] Literally, The voice of a 
 rumour; behold it comes. Thus, while in point of grammar = the voice 
 or the rumour, it is in sense that which is rumoured by the ap- 
 proaching aimy. 
 
 bruit] only once elsewhere in the Bible, viz. Nah. iii. 19. 
 great commotion] Compare chaps, vi. 23, viii. 16. 
 the north country] Compare chap. i. 14, etc. 
 dragons] See note on chap. ix. 11. 
 
 23 — 25. Jeremiah in the Name of the People deprecates 
 God's Wrath, 
 
 23. the way of man is not in himself] Man cannot determine what 
 course he shall take ; he is in God's hands throughout. 
 
 man that walketh] The word for man here differs from the former, 
 and implies strong man, man at his best. The same word is rendered 
 '■^ high'''' Psalm xlix. 2; and ^^ great man" Is. ii. 9. See above, chap, 
 ii. 6 with note. 
 
 to direct his steps] to ensure success. The same word occurs Ps. 
 xxxvii. 23 ("The steps of a good man are ordered by the Lord"), and 
 its sense there seems to determine that in which it occurs here. All 
 prosperity, as well as the converse, comes from God. 
 
 24. with jtidgmcnt] Compare chap. xlvi. 28 ^^ I zoill... correct thee in 
 measicre," where the word is the same. See note on ii. 19. Vindictive 
 punishment, as opposed to that which has for its object the reformation 
 of the offender, is the kind here deprecated. 
 
 bring me to nothing] render me insignificant, not, wholly destroy me. 
 They had been already assured that this should not happen. 
 
90 JEREMIAH, X. XI. [w. 25 ; 1,2. 
 
 25 Pour out thy fury upon the heathen that know thee not, 
 And upon the families that call not on thy name : 
 For they have eaten up Jacob, and devoured him, and 
 
 consumed him. 
 And have made his habitation desolate. 
 
 Chap. XI. i — 14. Judah has been false to the Covenant^ and 
 meet punishment must etisue. 
 11 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 
 2 Hear ye the words of this covenant, and speak unto the 
 
 25. This verse occurs almost word for word in Ps. Ixxix. 6, 7, proba- 
 bly one of the Psalms written after the captivity. "Its language 
 would apply almost equally well either to the time of Nebuchadnezzar 
 or to that of Antiochus Epiphanes." Dean Perowne, Introdticlion to 
 the Psalm. Hence, if it be granted that this passage is certainly 
 of Jeremiah's authorship and prior to the exile, this passage must be 
 the original, and that in the Psalm the derived. 
 
 The moral of the whole sermon contained chaps, vii. — x. is well 
 summed up thus. It " has just one lesson from beginning to end, and that 
 is the lesson of reality. You cannot be and are not religious, says the 
 prophet, unless you lead religious lives. If you go to the temple, and 
 take part in its services, and on your return home say, We are now 
 delivered to do these bad things in our daily lives, that is, we are now 
 free to do them, have compounded with God by going to His temple 
 and being very devout there, and may now go on in our usual wicked 
 ways ; if thus you confess your sins only to repeat them, then you are 
 the worse for your pretence of devotion and not the better. Instead of 
 honouring God by going to church, you have made His house a den of 
 robbers." Dean Payne Smith, Expositor, vol. vii. p. 461. 
 
 Chaps, xi., xii. form a connected prophecy, either as having been 
 uttered at one definite time in the prophet's life, or as embodying the 
 substance of his teaching during a particular epoch of his ministry. 
 That epoch has been placed by some in the reign of Jehoiakim, while 
 one commentator (Graf), who connects the prophecy of chap, xiii. with 
 that contained in these chapters, makes the whole to be as late as Jehoia- 
 chin's time (see note on xi. 18). Chaps, xi., xii. however belong in 
 all probability to the reign of Josiah, for [a) "the words of this cove- 
 nant" (xi. 3) evidently have reference to that made by Josiah and his 
 subjects before the Lord (2 Kings xxiii. 3), and {b) Jeremiah had not 
 yet removed his residence to Jerusalem, but was still apparently 
 dwelling at Anathoth (xi. 21). See further in introductory remarks to 
 chap. xii. 
 
 Chap. XI. 1—14. Judah has been false to the Covenant, and 
 
 MEET PUNISHMENT MUST ENSUE. 
 
 2. Hear ye\ The plural verb has been thought to refer to {a) the 
 people (viz. the 'men of Judah and inhabitants of Jerusalem') who are 
 
vv. 3—5.] JEREMIAH, XI. 91 
 
 men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; and 3 
 say thou unto them, Thus saith the Lord God of Israel ; 
 Cursed be the man that obeyeth not the words of this cove- 
 nant, which I commanded your fathers in the day that I \ 
 brought them forth out of the land of Egypt, from the iron 
 furnace, saying, Obey my voice, and do them, according to 
 all which I command you ; so shall ye be my people, and I 
 will be your God : that / may perform the oath which I 5 
 have sworn unto your fathers, to give them a land flowing 
 
 thus exhorted to report to each other the message from the Lord; 
 (b) the priests and elders ; {c) the prophets. The last is the best, for it 
 is natural, inasmuch as the words are directly addressed to one of their 
 number, that the whole body should be included simply under the pro- 
 noun *ye.' This verse therefore contains the general injunction laid 
 upon the prophets as a class, and is followed by the special command to 
 Jeremiah. 
 
 3. This and the following verses contain several references to the 
 Book of Deuteronomy. The prophet is commanded to remind the people 
 of those terms of the covenant under which alone they held the land. 
 
 Cursed be the 7nan that obeyeth not] The words are an adaptation of 
 the last of the solemn warnings (Deut. xxvii. 15 — 26) to be pronounced 
 against those who failed to observe the enactments of the Law, " Cursed 
 be he that conjirmeth not all the words of this law to do them." The 
 observance of this ceremony on their arrival in the land was enjoined 
 by Moses, and was accordingly carried out (Josh. viii. 30 — 35). For f 
 confirm of the passage in Deuteronomy is substituted obey by Jeremiah, 
 because in the former case the acknowledgment of the obligation at the ■ 
 outset was the point of importance, while now a life of actual obedience t 
 to it is that which is needed. 
 
 the words of this covenant'] Compare for the expression Deut. xxix. 
 I, 9. 
 
 4. in the day that I brought them forth] at the time of their leaving 
 Egypt. The covenant enjoined in Deuteronomy was the same in essence 
 as that which was made on Sinai and which was confirmed by solemn 
 ceremonies (Exod. xxiv. 5 — 8), and thus its enactment followed the 
 exodus from Egypt at but a short interval. 
 
 the iron fio'jtace] another point of connexion with Deuteronomy, where 
 this same expression occurs, meaning Egypt (iv. 20). It is found also in 
 Solomon's prayer at the dedication of his Temple (i Kings viii. 51). Com- 
 pare Isaiah xlviii. 10 ("I have chosen thee in \hQ furnace of af/liction"). 
 
 do them] namely, the words of this covenant (ver. 3). 
 
 5. that I jnay perform] Some would make the quotation of the 
 substance of the Mosaic precept to end with ver. 4, so that the opening 
 words of ver. 5 should be the direct address of God to Jeremiah, and 
 refer accordingly to the present time. It seems better however to take 
 them as the quotation continued from the Pentateuch, their substance 
 being found in Deut. vii. 12, 13. 
 
92 JEREMIAH, XI. [vv. 6—8. 
 
 with milk and honey, as // is this day. Then answered I, 
 
 6 and said, So be it, O Lord. Then the Lord said unto me, 
 Proclaim all these words in the cities of Judah, and in the 
 streets of Jerusalem, saying, Hear ye the words of this cove- 
 
 7 nant, and do them. For I earnestly protested unto your 
 fathers in the day that I brought them up out of the land of 
 Egypt, eve?i unto this day, rising early and protesting, say- 
 
 8 ing. Obey my voice. Yet they obeyed not, nor inclined their 
 ear, but walked every one in the imagination of their evil 
 heart: therefore I will bring upon them all the words of 
 this covenant, which I commanded them to do ; but they 
 
 your fathers] Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, as ancestors of those who 
 entered upon the enjoyment of the land. 
 
 flowing with j?iilk and honey] Comp. chap, xxxii. 22; Exod. iii. 8, 
 17, xiii. 5, xxxiii. 3; Ezek. xx. 6, 15. 
 
 as it is this day] this day omitting as it is will be the rendering, if we 
 take the whole sentence as proposed above. The phrase in the Hebrew 
 seems often, or even generally, to have this sense (compare Deut. viii. 
 18; 1 Kings iii. 6 and specially viii. di), although its more literal render- 
 ing is that which is adopted by the English Version. 
 
 So be it] Amen. As the words of the Lord were in effect those of 
 the curses to be pronounced as directed (Deut. xxvii.), so the prophet's 
 reply is that assigned to the people on the same occasion. Thus it 
 testifies to the prophet's sense of the justice of the divine announce- 
 ment, and further expresses his readiness to aid in the carrying out of 
 God's will in the matter. 
 
 6. After the exhortation to the prophetic class generally (ver. 2), 
 and the warning of the consequences which had always attended upon 
 disobedience to the precepts of the Law, Jeremiah is commanded to 
 make a direct appeal to the people to conform to the agreement to 
 which they had from old time given their consent. 
 
 the cities of Judah] Jeremiah may very probably have accompanied 
 Josiah in the journeys which he made to Bethel and to the cities of 
 Samaria for the overthrow of idolatry. Compare 2 Kings xxiii. 15, 19. 
 
 7. rising early] See chap. vii. 13. 
 
 8. The first part of this verse is aJmost word for word the same with 
 chap. vii. 24. 
 
 imagination] stubbornness. See chap. iii. 17. 
 
 / will bring] rather, J have brought, not meaning that the result 
 of the people's disobedience had as yet displayed itself in its full terrors, 
 but that, as instances in their past history were not wanting (e.g. the 
 captivity of the Ten Tribes and the events recorded 2 Chron. xxxiii. 11) 
 to prove that temporal calamity followed upon neglect of God's Law, 
 so the glaring disobedience v/hich now existed had already involved the 
 certainty that the provisions of the covenant in the way of penalties 
 should be carried out to the full. 
 
vv. 9— 14-] JEREMIAH, XL 93 
 
 did them not. And the Lord said unto me, A conspiracy 9 
 is found among the men of Judah, and among the inhabi- 
 tants of Jerusalem. They are turned back to the iniquities 10 
 of their forefathers, which refused to hear my words ; and 
 they went after other gods to serve them : the house of 
 Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant 
 which I made with their fathers. Therefore thus saith the 1 1 
 Lord, Behold, I will bring evil upon them, which they shall 
 not be able to escape ; and though they shall cry unto me, 
 I will not hearken unto them. Then shall the cities of Judah 12 
 and inhabitants of Jerusalem go, and cry unto the gods unto 
 whom they offer incense : but they shall not save them at 
 all in the time of their trouble. For accordwg to the number 13 
 of thy cities were thy gods, O Judah ; and accordiiig to the 
 number of the streets of Jerusalem have ye set up altars to 
 that shameful thing, even altars to burn incense unto Baal. 
 Therefore pray not thou for this people, neither lift up aery 14 
 
 9. A conspiracy] Possibly this may mean that there were actual 
 measures taken in secret against Josiah on account of his reforms. At 
 any rate the expression denotes a considerable amount of agreement in 
 the pursuance of idolatry, and in all probability further points to a 
 secresy of combination. 
 
 10. thei?- foi-efathers\ The Hebrew is their fathers, the first ones, 
 thus bringing us back to the wilderness times, and pointing to the 
 idolatiy committed there. 
 
 and they zvent after] yea, they are gone after. In the Hebrew 
 the word 'they' is emphatic, and therefore refers to the Jews of the 
 prophet's day as contrasted with their forefathers of the time of Moses. 
 Israel and Judah are placed on a par as regards crime, that it may be 
 inferred that no less punishment than had been already meted out to 
 the former was in store for the latter. 
 
 11. will bring] am bringing, or, as the Heb. participle is often a 
 future, am about to bring. 
 
 12. 13. Compare the almost identical language used in chap. ii. 27, 28. 
 
 13. streets] open places. So in chap. vii. 17. 
 
 that sha??iefod thing] See note on chap. iii. 24. The verse has been 
 taken to imply that altars, such as are here mentioned, were actually set 
 up in most if not all of the streets of Jerusalem, and hence it has been 
 said that this portion of the prophecy cannot be as early as the reign of 
 Josiah. The verse however need mean no more than that a strong \ 
 though secret opposition existed to the reforming work of that king . 
 and that the worship of Baal was practised, though not openly, in all 
 parts of the country and city. 
 
 14. Therefore pray not thou] The people's wickedness had gone 
 beyond the limits at which intercession would avail. Their own cry, 
 
94 JEREMIAH, XL [w. 15—16. 
 
 or prayer for them : for I will not hear them in the time 
 that they cry unto me for their trouble. 
 
 15 — 20. The People resent the Prophef s faithful rehuhe. 
 
 15 What hath my beloved to do in mine house, seeing she 
 hath wrought lewdness with many, and the holy flesh is 
 passed from thee? when thou doest evil, then thou re- 
 
 16 joicest. The Lord called thy name, A green olive tree, 
 fair, and of goodly fruit: with the noise of a great tumult 
 
 when it should be uttered, would be a sign, not of penitence, but 
 merely of suffering. The whole verse closely resembles chap. vii. 16. 
 
 15—20. The People resent the Prophet's faithful rebuke, 
 
 15. my beloved"] Judah ; so chap, xii. 7. 
 
 to do in mine house'] The people by their idolatry have made any 
 entrance of the Temple on their part to be an intrusion. Having 
 rejected their Father, they have no claim upon His house. 
 
 lewdness] the better rendering is guile. Her service of God has been 
 but hypocrisy and deception. 
 
 with many] There is no authority for the word with. The Hebrew 
 however is very difficult. If the reading in the original be retained, we 
 may join the word either with the preceding or succeeding ones. Hence 
 we have the renderings (i) She hath wrought lewdness in crowds, or (ii) 
 The chief nien and the holy flesh are, etc. Of these the former keeps 
 closer to the sense of the original word, and is less rugged, but involves 
 a violation of grammar in the following clause (unless, by a slight altera- 
 tion of one Heb. word, we there read, and they cause the holy flesh to 
 pass, etc.) Another reading has been followed by the Septuagint trans- 
 lators, who render the whole verse, How has my beloved wrought abomi- 
 nation in my house? Shall vows and holy flesh remove from thee thy 
 wickedness, or by these shall thou escape? i.e. Shall promises or sacrifices 
 profit thee? 
 
 is passed] Possibly, they cause (the holy flesh) to pass. 
 
 when thou doest evil] There is no Hebrew for thou doest. It seems best 
 however to understand the clause in that way, though some would 
 translate the latter part of the verse thus, Shall vows and holy flesh 
 remove thy calamity /r^w thee? then mayest thou exult. This depends on 
 the fact that the same word in Hebrew will stand for moral evil and the 
 physical evil which is its consequence. The last part of this rendering 
 however seems scarcely in Jeremiah's style. 
 
 16. called thy name] acknowledged thee to be worthy of comparison 
 with. 
 
 A green olive tree] Compare for this figure as applied to the nation 
 Rosea xiv. 6. It is taken from a tree which abounds in Palestine, 
 being indeed in many parts the only one to be seen. 
 
 of goodly fruit] "Olive oil is obtained by expression from the pulp 
 of the fruit, and is of great economical importance, not only in Pales- 
 
w. 17-19.] JEREMIAH, XI. 95 
 
 he hath kindled fire upon it, and the branches of it are 
 broken. For the Lord of hosts, that planted thee, hath x^ 
 pronounced evil against thee, for the evil of the house of 
 Israel and of the house of Judah, which they have done 
 against themselves to provoke me to anger in offering in- 
 cense unto Baal. And the Lord hath given me knowledge is 
 of it, and I know if: then thou shewedst me their doings. 
 But I was Hke a lamb or an ox that is brought to the 19 
 
 tine, but also in Southern Europe. It is extensively used in the prepa- 
 ration of food, and may be called the milk of these countries." (J. 
 Smith's History of Bible Plants). 
 
 tumult'] The word in the original is used but once elsewhere, Ezek. 
 i. 24 (where Eng. Vers, has " speech"). It there occurs in reference to 
 the noise made by an army on the march. This therefore t?iay be its 
 sole sense, which would quite agree with Jeremiah's custom of hasty 
 assumption and dismissal of a metaphor noticed in Introduction chap. ti. 
 § 8 {d), where see instances. It is however very possible on the other ' 
 hand that the word may denote here the noise of a storm of rain, 
 or of crackling flames, either of which would be excellently adapted to 
 the figure which the rest of the verse contains of a fair fruit tree struck 
 and maimed by lightning. 
 
 17. The strong contrast which exists between the first and second 
 parts of ver. \6 is renewed here in other words. The Planter of the 
 Tree, who took delight in His work, now designs nothing but evil against 
 it, and that because of its failure to bear the fruit which He had purposed. 
 
 the evil of the house of Israel and of the house of Judah] The branches 
 of the tree are the whole nation. The one part has already had its 
 branches broken by the storm, and the turn of the other will soon come. 
 
 18. This and the following verses have been placed by some as late 
 as the time of Jehoiachin or even Zedekiah, because agreeing with what 
 we read of the general feeling wliich then existed against Jeremiah. 
 There seems however no sufficient cause for separating them from the 
 words which precede. There is an easy connexion in thought between 
 the two parts. The prophet proceeds from the general charge of 
 wickedness against Israel to specify a particular attack upon himself 
 as the messenger of the Lord. The men of Anathoth, his native 
 city, among whom therefore he would seem still to be at this time 
 resident (see remarks at the beginning of notes on this chapter), hoping 
 either to put him out of the way, or at any rate to terrify him into 
 silence, had secretly conspired against his life. The Lord however had 
 shewn him their intentions. 
 
 hath given] gave. 
 knoT^ knew. 
 
 19. like a lamb or an ox] like a tame lamb. The Hebrew rendered 
 by the English Version ox is indeed found in Psalm cxliv. 14 in that sense 
 but only as a poetical expression, the domesticated ones. It was common 
 among the Arabs, and apparently the Jews also (2 Sam. xii. 3), to bring 
 
96 JEREMIAH, XI. [vv. 20—23. 
 
 slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices 
 against me, saying, Let us destroy the tree with the fruit 
 thereof, and let us cut him off from the land of the living, 
 
 20 that his name may be no more remembered. But, O Lord 
 of hosts, that judgest righteously, that triest the reins and 
 the heart, let me see thy vengeance on them; for unto thee 
 have I revealed my cause. 
 
 21 — 23. The Punishment of Anathoth is therefore foretold. 
 
 21 Therefore thus saith the Lord of the men of Anathoth, 
 that seek thy life, saying, Prophesy not in the name of the 
 
 22 Lord, that thou die not by our hand : therefore thus saith 
 the Lord of hosts, Behold, I will punish them: the young 
 men shall die by the sword ; their sons and their daughters 
 
 23 shall die by famine : and there shall be no remnant of 
 
 up a pet lamb with the family. To such then Jeremiah likens himself, 
 as he dwells among the men of his own town, and is ignorant of the 
 death with which he was threatened at their hands. 
 
 the tree with the frtiit thereof^ This apparently has the force of a 
 proverb. 'Fruit' (Heb. 'bread') may mean the words spoken by the 
 prophet, of which the men of Anathoth desired to be rid. It seems 
 better however to take the whole phrase in the sense of utter destruc- 
 tion. Not only is the existing tree to be destroyed, but the chance of 
 reproduction by the sowing of its seed is to be prevented. Jeremiah's 
 , "own village of Anathoth, occupied by members of the sacred tribe, 
 was for him a nest of conspirators against his life. Of him, first in the 
 sacred history, was the saying literally fulfilled, 'a Prophet hath no 
 honour in his own birth-place'" (Stanley's Jrooish Churchy ii. 440). 
 
 20. that triest the reins a?td the heart\ to whom the inmost thoughts 
 and purposes are known. Compare chap. xx. 12, also chap. xvii. 10. 
 
 unto thee have I revealed\ upon thee have I rolled is, the rendering proposed 
 by some. That of the Eng. Vers, however keeps closer to the original. 
 
 21—23. The Punishment of Anathoth is therefore foretold. 
 
 21. saying, Prophesy not] See also Amos ii. 12. It would appear, 
 when we compare ver. 18, that the men of Anathoth first conspired 
 against Jeremiah, and afterwards on discovering that he had become 
 aware of their secret designs, substituted threats for plots. 
 
 22. "When the siege of Jerusalem shall come and battles be fought 
 outside its walls, those of military age and sex shall be slain in combat, 
 while the children shall perish within the city. 
 
 23. there shall be no remnant'\ This need not include the whole of 
 Anathoth, but may refer only to the families of the actual conspirators 
 against Jeremiah's life. Among those who returned from the captivity 
 are mentioned "The men of Anathoth, an hundred twenty and eight" 
 (Ezra ii. 23). 
 
vv. 1—2.] JEREMIAH, XII. 97 
 
 them : for I will bring evil upon the men of Anathoth, even 
 the year of their visitation. 
 
 Chap. XII. i — 4. The Prophet deprecates the Prosperity of 
 the Wicked. 
 
 Righteous art thou, O Lord, when I plead with thee: yet 12 
 let me talk with thee of thy judgments. Wherefore doth 
 the way of the wicked prosper? wherefore are all they happy 
 that deal very treacherously } Thou hast planted them, yea, 2 
 
 even the year] better, in the year. The time referred to is that of 
 the siege and capture of Jerusalem. Anathoth, as lying in the neigh- 
 bourhood of the besieging armies, would be exposed to the horrors of 
 war even to a greater extent than the capital city. 
 
 Chap. XII. 1 — 4. The Prophet deprecates the Prosperity 
 OF the Wicked. 
 
 This first paragraph is best understood as still having reference to the 
 treachery of the prophet's fellow- townsmen, while the subsequent para- 
 graphs dealing with the people at large and the approaching troubles 
 succeed naturally. Others would make chap. xii. a separate discourse, 
 while others again consider it to contain summaries or fragments of three 
 distinct addresses (verses i — 6, 7 — 13, 14 — 17). Those who consider 
 these chapters or parts of them to belong to a time later than Josiah's 
 reign make the "evil neighbours" of ver. 14 to be bands of Syrians, 
 Moabites and Ammonites who came up against Jehoiakim along with 
 the Chaldaeans on his revolt against Nebuchadnezzar at the conclusion 
 of the 3rd year of his reign. On the other hand the apparent allusion 
 to a drought in ver. 4 accords with similar references in earlier chapters 
 belonging to Josiah's reign (iii. 3, v. 24). 
 
 1. Righteous art thou] God's justice is established as the result of 
 every enquiry into His ways. Jeremiah, while admitting this, yet asks 
 how it can be reconciled with (i) the prosperity of the wicked, (ii) his 
 own adversity. 
 
 talk with thee of thy judgments] reason tlie case with thee as the 
 English margin reads. 
 
 the -wicked] the men of Anathoth. The general question was one 
 which much exercised the men of the old dispensation, who had no 
 clear view of any but temporal rewards and punishments. See Psalms 
 xxxvii., xxxix., xlix., Ixxiii., and the book of Job, specially chap. xxi. 
 7, etc. 
 
 happy] at peace. 
 
 2. planted] The same metaphor is used of the whole nation, 2 Sam. 
 vii. 10. The figure of a tree is worked out in the verse. They have 
 been placed in security and have prospered throughout life. We may 
 compare Isai. xl. 24 for the same figure applied in that case to the over- 
 throw of those who are the subjects of Divine wrath. 
 
 JEREMIAH 7 
 
98 JEREMIAH, XII. [vv. 3—5. 
 
 they have taken root: they grow, yea, they bring forth 
 fruit : thou art near in their mouth, and far from their reins. 
 
 3 But thou, O Lord, knowest me : thou hast seen me, and 
 tried mine heart towards thee : pull them out like sheep for 
 the slaughter, and prepare them for the day of slaughter. 
 
 4 How long shall the land mourn, and the herbs of every 
 field wither, for the wickedness of them that dwell therein ? 
 the beasts are consumed, and the birds ; because they said, 
 He shall not see our last end. 
 
 5, 6. Greater- Trials yet are to come upon the Prophet. 
 
 s If thou hast run with the footmen, and they have wearied 
 thee, then how canst thou contend with horses ? and if in 
 
 near in their mouth, and far from their reins] They honour God' 
 with their lips, but their heart is far from Him. The reins are taken 
 for the seat of the affections and desires as the heart for that of the will. 
 
 3. Thou knowest my devotion, why then am I thus in trouble ? Let 
 thy justice be vindicated. 
 
 hast seen] seest. 
 
 tried] tryest. 
 
 pull them out] a very strong expression in the Hebrew. The same 
 verb is used (chap. x. 20, "are broken") of the rending of the cords 
 which stretch a tent. The sense then is, Take thou speedy and forcible 
 measures to requite mine enemies after their deserts. 
 
 4. The drought in the land, as arising from the wickedness of its 
 inhabitants, seems opposed to the earlier verses, where the prophet 
 declares his perplexity at finding that misfortunes do not follow upon 
 t'^e wickedness of the ungodly. This, however, is a contradiction only 
 in appearance. The calamities of the land fall upon the innocent more 
 than the guilty. The rich and powerful oppressor and evildoer escapes. 
 
 every] the wliole. 
 
 the beasts are consumed^ and the birds] The animate as well as the 
 inanimate creation suffers. 
 
 they said, He shall not see our last end] ' They ' are Jeremiah's ene- 
 mies, but the sense of their words is not so clear, although they plainly 
 express in some sort the cause of the calamities. vSome make the word 
 'He' to refer to God, others to Jeremiah. In the former case the sense 
 is. He will not trouble Himself to interfere ; we may go on to the end 
 unpunished: in the latter, He (the prophet), although he threatens us 
 with speedy destruction, shall not himself outlive us. 
 
 5, 6. Greater Trials yet are to come upon the Prophet. 
 
 5. God replies to Jeremiah in this and the following verse. He 
 intimates to him by means of two proverbial expressions that he must 
 brace himself to endure even worse things than any that he has as 
 yet been called upon to face. The attacks of the men of Anathoth may 
 
vv. 6— 8.] JEREMIAH, XII. 99 
 
 the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee^ 
 then how wilt thou do in the swelling of Jordan ? For even 6 
 thy brethren, and the house of thy father, even they have 
 dealt treacherously with thee ; yea, they have called a multi- 
 tude after thee: believe them not, though they speak fair 
 words unto thee. 
 
 7 — 13. The devastation to be zvrought in the land. 
 
 I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage ; I 7 
 have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of 
 her enemies. Mine heritage is unto me as a lion in the 8 
 
 have galled him, but the treachery set on foot against him includes men 
 of his own family, and so is yet more wounding and bitter than he 
 supposes. He must not therefore think of being impatient at anything 
 that he may hitherto have been called upon to undergo, but feel that 
 he has need of all his resolution to meet the trouble which shall pre- 
 sently be disclosed. 
 
 if in the land of peace, wherein thou trustedst, they wearied thee'] 
 rather, in a land of peace thou art secure, i.e. up to this time thou hast 
 been in comparative safety. 
 
 the swelling] the pride. The reference is, not as in the English Version, ^ 
 to the overflowing of the river's banks, but to the danger which existed 
 in the form of lions and other wild beasts, ranging amid the luxuriant 
 vegetation produced by the moisture of the river and its tributaries. 
 Compare for the same expression chaps, xlix. 19, 1. 44 ; Zech. xi. 3. 
 
 6. a multitude] aloud. Compare note on iv. 5. Thine own im- 
 mediate relations will raise a shout {a hue and cry, according to 
 Luther's rendering) against thee, as though thou wert a criminal seek- 
 ing to escape from justice, and this will be worse than anything that 
 thou hast yet suffered. Compare for the general sense chap. ix. 4. 
 
 7—13. The devastation to be wrought in the land. 
 
 7. The Lord is still the speaker. There is no reason to consider 
 this paragraph, or that which concludes the chapter, as distinct and 
 later utterances (see opening remaiks on the Chapter). The con- 
 nexion is easy. The base and wicked state into which the land had 
 fallen could but result in its overthrow and desolation, at least for 
 a time. 
 
 mine house] shewn by the parallelism of the clauses to mean, not the 
 Temple, but the nation itself. 
 
 hand] palm. Israel is placed, as it might be a cup, upon the hand 
 of her conqueror, incapable of offering any resistance to his will. 
 Compare Gen. xl. 11, which is literally "I set the cup upon Pharaoh's 
 /)a/w." {^Sp. Comm.). Compare also note on chap, xv, -21. 
 
 8. as a lion] The open hostility of the people towards the Lord 
 
 7—2 
 
JEREMIAH, XII. [vv. 9— 12. 
 
 forest ; it crieth out against me : therefore have I hated it. 
 9 Mine heritage is unto me as a speckled bird, the birds round 
 
 about are against her ; come ye, assemble all the beasts of 
 to the field, come to devour. Many pastors have destroyed 
 
 my vineyard, they have trodden my portion under foot, they 
 li have made my pleasant portion a desolate wilderness. They 
 
 have made it desolate, and being desolate it mourneth unto 
 
 me ; the whole land is made desolate, because no man 
 12 layeth // to heart. The spoilers are come upon all high 
 
 places through the wilderness : for the sword of the Lord 
 
 is likened by Hina to the angry roar and fierce attack of a lion ranging 
 the forest. He therefore withdraws and leaves it as some savage beast 
 to the solitude that it has made for itself. 
 
 have I hated it'] I have treated it as though I hated it. Compare 
 Mai. i. 3. The tenses in this and the preceding verse are in the 
 prophetic past. 
 
 9. Mine heritage is] Is mine heritage ...1 This is a preferable 
 rendering, although the Hebrew admits of both. So the next clause, 
 Are the birds, etc. ? 
 
 bird] Some would render hyaena, but this does not supply so good 
 a figure, which rather is that of birds assembling round one of theii 
 own kind, and maltreating it, because its plumage attracts their attention 
 as unusual. 
 
 assemble] i.e. cause to assemble. This part of the verse seems taken 
 from Is. Ivi. 9. 
 
 come] bring them. 
 
 10. pastors] the same persons who in chap. vi. 3 are called 
 shepherds, viz. the leaders of the invading host. 
 
 vineyard] For Israel spoken of under this figure compare Is. v. 
 I, etc. 
 
 have trodden my portion under foot] They have broken ruthlessly 
 through the fence, and have trampled upon the carefully tilled soil 
 and well-tended produce within. 
 
 11. They have made] In the Hebrew the verb is singular. This 
 change of number is not unusual, and consequently the enemy may 
 still be the real subject here, as in the former verse, while in strict 
 grammar the verb will be impersonal {one has made). But it is 
 better perhaps to make the prophet himself the speaker of this and 
 the following verses of the paragraph, and understand the word God 
 as the nominative to the verb. 
 
 unto me] If we take the prophet as the speaker, we shall better 
 render the Hebrew preposition round about. Jeremiah looks forth in 
 every direction upon the land as it will appear after its overthrow. 
 
 12. high places] See note on chap. iii. 2. 
 
 the 7vilderness] the jiastures which, though fertile enough for cattle, 
 contained no fixed human habitations. See note on ii. 6. 
 
vv. 13—15-] JEREMIAH, XII. 
 
 shall devour from the one end of the land even to the other 
 end of the land : no flesh shall have peace. They have 13 
 sown wheat, but shall reap thorns : they have put themselves 
 to pain, but shall not profit: and they shall be ashamed of 
 your revenues because of the fierce anger of the Lord. 
 
 1 4 — 1 7 . The future of the extern ies of Israel. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord against all mine evil neighbours, m 
 that touch the inheritance which I have caused my people 
 Israel to inherit; Behold, I will pluck them out of their 
 land, and pluck out the house of Judah from among them. 
 And it shall come to pass, after that I have plucked them 15 
 out, I will return, and have compassion on them, and will 
 
 the sword of the Lord] these spoilers, as His representatives. 
 Compare vi. 25 with note ; also xxv. 29. 
 
 shall devour] devoureth. 
 
 no flesh shall have peace] None of this sinful nation shall enjoy 
 health or prosperity. 
 
 13. They have so^vn wheat, but shall reap thorns] evidently a 
 proverb, meaning, as the words that follow it shew, They have used 
 their best endeavours to obtain pleasure, the object of their desire, 
 and have been rewarded with the very opposite of that harvest which 
 they sought. 
 
 shall reap] have reaped. 
 
 shall not profit] do not profit. 
 
 they shall be ashamed] l?e ye ashamed. The verb is imperative. 
 
 revefiues] produce (of the fields). The word is used in a wider sense 
 than that which it bears in the present day, when it is generally used 
 either of large private incomes, or of public monies obtained by 
 taxation, etc. 
 
 14—17. The future of the enemies of Israel. 
 
 14. See introductory note to the Chapter. 
 
 mine evil neighbours] no doubt Syrians and others, who would feel 
 that Israel's time of difficulty was their opportunity. The promise in 
 this and the following verses then is that, while they and Judah shall 
 be punished, yet on the repentance of each, it will be pardoned, and 
 from the evil past, present, and to come, there will finally result a 
 widespread acknowledgment of God, and establishment of His position 
 as a righteous Judge throughout all the world. This is the answer to 
 Jeremiah's murmurings on the subject of the prosperity of the wicked. 
 
 pluck out] The verb must mean the same in the two clauses. Thus 
 here it will refer to the removal of Judah into captivity, and not, 
 as some have taken it, to their subsequent deliverance. 
 
 16. / will return, and] an ordinary Hebrew idiom meaning no 
 
I02 JEREMIAH, XII. XIII. [vv. i6, 17; i. 
 
 bring them again, every man to his heritage, and every man 
 
 16 to his land. And it shall come to pass, if they will dili- 
 gently learn the ways of my people, to swear by my name, 
 The Lord liveth; as they taught my people to swear by 
 Baal; then shall they be built in the midst of my people. 
 
 17 But if they will not obey, I will utterly pluck up and destroy 
 that nation, saith the Lord. 
 
 Chap. XIIL i — 1 1. The acted sy?nbol of the Ihien girdle. 
 13 Thus saith the Lord unto me, Go and get thee a linen 
 
 more than / will again. The return of the Moabites is specifically 
 mentioned in chap, xlviii. 47 ; that of the Ammonites in chap. xlix. 6. 
 
 16. Not only shall they be restored respectively to their lands, 
 but they shall be established therein, if they heartily adopt the worship 
 of the true God. 
 
 to nvear by my na7?ie\ to give this outward sign that to them He 
 is supreme. See note on chap. iv. 2. 
 
 as they taught my people to swear by Baal] The Jews are now to 
 be the leaders in godliness, instead of in idolatry as beforetime. 
 
 built] securely established, and incorporated with the people of 
 God. For the phrase see chaps, xxiv. 6, xlii. 10, xlv. 4. 
 
 The blessings promised to Abraham, as about to be imparted through 
 his seed to all the nations of the earth, are here again foretold. Chris- 
 tianity is to spring out of Judaism, but unlike it to be world-wide. 
 
 Chap. XIII. 1—11. The acted symbol of the linen girdle. 
 
 1. Thus saith the Lord] The date of this prophecy is determined 
 almost with certainty by ver. 18, where the word ^ueen is in the original 
 (jueen mother. She who is spoken of here has indeed been taken by some 
 to be "Jedidah, the daughter of Adaiah of Boscath" (2 Kings xxii. i) 
 mother of Josiah. It is much better however to make the 'king' to be 
 Jehoiachin, and his mother (carried captive with him to Babylon, chap. 
 xxix. 2) Nehushta. The prophecy then would be uttered either within 
 the three months during which Jehoiachin reigned, or at the close of the 
 reign of Jehoiakim. 
 
 Go arid get thee a linen girdle\ Commentators differ on the question 
 whether this and the subsequent acts of the prophet were real or done 
 only in symbol. In support of the latter view it is urged (i) that we 
 have in the narrative no reference to the length of the journey (250 
 miles each way) which would be involved in a literal carrying out of the 
 command; (ii) that there could be no object gained by going so long a 
 distance merely to prove that a girdle buried in the ground would 
 become unfit for use. On behalf of the former view it is pointed out (i) 
 that we have nothing in the shape in which the narrative is given us to 
 support the view that the actions are not carried out in their literal sense; 
 (ii) that in point of fact Jeremiah was absent from Jerusalem during the 
 
w. 2—7.] JEREMIAH, XIII. 103 
 
 girdle, and put it upon thy loins, and put it not in water. 
 So I got a girdle, according to the word of the Lord, and 2 
 put // on my loins. And the word of the Lord came unto 3 
 me the second time, saying, Take the girdle that thou hast 4 
 got, which is upon thy loins, and arise, go to Euphrates, 
 and hide it there in a hole of the rock. So I went, and hid 5 
 it by Euphrates, as the Lord commanded me. And it 6 
 came to pass after many days, that the Lord said unto me. 
 Arise, go to Euphrates, and take the girdle from thence, 
 which I commanded thee to hide there. Then I went to 7 
 Euphrates, and digged, and took the girdle from the place 
 where I had hid it: and behold, the girdle was marred, it 
 
 greater part of the later years of Jehoiakim's reign, that we have no 
 account of him during that period, and that he therefore may well be 
 supposed during part of the time to have been in or near Babylon. This 
 view would agree with the kind feeling shewn towards him by Nebu- * 
 chadnezzar at the taking of Jerusalem (chap, xxxix. 11) which seems 
 to point to an earlier acquaintance. It has also been suggested, to 
 escape the difficulty of the long journey from Jerusalem to the Eu- 
 phrates, that we should understand the word for Euphrates (P'rath) 
 either (i) = Ephrath = Bethlehem, or (ii) = an Arabic word, meaning a 
 place near the water, a crevice opening from the water into the land. 
 Neither of these last views however are tenable. See note on ver. 4. 
 
 a linen girdle] Linen, not woollen, garments were appointed for 
 priestly wear, and consequently linen was felt to belong to sacred uses. 
 It was thus the fittest material for that which should symbolize the 
 people of God. The girdle symbolizes them, inasmuch as it was that 
 article of dress which would be most closely bound about the person of 
 the wearer, and thus it marked the specia.1 bond existing between the 
 Lord and Israel. 
 
 p7ct it not in water] probably that the soiled appearance which it would 
 soon exhibit might represent the pollution of the people. 
 
 4. go to Etiph7-ates\ The river which runs through Babylon, about 
 to be the city of exile, is naturally chosen as that on the banks of which 
 the girdle should rot. 
 
 hide it there in a hole of the rock] The expression ^^ digged" (ver. 7) 
 has been thought to shew, that by rock is meant the rocky or stony soil 
 on the bank, such as might be found on that part of the river which 
 flows through Babylonia. It need not however mean more than that 
 Jeremiah had filled up the clift with earth or small stones. In this 
 case ^the rock^ would be on an upper portion of the river, before it 
 reaches the plains of Babylonia. 
 
 6. after many days] the seventy years of the Captivity. 
 
 7. the girdle was marred] As the words "put it not in water" (ver. 
 i) probably refer to the moral pollution of the people, which brought 
 about their exile, so this expression points to the effect of that event in 
 
I04 JEREMIAH, XIII. [vv. 8— 12. 
 
 8 was profitable for nothing. Then the word of the Lord 
 
 9 came unto me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, After this 
 manner will I mar the pride of Judah, and the great pride 
 
 10 of Jerusalem. This evil people, which refuse to hear my 
 words, which walk in the imagination of their heart, and 
 walk after other gods, to serve them, and to worship them, 
 
 11 shall even be as this girdle, which is good for nothing. For 
 as the girdle cleaveth to the loins of a man, so have I caused 
 to cleave unto me the whole house of Israel and the whole 
 house of Judah, saith the Lord ; that they might be unto 
 me for a people, and for a name, and for a praise, and for 
 a glory : but they would not hear. 
 
 12 — 14. The spoken symbol of the bottles. 
 
 12 Therefore thou shalt speak unto them this word; Thus 
 saith the Lord God of Israel, Every bottle shall be filled 
 with wine: and they shall say unto thee, Do we not cer- 
 
 the way of physical decay. This is limited however to the ungodly 
 by the words of ver. 10. Both verses doubtless are an echo of Lev. 
 xxvi. 39; "They that are left of you shall pine away in their iniquity 
 in your enemies' lands." 
 
 9. 7nar the pride] The greatness of the nation should be crushed by 
 the sufferings and humiliation of exile. The verse seems based upon 
 Lev. xxvi. 19, "I will break the/ri^t" of your power," where the Hebrew 
 word is the same as in this place. 
 
 10. imagination] stubbornness. See chap. iii. 17. The godly 
 portion of the people on the other hand were to be preserved and 
 brought again to their land. This is shewn under the symbol of the 
 baskets of figs, chap. xxiv. 
 
 11. The aptitude of the symbgl is pointed out. As the girdle from 
 its very nature must cling closely to the person, so Israel was that 
 people whom God chose out to be most closely united with himself. 
 
 12 — 14. The spoken symbol of the bottles. 
 
 12. bottle] Jar. These are not the skin bottles spoken of in the 
 New Testament (Matt. ix. 17, etc.) but earthenware. 
 
 shall be filled with wine] Under this figure is described the intoxi- 
 cation through which the people shall be rendered helpless to resist the 
 foreign foe, while they quarrel one with another. It was no doubt in 
 ' part owing to factious strife as well as to national idolatry that the 
 overthrow came. The figure of filling a person with wine in the sense 
 of bringing upon him Divine punishment for perverseness and head- 
 strong continuance in sin is found also chap, xxv, 15; Ps. Ix. 3; Is. li. 
 17, while for Israel under the figure of a bottle or jar compare chap, 
 xviii. I — 6. 
 
vv. 13—16.] JEREMIAH, XIII. 105 
 
 tainly know that every bottle shall be filled with wine? 
 Then shalt thou say unto them, Thus saith the Lord, Be- 13 
 hold, I ivill fill all the inhabitants of this land, even the 
 kings that sit upon David's throne, and the priests, and the 
 prophets, and all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, ze////^ drunken- 
 ness. And I will dash them one against another, even the m 
 fathers and the sons together, saith the Lord: I will not 
 pity, nor spare, nor have mercy, but destroy them. 
 
 15 — 27. Another appeal to Jtidah. Her wickedness however 
 seems inveterate. 
 Hear ye, and give ear ; be not proud: for the Lord hath 15 
 spoken. Give glory to the Lord your God, before he cause »6 
 darkness, and before your feet stumble upon the dark moun- 
 tains, and, while ye look for light, he turn it into the shadow 
 
 Do we not cefta'mly know...] not, as some have taken the sense to be, 
 Are we not certain of prosperity and an abundant vintage? but, What 
 need is there of telling us such a truism? The people would shew 
 in the plainest manner possible how their minds were out of tune 
 with the Divine warnings, whose very form they would thus utterly 
 fail to recognise. 
 
 14. And I will dash them one against another] Seized with the 
 giddiness which accompanies intoxication, they shall be a source of 
 mutual destruction. 
 
 even the fathers and the sons together] The overthrow shall be of the 
 most harrowing description. 
 
 15—27. Another appeal to Judah. Her wickedness how- 
 ever SEEMS inveterate. 
 
 16. be not proud] Your boast that your privileges render you secure, 
 is an idle one. 
 
 16. Give glory] This is a Hebrew idiom for confess your sins. So 
 Joshua says to Achan "My son, give, I pray thee, glory to the Lord God 
 of Israel, and make confession unto him," (Josh. vii. 19). Compare 
 Mai. ii, 2, and the words of the Jews to the man blind from his birth, 
 whom our Lord cured, "Give God the praise" (John ix. 24) i.e. ac- 
 knowledge thyself an impostor. 
 
 before he cause darkness] Darkness in the Bible is a symbol of igno- 
 rance or of wickedness. Compare for this Is. viii. 22, ix. 2; Lam. 
 ill. 6. 
 
 the dark mountains] the mountains of twilight. The comparison 
 is to persons subject to a twofold difficulty, namely, (i) the unevenness 
 of their road; (ii) the gathering gloom. The thought of mountains as 
 hindrances is illustrated by the proverbial saying (applied in Luke iii. 5 
 
io6 JEREMIAH, XIII. [vv. 17—19. 
 
 ,7 of death, and make it gross darkness. But if ye will not 
 hear it, my soul shall weep in secret places for your pride ; 
 and mine eye shall weep sore, and run down with tears, 
 
 ,8 because the Lord's flock is carried away captive. Say unto 
 the king and to the queen, Humble yourselves, sit down: 
 for your principalities shall come down, even the crown of 
 
 ,9 your glory. The cities of the south shall be shut up, 
 and none shall open them: Judah shall be carried away 
 
 by St John the Baptist to the coming of Christ), "Every mountain and 
 hill shall be made low" (Is. xl. 4). 
 
 and make] yea make. There is no conjunction in the original, and 
 the clause is merely added to intensify. 
 
 gross] thick. The Hebrew for 'gross darkness' is one word, literally 
 cloudy darkness. 
 
 17. in secret places] Inasmuch as the time for warning and rebuke 
 will then have passed, the prophet will retire (as he did in the reign of 
 Jehoiakim), and mourn apart. 
 
 the LoRUS flock] as the rulers are called elsewhere shepherds (pas- 
 tors), so the ruled are the flock. Compare Zech. x. 3. 
 
 is carried away captive] The tense probably signifies in accordance 
 with the prophetic style that the event is pictured so vividly to the 
 mind that it seems to have already taken place. The prophecy however 
 (see above) may have been uttered so late in the short reign of Jehoia- 
 chin, that the captivity (of 2 Kings xxiv. 12 — 16) had already begun. 
 
 18. Say] The Lord now addresses the prophet. 
 
 the queen] the qtieen mother, Nehushta(see note on ver. i). The fact 
 that the kings practised polygamy, and took wives from their subjects, was 
 the cause of the high position which the king's mother assumed. Ac- 
 cordingly she is frequently mentioned in connexion with the accession 
 of one and another, e.g. i Kings xv. 13; 2 Kings x. 13. Compare 
 I Kings ii. 19. In Jehoiachin's case especially, as he was but eighteen 
 (2 Kings xxiv. 8; eight only, according to 2 Chron. xxxvi. 9) years old, 
 when he came to the throne, his mother would have a considerable 
 share in the government. 
 
 Humble yourselves, sit down] Sit down humbly. The Hebrew lan- 
 guage, being scantily supplied with adverbs, often expresses their sense 
 by an additional verb. 
 
 principalities] head tires, viz. the ' crown ' which follows. 
 
 19. The cities of the south shall be shtct up] Some take this to 
 mean that, as was done by Sennacherib (2 Kings xviii. 13), the enemy 
 should invest the southern towns of Palestine before advancing to 
 reduce the capital city to submission. It is better to take it, as the 
 second part of the verse suggests, as in Isaiah xxiv. 10. Ruins block 
 the entrance to the cities, and that because of the desolation. There is 
 none to clear a passage to the deserted dwellings. The verbs in this 
 verse are in the past tense, which is however very possibly the pro- 
 phetic past. Sec ver. 17. 
 
vv. 20—24.] JEREMIAH, XIII. 107 
 
 captive all of it, it shall be wholly carried away captive. 
 Lift up your eyes, and behold them that come from the 20 
 north : where is the flock that was given thee, thy beautiful 
 flock ? What wilt thou say when he shall punish thee ? for 21 
 •thou hast taught them to be captains, and as chief over 
 thee: shall not sorrows take thee, as a woman in travail? 
 And if thou say in thine heart, Wherefore come these things 22 
 upon me ? For the greatness of thine iniquity are thy skirts 
 discovered, and thy heels made bare. Can the Ethiopian 23 
 change his skin, or the leopard his spots ? then may ye also 
 do good, that are accustomed to do evil. Therefore will I 24 
 
 20. Lift up your eyes] The Hebrew verb is fem. and sing., whereas 
 the possessive pronoun is plural. This shews that the subject is a 
 noun of multitude, viz. Jerusalem personified as the daughter of Zion. 
 This thought harmonizes with the words 'the flock that was given thee,' 
 the inhabitants of the land in general. 
 
 them that cotnefrom the north] See note on chap. i. 14. 
 
 21. %vhen he shall punish thee...] if He set over thee those whom 
 thou hast accustomed to thee as familiar friends, for a head. The 
 reference is probably both to the Egyptians and to the Babylonians. 
 Israel courted the friendship now of the one, now of the other, and was 
 then made to taste their rule in turn. 
 
 22. thy skirts discovered] thy flowing robe pulled aside, so that 
 thou shalt appear in the garb of servitude, bare-legged, doing the work 
 of a slave. 
 
 thy heels made bare] barefoot and suffering from the roughness of the 
 road, as thou art led captive. * Made bare ' is literally treated with 
 violence. 
 
 23. the Ethiopian'] the Cushite, meaning the African branch, and 
 not that which seems in early times to have spread across Arabia to the 
 Tigris and Euphrates. Ethiopia lay south of Egypt, bounded by the 
 Libyan deserts on the West and by Abyssinia on the south. Through 
 the Jews' intercourse with Egypt the Ethiopians were familiar to them. 
 They were thus acquainted with the "merchandise of Ethiopia" (Is. xlv. 
 14), which consisted of gold, ebony and elephants' tusks (Herod. Bk. 
 III. 97, 114) and jewels (Job xxviii. 19). The people were known as tall 
 ("men of stature," Is. xlv. 14; compare Herod, iii. 20, "The Ethio- 
 pians... are said to be the tallest... men in the whole world"). For this 
 reason probably they were chosen as attendants upon kings ; see 
 chap, xxxviii. 7. 
 
 the leopard] See chap. v. 6. Cant. iv. 8 shews that this animal was 
 found on the mountains of Palestine. "It is now not uncommonly seen 
 in and about Lebanon, and the southern maritime mountains of Syria." 
 (Kitto, quoted in Sm. Bibl. Diet,). 
 
 then may ye also do good] So incorrigible is Judah, that her conver- 
 sion would be no less wonderful than a suspension of natural laws. 
 
io8 JEREMIAH, XIII. XIV. [vv. 25—27 ; i. 
 
 scatter them as the stubble that passeth away by the wind 
 
 25 of the wilderness. This is thy lot, the portion of thy mea- 
 sures from me, saith the Lord ; because thou hast forgotten 
 
 26 me, and trusted in falsehood. Therefore will I discover 
 
 27 thy skirts upon thy face, that thy shame may appear. I 
 have seen thine adulteries, and thy neighings, the lewdness 
 of thy whoredom, and thine abominations on the hills in 
 the fields. Woe unto thee, O Jerusalem ! wilt thou not be 
 made clean ? when shall it once be 1 
 
 Chap. XIV. i — 6. Description of the drought. 
 
 14 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah concerning 
 the dearth. 
 
 24. stubble] the broken straw, when the separation of the grain, 
 which tve effect by winnowing, had been attained through the tramp- 
 ling of the stalks by oxen. 
 
 the xvind of the wilderness] the east wind which blew strong from the 
 Arabian desert. Compare chap. iv. 11. 
 
 25. the portion of thy tneasnres] the portion measured. The word 
 translated vieasure may however very well mean, as it does elsewhere, 
 an tipper garment. Then the rendering will be, that which is placed in 
 thy lap, which brings us in the end to the same thought. 
 
 falsehood] idolatry. Compare chaps, x. 14, xvi. 19. 
 
 26. Therefore will I] This is scarcely strong enough. The Hebrew 
 implies a contrast and a retaliation. Thou hast had thy turn, and now 
 I shall take mine, and shall requite thee. As thou didst give thyself 
 up to disgraceful idolatries, so I will now cover thee with disgrace. 
 
 27. The people's zealous pursuit of false gods is put once more in 
 the most forcible language. 
 
 and thine abomitiations] even thine abominations. This word is 
 meant to sum up the previous expressions, 
 
 in the f elds] in the open. 
 
 when shall it once be?] after how long yet? i.e. Although 
 (ver. 73) there is no chance that this generation turn from sin, yet may 
 we not look for a reformation at some time, even though distant? 
 
 Chap. XIV. 1 — 6. Description of the drought. 
 
 1. The 7vord of the Lord that came] This and the following 
 chapter contain a succession of short utterances, which some have 
 sought, but without success, to assign to particular crises of history 
 (e.g. xiv. 17 — 19 and xv. 7, to Josiah's defeat and death at Megiddo, 
 or XV. 8, etc., to Jehoiakim's subjugation by Nebuchadnezzar). These 
 conjectures have but little probability. The famine, which seems the 
 occasion of (his part of the prophecy, is probably a later one than that 
 which is spoken of earlier in the Rook (chaps, iii. 3, xii. 4), because in this 
 place it is associated with disaster in war (verses 17, 18). The probabilities 
 
vv. 2— 4.] JEREMIAH, XIV. 109 
 
 Judah mourneth, and the gates thereof languish ; 2 
 
 They are black unto the ground ; 
 
 And the cry of Jerusalem is gone up. 
 
 And their nobles have sent their little ones to the waters : 3 
 
 They came to the pits, and found no water ; 
 
 They returned with their vessels empty ; 
 
 They were ashamed and confounded, and covered their 
 
 heads. 
 Because the ground is chapt, 4 
 
 therefore are that the section, like the greater portion of this division of 
 the Book, was in substance included within the Roll read in the ears of 
 Jehoiakim, and so represents the state of matters during the earlier part 
 of that king's reign, when all hope of permanent reform, such as had 
 been cherished in the days of Josiah, had well nigh disappeared. Some 
 would continue this section to chap. xvii. 18. Chap. xvi. however 
 clearly begins a new portion. We may subdivide as follows : (a) xiv. ■ 
 2 — 6, description of the drought ; {b) xiv. 7 — xv. 9, the prophet's pleadings 
 and excuses on behalf of the people, each followed by the Lord's reply ; 
 (<:) XV. 10 — 21, Jeremiah complains of persecution. He receives comfort 
 and assurance of protection. 
 
 dearth^ drought. The original word is in the plural {droughts)^ 
 which may imply a series of dry years. 
 
 2. City and country, high and low, man and beast alike suffer. 
 
 the gates] put, as often in Heb., for cities, i.e. for the inhabitants. 
 The gate was the place in which justice was administered and also that 
 of general resort. Hence it is often poetically substituted for the city of 
 which it formed so important a part, or, as here, by a somewhat further 
 stretch of the figure, for the inhabitants. For gate = city compare Deut. 
 xvii. 2; and so too i Kings viii. 37, in which latter "cities" of Eng. 
 Vers, should be literally gates. 
 
 they are black u7tto the groiind] an abbreviated way of saying, they 
 are black ( = in mourning garb) and sit upon the ground. Compare for the 
 sense chap. xiii. 18 ; also Ps. cxxxvii. i (" By the rivers of Babylon there 
 we sat dow7i") and Is. xlvii. i ("Come down, and sit in the dust"). 
 
 3. little ones'] mean ones, i.e. servants. The Heb. word is rare, 
 occurring elsewhere only chap, xlviii. 4. 
 
 pits] cisterns, or tanks, where the water was kept till wanted for use. 
 See note on chap. ii. 13. 
 
 covered their heads] as a sign of the greatest grief or confusion. Com- 
 pare 2 Sam. xix. 4; Esth. vi. 12. 
 
 4. Because the ground is chapt] Because of the ground, which is 
 dismayed. Chapt is indeed literal, and it is possible that nothing more 
 may be meant than the cracks produced by drought. It is more likely 
 however that the verb is used in the secondary sense which it bears, as 
 above rendered. If this be so, the ground may well stand for the tillers 
 of it, as "gates" (ver. 2) for the people who assembled there. Il is only 
 
no JEREMIAH, XIV. [vv. 5— 8. 
 
 For there was no rain in the earth, 
 
 The plowmen were ashamed, they covered their heads. 
 
 5 Yea, the hind also calved in the field, and forsook it, 
 Because there was no grass. 
 
 6 And the wild asses did stand in the high places. 
 They snuffed up the wind like dragons ; 
 Their eyes did fail, because there was no grass. 
 
 7 — 12. The prophef s first intercession. God^s answer. 
 
 7 O Lord, though our iniquities testify against us, do thou 
 it for thy name's sake : for our backslidings are many ; we 
 
 8 have sinned against thee. O the hope of Israel, the saviour 
 
 a less usual application of the principle on which the Sublime Porte 
 stands for the Turkish Government, England^ etc., for the inhabitants. 
 
 5. Yed\ or, For. The dismay was increased by the sight of the 
 hind, which was known to be tender in her care for her offspring, 
 deserting it, and seeking merely the preservation of her own life. Com- 
 pare Lam. i. 6. The care which the hind bestows upon its young is set 
 forth by several ancient writers. Aristotle tells how they bring their 
 young to a secure retreat which has but one approach ; Pliny, that they 
 teach them to run and to flee at the approach of danger ; and Solinus, 
 that they carefully hide their young ones, forcing them by blows with 
 their feet to conceal themselves in the thickets (Bochart, P. i., Bk. III., 
 eh. 17). Compare for this character borne by the hind Prov. v. 19. 
 
 6. high places] Compare chap. iii. 2. 
 
 snuffed up the wind] gasped for breath, as oppressed by heat and 
 thirst. 
 
 dragons] jackals. See note on chap. ix. 11. 
 
 their eyes did fail] In place of the sharpness of sight, which they 
 naturally enjoyed, their sufferings were depriving them wholly of the 
 power of vision. 
 
 grass] more literally, plants, or herbage. It is the "herb" of Gen. 
 i. II, 12. 
 
 7 — 12. The prophet's first intercession. God's answer. 
 
 7. do thou it] deal. 
 
 for thy nafne's sake] either (i) in accordance with the name, under 
 which Thou hast revealed Thyself, The Lord God, merciful and 
 gracious, etc. (Exod. xxxiv. 6); or (ii) for Thy honour, that the heathen 
 may behold Thy might and faithfulness. This latter seems the more 
 usual sense of the phrase, for which see Ps. Ixxix. 9, cvi. 8; Is. xlviii. 
 9; Ezek. XX. 9, 14, 22; and for the thought Josh. vii. 7 — 9. 
 
 for our backslidings are many] The connexion is, The maintenance 
 of Thine own lionour is the only plea that we can urge, and no merits 
 of ours, y^r, etc. 
 
 8. hope of Israel] a favourite expression with Jeremiah (See chaps. 
 
vv. 9-13-] JEREMIAH, XIV. 
 
 thereof in time of trouble, why shouldest thou be as a 
 stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man that turneth 
 aside to tarry for a night ? Why shouldest thou be as a man 9 
 astonied, as a mighty mail that cannot save ? yet thou, O 
 Lord, art in the midst of us, and we are called by thy 
 name ; leave us not. Thus saith the Lord unto this people, to 
 Thus have they loved to wander, they have not refrained 
 their feet, therefore the Lord doth not accept them ; he 
 will now remember their iniquity, and visit their sins. 
 Then said the Lord unto me, Pray not for this people for n 
 their good. When they fast, I will not hear their cry; and 12 
 when they offer burnt offering and an oblation, I will not 
 accept them : but I will consume them by the sword, and 
 by the famine, and by the pestilence. 
 
 13 — 17. A second appeal and the reply. 
 Then said I, Ah Lord God ! behold, the prophets say 13 
 
 xvii. 7, 13, 1. 7). Compare St Paul (Acts xxviii. 20) "the hope of 
 Israel," a passage which serves as a link between the phrase as used in 
 the Old Testament and the two occurrences of the word hope as applied 
 directly to Christ (Col. i. 27; i Tim. i. i). 
 
 as a stranger in the land, and as a wayfaring man} as one who has 
 no interest in the country or in the people among whom he is sojourning. 
 
 turneth aside} literally, stretcheth out {his teftt) ; lives after the manner 
 followed both then and now by travellers there. 
 
 9. as a man astojtied} The illustration is the hesitation and in- 
 activity of one whom some sudden occurrence has deprived of his usual 
 presence of mind. 
 
 10. Thus saith the Lord} This and the next two verses contain 
 God's reply to Jeremiah's prayer. The people have rejected Him, and 
 He therefore now rejects them. 
 
 Thus have they loved} Some would explain 'thus,' with a firmness 
 of purpose in idolatry equal to that which I shall shew in punishing 
 them for their sin. But it seems better to take it as simply meaning In 
 the manner and to the degree already pointed out, e.g. in chap. ii. 
 
 the Lord doth} not / do, which we might have expected as according 
 better with the form of verses 11, 12. Here, on the contrary, Jeremiah 
 gives in his. own words God's answer. This part of the verse is a 
 quotation from Hos. viii. 13. 
 
 12. Outward signs of repentance and submission shall be of no avail, 
 either as being unreal, or too tardy. 
 
 by the sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence} These three 
 forms of punishment are united elsewhere. See Lev. xxvi. 25, 26. 
 
 13 — 17. A SECOND APPEAL AND THE REPLY. 
 
 13. Ah} Alas. 
 
112 JEREMIAH, XIV. [vv. 14—17- 
 
 unto them, Ye shall not see the sword, neither shall ye have 
 famine; but I will give you assured peace in this place. 
 
 14 Then the Lord said unto me, The prophets prophesy lies 
 in my name : I sent them not, neither have I commanded 
 them, neither spake unto them : they prophesy unto you a 
 false vision and divination, and a thing of nought, and the 
 
 15 deceit of their heart. Therefore thus saith the Lord con- 
 cerning the prophets that prophesy in my name, and I sent 
 them not, yet they say. Sword and famine shall not be in 
 this land ; By sword and famine shall those prophets be 
 
 16 consumed. And the people to whom they prophesy shall 
 be cast out in the streets of Jerusalem because of the 
 famine and the sword ; and they shall have none to bury 
 them, them, their wives, nor their sons, nor their daughters: 
 
 17 for I will pour their wickedness upon them. Therefore thou 
 shalt say this word unto them ; 
 
 the prophets] The false prophets in Jeremiah's time had acquired 
 paramount influence. He therefore pleads with God for the people as 
 having been misled by them. The reply condemns the prophets, but 
 does not in any way excuse those who have hearkened to them. 
 
 14. divination] conjuring. 
 
 a thing of nought] a vanity or falsehood. The Hebrew word is of 
 uncertain origin, and may mean either the response of an idol-god, or as 
 rendered above. Probably it is itself equivalent to idol, in accordance 
 with the Jewish mode of regarding such. See note on chaps, i. 16 and 
 ii. 5. There are thus enumerated three ways in which the false prophets 
 practised 'the deceit of their heart' (i.e. which their heart had devised; 
 compare chap, xxiii. 26), viz. a pretended vision, conjuring and the 
 responses supposed to be given by idols. 
 
 15. Therefore thus saith the Lord] As in the last section, God is 
 represented sometimes as speaking through the prophet, and sometimes 
 in His own name. 
 
 16. they shall have none to bury them] It has been remarked that, 
 contrary to what we might have expected, the punishment of the people 
 is dwelt on and emphasized more than that of the prophets who misled 
 them. The reason appears to be twofold: (i) the mention of the 
 prophets' punishment is only incidental, as consequent upon the plea put 
 forward by Jeremiah in ver. 13; (ii) God desires to shew that the deceit 
 practised by the prophets affords no manner of excuse for the people. 
 The latter could not have been deceived, except by their own consent. 
 
 their wickedness] This should be itself their punishment (compare 
 chap. ii. 19), descending upon their head like a storm. 
 
 17. Therefore thou shalt say this word] The words that follow are 
 Jeremiah's, whereas this formula should properly introduce an address 
 from God. Compare chap. xiii. 12. The difficulty however is rather 
 
vv. i8, 19.1 JEREMIAH, XIV. 113 
 
 1 7 — 2 2. A lament and reneived appeal on behalf of the 
 stricken city and people. 
 
 Let mine eyes run down with tears night and day, and 
 
 let them not cease : 
 For the virgin daughter of my people is broken with a 
 
 great breach, with a very grievous blow. 
 If I go forth into the field, then behold the slain with the 18 
 
 sword : 
 And if I enter into the city, then behold them that are 
 
 sick with famine : 
 Yea, both the prophet and the priest go about into a land 
 
 that they know not. 
 Hast thou utterly rejected Judah? hath thy soul lothed 19 
 
 Zion? 
 Why hast thou smitten us, and there is no healing for us ? 
 We looked for peace, and there is no good ; 
 And for the time of healing, and behold trouble. 
 
 apparent than real. The prophet's lamentation in the section that 
 follows is equivalent to an announcement of terrible woes on the part of 
 the Lord. The form in which the announcement is put serves the 
 purpose of expressing it in a more striking and lively manner. 
 
 17 — 22. A LAMENT AND RENEWED APPEAL ON BEHALF OF THE 
 STRICKEN CITY AND PEOPLE. 
 
 17. run down with tears] a frequent expression with the prophet 
 (chap. ix. 18, xiii. 17. Compare Lam. ii. 18, iii. 48, 49). 
 
 the virgin daughter of my people] she who has been hitherto pre- 
 served from harm with care like that bestowed on an Eastern __ 
 maiden. 
 
 18. go about into a land that they know not] There is some difficulty 
 as to the precise sense, which is probably, journey into a land they know 
 not (i.e. a land of exile). Other renderings suggested are, (i) go as 
 beggars into a land which they know not, (ii) wander about in the land 
 (Palestine) and know not what to do. 
 
 19. "The Lord had indeed distinctly refused the favour sought for 
 Judah ; yet the command to disclose to the people the sorrow of his own 
 soul at their calamity (verses 17 and 18) gave the prophet courage to re- 
 new his application." Keil. 
 
 hath] or hath. It is a double question, just as in ver. ■22. 
 
 we looked...] This passage has occurred already (chap. viii. 15). 
 
 20 — 22. In these verses three several pleas are urged on bclialf of the 
 people : (i) their contrition, (ii) God's honour, (iii) their hopelessness of 
 any other aid. 
 
 JEREMIAH 8 
 
114 JEREMIAH, XIV. XV. [vv. 20— 22 ; i. 
 
 20 We acknowledge, O Lord, our wickedness, a?id the ini- 
 
 quity of our fathers : 
 For we have sinned against thee. 
 
 21 Do not abhor us, for thy name's sake. 
 Do not disgrace the throne of thy glory : 
 Remember, break not thy covenant with us. 
 
 22 Are there any among the vanities of the Gentiles that can 
 
 cause rain ? 
 Or can the heavens give showers ? 
 Art not thou he, O Lord our God ? therefore we will 
 
 wait upon thee : 
 For thou hast made all these things. 
 
 Chap. XV. i — 9. A rtiore particular description of the 
 impending woes. 
 15 Then said the Lord unto me, Though Moses and Samuel 
 stood before me, yet my mind could not be toward this peo- 
 ple ; cast them out of my sight, and let them go forth. 
 
 20. and the iniquity] There is no conjunction in the original, and 
 thus is forcibly expressed the continuity through successive generations 
 of the evil whose punishment they now deprecate. 
 
 21. Do not abhor us] Us is not in the Hebrew, and is best omitted. 
 do not disgrace] literally, do not treat as foolish, contemptible. 
 
 The word is the same as that rendered "lightly esteemed" in Deut. 
 xxxii. 15. 
 
 the throne of thy glory] Jerusalem, or more particularly the temple, 
 where the visible glory rested above the ark. 
 
 22. vanities] idols. 
 
 art not thou he, O Lord] rather, art not thou the Lord? or, is it not 
 thou, Lord ? 
 
 all these things] i.e. the heaven and the rain which it sends. The 
 only hope of obtaining aid from them is to address their Maker. 
 
 Chap. XV. 1 — 9. A more particular description of the 
 
 IMPENDING WOES. 
 
 1. Though Moses and Samuel stood before me] For this expression 
 as equivalent to intercession compare chap, xviii. 20. The sense of the 
 whole clause is, Even though those who have had such weight in past 
 times were now to seek to avert my wrath, they would fail. For Moses 
 see Exod. xvii. 11, xxxii. 11 — 14; Numb. xiv. 13 — 20, and for Samuel 
 I Sam. vii, 9, xii. 23 ; and for these two united in a similar connexion 
 of thought see Ps. xcix. 6. 
 
 my mind could not be toT.vard\ I could not incline with favour 
 towards. 
 
 let them go forth] The people are pictured as assembled before God 
 
w. 2— 7.] JEREMIAH, XV. 115 
 
 And it shall come to pass, if they say unto thee. Whither 2 
 shall we go forth? then thou shalt tell them, Thus saith 
 the Lord ; Such as are for death, to death ; and such as 
 are for the sword, to the sword ; and such as are for the 
 famine, to the famine ; and such as are for the captivity, 
 to the captivity. And I will appoint over them four 3 
 kinds, saith the Lord : the sword to slay, and the dogs to 
 tear, and the fowls of the heaven, and the beasts of the 
 earth, to devour and destroy. And I will cause them to be <, 
 removed into all kingdoms of the earth, because of Manas- 
 seh the son of Hezekiah king of Judah, for that which he 
 did in Jerusalem. For who shall have pity upon thee, O 5 
 Jerusalem? or who shall bemoan thee? or who shall go 
 aside to ask how thou doest ? Thou hast forsaken me, 6 
 saith the Lord, thou art gone backward : therefore will I 
 stretch out my hand against thee, and destroy thee ; I am 
 weary with repenting. And I will fan them with a fan in 7 
 
 with the prophet as their intercessor, when the announcement is made 
 that intercession is in vain. 
 
 2. Whither shall we go forth .?] If we are driven unpardoned from the 
 presence of the Lord, to what shall we betake ourselves ? The reply is 
 a stern and even ironical one. 
 
 deathl probably meaning death by pestilence. Compare chap. xiv. 
 12. Some take the four sorts of punishment here spoken of as an 
 ascending series, overthrow by the sword of the enemy being more of a 
 disgrace than death by disease, and death by famine more painful as 
 well as more prolonged than either, while captivity includes at any rate 
 the possibility of all these three. It is however unlikely that any such 
 climax is intended by the prophet. 
 
 3. four kinds] four sorts of destructive agencies. The first shall 
 take effect on the living, the remainder upon the dead. Similar threats 
 occur chaps, xix. 7, xxxiv. 20. 
 
 the dogs to tear] Compare the case of Jezebel (2 Kings ix. 35, 36). 
 
 4. to be removed into] rather, to be tossed to and fro in, or, to be 
 a terror unto. 
 
 that which he did] Manasseh's wickedness is recounted in 2 Kings 
 xxi. 3—7. 
 
 6. Such shall be the plight of the city, that none shall have either 
 the care or the courage to approach her. 
 
 6. gone backward] The same figure, to express rejection of God's 
 service, was used chap. vii. 24. 
 
 / am weary with repenting] In language adapted to the understanding 
 of men God is spoken of as repenting, either as here, when punishment 
 long delayed is at last to be inflicted (compare Gen. vi. 6) ; or when 
 threatened evil has been averted by timely reformation, e.g. Jon. iii. 10. 
 
 8—2 
 
ii6 JEREMIAH, XV. [v. 8. 
 
 the gates of the land ; I will bereave them of children, I 
 will destroy my people, sith they return not from their ways. 
 Their widows are increased to me above the sand of the 
 seas : I have brought upon them against the mother of the 
 young men a spoiler at noonday : I have caused him to fall 
 
 7. / will fan them with a fan] This expression, as denoting not 
 mere defeat but dispersion, renders it improbable that this and the two 
 following verses refer, as some have thought (see above), to the over- 
 throw and death of Josiah at Megiddo, deep as was the impression made 
 upon the nation by that mournful occurrence (see Zech. xii. ii). We 
 should rather read I have fanned. 
 
 the gates of the land] The same phrase is used Nah. iii. 13. It means 
 either the borders (the parts by which men enter and leave the country), 
 or by the figure of speech called synecdoche (the part standing for the 
 whole) cities, inasmuch as their gates, like our market places, were the 
 chief resorts. 
 
 Twill bereave them] I have bereaved them. 
 / will destroy] I have destroyed. 
 
 sith they return not from their ways] better, fro7n their ways they 
 retin-n not. The addition of the conjunction, which does not occur in 
 the Hebrew, only weakens the force of the clause. 
 
 sith] In ordinary editions of the Bible this word occurs only Ezek. 
 XXXV. 6. Until the editions of 1762 (Dr Paris) and 1769 (Dr Blayney) 
 however it occurred here and in the margin of Zech. iv. 10, while the later 
 of those two editions was the first to exclude it from Jer. xxiii. 38. This 
 points to the fact that since (a contraction of the Old English sithence) 
 was then taking its place in ordinary speech. Both sith and sithence 
 are found in Shakespeare. 
 
 "Thou hast one son; for his sake pity me. 
 Lest in revenge thereof, sith God is just. 
 He be as miserably slain as I. " 
 
 Hen. F/., Pt. 3, i. 3. 
 '^Sithence, in the loss that may happen, it concerns you something 
 to know it." 
 
 Airs well that ends well, I. 3. 
 
 8. to me] to my sorrow. 
 
 the mother of the young men] Some have taken the mother to mean 
 the mother city, Jerusalem, and yomig man (for the word in the original 
 is singulai) Nebuchadnezzar, rendering in that case, I have brought 
 against Jerusalem a young and vigorous warrior. It is however more 
 natural to consider that both substantives are used as nouns of multitude, 
 just as ' she that hath borne ' in the following verse. Thus the meaning 
 will be that even the mothers of youths, warriors in the prime of their 
 strength, shall not on that account escape. 
 
 at noonday] probably not imjilying daring and a consciousness of 
 overwhelming strength, that neetled not secresy, but rather as in chap, 
 vi. 4 (where see note) an unexpected attack. 
 
vv. 9— lo.] JEREMIAH, XV. 117 
 
 upon it suddenly, and terrors upo7i the city. She that hath 9 
 borne seven languisheth : she hath given up the ghost ; her 
 sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been 
 ashamed and confounded : and the residue of them will I 
 deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the Lord. 
 
 10 — 14. The Prophefs personal lament. God's reply. 
 
 Woe is me, my mother, that thou hast borne me a man 10 
 of strife and a man of contention to the whole earth ! 1 
 have neither lent on usury, nor men have lent to me on 
 
 I have caused ] I have brought suddenly upon her (the mother) 
 
 anguish and terrors. 
 
 9. She that hath borne seven] and therefore, especially with the Jewish 
 eagerness for offspring, might have thought herself secure and prosper- 
 ous. Seven was the perfect number. Compare i Sam. ii. 5. 
 
 while it luas yet day] before she had reached the evening of her 
 life. Compare for a similar phrase in the same sense Amos viii. 9. If 
 the passage refer to Megiddo (see note on ver. 7 above), there may be a 
 reference to an eclipse of the sun (the date of which however is far from 
 certain) mentioned by Herodotus (Book i. 74) as suddenly changing 
 day to night and thereby putting a stop to a battle between the Medians 
 and Lydians. 
 
 10—14. The Prophet's personal lament. God's reply. 
 
 10. IVoe is tne, my mother] We may compare with this verse Job 
 iii. I, etc., which latter however is expressed in language of much greater 
 bitterness. 
 
 Savonarola, the great Italian reformer {died 1498), while yet the ruling 
 mind in Florence and in possession of full popularity, foresaw the 
 troubles in which he, like the Old Testament prophet, would be 
 involved by his fearless condemnation of vice, and in the midst 
 of one of his striking sermons thus addressed the Almighty, "O Lord, 
 whither hast thou led me ? From my desire to save souls for Thee, 
 I can no longer return to my rest. Why hast Thou made me 'a man of 
 strife, and a man of contention to the whole earth?"* W. R. Clark's 
 Savonarola, p. 230. See also note on xx. 7. 
 
 / have neither lent...] "Unto a stranger thou mayest lend upon 
 usury; but unto thy brother thou shalt not lend upon usury." Deut. 
 xxiii.20. Compare Ps. xv. 5. Among the Jews the law of jubilee was a 
 check upon mortgages, while commerce with other nations was also dis- 
 couraged by Moses. In such a state, necessity being almost the sole motive 
 for borrowing, the money lender would naturally be held in extreme 
 disfavour. The same has been the view of other nations and ages. 
 "Interest is money begotten of money; so that of the sources of gain 
 this is the most unnatural " (Aristotle, Politics^ Bk. i. chap. 3, end). 
 
ii8 JEREMIAH, XV. [vv. ii— 14. 
 
 usury ; yet every one of them doth curse me. The Lord said, 
 Verily it shall be well with thy remnant ; verily I will cause 
 the enemy to entreat thee well in the time of evil, and in 
 the time of affliction. Shall iron break the northern iron 
 and the steel ? Thy substance and thy treasures will I give 
 to the spoil without price, and that for all thy sins, even in 
 all thy borders. And I will make thee to pass with thine 
 enemies into a land which thou knowest not : for a fire is 
 kindled in mine anger, which shall burn upon you. 
 
 *' Sources of gain, which incur the hatred of mankind, as those of tax- 
 gatherers, oi usurers.'" Cicero, de Officiis, Bk. i. § 150. Compare 
 
 "When did friendship take 
 A breed for barren metal of his friend?" 
 
 Mer. of Venice, Act I. Sc. 3, 11. 134 — 5. 
 
 11. it shall be well with thy rei7inani\ rather, thy loosing shall be for 
 good, i.e. in the troicblous times that are cot7iing thou shall be delivered. 
 This seems better than either of two other renderings proposed, viz. 
 (i) I have loosed thee for good, (ii) I have strengthened thee for good. 
 Both these adopt a slightly different reading in the Heb. 
 
 to entreat thee zuell] to supplicate thee. Not only shall the pro- 
 phet be freed from abuse and cursing, but those who have treated him 
 thus shall come to invoke his aid. This actually occurred on several 
 occasions. See chap. xxi. r, 1, xxxvii. 3, xlii. 2. 
 
 12. the northern iron and the steel'\ This has been understood of Jere- 
 miah, of the Jews, of Nebuchadnezzar, and of the Chaldaean empire. The 
 last is by far the most probable import of the words. Compare chap. vi. 
 I , xiii. 20, where the Chaldees are spoken of as a power from the North. 
 The connexion of thought in verses 11 — 13 therefore is. An evil time 
 is approaching, a time in which the Jews will inevitably be vanquished 
 by a superior foe, and the land spoiled by her enemies. 
 
 steel\ brass, i.e. bronze, an alloy of copper and tin. Brass in the ordi- 
 nary sense (an alloy of copper and zinc) was not known to the ancients. 
 
 13. This and the following ver. appear in a modified form in chap, 
 xvii. 3, 4. The Lord addresses the prophet as representing the people, 
 and thus the punishments spoken of are to be understood as having 
 reference to the nation at large. 
 
 without priced either, seized by violettce, as opposed to the obtaining 
 by purchase, or, better, unvalued^ treated by God as nothing worth. 
 
 14. / 7vill make thee to pass with thine enemies'] If we retain the 
 reading which stands in the Heb. text, the sense will be as Eng. Vers. , 
 or the 'substance' and 'treasures' may be understood as the object of 
 the verb ('/ will make them to />ass'). The slightest change in a Heb. 
 letter would however give us the somewhat easier sense, / will make 
 thee to seme thine enemies, as in xv. 4. 
 
 for a fire is kindled in mine anger] a quotation from Deut. xxxii. 22. 
 
vv. 15— 17J JEREMIAH, XV. 119 
 
 15 — 18. A last appeal to God 07i the part of the prophet. 
 
 Lord, thou knowest : remember me, and visit me, and 15 
 revenge me of my persecutors ; take me not away in thy 
 longsuffering : know that for thy sake I have suffered rebuke. 
 Thy words were found, and I did eat them ; and thy word 16 
 was unto me the joy and rejoicing of mine heart ; for I am 
 called by thy name, O Lord God of hosts. I sat not in 17 
 the assembly of the mockers, nor rejoiced ; T sat alone 
 because of thy hand : for thou hast filled me with indigna- 
 
 The words there announce the punishment which shall come upon 
 Israel for the idolatry into which it shall fall. 
 
 16 — 18. A LAST APPEAL TO GOD ON THE PART OF THE PROPHET. 
 
 15. This verse is connected in sense with ver. 10. The Lord's reply 
 to Jeremiah's lament in that verse fails to satisfy him, inasmuch as 
 coupled with it have been mentioned again the coming afflictions of his 
 countrymen, while at the same time his own present condition remains 
 unaltered. 
 
 thou kno%vest\ viz. the persecutions to which I am exposed, and my 
 own innocence, and earnestness in Thy work. These thoughts he 
 expands in the next two verses. 
 
 take me not away in thy longsuffering\ Deprive me not of all joy or 
 of life itself through mercy towards my enemies. 
 
 16. He describes the joy with which he first received the divine 
 commission. 
 
 were found^ This verb occurs in the same connexion in Ezek. 
 iii. I, as implying in the most general sense the obtai?iing wK^hoxxX par- 
 ticularising the manner. 
 
 1 did eat the7fi\ This remarkable expression seems intended to con- 
 vey two notions : (i) joyful acceptance, (ii) close union. So in Ezek. ii. 
 8, iii. 1—3. 
 
 aj?i called^ rather, was called. The prophet is still speaking of the 
 original summons ,to preach. Literally the clause would run, for thy 
 name was called upon me. 
 
 17. mockers'] laughers. Jeremiah is not taking credit to himself for 
 having never joined with the enemies of God, although the Eng. Vers, 
 might seem to imply this. The word simply means those engaged in 
 festivity. It is the word used e.g. of the women who went out to meet Saul 
 and David after the slaughter of Goliath (i Sam. xviii. 7), and of the 
 procession accompanying the ark (2 Sam. vi. 5). 
 
 because of thy hand] For this expression, as betokening a solemn 
 charge in the name of God, compare Is. viii. 1 1 ; Ezek. i. 3, and still 
 more distinctly Ezek. xxxvii. i. Compare the case of David, i Chron. 
 xxviii. 19; also the statement of the Apostle, that "men of God spake 
 as they were moved (literally, borne along) by the Holy Ghost" 
 (2 Pet. i. 21). 
 
I20 JEREMIAH, XV. [vv. 18—20. 
 
 18 tion. Why is my pain perpetual, and my wound incurable, 
 which refuseth to be healed ? wilt thou be altogether unto 
 me as a liar, and as waters that fail ? 
 
 19 — 21. Gods reply. Faithful discharge of duty shall 
 bring with it deliverance. 
 
 19 Therefore thus saith the Lord, If thou return, then will 
 I bring thee again, and thou shalt stand before me : and if 
 thou take forth the precious from the vile, thou shalt be as 
 my mouth : let them return unto thee ; but return not thou 
 
 20 unto them. And I will make thee unto this people a 
 fenced brasen wall : and they shall fight against thee, but 
 they shall not prevail against thee : for I am with thee to 
 
 indignation\ The sins of the people had thenceforward been only 
 too manifest to him. 
 
 18. Why dost Thou grant me no relief from persecution? 
 
 a liar] literally, a lie. The words which follow shew that the pro- 
 phet is thinking of a watercourse, which as being dry belies the antici- 
 pations of the thirsty traveller. So Jeremiah's hopes of joy and success 
 in his work have not been hitherto realized. The same figure, so 
 natural in a hot country, occurs Job vi. 15. 
 
 19 —21. God's reply. Faithful discharge of duty shall bring 
 with it deliverance. 
 
 19. If thou return] If thou wilt dismiss thy doubts and thy tone 
 of reproach and distrust. 
 
 shalt stand before me\ shalt be my minister. The phrase is a common 
 one in this sense. (See note on xxxv. 19). It is used of Elijah (e.g. i Kings 
 xviii. 15), of Elisha (2 Kings iii. 14) : so also in Prov. xxii. 29. 
 
 if thou take forth the precious from the vile] The figure is that of the 
 refining of metals, in which by the process of melting there is a separa- 
 tion made of the earthy and other matters that constitute the dross. As 
 to the application of the metaphor various views have been taken : 
 
 (i) that the prophet is not to mix with the words which God puts in 
 his mouth any of his own opinions or comments. 
 
 (ii) that he is to convert to righteousness certain of the general mass 
 of his ungodly countrymen. 
 
 (iii) that he is to cleanse his own heart from the unworthy suspicions 
 as to God's faithfulness, which though mixed with better thoughts he 
 had just shewn to be there entertained. This last view seems the one 
 most in accord with the context. 
 
 my mouth] my mouth-piece, spokesman. The same expression is 
 used of Aaron Exod. iv. 16, and compare vii. i. 
 
 let them return...] Do not surrender anything of the truth in order 
 by smooth speeches to win over the people. Stand thou firm, and let 
 them repent and amend. 
 
vv. 2i; 1—5.] JEREMIAH, XV. XVI. 121 
 
 save thee and to deliver thee, saith the Lord. And I will 21 
 deliver thee out of the hand of the wicked, and I will 
 redeem thee out of the hand of the terrible. 
 
 Chap. XVI. i — 13. The prophet is to enforce his warnings 
 by self-denial and an ascetic life. 
 The word of the Lord came also unto me, saying, Thou 16 
 shalt not take thee a wife, neither shalt thou have sons nor 2 
 daughters in this place. For thus saith the Lord concerning 3 
 the sons and concerning the daughters that are born in this 
 place, and concerning their mothers that bare them, and 
 concerning their fathers that begat them in this land ; they 4 
 shall die of grievous deaths ; they shall not be lamented ; 
 neither shall they be buried ; but they shall be as dung upon 
 the face of the earth : and they shall be consumed by the 
 sword, and by famine ; and their carcases shall be meat for 
 the fowls of heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. For s 
 thus said the Lord, Enter not into the house of mourning, 
 
 20, 21. These verses are substantially a repetition of chap. i. 18, 19. 
 
 21. the hand of the terrible] the palm of the terrible. See note on 
 chap. xii. 7. 
 
 the terrible] those who combine power with tyrannical violence. 
 
 Chap. XVI. 1—13. The prophet is to enforce his warnings 
 
 BY self-denial AND AN ASCETIC LIFE. 
 
 2. Thou shalt not take thee a wife] Marriage was a state of life in special 
 favour with the Jews, as connected with the hope which each parent 
 cherished that the Messiah might be born of his or her line. By his act 
 of self-denial therefore Jeremiah was to shew his "return" (chap. xv. 19) 
 and full submission to the will of God, while it would at the same time 
 be a forcible mode of conveying the message of coming woes which he 
 was charged to deliver to the people. 
 
 this place] this land, as shewn by ver. 3. 
 
 4. grievous deaths] deaths by wasting diseases or famine. The same 
 Hebrew word is used of this last visitation in chap. xiv. 18. 
 
 they shall not be lamented; neither shall they be buried] We may 
 compare the condition of things in the plague at Athens B.C. 430 : "Such 
 was the state of dismay and sorrow, that even the nearest relatives 
 neglected the sepulchral duties... the dead and dying lay piled upon one 
 another not merely in the public roads, but even in the temples.. Those 
 bodies which escaped entire neglect were burnt or buried without the 
 customary mourning and wdth unseemly carelessness." Grote's Hist, of 
 Greece, Chap. xlix. 
 
 5. Enter not...] The prophet's abstinence from the accustomed 
 marks of respect to the dead and sympathy with the relatives is to be a 
 
122 JEREMIAH, XVI. [vv. 6-9. 
 
 neither go to lament nor bemoan them : for I have taken 
 away my peace from this people, saith the Lord, even lov- 
 
 6 ingkindness and mercies. Both the great and the small 
 shall die in this land : they shall not be buried, neither 
 shall 7ne7t lament for them, nor cut themselves, nor make 
 
 7 themselves bald for them : neither shall men tear themselves 
 for them in mourning, to comfort them for the dead ; neither 
 shall men give them the cup of consolation to drink for 
 
 8 their father or for their mother. Thou shalt not also go 
 into the house of feasting, to sit with them to eat and to 
 
 9 drink. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; 
 Behold, I will cause to cease out of this place in your eyes, 
 
 forecast of the time when such abstinence shall become general on 
 account of the universal prevalence of suffering and death. 
 
 mourning\ The word thus rendered here occurs but once elsewhere 
 (Amos vi. 7), and is there translated banquet. In this place it probably 
 means itiourning feast. A loud noise, as produced either by pleasurable 
 or painful emotions, is its primary sense. 
 
 bemoan'] not an infinitive mood coupled with 'to lament,' as might 
 at first sight appear, but imperative, as the preceding 'go.' 
 
 my peace] that which ensured them prosperity. 
 
 6. nor cut themselves, nor make themselves bald] It was strictly for- 
 bidden in the Mosaic Law (Lev. xix. 28, xxi. 5; Deut. xiv. i) to prac- 
 tise either of these y^r the dead. We gather however from this, and yet 
 more clearly from other passages (chap. vii. 29, xU. 5; Ezek. vii. 18; 
 Amos viii. 10; Mic. i. 16; and specially Is. xxii. 12), that the rule had 
 either been relaxed, or was directed only to those cases in which such 
 practices might be resorted to as propitiatory offerings for the deceased, 
 and not as mere signs of mourning. The former of these practices, as 
 representing, though in a modified form, the heathen custom of human 
 sacrifices as a propitiation to the spirit of the departed, would naturally 
 be forbidden. Herodotus (Bk. iv. 71) describes the funeral rites of a 
 Scythian King as requiring no less than six human victims. (See further 
 in Art. 'Cuttings in the flesh,' Sm. Bibl. Did.) 
 
 7. tear themselves] break (bread). The Hebrew word is the same 
 (with a slight difference in the spelling) as that used Lam. iv. 4. The 
 reference is to the custom that the friends of those who were in mourn- 
 ing should urge them to eat. See in illustration of this usage 2 Sam. iii. 
 35, xii. 16, 17. Bread also was distributed to mourners and to the poor 
 at" funerals, "Pour out thy bread on the burial of the just," Tobit iv. 14. 
 Compare Is. Iviii. 7 (where the Heb. is the same) "to deal thy bread " etc. 
 
 the cup of consolation] wine similarly administered as a refreshment 
 by the friends. 'Give... strong drink unto those that be of heavy beans' 
 (Prov. xxxi. 6) expresses the principle on which this was done. 
 
 8. Jeremiah should stand aloof from social joys no less than sorrows, 
 because of the evil that was so near. 
 
vv. 10—14.] JEREMIAH, XVI. 123 
 
 and in your days, the voice of mirth, and the voice of glad- 
 ness, the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the 
 bride. And it shall come to pass, when thou shalt shew 10 
 this people all these words, and they shall say unto thee, 
 Wherefore hath the Lord pronounced all this great evil 
 against us ? or what is our iniquity ? or what is our sin that 
 we have committed against the Lord our God ? Then shalt n 
 thou say unto them, Because your fathers have forsaken me, 
 saith the Lord, and have walked after other gods, and have 
 served them, and have worshipped them, and have forsaken 
 me, and have not kept my law ; and ye have done worse 12 
 than your fathers ; for behold, ye walk every one after the 
 imagination of his evil heart, that they may not hearken 
 unto me : therefore will I cast you out of this land into a 13 
 land that ye know not, 7ieiiher ye nor your fathers ; and 
 there shall ye serve other gods day and night ; where I will 
 not shew you favour. 
 
 14 — 21. The punishment shall be the most severe and there- 
 fore the deliverance the most signal and blessed yet known. 
 
 Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that it 14 
 
 9. in your eyes, and in your days] an emphatic caution against 
 their assuming that the present state of things would last their own time, 
 and overthrow be reserved for their posterity. 
 
 ^Ae voice of jnirth...] See note on chap. vii. 34. 
 
 10. Compare chap. v. 19, of which this passage is in substance a 
 repetition. Here however there are virtually three charges brought 
 against the peo;)le: (i) hypocrisy, (ii) idolatry, (iii) a baseness exceeding 
 that of former generations. This last charge has been already (chap. vii. 
 26) brought. 
 
 12. imagination] stubbornness. Compai-e chap. iii. 17. 
 
 that they may njt] If we substitute so as not to, a rendering which is 
 quite as faithful to the original, we avoid the somewhat awkward change 
 from the second to the third person. 
 
 13. a land] the land. The definite article, which stands in the 
 Hebrew, has its proper force. The country to which they were pre- 
 sently going as captives was one which they were not ignorant of, 
 geographically speaking, although they had no practical experience of 
 it. This last is often the sense of know in the Bible. 
 
 shall ye serve] rather, ye may serve, an ironical permission. There 
 should be nothing to interfere with that idolatry to which they were 
 already so devoted. 
 
 where] because. 
 
124 JEREMIAH, XVI. [vv. 15—18. 
 
 shall no more be said, The Lord liveth, that brought up the 
 
 15 children of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; but, The Lord 
 liveth, that brought up the children of Israel from the land 
 of the north, and from all the lands whither he had driven 
 them : and I will bring them again into their land that I gave 
 
 16 unto their fathers. Behold, I will send for many fishers, 
 saith the Lord, and they shall fish them ; and after will I 
 send for many hunters, and they shall hunt them from every 
 mountain, and from every hill, and out of the holes of the 
 
 17 rocks. For mine eyes are upon all their ways : they are not 
 hid from my face, neither is their iniquity hid from mine 
 
 18 eyes. And first I will recompense their iniquity and their sin 
 double , because they have defiled my land, they have filled 
 
 14 — 21. The punishment shall be the most severe and there- 
 fore THE deliverance THE MOST SIGNAL AND BLESSED YET 
 KNOWN. 
 
 14. the days come] The deliverance from Egypt shall pale before 
 the new and still more marvellous rescue of the people from their Baby- 
 lonian masters. Verses 14 and 15, as asserting the blessing in store for 
 the people in the future, form a striking contrast to the gloomy character 
 of the remainder of the passage. Some have accordingly supposed that 
 these verses are interpolated from chap, xxiii. 7, 8. There is however 
 no reason to believe that they are not genuine. The greatness of the 
 deliverance is the strongest proof of the greatness of the calamity which 
 shall have preceded, and this last it is the main object with Jeremiah 
 throughout to prove. Besides, it is but customary with the prophet to 
 throw in a bright thought like this among gloomy ones. See chaps. 
 iii. 14, iv. 27, v. 10, 18, xxvii. 22, xxx. 3, xxxii. 37. 
 
 16. The people shall be hunted down and captured, wherever they 
 may be found. To express this vividly the prophet makes use of the 
 figures of hunting and fishing. As a net was extended under and around 
 the place where a shoal of fish was collected, so some of the enemy 
 should surround and seize those who are collected together in the towns. 
 Others again, who had fled into the country for refuge, should be over- 
 taken by the light-armed who went in pursuit like hunters in quest of 
 game. The lack of compassion on the part of the foe, and the certainty 
 of capture, are brought out with equal force by the figures employed. 
 The people were sufficiently acquainted with the history of their country 
 to feel the significance of the description. See note on chap. iv. 29, 
 with references there given. 
 
 18. first] before I restore them to their land. 
 
 double] because their sin is twofold. See note on chap. ii. 13. 
 
 because they have defiled] The latter part of this verse is best arranged 
 somewhat differently, viz. : Because they defiled my land zvith the carcases 
 
vv. 19— 2i; I.] JEREMIAH, XVI. XVII. 125 
 
 mine inheritance with the carcases of their detestable and 
 abominable things. O Lord, my strength, and my fortress, 19 
 and my refuge in the day of affliction, the Gentiles shall 
 come unto thee from the ends of the earth, and shall say, 
 Surely our fathers have inherited lies, vanity, and things 
 wherein there is no profit. Shall a man make gods unto 20 
 himself, and they are no gods? Therefore behold, I will ^^ 
 this once cause them to know, I will cause them to know 
 mine hand and my might ; and they shall know that my 
 name is The Lord. 
 
 Chap. XVIL i — 4. The sin is indelible. He?ice the 
 necessary severity of the coming chastisement. 
 
 The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with 17 
 the point of a diamond : // is graven upon the table of their 
 
 of their detestable things^ and with their abominations they filled mine 
 inheritance. 
 
 the carcases of their detestable and abominable things] either, unclean 
 animals (or animals of any kind) offered to idols, or the idols themselves, 
 called carcases, as being in their nature polluting to the touch like a 
 dead body (Numb. xix. 11). 
 
 19 — 21. The connexion of thought seems to be: Woeful as is the 
 idolatry of the Jews, their punishment, repentance and consequent 
 restoration to favour, being witnessed by heathen nations, shall lead even 
 the most distant of these last to acknowledge the Lord. But is it not 
 all but incredible that a man should consider the work of his own hands 
 to be a god? Yet because of this sin (and also perhaps in order to 
 impress the nations of the earth) God's power shall be shewn forth for 
 evil and afterwards for good. 
 
 19. my strettgih, and my fortress"] my strength and my stronghold. 
 The two Hebrew substantives, being derivatives of the same root, give 
 an effect which we can hardly reproduce in the English. 
 
 21. this once] at tMs time. The punishment now impending is to 
 stand out distinct, not to be compared for its severity with any other. 
 See note on chap. x. 18. 
 
 Chap. XVII. 1 — 4. The sin is indelible. Hence the neces- 
 sary SEVERITY OF THE COMING CHASTISEMENT. 
 
 1. a pen of iron] used for making permanent marks on a hard 
 surface, e.g. on rocks (Job xix. 24). 
 
 point] literally, the finger ftail, in which sense the word is used in 
 Deut. xxi. 12. Here however it means the tip of the stylus or pencil 
 used by gravers. 
 
 a diamond] The Hebrew word, which likewise means a thorn, occurs 
 in the sense of diamond also in Ezek iii. 9; Zech. vii. 12 ("adamant"). 
 
126 JEREMIAH, XVII. [vv. 2—4. 
 
 2 heart, and upon the horns of your altars; whilst their children 
 remember their altars and their groves by the green trees 
 
 3 upon the high hills. O my mountain in the field, I will 
 give thy substance and all thy treasures to the spoil, and 
 
 4 thy high places for sin, throughout all thy borders. And 
 thou, even thyself, shalt discontinue from thine heritage 
 
 "Pliny tells us {Hist. Nat. xxxvn. 15) that the ancients were well 
 acquainted with its cutting powers, and used to set it in iron, as is now 
 done for the use of glaziers." Sp. Co?7im. Gesenius is disposed to 
 connect the Hebrew with a Greek word, meaning emery powder (for 
 polishing). This however is very doubtful, in spite of a similarity in 
 sound which exists between the two. 
 
 thetableof their heart'X their inward nature. Compare Prov. iii. 3, vii. 3. 
 
 horns\ probably metal projections from the corners (Exod. xxvii. 2). 
 
 altars] either, {a) the two altars (of burnt-ofifering and of incense re- 
 spectively) employed in the Temple worship, or, {b) which is more prob- 
 able from the context, altars set up to the Baals throughout Jerusalem 
 and Judah. 
 
 2. Whilst their children remember... ] In the Heb. it is not quite 
 clear whether the word 'children' is the subject or object of the verb 
 'remember.' With the former, which seems the somewhat preferable 
 rendering, the meaning will be (i) their children's minds will be pro- 
 foundly impressed by the horrors that they are called on to witness, or, 
 more generally, (ii) the children will be so well taught in idolatry by 
 their parents that the tendency towards it will on the very smallest 
 provocation rise up in the mind. With the latter rendering the sense 
 will be. As they remember their children, so they remember their 
 altars, etc., i.e. (i) their love for their idolatry will be as great as that 
 which they feel as parents for their children, or (ii) the thought of the 
 one is inseparably connected with that of the other on account of their 
 sacrifice of human victims to their idols. 
 
 groves'] Asherim : not groves (for see i Kings xiv, 23 ; 2 Kings xvii. 10), 
 but wooden pillars or monuments set up in honour of Ashtoreth ( Astarte). 
 
 by the green trees] literally, upon each green tree. The preposition is 
 difficult to explain. It may be an early error of a copyist in the Heb. 
 At any rate the sense seems to be that given in the Eng. Vers. 
 
 3. O my mountain in the field] This is generally acknowledged 
 to mean Jerusalem or Zion. Some would make it the accusative, 
 governed by 'give,' 'thy' referring then to the people, while 'substance' 
 and 'treasures' will be in apposition with 'mountain.' Jerusalem is 
 called the jnoioitain in the field, not because the height on which it is 
 built is not surrounded by still loftier mountains, but because of its 
 position as the head and centre of the nation. 'My mountain' will in 
 any case suggest the whole country. This is shewn by the concluding 
 words of the verse. 
 
 for sin] because ofi (thy) sin. So in chap. xv. 13, which almost co- 
 incides in expression with this verse. 
 
 4. even thyself] The original probably means, through thine own fault. 
 
vv. 5—8.] JEREMIAH, XVII. 127 
 
 that I gave thee ; and 1 will cause thee to serve thine 
 enemies in the land which thou knowest not : for ye have 
 kindled a fire in mine anger, which shall burn for ever. 
 
 5 — 8. Faith in man leads to destruction^ faith in God to 
 security. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord ; Cursed be the man that trusteth in 5 
 man, and maketh flesh his arm, and whose heart departeth 
 from the Lord. For he shall be like the heath in the 6 
 desert, and shall not see when good cometh ; but shall 
 inhabit the parched places in the wilderness, in a salt land 
 and not inhabited. Blessed is the man that trusteth in the 7 
 Lord, and whose hope the Lord is. For he shall be as a 8 
 
 discontinue^ There seems a reference to such passages as Exod. 
 xxiii. II, where the same verb is used of the rest given to the land every 
 seventh year, and Deut. xv. 2, where the reference is to the setting free 
 of creditors in the seventh year. Judah, having disregarded the sab- 
 batical rest in times past, v^xW. be forced to recognise it now by being 
 carried away from her land into captivity. See 2 Chron. xxxvi. 21. 
 
 For notes on the rest of the verse see chap. xv. 14, which closely 
 resembles it. 
 
 5 — 8. Faith in man leads to destruction, faith in God to 
 security. 
 
 5 — 8. The antithesis in these verses is sharply defined, the two 
 courses of human conduct making the men who practise them re- 
 spectively to fade and to flourish. 
 
 6. Cursed be the man .. I\ This is supposed to have direct reference 
 to Jehoiakim, w^ho revolted from Nebuchadnezzar and looked for aid 
 from Egypt (2 Kings xxiv. i). 
 
 his arm] that on which he depends in order to attain his wants. 
 
 6. the heath] rather tlie destitute man, A similar word is ren- 
 dered heath in chap, xlviii. 6, where the same correction should accord- 
 ingly be made. The only other occurrence of this word is Ps. cii. 1 7, 
 where the sense is not doubtful. Here it is probable that the rendering 
 of the word by the name of a plant (a rendering which has found favour 
 from very early times) arose from the supposed necessity of making it 
 harmonize closely with verse 8, especially as the Arabic word (or juniper 
 is of similar sound. Two species only of heath grow in Palestine, the 
 one (Erica vagans) on the coast plains (but not in large quantities), the 
 other (Erica orientalis) on Lebanon. Therefore in any case the Eng. 
 Vers, is inaccurate. 
 
 shall not see when good co?neth] shall have no experience of good 
 fortune. 
 
 8. he shall be as a tree] The image of Ps. i. 3 is here more elaborately 
 developed. 
 
128 JEREMIAH, XVII. [w. 9— ii. 
 
 tree planted by the waters, and that spreadeth out her roots 
 by the river, and shall not see when heat cometh, but her 
 leaf shall be green ; and shall not be careful in the year of 
 drought, neither shall cease from yielding fruit. 
 
 9 — II. All wicked devices God will detect and punish. 
 
 9 The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately 
 to wicked : who can know it ? I the Lord search the heart, / 
 
 try the reins, even to give every man according to his ways, 
 " and according to the fruit of his doings. As the partridge 
 
 sitteth on eggs, and hatcheth them not ; so he that getteth 
 
 riches, and not by right, shall leave them in the midst of his 
 
 days, and at his end shall be a fool. 
 
 shall not see] shall not fear. Both readings, differing only by a 
 letter, occur in the Hebrew. That adopted by our Version is probably 
 the later one, and arises from a desire to make it answer still more closely 
 to ver. 6. 
 
 9—11. All wicked devices God will detect and punish. 
 
 9. When prosperity and adversity are thus meted out respectively to 
 the two great classes of mankind, the God-fearing and the wicked, how is 
 it that all do not for the sake of their own interests pass from the latter to 
 the former? It is because of the innate depravity of the human heart. 
 
 desperately wicked] desperately sick. The same word is translated 
 incurable \n ch2i^. xv. 18, xxx. 12. 
 
 10. I the Lord search the heart, I try the reins] Compare xi. 20 and 
 XX. 12. 
 
 ways] way. 
 
 11. As the partridge. ..] As the partridge pileth up eggs which she laid 
 not. This is probably the closer rendering. The Heb. rendered in the 
 Eng. Vers, sitteth on occurs only once elsewhere (Is. xxxiv. 15) "of a 
 snake (A. V. great owl) gathering her young to keep them warm, but 
 the root is found frequently in the Chaldee in the sense of laying in a heap, 
 with especial reference to birds." Sp. Conim. We need not take the 
 statement to indicate more than a popular belief of that day, of which the 
 prophet availed himself by way of an illustration. A less probable ex- 
 planation of the sense of tlie passage is that which makes the illustration 
 to consist in this, viz. that the partridge calls the young of other birds 
 under her wings, but that they forsake her when they hear the cry of the 
 true parent. In any case the application is plain. Riches unlawfully 
 gotten are as precarious and shortlived a possession as the young that 
 have not been hatched by the bird that would pass for their parent. 
 
 shall leave them in the midst of his days] Here again some have seen 
 an allusion to the fate of Jehoiakim, who died at the age of thirty-six 
 years. But the doubt on the part of the prophet expressed in ver. 15 as 
 
w. 12— 16.] JEREMIAH, XVII. 129 
 
 12 — 18. Throughout all the Prophet looks to God as the 
 Saviour of those who prove faithful. 
 
 A glorious high throne from the beginning is the place of n 
 our sanctuary. O Lord, the hope of Israel, all that forsake 13 
 thee shall be ashamed, and they that depart from me shall 
 be written in the earth, because they have forsaken the 
 Lord, the fountain of living waters. Heal me, O Lord, 14 
 and I shall be healed ; save me, and I shall be saved : for 
 thou art my praise. Behold, they say unto me, Where is 15 
 the word of the Lord ? let it come now. As for me, I have 16 
 not hastened from deing a pastor to follow thee : neither 
 
 to the fulfilment of Jeremiah's words, makes it unlikely that so remark- 
 able a proof of his truth-speaking had been already afforded. 
 
 12 — 18. Throughout all the Prophet looks to God as 
 THE Saviour of those who prove faithful. 
 
 12. 13. These verses are probably to be taken as one sentence, the 
 whole of ver. 12 being in form an invocation of the temple as the scene 
 of God's visible glory, but in reality an address to Himself. A throtie of 
 glory, exalted from the beginning, the place of our sanctuary, hope of 
 Israel, the Lord, all that forsake thee, etc. Such an address to the tem- 
 ple is by no means in conflict with chap. vii. 4, where idolaters are 
 warned that their feeling of security in being the possessors of the House 
 of God is ill-founded. Here the temple is spoken of in its relation to 
 true believers, whose joy in it rested on their faith in Him who was re- 
 vealed through the glory that abode on the mercy-seat. 
 
 13. shall be written in the earthy shall disappear, like writing on any 
 soft substance. The simile would naturally suggest itself to the prophet. 
 "From the scarcity of writing materials a board covered with sand 
 is used to this day in schools for giving lessons in writing ; and the 
 Arabs have a method of fortune-telling, the invention of which is ascribed 
 by them to the patriarch Enoch... effected by certain signs drawn upon 
 sand." Sp. Comm. 
 
 thefountain\ See chap. ii. 13 with note, also ix. i. 
 
 14. Jeremiah prays that God's character for faithfulness may be vin- 
 dicated in his own case. 
 
 15. This verse shews that the time is before the capture of Jerusalem 
 at the end of Jehoiakim's reign. If that event had occurred, the people 
 would not, as here, challenge the prophet to point out a fulfilment of 
 his prophecies of woe. 
 
 tio'w'\ not denoting time, but in the sense of I pray thee. 
 
 16. pastorl This word is generally applied elsewhere to kings or 
 other rulers (see chap. ii. 8, with note). There is no real difficulty how- 
 ever in understanding it here of Jeremiah (and similarly of others in 
 xxii. 22) in his capacity of leader, authoritatively guiding the thoughts 
 and acts of the people. Compare "shepherd" in Eccles. xii. 11. 
 
 to folloiv thee] after thee. The sense, which is obscured in the Eng. 
 
 JEREMIAH 9 
 
I30 JEREMIAH, XVII. [vv. 17—19. 
 
 have I desired the woeful day ; thou knowest : that which 
 
 17 came out of my Hps was right before thee. Be not a terror 
 
 18 unto me : thou art my hope in the day of evil. Let them 
 be confounded that persecute me, but let not me be con- 
 founded : let them be dismayed, but let not me be dismayed : 
 bring upon them the day of evil, and destroy them with 
 double destruction. 
 
 19 — 27. Conformity to the Law will yet ensure prosperity. 
 
 *9 Thus said the Lord unto me ; Go and stand in the gate 
 of the children of the people, whereby the kings of Judah 
 
 Vers., is closely connected with the succeeding clause. Jeremiah had 
 neither sought to resign the office of being as it were an assistant- 
 shepherd, directing the steps of the people in the path which God had 
 marked out for them, nor were his forecasts of sorrow to be understood 
 as meaning that he hoped for that which he thus predicted. 
 
 the woeful day] the overthrow of Jerusalem. The word here ren- 
 dered 'woeful' is the same as the "desperately wicked" of ver. 9, 
 where see note. 
 
 thou knowest] He appeals to God to confirm his protest. 
 
 was right] was. The insertion of the word right is misleading. 
 What Jeremiah really says is that his words were not his own, but were 
 all spoken as in God's sight and in compliance with His will. 
 
 17. terror] a cause oi dismay. See chap. i. 17, with note. The 
 same word {dismayed) occurs twice in the succeeding verse. 
 
 thou art my hope] in accordance with the promise of chap. xv. 11. 
 
 18. destroy thefn with double destruction] break them "with a double 
 breaking. This may mean a literally twofold punishment, the one part 
 for their apostacy as a nation, the other for their treatment of Jeremiah. 
 It seems more likely however that double is merely equivalent to utter, 
 complete. 
 
 19—27. Conformity to the Law will yet ensurf. 
 prosperity. 
 
 It is a question whether this prophecy be a continuation of the pre- 
 ceding, or a short separate prophecy placed here but having no imme- 
 diate connexion with any other. On the whole it has the air of being 
 the latter, whether we consider the mode of its introduction, its subject- 
 matter, or its general tone. The depravity of the people does not seem 
 of such long standing or so hopeless as in the former prophecies. The 
 similar language in chap. xxii. i — 5 gives some probability to the belief 
 that the two were composed about the same time. 
 
 19. the children of the people] This expression may mean either the 
 cojnmon people as opposed to the rich (so in chap. xxvi. 23 and 2 Kings 
 xxiii. 6) or the laity as distinct from the priests (so in 2 Ciiron. xxxv. 5, 
 
vv. 20—25.] JEREMIAH, XVII. 131 
 
 come in, and by the which they go out, and in all the gates 
 of Jerusalem ; and say unto them, Hear ye the word of the 20 
 Lord, ye kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all the in- 
 habitants of Jerusalem, that enter in by these gates : Thus 21 
 saith the Lord ; Take heed to yourselves, and bear no 
 burden on the sabbath day, nor bring // in by the gates of 
 Jerusalem ; neither carry forth a burden out of your houses 22 
 on the sabbath day, neither do ye any work, but hallow ye 
 the sabbath day, as I commanded your fathers. But they 23 
 obeyed not, neither inclined their ear, but made their neck 
 stiff, that they might not hear, nor receive instruction. And 24 
 it shall come to pass, if ye dihgently hearken unto me, saith 
 the Lord, to bring in no burden through the gates of this 
 city on the sabbath day, but hallow the sabbath day, to do 
 no work therein; then shall there enter into the gates of this 25 
 city kings and princes sitting upon the throne of David, 
 
 margin). The latter is the more probable of the two, as there would 
 not be a gate called after the common people but used also for the pas- 
 sage of the kings. It is thus most likely that the gate in question was 
 one of those leading to the temple, perhaps the main entrance to the 
 outer court, while the priests would pass in by side entrances. If we 
 suppose further that, as in our Lord's time, there was traffic carried on 
 in the Temple court, or at the entrance to it, this whole passage will re- 
 ceive additional significance. 
 
 21. to\ in. This is both more literal and more forcible than the 
 Eng. Vers. The closest rendering would be in your souls ; as we should 
 say, Lay it to heart. 
 
 21,22. bear 710 burden neither carry forth a burden'] It appears 
 
 that the inhabitants both of town and country habitually broke the 
 fourth commandment by engaging in traffic on the Sabbath. The latter 
 brought in their produce for sale in Jerusalem, while the former would 
 bring from their houses commodities to be offered in exchange. We 
 may compare Neh. xiii. 15 — 22. 
 
 22. neither do ye any work] The prohibition of manual labour on 
 the Sabbath was in after times carried to an absurd extreme by the 
 stricter expounders of the Law. Thus it was forbidden by them to 
 a woman to wear on that day a ribbon that was only fastened and not 
 stitched on her dress, for thus, they said, she was carrying a burden on 1 
 the Sabbath day ! ' 
 
 23. Substantially the same as chap. vii. 26. 
 
 25. then shall there enter] Prosperity, permanence, and religious 
 devotion shall be the three characteristic features of the Jewish State, if 
 only they will hallow the Sabbath. 
 
 kings and princes] In the parallel verse, chap. xxii. 4, kings alone 
 are mentioned. There however the address is to the king, here directly 
 
 9—2 
 
132 JEREMIAH, XVII. XVIII. [w. 26, 27; i. 
 
 riding in chariots and on horses, they, and their princes, the 
 men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem : and this 
 
 26 city shall remain for ever. And they shall come from the 
 cities of Judah, and from the places about Jerusalem, and 
 from the land of Benjamin, and from the plain, and from 
 the mountains, and from the south, bringing burnt offerings, 
 and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense, and bringing 
 
 27 sacrifices of praise, unto the house of the Lord. But if you 
 will not hearken unto me to hallow the sabbath day, and 
 not to bear a burden, even entering in at the gates of Jeru- 
 salem on the sabbath day ; then will I kindle a fire in the 
 gates thereof, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem, 
 and it shall not be quenched. 
 
 Chap. XVIII. i — 17. The figure of the Potter^ s Clay and its 
 meaning. 
 18 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 
 
 to the people, and the effect is increased by the picture of a grand pro- 
 cession of the royal house and their followers, all attending upon the 
 person of the king. In strictness, the princes (see note on chap. i. 18) 
 not "sitting upon the throne of David," "they" will refer to the kings 
 only. 
 
 26. We have here enumerated the sections of the country still left in 
 the possession of the Israelites, i.e. of the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. 
 
 the land of Benjamin] lying north of Judah. 
 
 the plain] stretching from the hill-country to the Mediterranean. 
 
 the mountains] the central part, including the wilderness of Judah 
 which lay to the westward, and reaching to the Dead Sea. 
 
 burnt offerings, and sacrifices, and meat offerings, and incense] Three 
 sorts of offerings are here mentioned, two bloody and one unbloody. 
 Meat offerings (a name whose sound is rather misleading to our 
 ears now) consisted of flour and oil, and had (Lev. ii. i) frankincense 
 (the * incense ' of this verse) strewn upon them. The incense offering 
 (Exod. XXX. 7) is expressed by a different word in the Hebrew, although 
 frankincense was one of the ingredients which entered with sweet spices 
 into its composition (Exod. xxx. 34). 
 
 sacrifices of praise] praise. It is not meant that any special kind of 
 sacrifices are called by this name, but that the offering of all the sacrifices 
 just mentioned is an expression of praise. So in chap, xxxiii. i r. 
 
 27. Disobedience in this matter shall be followed by an exhibition of 
 God's wrath, which shall take the form of a general conflagration 
 (2 Kings XXV. 9). 
 
 Chap. XVIII. 1 — 17. The figure of the Potter's Clay 
 
 AND ITS MEANIN(;. 
 
 1. The word which came...\ The words and events of chapters 
 
vv. 2— 4.] JEREMIAH, XVIIl. 133 
 
 Arise, and go down to the potter's house, and there I will 2 
 cause thee to hear my words. Then I went down to the 3 
 potter's house, and behold, he wrought a work on the wheels. 
 And the vessel that he made of clay was marred in the hand 4 
 
 xviii. — XX. may all be considered as having this for their heading. 
 Chap, xviii. gives and explains the figure of the potter's clay, and adds 
 the effect upon the people. Chap. xix. gives and applies the figure 
 of the potter's broken vessel, w^hile chap. xx. describes the sufferings 
 of Jeremiah in consequence, and his complaints. The two symbolical 
 actions probably occurred within the first four years of Jehoiakim's reign. 
 For (i) there seems from the language used to be still a chance for the 
 people (the calamity threatened had not yet arrived), and (ii) the men- 
 tion of Pashur (chap. xx. i, 1) as the person who puts the prophet in 
 the stocks, leads us to the same conclusion. *' In Zedekiah's reign 
 Pashur's office was held by Zephaniah (chap. xxix. 25, 26), so that after 
 Jehoiakim's death Pashur must have been carried into captivity with 
 Jeconiah. But as such an outrage upon a prophet as that committed 
 by Pashur upon Jeremiah would certainly not have been allowed in 
 Josiah's time : and as after the first four years of Jehoiakim Jeremiah 
 was in hiding, and dared not shew himself till just at last, when the 
 Chaldeans were marching upon Jerusalem, no other date for this pro- 
 phecy is probable except that given above." Sp. Conim. 
 
 3. / went doivit\ probably from the Temple, where his prophecies 
 would naturally be delivered, as the place of resort, and one that was 
 solemn and impressive in its associations. This was in the upper part 
 of the city. The potters were probably south of the valley of Hinnom. 
 
 the potter's house'] The comparison (as in ver. 6) of man to the clay 
 and God to the potter was a familiar one. Compare with this pas- 
 sage Job X. 9, xxxiii. 6 ; Is. xxix. 16, xlv. 9, Ixiv. 8. The trade was a 
 very early one. The Hebrews had themselves been concerned in it 
 while yet in Egypt (Ps. Ixxxi. 6). Dr Thomson [The Land and the 
 Book, p. 520) thus describes what he saw at Jaffa (Joppa) : "There was 
 the potter sitting at his 'frame,' and turning the 'wheel' with his foot. 
 He had a heap of the prepared clay near him, and a pan of water by his 
 side. Taking a lump in his hand, he placed it on the top of the wheel 
 (which revolves horizontally) and smoothed it into a low cone, like the 
 upper end of a sugar-loaf, then thrusting his thumb into the top of it, he 
 opened a hole down through the centre, and this he constantly widened 
 by pressing the edges of the revolving cone between his hands. As it 
 enlarged and became thinner, he gave it whatever shape he pleased with 
 the utmost ease and expedition." 
 
 the wheels] literally, probably, the two stones, not however that they 
 were really of that material. " How early the wheel came into use in 
 Palestine, we know not, but it seems Hkely that it was adopted from 
 Egypt. It consisted of a wooden disc placed on another larger one, and 
 turned by the hand by an attendant, or worked by a treadle." Sm. 
 Bibl. Diet., Art. 'Pottery.' 
 
 4. And the vessel was marred] ** From some defect in the clay, 
 
 / 
 
134 JEREMIAH, XVIII. [vv. 5— ii. 
 
 of the potter : so he made it again another vessel, as seemed 
 
 5 good to the potter to make //. Then the word of the Lord 
 
 6 came to me, saying, O house of Israel, cannot I do with 
 you as this potter ? saith the Lord. Behold, as the clay is 
 in the potter's hand, so are ye in mine hand, O house of 
 
 7 Israel. At what instant I shall speak concerning a nation 
 and concerning a kingdom, to pluck up, and to pull down, 
 
 8 and to destroy it ; if that nation, against whom I have 
 pronounced, turn from their evil, I will repent of the evil 
 
 9 that I thought to do unto them. And at what instant I 
 shall speak concerning a nation, and concerning a kingdom, 
 
 10 to build and to plant it ; if it do evil in my sight, that // 
 obey not my voice, then I will repent of the good, where- 
 
 11 with I said / would benefit them. Now therefore go to, 
 speak to the men of Judah, and to the inhabitants of Jeru- 
 salem, saying, Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I frame evil 
 against you, and devise a device against you : return ye 
 
 I or because he had taken too little, the potter suddenly changed his mind, 
 I crushed his growing jar instantly into a shapeless mass of mud, and 
 [ beginning anew, fashioned it into a totally different vessel." (Thomson, 
 1 ibid.) 
 
 6. cannot I do with you as this potter f] The comparison is between 
 the absolute power oiJCtoA. over Israel and that of the potter over the 
 material on whiclThe works. At any moment he can crush it up or 
 alter its shape. Verses 7 — 10 go on to shew however that God is not 
 arbitrary in the matter. It is still the conduct of the people that de- 
 termines their ultimate fate. 
 
 "First of the prophets, Jeremiah proclaims distinctly what had been 
 more or less implied throughout, that predictions were subject to no 
 overruling necessity, but depended for their fulfilment on the moral state 
 of those to whom they were addressed; that the most confident assur- 
 ance of blessing could be frustrated by sin ; that the most awful warnings 
 of calamity could be averted by repentance." Stanley's Jewish Churchy 
 n. 445- 
 
 7. At zvhat instantl literally, Suddenly. The same word occurs at the 
 beginning of ver. 9. The rendering in the two cases probably is At one 
 time — at another. The verbs {pluck up, etc.) in this and in ver. 9 remind 
 us of chap. i. 10. 
 
 8. / 7vill repent'\ speaking after the manner of men. The sense is, 
 1 will alter viy treatment, for among men change of conduct implies 
 change of purpose. 
 
 11. The direct application of the figure to the people here begins. 
 framed The Hcb. word is the same as that {or potter, and so is speci- 
 ally appropriate. 
 
2-15-] JEREMIAH, XVIII. 135 
 
 now every one from his evil way, and make your ways and 
 your doings good. And they said, There is no hope : but i 
 we will walk after our own devices, and we will every one 
 do the imagination of his evil heart. Therefore thus saith i 
 the Lord ; Ask ye now among the heathen, who hath heard 
 such things: the virgin of Israel hath done a very horrible 
 thing. Will a man leave the snow of Lebanon which cometh ; 
 from the rock of the field ? or shall the cold flowing waters 
 that come from another place be forsaken? Because my : 
 people hath forgotten me, they have burnt incense to vanity, 
 
 make your ways and your doings good] See note on chap. vii. 3. 
 
 12. TAgre is no hope\ We have gone too far to turn back now. 
 The same expression both in the Hebrew and English occurred chap. 
 ii. 75. 
 
 imagination] stubbornness. Compare chap. iii. 17. 
 
 13. Ask ye now among the heathen] An appeal is made of a similar 
 kind to that in chap. ii. 10, 11. 
 
 the virgin of Israel] She who was tended with the utmost care by 
 the Almighty has in spite of it all broken through the sanctity which 
 hedged her around. The expression stands of course, as in chap. xiv. 
 17, for the people collectively. 
 
 14. Will a man leave...] Doth the snow Of Lebanon cease from the 
 rock of the field? This is much to be preferred as the reading of the He- 
 brew. Lebanon ( = the white mountain) is so called from the perpetual 
 snow which rests on its highest points. Tacitus {Histories, Bk. v. chap. 6) 
 speaks of it as a secure retreat for snows. So Thomson ( The Land and 
 the Book, p. 20), '* the higher half of Lebanon looked like a huge snow 
 bank drifted up against the sky." 
 
 th^ rock of the field] Some understand this to be Jerusalem, on ac- 
 count of somewhat similar expressions applied to it (chap. xvii. 3), 
 my mountain in the field, and (chap. xxi. 13) rock of the plain. The 
 difficulty however of connecting the snows of Lebanon with any water 
 supply to Jerusalem is too great. Hence the rock will be most naturally 
 understood of Lebanon, and the field of the country at large. 
 
 shall the cold flowing waters..!] do strange cold trickling- waters dry 
 up? Does the water that percolates through the rocks, coming from some 
 unknown [strange^ regions and cold (thus free from much evaporation), 
 disappear? The reference may very possibly be to the waters of Siloam 
 or some other familiar supply coming in the way thus described. It is 
 difficult to understand the epithet straitge, if it refer merely to the water 
 flowing down the sides of Lebanon, and produced by the melting of the 
 snows. The general sense at any rate is clear. Nature is constant in 
 her operations, but God, the Rock of Israel, is forsaken by those who 
 used to follow Him. 
 
 15. Because] For. This continues the thought of the 13th verse, 
 ver. 14 being parenthetic. 
 
 vanity] idols. 
 
136 JEREMIAH, XVIII. [vv. i6— 18. 
 
 and they have caused them to stumble in their ways from 
 
 the ancient paths, to walk in paths, in a way not cast up ; 
 
 i6 to make their land desolate, and a perpetual hissing ; every 
 
 one that passeth thereby shall be astonished, and wag his 
 
 17 head. I will scatter them as with an east wind before the 
 enemy ; I will shew them the back, and not the face, in the 
 day of their calamity. 
 
 18 — 23. The Prophet desires retribution for his enemies. 
 
 18 Then said they, Come, and let us devise devices against 
 Jeremiah ; for the law shall not perish from the priest, nor 
 counsel from the wise, nor the word from the prophet. 
 Come, and let us smite him with the tongue, and let us not 
 
 they have caused^ The pronoun refers either to false prophets and 
 priests, or, which is better, to the idols (see the case of Ahaz, 1 Chron. 
 xxviii. 23). 
 
 from the ancient paths] These mean the godly lives which their 
 forefathers led, but in which their children have now stumbled. Com- 
 pare for the figure chap. vi. 16, with notes. 
 
 in paths] in ^iy -paths. 
 
 not cast tip] not raised above the inequalities and obstructions of the 
 adjoining fields. 
 
 16. desolate] The word is cognate to that presently rendered shall be 
 astonished. We may therefore render respectively a dismay... shall be 
 dismayed. See note on wonderful in chap. v. 30. 
 
 hissing] not in contempt or anger, but in amazement at so appalling 
 a spectacle. 
 
 17. as with an east wind] better perhaps, as an east wind. 
 
 I will shew them the back, and not the face] in answer to the peo- 
 ple's own behaviour towards Him. See chap. ii. 27. 
 
 18 — 23. The Prophet desires retribution for his enemies. 
 
 18. Then said they] the leaders among those whom Jeremiah had 
 addressed. 
 
 the law shall not perish...] See note on chap. viii. 8. There were 
 certain classes of persons in the state, viz. the priests, the wise and the 
 prophets, who were thought infallible, as being in undoubted possession 
 of the truth. The appeal therefore is made to them against Jeremiah. 
 The law is not doctrine in general, but the Mosaic Law, as the basis of 
 all the teaching of the prophets, and under the special guardianship of 
 the priests. 
 
 smite him with the tongue] report his words to the king. Compare 
 for another case Amos vii. 10, 11. 
 
w. 19—23.] JEREMIAH, XVIII. 137 
 
 give heed to any of his words. Give heed to me, O Lord, 19 
 and hearken to the voice of them that contend with me. 
 Shall evil be recompensed for good ? for they have digged 20 
 a pit for my soul. Remember that I stood before thee 
 to speak good for them, and to turn away thy wrath from 
 them. Therefore deliver up their children to the famine, 21 
 and pour out their blood by the force of the sword ; and let 
 their wives be bereaved of their children, and be widows ; 
 and let their men be put to death ; let their young men be 
 slain by the sword in battle. Let a cry be heard from their 22 
 houses, when thou shalt bring a troop suddenly upon them: 
 for they have digged a pit to take me, and hid snares for 
 my feet. Yet, Lord, thou knowest all their counsel against 23 
 me to slay me : forgive not their iniquity, neither blot out 
 their sin from thy sight, but let them be overthrown before 
 thee ; deal thus with them in the time of thine anger. 
 
 19. Give heed to w<?, Lord'\ He prays God to give him that hear- 
 ing, which his enemies refused him. 
 
 20. Shall evil be recompensed for good ?\ Jeremiah had interceded for 
 the people in times past, e. g. chap. xiv. 7, 21. 
 
 21. pour out their blood by the force of the sword] literally, pour them 
 out upon the hands of the sword: a forcible expression, meaning. Cast 
 them upon the sword, so that their blood may be thereby shed. It will 
 help us to understand the severity of the punishment here invoked, if we 
 remember that in the attack on God's prophet these were the leaders, 
 who incurred therefore the responsibility of directing the attacks of the 
 multitude. 
 
 22. The last verse has painted the havoc wrought in battle outside 
 the walls. This one goes on to the next stage of the coming calamity, 
 the sacking of the houses of the city, and the cruelties attendant 
 upon it. 
 
 they have digged a pit} For this and the following figure we may 
 compare Ps. Ivii. 6. 
 
 23. Yet] But. The sense is, Although they conceal their devices, 
 yet there is no concealment from Thee. 
 
 deal thus with them in the time of thine anger] rather, deal with 
 them (as Thou art wont to act) in time of wrath. 
 
 The imprecations in these verses may be compared with those found in 
 certain Psalms, e.g. Pss. Ixix. (see p. 382) and cix. In them we see a feature 
 which has caused much difficulty to some, but which is to a large extent 
 explained, when we remember that (i) those thus spoken of were the ene- 
 mies of God and His Church, not merely the personal foes of the writer ; 
 (ii) the general spirit of the Old Dispensation was sterner than that of the 
 New; (iii) the comparative darkness in which a future existence was then 
 
138 JEREMIAH, XIX. fvv. 1—4. 
 
 Chap. XIX. i — 13. The figure of the B7-oken Vessel a?id its 
 7?ieanmg. 
 
 19 Thus saith the Lord, Go and get a potter's earthen 
 bottle, and take of the ancients of the people, and of the 
 
 2 ancients of the priests ; and go forth unto the valley of the 
 son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the east gate, and 
 
 3 proclaim there the words that I shall tell thee, and say, 
 Hear ye the word of the Lord, O kings of Judah, and 
 inhabitants of Jerusalem ; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
 the God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring evil upon this 
 place, the which whosoever heareth, his ears shall tingle. 
 
 4 Because they have forsaken me, and have estranged this 
 place, and have burnt incense in it unto other gods, whom 
 
 shrouded would naturally make righteous men the more eager that God's 
 glory should be vindicated and His people avenged in the present life. 
 
 Chap. XIX. 1 — 13. The figure of the Broken Vessel and 
 
 ITS MEANING. 
 
 » 1. get a potter's earthen bottle'] In the figure of chap, xviii. (the potter's 
 
 clay) the distinguishing feature was the power of God to alter the des- 
 tinies of a people at any moment, just as the potter's work (ver. 4) was 
 made " again another vessel." The special lesson here is that there may 
 come a time in the history of a nation when its persistent obduracy shall 
 demand that the only alteration in its destiny shall take the form of 
 breaking, destruction. 
 
 ancients'] the same word which is elsewhere rendered elders. Those 
 who from j^osition, or it might be age, were the leading men of the 
 State and of the Church. 
 
 2. the valley of the son of Hinnom] See note on chap. vii. 31, which 
 explains how well the place was adapted to the message that Jeremiah 
 had to deliver. 
 
 the east gate] rather, the sherd-gate. The Hebrew name, which does not 
 occur elsewhere, seems to have been given it from the fragments of broken 
 pottery cast here as refuse. It may probably have been identical with 
 one of the two gates mentioned in Nehemiah (iii. 14, 15) as leading 
 from the city into this valley. 
 
 3. kings] The plural is used, as not only the reigning king is ad- 
 dressed, but the whole dynasty, whose accumulated transgressions with 
 those of iheir people are now about to be punished. 
 
 his ears shall tingle] The same expression was used by the prophets 
 of Manasseh's time (2 Kings xxi. 12) in reference to the evil in which his 
 doings would result, and earlier still, of the consequences of the sins of 
 Eli's house (i Sam. iii. 11). 
 
 4. have estranged] have treated it as a place of whose sanctity they 
 arc not aware. 
 
vv. 5—9.] JEREMIAH, XIX. 139 
 
 neither they nor their fathers have known, nor the kings of 
 Judah, and have filled this place with the blood of inno- 
 cents ; they have built also the high places of Baal, to burn 5 
 their sons with fire for burnt offerings unto Baal, which I 
 commanded not, nor spake //, neither came // into my 
 mind : therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 6 
 that this place shall no more be called Tophet, nor The 
 valley of the son of Hinnom, but The valley of slaughter. 
 And I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem ^ 
 in this place ; and I will cause them to fall by the sword 
 before their enemies, and by the hands of them that seek 
 their lives : and their carcases will I give to be meat for the 
 fowls of the heaven, and for the beasts of the earth. And 8 
 I will make this city desolate, and a hissing ; every one 
 that passeth thereby shall be astonished and hiss because 
 of all the plagues thereof And I will cause them to eat 9 
 
 whom neither they...'\ The right construction is probably somewhat 
 different from that given in the Eng. Vers. They, their fathers and the 
 kings of Judah, are in strictness nominatives to the first verb, have for- 
 saken. Thus the rendering will be, They have forsaken, etc., whom 
 they knew not, they and their fathers and the kings of Judah. 
 
 innocents'] not children, the sacrifice of whom is first mentioned in 
 the next verse, but in general innocent persons. Compare 2 Kings 
 xxi. 16. 
 
 6, 6. These verses have occurred already in substance, chap. vii. 31, 
 32. See notes there and on ii. 23. 
 
 6. The valley of slaughter] The valley of Hinnom, as possessing 
 water, was a natural place for an attacking army to take up its position. 
 Some have thought that the name ' valley of slaughter ' refers in particular 
 to successful assaults made by the enemy upon the Jews when these were 
 attempting with an armed force to hold possession of the water supply, 
 so necessary for the maintenance of life within the city. 
 
 7. / will make void] The Heb. verb is that from which is derived the 
 original word for 'vessel' in ver. i. Hence it is evidently intended as 
 a play on the word, and means literally, / will pour out. It has been 
 thought that Jeremiah here suited the action to the word, and having 
 previously filled with water the vessel which he bore, now poured out 
 the contents on the ground, as he spoke. For the latter part of the verse 
 compare vii. 33. 
 
 8. desolate, and a hissing] See note on chap, xviii. r6. 
 
 plagues] blows, tvotaids. The word plague is generally used only of 
 pestilences, although in point of derivation (Greek) it should mean 
 simply blows. 
 
 9. The verse is taken from the opening words of Deut. xxviii. 53 — 
 57, in which passage are described at length the unnatural straits to 
 
I40 JEREMIAH, XIX. [vv. 10—13. 
 
 the flesh of their sons and the flesh of their daughters, and 
 they shall eat every one the flesh of his friend in the siege 
 and straitness, wherewith their enemies, and they that seek 
 
 10 their lives, shall straiten them. Then shalt thou break the 
 
 11 bottle in the sight of the men that go with thee. And shalt 
 say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; Even so will 
 I break this people and this city, as one breaketh a potter's 
 vessel, that cannot be made whole again : and they shall 
 
 12 bury them in Tophet, till there be no place to bury. Thus 
 will I do unto this place, saith the Lord, and to the in- 
 
 13 habitants thereof, and even make this city as Tophet : And 
 the houses of Jerusalem, and the houses of the kings of 
 Judah, shall be defiled as the place of Tophet, because of 
 all the houses upon whose roofs they have burnt incense 
 
 which hunger shall drive the besieged. Compare a briefer expression 
 of the same, Levit. xxvi. 29. This had already been the state of things 
 in the siege of Samaria by the Syrians (2 Kings vi. 28, 29), and that 
 it actually occurred in fulfilment of this prophecy, when the Chaldaeans 
 besieged Jerusalem, we learn from Lam. iv. 10. 
 
 10. The first of the two thoughts to be connected with the pitcher, 
 the pouring out of the people as water spilt on the ground, has been 
 made sufficiently plain by the prophet (verses 7 — 9). He now proceeds 
 to the second sign, viz. the breaking of the pitcher. 
 
 "The people. ..have the same custom of breaking a jar, when they 
 wish to express their utmost detestation of any one. They come behind 
 or near him, and smash the jar to atoms, thus imprecating upon him and 
 his a like hopeless ruin." Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 641. 
 
 11. that cajinot be made whole again\ In this lies the special point 
 of the figure here used. See above, note on ver. i. 
 
 and tJiey shall bury thetn...'] The Septuagint omits the last part of 
 this verse. The apparent arbitrariness, however, which is so often dis- 
 played by that Version in this Book, prevents us from attributing very 
 much weight to such an omission when unsupported by good evidence. 
 The words seem to have a natural connexion both with what precedes 
 and with what follows. The overthrow of Jerusalem shall be so sudden 
 and complete, that there shall not be room for burial, unless by using 
 even the unclean place of Tophet for that purpose. 
 
 12. As Tophet had been made an unclean place by the practice of 
 idolatry, so shall all the houses of Jerusalem be made unclean by corpses, 
 because of the idolatries which have been practised upon their roofs. 
 
 13. becaicse o/all'\hQ{iex, even all. 
 
 upon whose roofs they have burnt incense'] "The flat roofs of orien- 
 tal buildings were used for gatherings at festivals (Judg. xvi. 27), for 
 exercise (2 Sam. xi. 2), for the erection of booths at the feast of taber- 
 nacles (Neh. viii. 16), and for public meetings (Matt. x. 27). They seem 
 also to have been the favourite places for star-worship (Zeph. i. 5)." 
 
vv. 14, 15; I.] JEREMIAH, XIX. XX. 141 
 
 unto all the host of heaven, and have poured out drink 
 offerings unto other gods. 
 
 Chap. XIX. 14 — XX. 6. Pashur's vengeance and the Prophefs 
 
 rejoinder. 
 
 Then came Jeremiah from Tophet, whither the Lord had m 
 sent him to prophesy ; and he stood in the court of the 
 Lord's house ; and said to all the people, Thus saith the is 
 Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; Behold, I will bring 
 upon this city and upon all her towns all the evil that I 
 have pronounced against it, because they have hardened 
 their necks, that they might not hear my words. Now 20 
 Pashur the son of Immer the priest, who was also chief 
 governor in the house of the Lord, heard that Jeremiah 
 
 Sp. Comm. To this list we may add that they were used as places of 
 retirement for conversation (i Sam. ix. 25, 36), or prayer (Acts x. 9). 
 
 Chap. XIX. 14 — XX. 6. Pashur's vengeance and the 
 Prophet's rejoinder. 
 
 14. This, as introducing another address of Jeremiah, given us in the 
 brief summary of ver. 15, is the opening of a new paragraph. It is un- 
 fortunate therefore that the division of chapters does not here correspond 
 more closely with the sense. This address, as deUvered in the Temple 
 precincts, would be heard by a larger number than those who had just 
 formed his audience in the valley. 
 
 15. all her towns] all the other cities belonging to Judah. Com- 
 pare xxxiv. I. The prophecy in the valley of Hinnom spoke of Jerusa- 
 lem only. We may thus gather that the addition of the words * and 
 upon all her towns ' is but a slight indication of the fact that this address 
 was in reality even fuller and more explicit in its threatenings than the 
 former. 
 
 hardened their necks] See note on vii. 26. 
 
 XX. 1. Now Pashur the son of hnmer] possibly the father of Geda- 
 liah of chap, xxxviii. i, while ** Pashur the son of Malchiah" of that 
 verse is probably identical with the Pashur of chap. xxi. i . Both this 
 last and the Pashur of the present verse belonged to one of the twenty- 
 four priestly courses formed by David, he who is here mentioned being 
 head of the sixteenth course (i Chron. xxiv. 14), whose ancestor was 
 Immer (perhaps the Amariah of Neh. x. 3, xii. 2). The other belonged 
 to the fifth course, that of which Melchiah ( = Malchijah of r Chron. 
 xxiv. 9) was head. For him see notes on Zephaniah, xxi. i. Of the 
 priestly courses the houses represented by the two Pashurs were the 
 strongest amongst the few which returned from Babylon (Ezra ii. 36 — 39). 
 
 chief governor] The Hebrew expression, Pakid Nagid, is peculiar, 
 and the exact sense is not quite clear. Either (i) the former word 
 defines more closely the somewhat general sense of overseer which be- 
 
142 JEREMIAH, XX. [vv. 2—4. 
 
 2 prophesied these things. Then Pashur smote Jeremiah the 
 prophet, and put him in the stocks that were in the high 
 gate of Benjamin, which was by the house of the Lord. 
 
 3 And it came to pass on the morrow, that Pashur brought 
 forth Jeremiah out of the stocks. Then said Jeremiah unto 
 him, The Lord hath not called thy name Pashur, bu: 
 
 4 Magor-missabib. For thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will 
 
 • 
 longs to the latter, or (ii) the former word expresses tliat the dignity 
 denoted by the latter was held by him only as deputy for another. In 
 favour of (ii) is the occurrence of the word Paktd in xxix. 26 ("officers"), 
 where the general sense suggests such a meaning. Zephaniah, the per- 
 son there spoken of, is called "the second priest" in chap. Hi. 24; 
 2 Kings XXV. 18. 
 
 2. Then Pashur smote] The utterance of these warnings and threats 
 in the very Temple was too much for the authorities of that place. 
 They proceeded to inflict punishment in its ordinary forms, viz. stripes 
 (no doubt \.\\t forty save one which kept safely within the limits permitted 
 in Deut. xxv. 3 ; compare 2 Cor. xi. 24) followed by confinement in the 
 stocks. 
 
 the prophet] As this title is here for the first time given to Jeremiah, 
 while it occurs with frequency afterwards, it has been thought by some to 
 indicate that all subsequent to chaps, i. — xix. was written after the pro- 
 phet's death. We can however see clear reasons for the use of this 
 official title here as well as later in the Book without having recourse to 
 any such hypothesis. It is in almost every case obviously inserted to 
 mark out Jeremiah's official character and position where these are 
 questioned or liable to question from one quarter or another. Here, 
 e.g., the intention is to suggest a protest against Pashur's conduct. In 
 like manner St Paul styles himself dwdaToXos, when his authority is 
 likely to be questioned. 
 
 the stoc/cs] The Hebrew word is from a root meaning to twist. 
 It therefore expresses the cramped position which the body of the 
 person confined was forced to occupy. The punishment seems thus to 
 answer rather to that denoted by our word pillory, the neck and arms 
 being confined while the legs and the body are kept in a bent position. 
 It seems to have been somewhat common at this time. See xxix. 26. 
 The passage 2 Chron. xvi. 10 (where Eng. Vers, has "prison-house") 
 speaks of a special chamber for the purpose. In Job xiii. 27, xxxiii. ir 
 the Heb. word is different, and there the Eng. Vers, ("stocks") is pro- 
 bably strictly accurate, as it is also Acts xvi. 24. (See Sm., Bibl. Dict.y 
 Art. 'Stocks.') 
 
 high gate of Benjamin, which was by] rather, upper gate of Benjamin, 
 ■wMch was In, the northern gate of the upper (inner) court of the Temple, 
 and to be distinguished from the city gate of the same name (xxxvii. 13, 
 xxxviii. 7). The one here meant had been built by Jotham (2 Kings 
 XV. 3.S). 
 
 3. hath not called thy name PasJiur, but Magor-imssahb] For the 
 
vv. 5, 6.] JEREMIAH, XX. 143 
 
 make thee a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends : and 
 they shall fall by the sword of their enemies, and thine eyes 
 shall behold it ; and I will give all Judah into the hand 
 of the king of Babylon, and he shall carry them captive into 
 Babylon, and shall slay them with the sword. Moreover I 5 
 will deliver all the strength of this city, and all the labours 
 thereof, and all the precious things thereof, and all the 
 treasures of the kings of Judah will I give into the hand of 
 their enemies, which shall spoil them, and take them, and 
 carry them to Babylon. And thou, Pashur, and all that 6 
 dwell in thine house shall go into captivity : and thou shalt 
 come to Babylon, and there thou shalt die, and shalt be 
 buried there, thou, and all thy friends, to whom thou hast 
 prophesied lies. 
 
 last word see note on vi. 25. The original of "fear is on every side" here 
 appears as a proper name, and as it is obviously expressive of the fate 
 announced by the prophet as coming on Pashur, much ingenuity has been 
 applied by commentators to the name which he already bore, in order 
 to make a forcible contrast between the two. No satisfactory basis 
 however has been obtained for their conjectures /i?;' around, joy on every 
 side, abundance of brightness, and the like, and it is not of course neces- 
 sary that the name Pashur should have had any such significance. 
 
 4. a terror to thyself, and to all thy friends'] the interpretation of 
 the new name. The nature of Pashur's punishment may be gathered 
 from the fact that it was not, as far as we know, a violent death, of 
 which indeed there is no trace in the language here. He was to be 
 carried to Babylon, and there die. We know (see note on ver. i) 
 that bis house was one of the most flourishing in numbers at the end of 
 the captivity. Accordingly the punishment here pointed to probably 
 consisted in remorse at the ruin which he had brought upon his country 
 'by opposing the counsels of Jeremiah. He "belonged to the warlike 
 party, whose creed it was that Judaea by a close alliance with Egypt 
 might resist the arms of Assyria. Apparently he had been led away by 
 his zeal to give himself out as invested with prophetic powers, in order 
 to gain greater credence for his views. This would help to account for 
 the extreme violence with which he treated Jeremiah, and would also 
 increase the bitterness of his anguish when he saw to what a result his 
 counsels and false predictions had led his ' friends,' i. e. his partizans." 
 Sp. Comni. 
 
 5. strength] stores. 
 
 labours] gains, results of labour. 
 
 6. prophesied lies] thus shewing that Pashur was not only a priest 
 but also had assumed to himself without warrant the functions of a pro- 
 phet, and had insisted that the warnings of Jeremiah were absurd. See 
 xiv. 13—15. 
 
144 JEREMIAH, XX. [vv. 7—9. 
 
 7 — 13. The Prophefs cry unto God for help in his trouble. 
 
 Lord, thou hast deceived me, and I was deceived : 
 Thou art stronger than I, and hast prevailed : 
 
 1 am in derision daily, 
 Every one mocketh me. 
 
 For since I spake, I cried out, 
 
 I cried violence and spoil ; 
 
 Because the word of the Lord was made a reproach 
 
 unto me, 
 And a derision, daily. 
 
 Then I said, I will not make mention of him, 
 Nor speak any more in his name. 
 But his word was in mine heart as a burning fire shut up 
 
 in my bones, 
 
 7 — 13. The Prophet's cry unto God for help in his 
 
 TROUBLE. 
 
 7. deceived'\ enticed, perstiaded. 
 
 art stronger than /] hast taken hold of me. This and ver. 9 
 shew us that the prophets did not speak of their own will. It was 
 an influence which they could not resist that urged them forward, 
 in spite of the certain ills that should follow to themselves. Compare 
 xxiii. 29 ; so Amos iii. 8 ("The Lord God hath spoken; who can but 
 prophesy?"), and i Cor. ix. 16 ("Necessity is laid upon me"). 
 
 8. since I spake, I cried oui\ rather, as often as I speak, I must call 
 out. The verbs rendered cried out and cried have no connexion in the 
 original. The former means to complain loudly, the latter simply to 
 call aloud. 
 
 violence and spoilt not so much, or at any rate not solely, that of 
 which Jeremiah himself was the victim, but that directed by the upper 
 classes generally against those weaker than themselves. Compare 
 V. 26 — 28, vii. 9, ix. 4 with notes. 
 
 a reproach unto me, and a derision] Words applied to his own case 
 by the great Florentine, Savonarola, in one of his many sermons from the 
 Cathedral pulpit during the last years of the fifteenth century, when the 
 fortunes of his State, owing to the misdeeds of rulers and people, were 
 
 reduced to a very low ebb. "Thy sins, O Florence are the cause of 
 
 these stripes. And now repent, give alms, offer prayers, become united. 
 O people, I have been a father to thee ; I have wearied myself all the 
 days of my life to make known to thee the truths of the faith and of holy 
 living, and I have had nothing but tribulations, derisioft, and reproach.'''' 
 Clark's Savonarola, p. 169. 
 
 daily\ the whole day. 
 
 9. his word was] better, there was. In the Heb. was and sh?ft up 
 are masculine, while burning is feminine, agreeing with fire. But the 
 
vv. lo, II.] JEREMIAH, XX. 145 
 
 And I was weary with forebearing, and I could not stay. 
 For I heard the defaming of many, fear on every side. i 
 Report, say they, and we will report it. 
 All my familiars watched for my halting, saying, 
 Peradventure he will be enticed, and we shall prevail 
 
 against him, 
 And we shall take our revenge on him. 
 But the Lord is with me as a mighty terrible one : 1 
 
 Therefore my persecutors shall stumble, and they shall 
 
 not prevail: 
 They shall be greatly ashamed: for they shall not 
 
 prosper : 
 Their everlasting confusion shall never be forgotten. 
 
 idiom of the language by no means forbids us to consider all these words 
 as alike referring to the substantive. 
 
 / was weary with forbearing\ Compare vi. i r, where the Heb. is 
 almost the same. 
 
 and I could not stay] or, perhaps, and I (consequently) prevail not; 
 but the Heb. may mean, / cajtnot endure it (cannot refrain myself). 
 There is a change of tense in the original, which serves to mark this as 
 the lasting result of the whole. 
 
 10. defaming] talk. Jeremiah gives us snatches as it were of the 
 conversation which he heard going on around him among his enemies. 
 
 fear on every side] expressing the perilous case in which he stood. 
 
 Report, say they, and we will report it] probably the words of two 
 individuals or groups of his foes, the first urging upon the second to 
 bring his language under the notice of the authorities, the second assent- 
 ing to the suggestion. 
 
 familiars] literally, men of my peace, i.e. acquaintances, those to 
 whom I should give the ordinary salutation, Peace be with you. 
 
 watched for my halting] This is probably right and suggested 
 by the language of Ps. xxxv. 15, xxxviii. 17. It has also how- 
 ever been explained as a further definition of 'familiars,' meaning 
 therefore men who should stand at my side to protect me. The literal 
 translation is those who watch my side. 
 
 enticed ] into some act, which will lay him open to attack. 
 
 11. In this and the two following verses the prophet's courage is 
 renewed. His faith brightens the prospect before him, and through it 
 he sees that all will yet be well with the righteous. 
 
 terrible one] warrior. 
 
 ashamed ] put to shame. 
 
 they shall not prosper] This would be unnecessary to say after the 
 assertion made already, that they should be put to shame. The sense is 
 rather, they have not acted prudently. See note on x. 21. 
 
 their everlasting confusion shall ] with everlasting disgrace that shall. 
 The words probably refer to put to shame, although they may also 
 
 JEREMIAH 10 
 
J46 JEREMIAH, XX. [vv. 12—16. 
 
 But, O Lord of hosts, that triest the righteous, 
 And seest the reins and the heart. 
 Let me see thy vengeance on them : 
 For unto thee have I opened my cause. 
 Sing unto the Lord, praise ye the Lord : 
 For he hath delivered the soul of the poor from the hand 
 of evildoers. 
 
 14 — 18. A renewed outburst of passionate grief. 
 
 Cursed be the day wherein I was born ; 
 
 Let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed. 
 
 Cursed be the man who brought tidings to my father, 
 saying, 
 
 A man child is born unto thee ; 
 
 Making him very glad. 
 
 And let that man be as the cities which the Lord over- 
 threw, and repented not : 
 
 belong to the verb immediately preceding them {they have acted fool- 
 ishly with ail ever laiti fig, etc.). 
 
 12. Virtually the same as xi. 20. 
 
 13. This exclamation of praise may be compared with those which 
 break out from time to time in the course or at the conclusion of many 
 even among the most mournful and despondent of the Psalms. 
 
 14 — 18. A RENEWED OUTBTTRST OF PASSIONATE GRIEF. 
 
 14. Cursed be the day] These words may be compared with those 
 which Job (iii. 3; compare x. i8) first uttered after his seven days of silent 
 grief, although those passages are even more violent than this. The 
 words however are sufficiently intense in their tone to cause some difficulty, 
 especially when we compare them with those which have gone immedi- 
 ately before. Hence it has been sought to explain them as (i) words put 
 by Jeremiah in the mouth of Pashur, (ii) words misplaced by copyists, 
 (iii) words placed here by Jeremiah, although really uttered by him at 
 a different time, and only introduced now ' by way of contrast to the 
 happier feelings to which he had just given expression, and to remind 
 him of the passionate trouble from which he had been delivered. These 
 explanations are all rather desperate remedies. We are probably nearer 
 the true explanation, if we say that the words express in the intense 
 language of Eastern emotions the bitterness of the pangs which ever and 
 again seized upon the prophet's mind and heart, as he contemplated his 
 position and that of his country. Compare David's imprecation on 
 Gilboa, as the scene of the death of Saul and Jonathan (2 Sam. i. 21). 
 
 15. making him] he made him, added in a tone of bitter reflection. 
 
vv. 17, t8; I.] JEREMIAH, XX. XXI. I47 
 
 And let him hear the cry in the morning, and the shout- 
 ing at noontide ; 
 Because he slew me not from the womb ; 17 
 
 Or that my mother might have been my grave, 
 And her womb to be always great with 77ie. 
 Wherefore came I forth out of the womb 18 
 
 To see labour and sorrow, 
 That my days should be consumed with shame ? 
 
 Chap. XXI. i — 7. ZidekiaUs appeal to the Prophet. His 
 reply ^ announcing the approaching capture of the city. 
 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, 21 
 
 16. cry\ lamentation^ of cities suffering the horrors of war. 
 
 shouting\ war-cry. 
 
 17. or thai\ Probably so that is the sense. The prophet is not 
 thinking of the possibility of that which he wishes, but simply of the 
 blessing which he would have felt it not to have lived, and so to have 
 escaped his present anguish. This is further explained in ver. 18. 
 
 In Jeremiah's conduct here and in the support given him now and 
 throughout the rest of his life "we should see the greatness of God's 
 grace, which raises again those who are stumbling to their fall, and does 
 not let God's true servants succumb under the temptation... And that 
 Jeremiah did indeed victoriously struggle against this temptation we may j 
 gather from remembering that hereafter, when, especially during the 
 siege of Jerusalem under Zedekiah, he had still sorer afflictions to endure, 
 he no longer trembles or bewails the sufferings connected with his 
 calling." Keil. 
 
 Chap. XXI. 1 — 7. Zedekiah's appeal to the Prophet. His 
 
 REPLY, announcing THE APPROACHING CAPTURE OF THE CITY. 
 
 1. The word which camel This commences a new division of the 
 whole book. The substance of the roll of chap, xxxvi. has been given in 
 the preceding chapters, while fragments of the same are doubtless in- 
 cluded in this portion. We here pass at once from the time of Jehoiakim 
 to that of Zedekiah the last king of Judah, and the occasion on which 
 (ver. 4) the city was attacked by the Chaldaeans (see Introd. chap. i. j 
 § 16). Zedekiah under these circumstances follows the example set by ' 
 Hezekiah towards Isaiah the great prophet of his time (2 Kings xix. 2) 
 and sends Pashur and Zephaniah to Jeremiah to ask for a declaration 
 of the future. The prophet replies in this and the three following 
 chapters to the effect that the successive crimes of kings, prophets 
 and priests, which he speaks of in detail, have secured for Judah the 
 unenviable fate now visibly at hand, while there appear however from 
 time to time gleams of brighter things. Chaps, xxi, xxii. describe the 
 sins of the successive kings, xxiii. i — 8 gives expression to Messianic 
 
 10 2 
 
148 JEREMIAH, XXI. [vv. 2—5. 
 
 when king Zedekiah sent unto him Pashur the son of Mel- 
 chiah, and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest, say- 
 
 2 ing, Inquire, I pray thee, of the Lord for us ; for Nebucha- 
 drezzar king of Babylon maketh war against us ; if so be 
 that the Lord will deal with us according to all his wondrous 
 
 3 works, that he may go up from us. Then said Jeremiah 
 
 4 unto them. Thus shall ye say to Zedekiah : Thus saith the 
 Lord God of Israel ; Behold, / will turn back the weapons 
 of war that are in your hands, wherewith ye fight against 
 the king of Babylon, and against the Chaldeans, which be- 
 siege you without the walls, and I will assemble them into 
 
 5 the midst of this city. And I myself will fight against you 
 
 hopes, xxiii. 9 — 40 sharply rebukes prophets and priests, xxiv. shews 
 under the similitude of baskets of figs the rottenness to which the State 
 has now under Zedekiah been reduced. 
 
 Pashur the son of Melchiah] See note on xx. i. 
 
 Zephaniah] (see also note on xx. i) mentioned again xxix. 25, xxxvii. 
 3, lii. 24. In this last place he is spoken of as "the second priest," 
 meaning, next to the high-priest in rank. He was one of those slain by 
 Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah. Both he (as we may gather from that fact) 
 and Pashur (chap, xxxviii. i, 4) belonged to the party who were for 
 refusing to recognize and submit to Nebuchadnezzar's overwhelming 
 power, and thus were politically hostile to Jeremiah. 
 
 the priest\ These words belong to Zephaniah not Maaseiah, as (chap. 
 i. i) "of the priests" to Jeremiah not Hilkiah. Compare xxii. 11. 
 
 2. Inquire^ I pray thee, of the Lord] not, Ask for His help, but, 
 Seek a revelation of the future. Compare the case of Josiah (2 Kings 
 xxii. 13). 
 
 Nebuchadrezzar] This is a nearer approach than Nebuchadnezzar to 
 the correct spelling of the word. Nabo-kudurri-uzur presents per- 
 haps the nearest sound in English writing. The meaning is very doubt- 
 ful, but it probably includes the name of the God Nebo. 
 
 his wondrous works] Zedekiah may have been induced by the some- 
 what similar circumstances above referred to in Hezekiah's reign, when 
 Isaiah was thus appealed to, to hope for a promise of miraculous deliver- 
 ance (2 Kings xix. 6, 7, 35, 36). 
 
 4. turn back] Those who are engaged outside the walls in trying 
 to baffle the Chaldaeans as they take up their positions for the siege, are 
 to be driven back by the foe into the city. 
 
 without the walls] These words are probably to be connected, not 
 with 'besiege,' but with 'fight.' 
 
 assemble them] gather the weapons together. 
 
 6. / myself] Not only shall the sword of the enemy devour you, 
 but also the pestilence. This was a visitation considered as coming most 
 direct from the hand of God. Compare 2 Sam. xxiv. 14. 
 
vv. 6— u.] JEREMIAH, XXI. 149 
 
 with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm, even in 
 anger, and in fury, and in great wrath. And I will smite 6 
 the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast : they shall 
 die of a great pestilence. And afterward, saith the Lord, 7 
 I will dehver Zedekiah king of Judah, and his servants, and 
 the people, and such as are left in this city from the pesti- 
 lence, from the sword, and from the famine, into the hand 
 of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and into the hand of 
 their enemies, and into the hand of those that seek their 
 life : and he shall smite them with the edge of the sword ; 
 he shall not spare them, neither have pity, nor have mercy. 
 
 8 — 1 4. Counsel to the people and the king. 
 
 And unto this people thou shalt say, Thus saith the 8 
 Lord ; Behold, I set before you the way of life, and the 
 way of death. He that abideth in this city shall die by the 9 
 sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence: but he 
 that goeth out, and falleth to the Chaldeans that besiege 
 you, he shall live, and his life shall be unto him for a prey. 
 For I have set my face against this city for evil, and not for 10 
 good, saith the Lord : it shall be given into the hand of the 
 king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with fire. And touch- " 
 
 with an outstretched hand and with a strong arm] The phrase is 
 suggested by Deut. where it occurs several times (iv. 34, v. 15, xxvi. 8). 
 
 7. and such] even such. The whole verse is as explicit as possible 
 in its assurance that none shall escape either the sword or submission to 
 the conqueror's pleasure. 
 
 8 — 14. Counsel to the people and the king. 
 
 8. the way of life, and the way of death] A somewhat similar ex- 
 pression in Deut. (xxx. 19) may probably have suggested these words to 
 Jeremiah. 'Life,' however, here does not mean prosperity, but the \ 
 mere avoidance of death. v 
 
 9. falleth to the Chaldeans] giveth himself up, not as an act of 
 treachery against his own countrymen (see xxxvii. 13, 14) but simply as 
 a means of saving his life. 
 
 for a prey] something snatched up hurriedly and borne away with hiui 
 rather than his secure possession. 
 
 10. / have set my face against this city] Compare xliv. 11, also 
 Amos ix. 4, where we have a similar phrase — to look closely at, to direct 
 the attention to. Hence, as the phrase itself is ambiguous, the words are 
 added, 'for evil and not for good.' 
 
 11. The counsel here given to the royal house seems not to have 
 
I50 JEREMIAH, XXI. XXII. [vv. 12—14; i- 
 
 ing the house of the king of Judah, say^ Hear ye the word 
 
 12 of the Lord. O house of David, thus saith the Lord ; 
 Execute judgment in the morning, and deliver him that is 
 spoiled out of the hand of the oppressor, lest my fury go 
 out like fire, and burn that none can quench //, because of 
 
 13 the evil of your doings. Behold, I am against thee, O in- 
 habitant of the valley, and rock of the plain, saith the 
 Lord ; which say, Who shall come down against us ? or 
 
 14 who shall enter into our habitations ? But I will punish you 
 according to the fruit of your doings, saith the Lord: and 
 I will kindle a fire in the forest thereof, and it shall devour 
 all things round about it. 
 
 Chap. XXII. i — 9. A further exhortation to amend. 
 22 Thus saith the Lord; Go down to the house of the king 
 
 formed part of Jeremiah's reply to the king's messengers at this time, but 
 to be the first section of that series of prophecies which, altered pro- 
 bably at different dates, are thus placed in a historical connexion by 
 Jeremiah himself or Baruch. This particular section (verses 11 — 14) 
 belongs to a time when there was still a possibility of escape by amend- 
 ment of life. 
 
 touching] as to. The word say, which follows, should be omitted. 
 It is a direct address from the prophet to the royal house of Judah. 
 
 12. Execute judgment i?t the morning] An important part of the 
 king's duties was personally to hear and adjudicate upon cases in the 
 open space at the city gate. Compare 2 Sam. xv. 2 — 4. 
 
 in the morning] probably, every morning, as the same Heb. ex- 
 pression means Amos iv. 4, and a similar one Ps. ci. 8 (" early" in Eng. 
 Vers.). It was the ordinary time for business, while it was still cool. 
 
 him that is spoiled] See chap. xx. 8 with note. 
 
 13. ijthabitant] The Heb. is inhabitress, i. e. the feminine used collec- 
 tively for the body of the inhabitants. See iv. 31, vi. 2, vii. 29, xiv. 17. 
 
 and rock] rock. The * and ' should be omitted. Jerusalem is called 
 
 both 'valley' and 'rock ' (compare xvii. 3 with note) because, although 
 
 it is lower than the surrounding mountains, yet the hills on which 
 
 it is built rise high above the plain. 
 
 r 14. the forest thereof] her forest, \.^. of Jerusalem. The expression 
 
 does not mean literal trees, of which there was nothing like a forest 
 
 I in the neighbourhood of the city, but denotes either the houses clustering 
 
 I together like a forest, or more generally, the beauty and grandeur 
 
 / of the place. Compare for the general sense note on Gilead, etc. chap. 
 
 ' xxii. 6 ; also Is. x. 34, where Sennacherib, king of Assyria, is likened 
 
 to "the thickets of the forests," and to ** Lebanon." 
 
 Chap. XXII. 1 — 9. . A further exhortation to amend. 
 \. Thus saith the Lord'\ This section is of the same general cba^ 
 
w. 2— 6.1 JEREMIAH, XXII. 15T 
 
 of Judah, and speak there this word, and say, Hear the 2 
 word of the Lord, O king of Judah, that sittest upon the 
 throne of David, thou, and thy servants, and thy people 
 that enter in by these gates: Thus saith the Lord; Execute 3 
 ye judgment and righteousness, and deliver the spoiled out 
 of the hand of the oppressor ; and do no wrong, do no 
 violence, to the stranger, the fatherless, nor the widow, nei- 
 ther shed innocent blood in this place. For if ye do this 4 
 thing indeed, then shall there enter in by the gates of this 
 house kings sitting upon the throne of David, riding in 
 chariots and on horses, he, and his servants, and his people. 
 But if ye will not hear these words, I swear by myself, saith 5 
 the Lord, that this house shall become a desolation. For 6 
 thus saith the Lord unto the king's house of Judah ; Thou 
 art Gilead unto me, and the head of Lebanon : yet surely I 
 
 racter as the four verses preceding it — exhortation mingled with threats 
 and promises. It is followed by remarks on Jehoahaz (10—12), Jehoia- 
 kim (13 — 19), and Jehoiachin (■24 — 30). Chaps, xxii — xxiv. were pro- 
 bably sent by Jeremiah in writing to king Zedekiah. They consist of 
 prophecies uttered from time to time, possibly now modified somewhat 
 in language, as they were thus re-issued, to suit the needs of the present 
 occasion. That they were not the utterance of the moment, e.g. that 
 when the words were originally uttered the siege was not yet in progress, 
 we gather from such notices as that of ver. 2, 'thou, thy servants, and 
 thy people that enter in by these gates' 
 
 Go down'] from the temple towards the king's house, which was on 
 lower ground. Compare xxxvi. 10 — 12. 
 
 2. these gates'] The prophet was probably to address the king sur- 
 rounded by his retinue in this place of public resort. See note on xxi. 12. 
 
 3. This evidently refers to the special crimes of Jehoiakim more fully 
 stated elsewhere. 
 
 do no wro77g] applying equally with *do no violence' to the words 
 which follow. The reference is to the king's oppression of his own 
 people in order to build himself sumptuous palaces and at the same 
 time pay tribute to Pharaoh- Nechoh. See verses 13 — 17; 2 Kings 
 xxiii. 35. 
 
 neither shed innocent blood] For the significance of this prohibition 
 as applied to Jehoiakim see xxvi. 20 — 23; 2 Kings xxiv. 4. 
 
 4. See notes on xvii. 25. 
 people] subjects. 
 
 5. shall become a desolation] A fire is what is threatened in the 
 parallel passage xvii. 27. 
 
 6. tinto] or, concerning. 
 
 Gilead unto nie^ and the head of Lebanon] 'And ' should be omitted. 
 
152 JEREMIAH, XXII. [vv. 7— lo. 
 
 will make thee a wilderness and cities which are not inhabi- 
 
 7 ted. And I will prepare destroyers against thee, every one 
 with his weapons : and they shall cut down thy choice 
 
 8 cedars, and cast them into the fire. And many nations shall 
 pass by this city, and they shall say every man to his neigh- 
 bour, Wherefore hath the Lord done thus unto this great 
 
 9 city ? Then they shall answer. Because they have forsaken 
 the covenant of the Lord their God, and worshipped other 
 gods, and served them. 
 
 10. Lament for yehoahaz. 
 
 10 Weep ye not for the dead, neither bemoan him : 
 
 The comparison is to the things that are most precious. Gilead was re- 
 markable for its balm (see notes on viii. 22), and for its flocks of goats 
 (Cant. iv. 1, vi. 5). Here however from the union of the word with 
 Lebanon the reference probably is to the woods of its hill country on 
 either side of the river Jabbok, which flowed through the midst of it. 
 The head of Lebanon will denote the forests (Ps. Ixxii. 16; Is. 
 xxxvii. 24) which crowned its highest parts. To these the king's palace 
 might well be likened (compare ver. 23). "It lay on the north-east- 
 ern eminence of Mount Zion, and contained the so-called forest-house 
 of Lebanon (i Kings vii. 2, etc.)." Keil. 
 
 / will make thee a wilderness] Jeremiah goes suddenly back from 
 figurative language to matter of fact. For this as one of his character- 
 istics see note on chap. vi. 3. 
 
 and cities'] cities. We should have expected city. The plural is 
 probably used because the palace of the king represented, and is there- 
 fore treated as equivalent to, the dwellings of the whole people through- 
 out the land. The desolating of the one involved that of the others. 
 
 7. prepare] sanctify. See note on vi. 4, and compare Is. xiii. 3 
 ("sanctified ones"), in both of which passages the Heb. word is the same 
 as here. 
 
 thy choice cedars] either the forest-house of Lebanon (see note on 
 ver. 6) or, better, the chief men of the state. 
 
 8, 9. The same language is used elsewhere of the land (Deut. xxix. 
 24 — 26) and of Solomon's Temple (i Kings ix. 8, 9). 
 
 8. every man to his neighbour] to one another. The text is a literal 
 rendering of a common Heb. idiom. 
 
 10. Lament for Jehoahaz. 
 
 10. This is the first of the sections which treat consecutively of the 
 three immediate predecessors of Zedekiah. The sense of the verse 
 is that even the fate of Josiah, who was slain in battle at Megiddo 
 1 2 Kings xxiii. 29), was preferable to that of his son and successor, who 
 
vv. II, 12.] JEREMIAH, XXII. 153 
 
 But weep sore for him that goeth away : 
 For he shall return no more, 
 Nor see his native country. 
 
 II, 12. The fate ofyeJioahaz is determined. 
 
 For thus saith the Lord touching Shallum the son of n 
 Josiah king of Judah, which reigned instead of Josiah his 
 father, which went forth out of this place ; He shall not 
 return thither any more : but he shall die in the place 13 
 whither they have led him captive, and shall see this land 
 no more. 
 
 was carried captive to Egypt only to die in that strange land (2 Kings 
 xxiii. 34). 
 
 Weep ye not for the dead'\ We know (2 Chron. xxxv. 25) that the 
 lamentations for Josiah came to be a fixed custom. 
 
 weep sore for him... no more'] This expression is applied also by 
 the Jews to one who dies childless, who cannot ' return ' (live again) in 
 his posterity, and thus has no hope of having the Messiah among his 
 direct descendants. See Edersheim's Sketches of Jewish Social Life, 
 p. 98. 
 
 11, 12. The fate of Jehoahaz is determined. 
 
 11. Shalhmi] The only other place where this name is given to a son 
 of Josiah is the genealogical list of i Chron, iii. 15. But there Shallum 
 appears as the fourth son, whereas we gather from the narrative in the 
 Kings that Jehoahaz, although younger than Jehoiakim, was about four- 
 teen years older than Zedekiah (2 Kings xxiii. 31, 36, xxiv. 18). Thus we 
 conclude that the Shallum mentioned in i Chron. is quite a distinct person, 
 not elsewhere spoken of, and there is some ground for believing that the 
 Johanan of that list = Shallum of this verse. Thus the name Shallum 
 would be that which he originally bore, Jehoahaz [the Lord shall help) 
 that which he assumed when made king, and Johanan (if indeed this be 
 the same person) a name {the Lord is gracious) assumed by or given 
 him on some other occasion. According to this last supposition the title 
 "first-born" given to Johanan in the list in Chronicles would express not 
 the literal fact but the legal position which was given him, and which may 
 have been either the cause or the consequence of his having precedence of 
 his elder brother Jehoiakim as regards the throne. Other hypotheses 
 to account for the name Shallum here are unlikely, e.g. (i) that it had 
 reference to the shortness of his reign, as alluding to Shallum king of 
 Israel, who was king for one month (2 Kings xv. 13), or (ii) that 
 it means the requited one (from the sense of the Heb. root), him whom 
 God had marked out for punishment. 
 
 kingoffzidah] referring to Shallum. See note on the priest xxi. i. 
 
 Jehoahaz had represented the anti- Egyptian policy, which Jeremiah 
 had always urged. (Hence his deposition by Pharaoh-Nechuh.) "This 
 
154 JEREMIAH, XXII. [w. 13—15. 
 
 13 — 23. Censure of Jehoiakim^ of whose crifnes captivity 
 was the result. 
 
 Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteous- 
 ness, 
 
 And his chambers by wrong ; 
 
 That useth his neighbour's service without wages, 
 
 And giveth him not/^r his work ; 
 
 That saith, I will build me a wide house, and large cham- 
 bers, 
 
 And cutteth him out windows ; 
 
 And it is cieled with cedar, and painted with vermilion. 
 
 Shalt thou reign, because thou closest thyself in cedar? 
 
 may account for the tenderness and pity with which Jeremiah speaks of 
 him in his Egyptian exile." Sm, Bibl. Diet. I. 967 b. 
 
 13 — 23. Censure of Jehoiakim, of whose crimes captivity 
 was the result. 
 
 13. that buildeth his house by unrighteousness'] Jehoiakim, as though 
 it were not enough to involve the land in a heavy tribute to the king of 
 Egypt, exacted forced labour from his own subjects that he might have 
 a sumptuous palace built for himself. 
 
 chambers'] upper chambers. The construction of these without such 
 aid as is afforded by modern appliances would naturally cause most 
 difficulty and so give rise to most dissatisfaction. 
 
 for his work] Ms hire. The Heb. word occurs in the same sense Job 
 vii. 2 ("work"), and another form of it Lev. xix. 13 ("wages"). 
 
 14. large] This, and not the marginal through-aired, is the right 
 rendering. 
 
 chambers] upper chambers. 
 
 cutteth him otit] The word in the Hebrew is the same as that trans- 
 lated "rentest" in iv. 30. As there it was used of the eyes of the body, 
 so here of those of the house, maketh wide. 
 
 windows] The Heb. word is unusual in its form, and it has been also 
 explained as my windows, or his windows, or windowy (i.e. an" 
 adjective, house being understood). 
 
 it is cieled] or, roofing it, by a slight change of one letter in the 
 original. 
 
 vermilion] the red sulphuret of mercury, or cinnabar. 
 
 15. Shalt thou reign] Dost thou expect that such a course will pro- 
 long thy reign? or, perhaps better. Dost thou think that to be a king 
 merely means self-indulgence? 
 
 closest thyself] vlest in cedar (palaces), or, according to others, ylest 
 •with the cedar, the same word as that rendered "contend" in xii. 5, 
 which is its natural sense. The context sufficiently suggests his ancestor 
 Solomon with his cedar-palaces as the person whom he sought to rival. 
 
vv. 16—19.] JEREMIAH, XXII. 155 
 
 Did not thy father eat and drink, 
 
 And do judgment and justice, 
 
 And then // was well with him ? 
 
 He judged the cause of the poor and needy; then // was 16 
 
 well with him: 
 Was not this to know me ? saith the Lord. 
 But thine eyes and thine heart are not but for thy covetous- 17 
 
 ness. 
 And for to shed innocent blood. 
 And for oppression, and for violence, to do it 
 Therefore thus saith the Lord concerning Jehoiakim the 18 
 
 son of Josiah king of Judah ; 
 They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah my brother ! 
 
 or, Ah sister ! 
 They shall not lament for him, saying, Ah lord! or, Ah 
 
 his glory. 
 He shall be buried with the burial of an ass, 19 
 
 thy father] Josiah. 
 
 16. Was not this to know me\ In choosing what was righteous he 
 shewed himself acquainted with the character of Him whose pleasure he 
 was doing. 
 
 17. covetousness] gain. This was sought (i) by oppression and forced 
 labour, (ii) by putting to death on false charges and seizing upon the 
 possessions of the victims. 
 
 innocent blood] See note on ver. 3. Jehoiakim "remained fixed in 
 the recollections of his countrymen, as the last example of those cruel, 
 selfish, luxurious princes, the natural product of Oriental monarchies, 
 the disgrace of the monarchy of David." (Stanley's Jewish Churchy il, 
 448). 
 
 18. Jehoiaknn] now at last mentioned by name. 
 
 Ah my brother!] the lamentation of relations shall be wanting. 
 
 Ah sister!] a general expression denoting the sorrow felt for the loss 
 of a near relation, and introduced here probably for the sake of the 
 parallelism. 
 
 Ah lord! or. Ah his glory] the lamentations of subjects and friends, 
 those outside his family. 
 
 19. bnriedwith the burial of an ass] i.e. as the succeeding words explain, 
 cast forth dishonotired. The fulfilment of this is not recorded. Theaccounts 
 of the time are very brief both in the Kings and Chronicles. For the 
 probable circumstances of the case see Introduction chap. i. § 13. The 
 assertion that Jehoiakim "slept with his fathers" (2 Kings xxiv. 6) does 
 not in any way clash with this passage or with the parallel one which 
 occurs later in this book (xxxvi. 30). The same is said of Ahab, although 
 dying in battle (i Kings xxii. 40) ; besides which the fact that Barucb 
 
156 JEREMIAH, XXII. [vv. 20—23. 
 
 Drawn and cast forth beyond the gates of Jerusalem. 
 Go up to Lebanon, and cry; and hft up thy voice in 
 
 Bashan, 
 And cry from the passages: 
 For all thy lovers are destroyed. 
 I spake unto thee in thy prosperity ; 
 But thou saidst, I will not hear. 
 This hath bee?i thy manner from thy youth, 
 That thou obeyedst not my voice. 
 The wind shall eat up all thy pastors. 
 And thy lovers shall go into captivity : 
 Surely then shalt thou be ashamed and confounded for 
 
 all thy wickedness. 
 O inhabitant of Lebanon, that makest thy nest in the 
 
 cedars, 
 How gracious shalt thou be when pangs come upon thee. 
 The pain as of a woman in travail. 
 
 included this among Jeremiah's prophecies at a date subsequent to 
 Jehoiakim's death shews that no difficulty as to the fulfilment was felt 
 then, when all the circumstances, whatever they may have been, were 
 still fresh in men's memories. 
 
 20. The prophet now, as an introduction to his lamentation over 
 the next king Jehoiachin (Coniah) bewails the consequences of the policy 
 of that king's father Jehoiakim. The people, under the figure of a woman 
 as on former occasions (see xxi. 13), is called upon to ascend the 
 heights which the Chaldaean hosts would successively pass in their ad- 
 vance southwards upon Jerusalem, viz. Lebanon in the north, the hills of 
 Bashan (Ps. Ixviii. 15, 16) in the north-east, and Abarim in the south- 
 east. 
 
 passages'] Abarim, a range of mountains to the south-east of Palestine. 
 One of them was Nebo, from which Moses viewed the land (Deut. 
 xxxii. 49). 
 
 thy lovers'] Egypt and the other nations, with whom many of the 
 people were disposed to unite against the Chaldaean power. They are 
 enumerated in xxvii. 3. 
 
 21. prosperity'] times of prosperity (literally, prosperities). 
 
 22. eat tcp'] depasture. There is a play intended on the word pastors 
 which follows. 
 
 pastors] See notes on ii. 8, and xvii. i6. Thy leaders, in whom thou 
 hast confidence, shall be borne away into exile by the wind of adversity. 
 
 23. inhabitant of Lebanon] in reference to the cedar palaces of the 
 king and his nobles. See ver. 6. 
 
 how gracious shalt thou be] how Shalt thou groan, or perhaps better, 
 bow pitiable shalt thou be. A difficult expression in the Hebrew. 
 
vv. 24—28.] JEREMIAH, XXII. 157 
 
 24 — 30. The judgment upon J ehoiaciiin. 
 
 As I live, saith the Lord, though Coniah the son of Je- 24 
 hoiakim king of Judah were the signet upon my right hand, 
 yet would I pluck thee thence ; and I will give thee into the 25 
 hand of them that seek thy life, and into the hand of them 
 whose face thou fearest, even into the hand of Nebuchadrez- 
 zar king of Babylon, and into the hand of the Chaldeans. 
 And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, 26 
 into another country, where ye were not born ; and there 
 shall ye die. But to the land whereunto they desire to 27 
 return, thither shall they not return. Is this man Coniah a 28 
 despised broken idol ? is he a vessel wherein is no pleasure ? 
 wherefore are they cast out, he and his seed, and are cast 
 
 24 — 30. The judgment upon Jehoiachin. 
 
 24. ConiaJi\ called also Jeconiah xxiv. i, xxvii. 20, xxviii. 4, xxix. 
 2; I Chron. iii. 16; Esth. ii. 6, and Jehoiachin lii. 31; 2 Kings xxiv. 6, 
 etc.; 2 Chron. xxxvi. 8, 9. All three names have the same sense, The 
 Lord will establish. The change to Jehoiachin, as in the case of his uncle 
 Jehoahaz (the Shallum of ver. 11), was probably made on his accession 
 to the throne. Here therefore Jeremiah calls him by his former name. 
 
 king of Jndah'\ shewing that it was during his reign that this section 
 of the prophecy was delivered. 
 
 signet] even though he were as dear as a precious stone, set by way of 
 seal in a signet ring, is to the owner. Jehoiachin's conduct, though not 
 directly mentioned here, is marked with sufficient clearness in 2 Kings 
 xxiv. 9, and Ezek. xix. 5 — 9, where he is likened to a young lion that 
 "devoured men" and "laid waste their cities." 
 
 26. thy mother] See note on xiii. 1 8, 
 
 and there shall ye die] He was detained in prison at Babylon for 
 thirty-six years, until released by Evil-Merodach, son and successor of 
 Nebuchadnezzar, who nevertheless retained him in a sort of honourable 
 captivity for the rest of his days (chap. lii. 31 — 34), which were pro- 
 bably not very many. At the end of two years Evil-Merodach himself 
 was slain. 
 
 27. desire] literally, are lifting tip their soul. 
 
 28. idol] vessel, a piece of earthenware cast out as useless. 
 
 and his seed] He was eighteen years of age, when he came to the 
 throne (2 Kings xxiv. 8). The number "eight" which stands in 2 Chron. 
 xxxvi. 9 is probably an error in transcription. Hence he may have had at 
 least one son at this time. The expression 'and his seed' may however be 
 quite a general one, implying merely that he is driven into exile, so as 
 not to have a son who shall rule after him. The bewailing of the 
 fate of Coniah seems from the following verse to be due rather to the 
 fact that thus the line of kings was cut off, than to any personal excel- 
 lence of his own. 
 
158 JEREMIAH, XXII. XXIII. [w. 29, 30; 1—3. 
 
 29 into a land which they know not ? O earth, earth, earth, 
 
 30 hear the word of the Lord. Thus saith the Lord, Write 
 ye this man childless, a man that shall not prosper in his 
 days : for no man of his seed shall prosper, sitting upon the 
 throne of David, and ruling any more in Judah. 
 
 Chap. XXI IL i — 4. A remnant shall return and un- 
 righteous be replaced by righteous rulers. 
 
 23 Woe be unto the pastors that destroy and scatter the 
 
 2 sheep of my pasture ! saith the Lord. Therefore thus saith 
 the Lord God of Israel against the pastors that feed my 
 people; Ye have scattered my flock, and driven them away, 
 and have not visited them: behold, I will visit upon you 
 
 3 the evil of your doings, saith the Lord. And I will gather 
 the remnant of my flock out of all countries whither I have 
 
 29. O earthy earth, earth] Compare for the repetition chap. vii. 4. 
 Here probably land would better give the sense. His country is to 
 have a lasting lesson impressed upon it. 
 
 30. Write ye'] addressed to those who kept a record of such things in 
 the family registers. 
 
 childless] In i Chron. iii. 17, etc. he appears to have had children, 
 and Salathiel (Matt. i. 12) is reckoned as his son. Salathiel was however 
 descended from David through his son Nathan (Lk. iii. -27 — 31) and 
 not through the line of the kings (Solomon, Rehoboam, etc.), and thus 
 was only counted to Jehoiachin (Jeconias of Matt. i. 12) according to 
 the legal not the natural line. It was thus at any rate true that no child 
 of Jehoiachin succeeded to the throne. 
 
 Chap. XXIII. 1 — 4. A remnant shall return and un- 
 righteous BE replaced by RIGHTEOUS RULERS. 
 
 1. Woe be unto the pastors] To the rebukes directed against indi- 
 vidual kings the prophet adds a few words in condemnation of those in 
 high places generally. 
 
 the pastors] Bhepherds (omitting the), rulers of the state as a whole. 
 See notes on ii. 8 and xvii. 16. 
 pasture] pastwing. 
 
 2. against] better, concerning. 
 
 scattered] by leading them into idolatry, as well as by literal scatter- 
 ing of them by exile, voluntary or forced, in Egypt or Babylon. 
 
 driven them a7oay] the very opposite of that which is an Eastern 
 shepherd's duty, viz. to go before his flock, leading them to pasture or 
 fold (Is. xl. II ; John x. 3, 4). 
 
 visited... visit upon] The twofold sense of the Hebrew word is kept 
 up in the English. Because the shepherds have not visited their flock 
 for good, they shall themselves be visited with punishment. 
 
vv. 4, 5-1 JEREMIAH, XXIII. 159 
 
 driven them, and will bring them again to their folds ; and 
 they shall be fruitful and increase. And I will set up shep- 4 
 herds over them which shall feed them : and they shall fear 
 no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall they be lacking, 
 saith the Lord. 
 
 5 — 8. Promise of the Messiah. 
 
 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will raise 5 
 unto David a righteous Branch, and a King shall reign and 
 prosper, and shall execute judgment and justice in the 
 
 3. I have driven] The deed with which the pastors were charged 
 in ver. 2 is here attributed to God. It was by His act that the people 
 were driven out, although it was brought about through the sins of their 
 rulers. 
 
 folds] pastures (but no connexion in the original with the word pasture 
 of ver. I ) ; the same word as that rendered pasturage in a note on chap, 
 vi. 2. Properly speaking it combines the sense of habitation and pas- 
 ture, and thus is specially suitable in a passage like this, where the people 
 are spoken of under the figure of a flock. See also note on xxv. 30. 
 
 4. lacking] missing, like sheep which in the absence of the shepherd 
 have become the prey of wild beasts. 
 
 6 — 8. Promise of the Messiah. 
 
 5. The mention of good shepherds serves as the introduction to one of 
 the few clear Messianic prophecies of Jeremiah. Besides this we have 
 xxxiii. 15 — 18, and less plainly xxx. 9, where see note. 
 
 the days come] The phrase, according to Jeremiah's employment of 
 it (compare ver. 7, xxx. 3, xxxi. 27, 31, 38, xxxiii. 14), implies a special 
 call to note the announcement thus introduced. In spite of the troubles 
 which are now gathering round them there are none the less surely days 
 of deliverance coming. 
 
 Branch] Germ, Sprout. The word [tsemach) is the same as that used 
 chap, xxxiii. 15, and in Zech. iii. 8 and vi. 12, and means rather that 
 which is immediately connected with the root, and contains as it were the 
 spring of life, which passes out from it downwards through the root and 
 upwards through the stem and branches. The word used in Is. xi. i on 
 the other hand inetzer) denotes bi'anch properly so called. Some have 
 sought to explain the word found in this place as used in a collective 
 sense (posterity generally). But although the word is often used col- 
 lectively of Uteral plants, yet in this passage it plainly points to an 
 individual Messiah, on whom the nation's hopes should rest. This is 
 proved by the words immediately following in this verse, as well as by 
 the passages in Zechariah just now adduced, where it is explicitly said 
 to have reference to an individual. 
 
 a King shall reign] or, he shall reign as King. 
 
 and prosper] and do wisely is a better rendering here. See notes on 
 X. 21 and XX. 11, 
 
i6o JEREMIAH, XXIII. [vv. 6-9. 
 
 6 earth. In his days Judah shall be saved, and Israel shall 
 dwell safely: and this is his name whereby he shall be called, 
 
 7 THE LORD OUR RIGHTEOUSNESS. Therefore be- 
 hold, the days come, saith the Lord, that they shall no 
 more say. The Lord liveth, which brought up the children 
 
 8 of Israel out of the land of Egypt ; but. The Lord liveth, 
 which brought up and which led the seed of the house of 
 Israel out of the north country, and from all countries 
 whither I had driven them ; and they shall dwell in their own 
 land. 
 
 9 — 14. Rebuke of Prophets and Priests. 
 
 9 Mine heart within me is broken because of the prophets ; 
 
 execute judgment and justice'] Exactly the same expression is used of 
 David, the ancestor of the Messiah, in 2 Sam. viii. 15. 
 
 6. Israel shall dwell safely] a reminiscence of Deut. xxxiii. 28. 
 safely] securely. 
 
 he shall be called] Because the name that follows is in xxxiii. 16 given 
 to Jerusalem, some few commentators have tried to make it refer to 
 * Israel ' here. But the general sense of the passage is quite opposed to 
 such a view. The Messiah's work shall be indicated by the name that 
 He is to bear. 
 
 The Lord our Righteousness] Jehovah Tsidkenu is the Heb. If we 
 render as the Eng. Vers., we may assign either of two senses to the 
 name ; (i) the Messiah is called Lord and also our righteousness, be- 
 cause through His merits and death we are justified from sin; (ii) He by 
 Whom the Lord grants us righteousness, just as in xxxiii. 16 Jerusalem, 
 as representing the repentant and restored Church, is called by the 
 same name, as being that through which the Lord will work righteous- 
 ness. In either case the Messiah is spoken of as Mediator between 
 God and man, and therefore as joining in Himself the natures of both. 
 A preferable rendering however is that proposed by Bp, Thirlwall 
 {Re?nains, ill. p. 471), on the analogy of Jehovah-Shammah (marginal 
 for "The Lord is there," Ezek. xlviii. 35), The Lord is our Righteous- 
 ness. In this way either, as here, the Messiah, or, as there, Jerusalem- 
 is called by a name implying " that in the Messianic times Jehovah is to 
 be the righteousness of Jerusalem, to bestow righteousness upon her 
 with all its attendant blessings." Compare Ps. xlvi. 5; Is. xlv. 24; 
 Rev. xxi. 3, 4. 
 
 7, 8. These verses have already occurred with but slight differences 
 as xvi. 14, 15. There they served to throw a gleam upon the dark 
 prospect of captivity, here they seem to have been introduced by the 
 prophet in order to connect the national restoration with Messianic hopes. 
 
 9—14. Rebuke of Prophets and Priests. 
 
 9. because of the prophets] This should rather come as the introduc- 
 
7. lo— 13.] JEREMIAH, XXIII. i6i 
 
 All my bones shake ; 
 
 I am like a drunken man, 
 
 And like a man whom wine hath overcome, 
 
 Because of the Lord, and because of the words of his 
 
 holiness. 
 For the land is full ^adulterers ; lo 
 
 For because of swearing the land mourneth ; 
 The pleasant places of the wilderness are dried up, 
 And their course is evil, and their force is not right. 
 For both prophet and priest are profane ; n 
 
 Yea, in my house have I found their wickedness, saith the 
 
 Lord. 
 Wherefore their way shall be unto them as slippery ways 12 
 
 in the darkness : 
 They shall be driven on, and fall therein : 
 For I will bring evil upon them, even the year of their 
 
 visitation, saith the Lord. 
 And I have seen folly in the prophets of Samaria ; 13 
 
 tion to the section, Concerning the prophets. The Hebrew would 
 indeed bear the sense which the Eng. Vers, gives, but the other is the 
 preferable rendering, as the prophet's reason for being heart-broken is 
 given elsewhere in the verse ('because of the Lord,' etc.). 
 
 the words of his holiness'] the words which He in the holiness of 
 His nature had put forth concerning the wicked doings of the false 
 prophets. 
 
 10. adulterers'] viz.: — the false prophets. The word may be em- 
 ployed here in the secondary sense of idolatry which it often bears in Jere- 
 miah, as even those who professed to be prophets of the true God may 
 have been guilty in this manner, 
 
 swearing] violation of the third Commandment in any ioxva.. 
 
 mourneth] referring very possibly to the drought of Josiah's days, and 
 thus determining approximately the date of the first utterance of this 
 section of the prophecy. 
 
 not right] See note on chap. viii. 6. 
 
 11. in my house have I found their wickedness] Here again it is uncer- 
 tain whether the wickedness was like that of Eli's sons, or such idolatry 
 as we know was practised in Manasseh's time and later within the Tem- 
 ple precincts (2 Kings xxi. 5, xxiii. 12). 
 
 12. ways] or, places. Ps. xxxv. 6 was probably in the prophet's 
 mind here. 
 
 driven on] thrust down. 
 
 even the year of their visitation] See note on xi. ■23. 
 
 13. folly] literally, that which is tasteless, hence irrational, an 
 
 JEREMIAH I I 
 
i62 JEREMIAH, XXIII. [vv. 14—16. 
 
 They prophesied in Baal, 
 
 And caused my people Israel to err. 
 
 14 I have seen also in the prophets of Jerusalem a horrible 
 
 thing : 
 They commit adultery, and walk in lies : 
 They strengthen also the hands of evildoers. 
 That none doth return from his wickedness : 
 They are all of them unto me as Sodom, 
 And the inhabitants thereof as Gomorrah. 
 
 15 — 32. Rebuke of the Prophets continued. 
 
 15 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts concerning the 
 prophets ; Behold, I will feed them with wormwood, and 
 make them drink the water of gall : for from the prophets 
 of Jerusalem is profaneness gone forth into all the land. 
 
 16 Thus saith the Lord of hosts. Hearken not unto the words 
 of the prophets that prophesy unto you : they make you 
 
 epithet naturally applied to idolatry, an idol being "nothing in the 
 world " (i Cor. viii. 4). See notes on i. 16, ii. 5. 
 
 prophets of Samarid\ They were simply idolaters, who made no 
 secret of their belief or practice. The prophets of Jerusalem on the 
 other hand were thoroughly immoral besides. 
 
 in Baal] i.e. in his name. For Baal see note on ii. 8. 
 
 14. / have seen also] But I have seen. There is a contrast intended 
 between the prophets of the two places. 
 
 They comtnit adultery, and walk in lies] more literally, committing 
 adultery and walking in falsehood. 
 
 They strengthen] by their indifference to good as well as by their direct 
 encouragement of evil. 
 
 are] are become. 
 
 all of them] all the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 
 
 thereof] of Jerusalem. 
 
 16—32. Rebuke of the Prophets continued. 
 
 15. Behold, I will ] The language is identical with that of 
 
 ix. 15, where however the reference is lo the people as a whole. 
 
 will feed] am feeding. 
 
 ivormwood] Compare Deut. xxix. 18; Prov. v. 4; Lam. iii. 15. 
 Wormwood '* belongs to the genus Artemisia, a genus of the Composite 
 family, of which there are many species... They are generally of a hoary 
 aspect and of a strong aromatic odour, and all have a strong bitter 
 taste." J. Smith's History of Bible Plants, pp. ^6, 67. 
 
 water of gall] See note on chap. viii. 14. 
 
vv. 17— 20.] JEREMIAH, XXIII. 163 
 
 vain : they speak a vision of their own heart, and not out 
 of the mouth of the Lord. They say still unto them 17 
 that despise me, The Lord hath said. Ye shall have peace ; 
 and they say u7ito every one that walketh after the imagina- 
 tion of his own heart, No evil shall come upon you. For 18 
 who hath stood in the counsel of the Lord, and hath per- 
 ceived and heard his word? who hath marked his word, 
 and heard it ? Behold, a whirlwind of the Lord is gone 19 
 forth i?t fury, even a grievous whirlwind : it shall fall 
 grievously upon the head of the wicked. The anger of 20 
 
 16. make you vain] deceive you with vain hopes, speak peace to 
 those who are going on still in wicked courses. Compare next verse. 
 This is a test whereby the false may be distinguished from the true 
 prophet. 
 
 of their own heart] devised by themselves, the heart being considered 
 as the seat of the intellect. Hence the expression does not mean, in 
 accordance with their own wishes, however true that was. 
 
 17. still] continually. 
 
 The Lord hath said] The Heb. is an expression which does not else- 
 where introduce the words of the Lord. It therefore seems to be here 
 used by Jeremiah as characteristic of the false prophets. 
 
 tmto every one] more literally, as to every one, 
 
 imagination] stubbornness. See iii. 17. 
 
 18. who hath stood] meaning, that at any rate these ya!/j-(f prophets 
 had not done so. 
 
 counsel] faf?iiliar intercotcrse. 
 
 and hath perceived and heard] rather, that he should perceive and 
 hear. 
 
 who hath marked his xvord] who hath marked my word ? The Heb. 
 has both readings, but the latter, as being less likely to be substituted 
 by a copyist for the former, is preferable. The sudden change of person 
 ('heard his word... marked my word'} in such cases is far from rare in 
 the prophets. Their personality was, so to speak, identified for the time 
 with Him who spoke through them. 
 
 19. a whirlwind ] a tempest. 
 
 in fury] rather, even fury, an explanation of tempest. 
 
 a grievous whirhvitid] a whirling tefupest. The last word is virtually 
 the same in the Heb. (differing only in gender) with that rendered 'tem- 
 pest ' above. There is no authority for inserting the word ' grievous ' in 
 the Eng. Vers. 
 
 shall fall grievously] literally, shall whirl, the same word in the 
 Heb. as ' whirling ' above. 
 
 Dreams were of course actually sent from time to time from God (i.e. 
 Gen. XX. 3, xxxi. 24; Numb. xii. 6; i Kings iii. 5, etc.). Another kind 
 of test therefore, by which to recognise the true prophet, was required, 
 and this and the next verse give us the sort of message which the false 
 
 II — 2 
 
i64 JEREMIAH, XXIII. [v v. 21— 27. 
 
 the Lord shall not return, until he have executed, and 
 till he have performed the thoughts of his heart : in the 
 
 21 latter days ye shall consider it perfectly. I have not sent 
 tJiese prophets, yet they ran : I have not spoken to them, yet 
 
 22 they prophesied. But if they had stood in my counsel, and 
 had caused my people to hear my words, then they should 
 have turned them from their evil way, and from the evil of 
 
 23 their doings. Am I a God at hand, saith the Lord, and 
 
 24 not a God afar oft"? Can any hide himself in secret places 
 that I shall not see him? saith the Lord. Do not I fill 
 
 25 heaven and earth? saith the Lord. I have heard what the 
 prophets said, that prophesy lies in my name, saying, I 
 
 26 have dreamed, I have dreamed. How long shall this be in 
 the heart of the prophets that prophesy lies ? yea, they are 
 
 27 prophets of the deceit of their own heart ; which think to 
 cause my people to forget my name by their dreams which 
 
 prophets never thought of bearing, and by which therefore a true pro- 
 phet might be known. The two verses occur again with slight changes 
 chap. XXX. 23, 24. 
 
 20. the latter days] in after time, when punishment shall have 
 given you spiritual insight, probably not, as the phrase sometimes means, 
 in the days of the Messiah. 
 
 consider] understand. 
 
 21. ran] were eager to act as though in my name, thrust themselves 
 into an office to which they have not been called. 
 
 22. 7ny counsel] See ver. 18. 
 
 and had caused] then they would have caused. 
 
 then they should have turned] and would have turned. 
 
 23. a God at hand] Do ye think that my knowledge is subject to 
 human limitations, so that false prophets may escape my sight ? 
 
 24. Can any] Or can any. 
 
 25. I have dreamed, I have dreamed] These were the words with 
 which they caught the ear of the crowd, and so gained a sure hearing for 
 their pretended revelations. 
 
 26. How long shall this be...] This and the following verse consist 
 rather of two questions, the first being broken off short and the second 
 undergoing in the middle a change of construction. How long (shall 
 this state of things continue) ? Is it in the mind of the prophets that pro- 
 phesy falsehood and the prophets of the deceit of their heart — do they 
 think to make fny people forget my name by their dreams which they de- 
 clare every man to his neighbour, as their fathers forgot my name by 
 (reason of) Baal? 
 
 How long] For a question thus broken off compare xiii. 27; 
 Ps. vi. 3, xc. 13; Is. vi. II. 
 
vv. 28—32.] JEREMIAH, XXlII. 165 
 
 they tell every man to his neighbour, as their fathers have 
 forgotten my name for Baal. The prophet that hath a 28 
 dream, let him tell a dream ; and he that hath my word, let 
 him speak my word faithfully. What is the chaff to the 
 wheat ? saith the Lord. Is not my word like as a fire ? 29 
 saith the Lord ; and hke a hammer that breaketh the rock 
 in pieces ? Therefore behold, I a?n against the prophets, 30 
 saith the Lord, that steal my words every one from his 
 neighbour. Behold, I ajfi against the prophets, saith the 31 
 Lord, that use their tongues, and say. He saith. Behold, I 32 
 
 27. eveiy man to his neighbourl one to another, each prophet to those 
 who will listen. 
 
 for Baal'\ by [reason of) Boat, as above. As idolatry of that form had 
 led earlier generations astray, so pretended revelations were doing the 
 same work now. 
 
 28. Mere dreams and the truth of God are to be kept asunder. 
 faithfully'\ in tr'uth. 
 
 What is the chaff to the wheat?] God's word contains nourishment 
 and life. Other words are but as chaff, or rather straw. 
 
 29. This verse, while adding other characteristics of God's word, viz. 
 penetration and power, forms at the same time a suitable introduction to 
 the threatenings against the false prophets that follow. 
 
 tike as afire] literally, thtcs — like afire. Thus is to call attention 
 to the figure that follows. The true word of God consumes all that 
 cannot abide the test, and breaks down the most stony resistance. For 
 this last characteristic of it, though from a somewhat different point of 
 view, compare xx. 8, 9. 
 
 30. Imitation of the phrases of the true prophets, and the unautho- 
 rised use or even fabrication of dreams to suit their purpose, are the 
 two features of the false prophets' teaching brought out in these three 
 verses. 
 
 / am against] I am tipon, I am even now descending upon them 
 with punishment (and so in next verse). 
 
 steal my words] They have themselves no revelation to impart, 
 and therefore proclaim as their own that which has been said by 
 others. Inasmuch as the words which they thus steal are God's, those 
 others from whom they thus steal will include the prophets of God, in 
 whose mouths those words formed a coherent and true testimony, as 
 well as other false prophets, who had previously appropriated and marred 
 these fragments of actual rfevelation. 
 
 31. use] literally, take. The tongue is the only weapon which they 
 have to use. 
 
 He saith] This phrase, borrowed from the true prophets, will, they 
 expect, help their sayings to pass as genuine. 
 
 By the side of the Party of the Nobles "perhaps opposed to them, 
 perhaps allied with them, in that strange combination which often 
 
i66 JEREMIAH, XXIII. [vv. 33—36. 
 
 am against them that prophesy false dreams, saith the Lord, 
 and do tell them, and cause my people to err by their lies, 
 and by their lightness ; yet I sent them not, nor commanded 
 them : therefore they shall not profit this people at all, saith 
 the Lord. 
 
 Ty^i — 40. The eternal disgrace of false Prophets and Priests. 
 
 33 And when this people, or the prophet, or a priest, shall ask 
 thee, saying, What is the burden of the Lord ? thou shalt then 
 say unto them, What burden ? I will even forsake you, saith 
 
 34 the Lord. And as for the prophet, and the priest, and the 
 people, that shall say. The burden of the Lord, I will even 
 
 35 punish that man and his house. Thus shall ye say every 
 one to his neighbour, and every one to his brother. What 
 hath the Lord answered? and. What hath the Lord 
 
 36 spoken ? And the burden of the Lord shall ye mention no 
 
 brings together, for purposes of political or religious animosity, parties 
 themselves most alien to each other, was the great body of the Sacer- 
 dotal, and even of the Prophetic order. There were those who directly 
 lent themselves to magical rites... who recited the old prophetic phrases, 
 often careless of what they meant." Stanley's y. Ch. ii. 438. 
 
 32. t]ierefore'\ or simply and. 
 
 33—40. The eternal disgrace of false Prophets and 
 Priests. 
 
 33. What is the burden'] The word burden, meaning in the prophets 
 a saying of weight concerning some approaching trouble, would be used 
 jestingly by such persons as are here described. "What new prophecy 
 hast thou for us to hear? At any rate we will warrant it to be a mourn- 
 ful one." 
 
 What burden .?] If the Ileb. reading of which this is a translation be 
 the right one, these two words are repeated by the prophet from the 
 question, in order that he may reply in the words that follow (keeping up 
 the thought oiburden)^ "I will even forsake you, or rather, I will even 
 cast you away {disburthen myself of you)." It is very possible however 
 that we should read Ye are the burden, in which case the words that 
 follow have even more point. This reading is obtained merely by a 
 different division of the words in the Heb., and does not involve any 
 change of letters. 
 
 35. For the future the actual utterances of the Lord are alone to be 
 sought. 
 
 answered] when the people have sought counsel. 
 spokeii] without such enquiries. 
 
 36. the burden of the Lord shall ye men I ion no more] ' ' The very 
 name of the 'burden of the Lord,' which had summed up the burnin9[ 
 
vv. 37— 4o; I.] JEREMIAH, XXIII. XXIV. 167 
 
 more : for every man's word shall be his burden ; for ye 
 have perverted the words of the living God, of the Lord of 
 hosts our God. Thus shalt thou say to the prophet, What 37 
 hath the Lord answered thee? and, What hath the Lord 
 spoken ? But sith ye say. The burden of the Lord ; there- 38 
 fore thus saith the Lord ; Because you say this word, The 
 burden of the Lord, and I have sent unto you, saying, Ye 
 shall not say, The burden of the Lord ; therefore behold, 39 
 I, even I, will utterly forget you, and I will forsake you, and 
 the city that I gave you and your fathers, and cast you out 
 of my presence : and I will bring an everlasting reproach 40 
 upon you, and a perpetual shame, which shall not be for- 
 gotten. 
 
 Chap. XXIV. i — 10. The two baskets of Figs. 
 The Lord shewed me, and behold, two baskets of figs 24 
 
 thoughts of Amos and Isaiah, was to be discontinued altogether." 
 Stanley's J. Ch. ii. 445. 
 
 every mail's word shall be his burden] every man's burden shall be 
 his (use of the) word. He who has jokingly enquired after the 'burden 
 of the Lord' shall find that those lightly spoken words of his are in 
 very deed the heaviest load to bear. 
 
 perverted'^ used jestingly, twisted from their solemn purpose. 
 
 38. sith'] if. See also note on xv. 7. 
 
 39. will utterly forget you] The Heb. may also be rendered, will 
 assuredly take you up (make you a burden). In either case there is 
 certainly a play on the word for burden, which cannot be reproduced in 
 English. 
 
 forsake] cast away. This saves us from the necessity of supplying 
 with the Eng. Vers, 'and cast you' in the clause that follows. 
 and cast you out of] from. 
 
 Chap. XXIV. 1 — 10. The two baskets of Figs. 
 
 1. The Lord shewed me] This section of the message sent to 
 Zedekiah (see notes on xxi. 1) is limited in its reference to the circum- 
 stances of that king's own reign. 
 
 two baskets of figs] The meaning of the vision is given with sufficient 
 clearness in the subsequent verses. It was probably directed against a 
 feeling which somewhat naturally arose in the minds of the people who 
 had not been carried away in Jehoiakim's captivity, and who might con- 
 trast themselves favourably with those who had been thus removed. To 
 them God here says that the real contrast is exactly the reverse of that 
 which they suppose. Of the good and evil figs, the latter represent such 
 as have failed to draw any improvement from the fate which has over- 
 taken their brethren, while those who have been carried off" to Babylon 
 
i68 JEREMIAH, XXIV. [vv. 2-5. 
 
 were set before the temple of the Lord, after that Nebu- 
 chadrezzar king of Babylon had carried away captive 
 Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, and the 
 princes of Judah, with the carpenters and smiths, from Jeru- 
 
 2 salem, and had brought them to Babylon. One basket had 
 very good figs, even like the figs that a?'e first ripe : and the 
 other basket had very naughty figs, which could not be 
 
 3 eaten, they were so bad. Then said the Lord unto me, 
 What seest thou, Jeremiah ? And I said, Figs ; the good 
 figs, very good ; and the evil, very evil, that cannot be eaten, 
 
 4 they are so evil. Again the word of the Lord came unto 
 
 5 me, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel ; Like 
 these good figs, so will I acknowledge them that are carried 
 away captive of Judah, whom I have sent out of this place 
 
 shall yet be the subjects of God's love and grace. "With the exiles 
 there are indeed some of the choicest spirits of the nation ; Ezekiel, and 
 Daniel (Dan. i. i) with his three companions." Stanley's y. Ch. 11. 459. 
 Both the baskets contained fruit that had been gathered, and whose 
 ripening time was therefore over, but here their likeness ceased. So both 
 classes of the people, the exiles and those who for the time remained, 
 had had their period of probation, but with results that on the whole 
 differed essentially. 
 
 wgre set] set. 
 
 Nebuchadrezzar] See note on xxi. i. 
 
 JeconiaH] See note on xxii. 24. 
 
 carpenters] ■workmen. 
 
 2. the figs that are first ripe] The proper time for gathering figs in 
 Palestine is in August. Certain kinds of trees, however, bear twice in 
 the year, in which case the first crop, ripening in June, are esteemed a 
 special delicacy. See Hos. ix. jo; Mic. vii. i ; Nah. iii. 12. 
 
 naughty] The word "in modern usage is almost confined to the 
 nursery, but in its original sense it is frequent in old writers. 
 
 * A na7tghty fellow, a seditious fellow; he maketh trouble and rebellion 
 in the realm; he lacketh discretion.' Latimer, Sermons, p. 240. 
 
 'So shines a good deed in a naughty world.* 
 
 SHAKEsrEARE, Maxh. ofVcn. v. i." 
 
 Eastwood and Wright's Bible Word-Book. 
 
 "The bad figs may have been such either from having decayed and 
 thus been reduced to a rotten condition, or as being the fruit of the 
 sycamore, which contains a bitter juice." See Tristram's Nat. Hist, of 
 the Bible, p. 399. 
 
 6. so ivilCl ackno7vlcdge] As one looks with pleasure on good fruit, 
 so will I look upon. 
 
vv. 6— lo.] JEREMIAH, XXIV. 169 
 
 into the land of the Chaldeans for their good. For I will 6 
 set mine eyes upon them for good, and I will bring them 
 again to this land : and I will build them, and not pull 
 the77i down ; and I will plant them, and not pluck them up. 
 And I will give them a heart to know me, that I am, the 7 
 Lord : and they shall be my people, and I will be their 
 God : for they shall return unto me with their whole heart. 
 And as the evil figs, which cannot be eaten, they are so 8 
 evil ; surely thus saith the Lord, So will I give Zedekiah the 
 king of Judah, and his princes, and the residue of Jerusalem, 
 that remain in this land, and them that dwell in the land 
 of Egypt : and I will deliver them to be removed into all 9 
 the kingdoms of the earth for their hurt, to be a reproach 
 and a proverb, a taunt and a curse, in all places whither I 
 shall drive them. And I will send the sword, the famine, 10 
 and the pestilence, among them, till they be consumed 
 from off the land that I gave unto them and to their 
 fathers. 
 
 fo7' their good\ belongs to 'acknowledge,' not to 'have sent.' This is 
 shewn by such passages as ver. 6, chap. xxi. 10; Neh. v. 19; Amos 
 ix. 4. 
 
 6. eyes\ eye. 
 
 7. a heart to hiow me] The last verse announced their restoration 
 to their land. The building and planting there spoken of are shewn 
 to mean more than such a restoration. They shall be restored in a 
 spiritual sense also, purified in heart by their adversity. 
 
 /or] or, when. 
 
 8. them that dwell in the land of Egypt] This may have reference 
 only to Jews who accompanied Jehoahaz when he was carried off by 
 Pharaoh-nechoh (2 Kings xxiii. 34), or may indicate to us that others 
 during the subsequent reigns also took refuge there, as being a kingdom 
 opposed to the Babylonian power. 
 
 9. to be removed] for dismay. See note on xv. 4, where the same 
 Heb. word is rendered a terror. The verse is the substance of Deut. 
 xxviii. 25, 37. 
 
 10. The fresh captivity shall be preceded by the same horrors as 
 before. Those who are represented by the evil figs were thus, still 
 dwelling in the land, to be wasted by famine, pestilence and sword, 
 while, notwithstanding the return of many from Babylon, the nation 
 should thenceforward have its representatives living in exile through- 
 out 'the kingdoms,' to be 'a reproach and a proverb, a taunt and 
 a curse.' 
 
170 JEREMIAH, XXV. [vv. 1—3. 
 
 Chap. XXV. i — 7. The long-continued Disobedience of the 
 People. 
 
 25 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the 
 people of Judah in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son of 
 Josiah king of Judah, that was the first year of Nebuchad- , 
 
 2 rezzar king of Babylon ; the which Jeremiah the prophet 
 spake unto all the people of Judah, and to all the inhabi- ' 
 
 3 tants of Jerusalem, saying, From the thirteenth year of 
 Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, 
 that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the Lord 
 
 Chap. XXV. 1 — 7. The long-continued Disobedience of the 
 People. 
 
 1. The word that came] The reply of the prophet to Zedekiah's 
 message, comprised in the last four chapters, has come to an end. Ac- 
 cordingly we here return to a prophecy delivered during the time of 
 Jehoiakim. It extends throughout the chapter. The latter part of 
 ver. 13 however ("even all that... all the nations") is obviously an addi- 
 tion made on the occasion of its being added, perhaps by the prophet 
 himself, perhaps by Baruch, to the collection of his prophecies. The 
 object of this prophecy is to point out (i) the cause of the coming over- 
 throw of Judah (verses 1 — 7), (ii) Babylon's victory and subsequent ruin 
 (8 — 14), (iii) the wine-cup of God's fury to be drunk by all nations 
 from Egypt to the Eastern kingdoms [Elam, Media and Babylon (15 — 
 ^9)]> (iv) the judgment to come upon all peoples of the earth (30 — 38). 
 
 in the fourth year] Up to this period of Jeremiah's life we have not 
 any prophecy so closely dated as the present. Compare chap. iii. 6 and 
 xxvi. r ("In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim"). The addition 
 of the year of Nebuchadrezzar serves to mark still more forcibly the fact 
 that it was a turning-point in history (see Introduction, chap. i. § 12). 
 The prophecy seems to have been delivered about 605 B.C., between 
 the news of the victory of Nebuchadrezzar at Carchemish and the 
 arrival of the Chaldaean army under the walls of Jerusalem. The main 
 objects of the prophet were to point out the sins of the past, and to give 
 advice for the future. That advice was to accept the result of the battle 
 of Carchemish, to yield to Babylon as the power which God had ap- 
 pointed to bear rule over Palestine and the other kingdoms for the next 
 seventy years, and to seek comfort at the same time from the know- 
 ledge that the enemy, whose authority the king and many of his people 
 were so reluctant to recognise, would have his day and then in his turn 
 perish, while brighter fortunes should dawn upon the people of God. 
 
 2. spake tmto all the people] Thus Ave see that the time had not yet 
 arrived, when Jeremiah was unable through fears for his life to go into 
 any public place. See chap, xxxvi. i, 5, 26. 
 
 3. the three and twentieth year] Josiah reigned thirty-one years, and 
 it was in the thirteenth year of that king (chap. i. 1) that Jeremiah was 
 
w. 4— 9-] JEREMIAH, XXV. i7t 
 
 hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising 
 early and speaking ; but ye have not hearkened. And the 4 
 Lord hath sent unto you all his servants the prophets, rising 
 early and sending tJmn ; but ye have not hearkened, nor 
 inclined your ear to hear. They said, Turn ye again now 5 
 every one from his evil way, and from the evil of your 
 doings, and dwell in the land that the Lord hath given unto 
 you and to your fathers for ever and ever : and go not after 6 
 other gods to serve them, and to worship them, and provoke 
 me not to anger with the works of your hands ; and I will 
 do you no hurt. Yet ye have not hearkened unto me, saith 7 
 the Lord ; thatjj'^ might provoke me to anger with the works 
 of your hands to your own hurt. 
 
 8 — 14. Babylon's Victory and subsequent Ruin, 
 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts ; Because ye 8 
 have not heard my words, Behold, I will send and take 9 
 all the famihes of the north, saith the Lord, and Nebuchad- 
 rezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will bring them 
 
 called. He therefore prophesied for eighteen or nineteen years in that 
 reign. To this we are to add the reign of Jehoahaz (three months), and 
 more than three years of Jehoiakim. 
 
 rising early and speaking] See note on vii. 13. 
 
 4. all his servants the prophets'] The people's wickedness was aggra- 
 vated yet further by the fact that the call to repentance and amendment 
 had come not from Jeremiah only, but from many other accredited 
 messengers of God. Compare vii. 13, -25, xxxv. 15. 
 
 5. They said] more literally, Saying. 
 
 for ever and ever] literally, from everlasting to everlasting. The 
 otherwise absolutely permanent character of that which they are for- 
 feiting by their iniquity is strongly brought out by the expression. 
 
 7. wo7'ks of your hands] idols. Described thus in contempt also 
 xxxii. 30 (where see note). The expression is probably taken from Deut. 
 xxxi. 29. In each case 'works' is literally w^r/^, and here only is it 
 made plural in Eng. Vers. 
 
 8 — 14. Babylon's Victory and subsequent Ruin. 
 
 9. the families of the north] For these see chap. i. 14, 15. 
 
 families] races ascribing their descent to the same ancestor. Of these 
 there would be many in the Babylonish empire. For this use of the 
 word, as wider than that in which it is more familiar to us, see notes on 
 iii. 14, and compare viii. 3. 
 
 and Nebuchad7-ezzar] and to Nebuchadrezzar, thus depending not on 
 take but on / will send. 
 
 my servant] so called also in xxvii. 6 and xliii. 10. Compare Ezek. 
 xxix. 19, 20 ("because they wrought for me, saith the Lord God"). 
 
172 JEREMIAH, XXV. [vv. 10—12. 
 
 against this land, and against the inhabitants thereof, and 
 against all these nations round about, and will utterly 
 destroy them, and make them an astonishment, and a 
 
 10 hissing, and perpetual desolations. Moreover I will take 
 from them the voice of mirth, and the voice of gladness, 
 the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, 
 the sound of the millstones, and the light of the candle. 
 
 11 And this whole land shall be a desolation, and an astonish- 
 ment ; and these nations shall serve the king of Babylon 
 
 12 seventy years. And it shall come to pass, when seventy 
 years are accomplished, that I will punish the king of 
 Babylon, and that nation, saith the Lord, for their iniquity, 
 
 an astonishment'\ a destruction. Compare v. 30 with note. 
 a hissing, and perpetual desolations'] See note on xviii. 16, and com- 
 pare xix. 8. 
 
 10. the voice of mirth...] Compare vii. 34 with note. Here men- 
 tion of the millstones and of the candle (lamp) is added, to increase the 
 force of the warning. Not only all sign of mirth, but also of domestic 
 labour and social cheer, should vanish. See the same description 
 somewhat amplified in Rev. xviii. 22, 23. 
 
 11. a desolation, and an astonishment] See ver. 9. 
 
 seventy years] This may mean (i) the duration of the Babylonish 
 empire, or (ii) the length of the Jewish captivity in Babylon : (ii) is 
 clearly the sense in xxix. 10. Here however (i) is rather suggested by 
 the words ' these nations. ' Either period can easily be shewn to have 
 been adout 70 years. 
 
 (i) The successive Sovereigns and the lengths of their reigns were 
 Nebuchadnezzar 44 years, Evil-Merodach 2 years, Neriglissor 4 years, 
 Nabonedus 17 years, in all 67 years. To this is to be prefixed the year 
 that intervened between the capture of Jerusalem by Nebuchadnezzar 
 and the death of his father Nabopolassar. 
 
 (ii) In this case the captivity will have to be reckoned, not from the 
 deportation of Jehoiachin's time (2 Kings xxiv. 14 — 16), but from (605 
 B.C.) the 4th year of Jehoiakim ("the third year" Dan. i. i — 3) to 
 (536 B.C.) the liberation under Cyrus. 
 
 In either case it is quite sufficient to make an approximation to the 
 number seventy. The Jewish love for round numbers and especially 
 for one so significant in symbolism, as having for its elements seven and 
 ten, would cause the number seventy to their ears when used in such a 
 connexion to stand for any number not differing by much from that 
 amount. This must accordingly have been a deeply marked occasion for 
 Jeremiah, when he learnt, as we may suppose for the first time, that 
 there was no hope for those who like himself had come to anything 
 like mature years, that they would see the end of the exile that was now 
 at hand. 
 
vv. 13—15.] JEREiMIAH, XXV. 173 
 
 and the land of the Chaldeans, and will make it perpetual 
 desolations. And I will bring upon that land all my words 13 
 which IJiave pronounced 3iE2iinstJi ^even all that is wr itten 
 in thisbook^which Jeremiah hath prophesied against all 
 tlre-rrationsTFor many nations and great kings shall serve m 
 themselves of them also: and I will recompense them 
 according to their deeds, and according to the works of 
 their own hands. 
 
 15 — 30. T/ie Wine-cup of God's fury is to be drunk by all 
 the natio7is. 
 
 For thus saith the Lord God of Israel unto me ; Take 15 
 
 , 13. even all that is written in this book, which yeremiah hath pro- 
 phesied against all the nations'] At this point there presents itself one of 
 the most marked discrepancies between the Septuagint Version of Jere- 
 miah and the Hebrew. (See Introduction, chap. iii. §§ 8 — 12.) The 
 Greek Version ends the sentence with "in this book," and for the rest 
 reads "What Jeremiah prophesied against the nations. Elam." Upon 
 which follows what with us appears as chap. xlix. 35 — 39, and then the 
 other prophecies against foreign nations including Babylon, which in 
 the Heb. text (and Eng. Vers.) come at the end of the whole Book 
 (chaps, xlvi. — li.). This fact, coupled with the expression which Jere- 
 miah hath prophesied, an expression hardly likely to have been used 
 by Jeremiah himself, has suggested to some that the arrangement in the 
 Septuagint may be closer to the form in which Jeremiah at first at any 
 rate arranged his writings. One or two other omissions in the Greek, 
 as compared with the Heb. of these verses ("and to Nebuchadrezzar," 
 see note on ver. 9, "thekingof Babylon...andthelandof the Chaldeans," 
 ver. 12), have been thought to point in the same direction. According to 
 this view then the words 'which (what) Jeremiah hath prophesied against 
 all the nations' will stand as the immediate introduction to those pro- 
 phecies, that still follow upon this passage in the Septuagint; while ver. 
 14, not occurring in that Version, will be a marginal note or gloss, after- 
 wards inserted as such notes often were by a copyist in the text, and 
 intended to account for the preceding words, now that the detailed pro- 
 phecies which they originally introduced had been withdrawn. 
 
 14. shall serve themselves of them also] The pronoun thefn in the 
 Heb. is repeated for the sake of emphasis, and refers to the Chaldaeans. 
 Their punishment shall be severe. As they have done to the people of 
 God, so shall He requite them. The same sentiment is expressed in 
 the prophecy specially directed against Babylon, but written some years 
 later, chap. 1. 29, li. 24. 
 
 15 — 30. The Wine-cup of God's fury is to be drunk by all 
 the nations. 
 
 15. For thus saith] In this section we have the rapid enumeration 
 
174 JEREMIAH, XXV. [vv. 16—19. 
 
 the wine cup of this fury at mine hand, and cause all the 
 16 nations, to whom I send thee, to drink it. And they shall drink, 
 
 and be moved, and be mad, because of the sword that I will 
 '7 send among them. Then took I the cup at the Lord's hand, 
 
 and made all the nations to drink, unto whom the Lord 
 18 had sent me : to wit, Jerusalem, and the cities of Judah, 
 
 and the kings thereof, and the princes thereof, to make 
 
 them a desolation, an astonishment, a hissing, and a curse ; 
 iQ as // is this day ; Pharaoh king of Egypt, and his servants, 
 
 of those kingdoms which should be involved with the Jews in the over- 
 throw. 
 
 the wine ctip of this fury] more literally, this wine-cup, namely fury. 
 The likening of disaster to a bitter draught is frequent in the Bible. 
 See chaps, xlix. 12, li. 7 ; Job xxi. 20 ; Ps. Ix. 3, Ixxv. 8 ; Is. li. 17, 22 ; 
 Ezek. xxiii. 31 ; Hab. ii. 15 ; Rev. xiv. 8, xvii. 4, xviii. 3. 
 
 16. be moved] reel. 
 
 be mad] The words mean, behave as madmen. Their dismay at the 
 horrors of war shall be so great, that they will have the bearing of men 
 drunken or insane. 
 
 the sword] Here Jeremiah, as so often, returns suddenly from figure 
 to fact. See for other instances Introd. chap. ii. 8 {d). 
 
 17. Then took I the cup] not however in any literal sense, just as the 
 cup was not a literal cup, but along with its contents a figurative ex- 
 pression for the wrath of God as manifested in a national subjugation. 
 Hence the view, which has been maintained, that Jeremiah presented 
 a cup of actual wine to the ambassadors of these various powers, as- 
 sembled, according to this hypothesis, for counsel in Jerusalem, may be 
 dismissed, as utterly improbable. The figure was sufficiently carried out 
 by the proclamation of God's message in Jerusalem, whence it might be 
 conveyed to the other nations united by a common danger. 
 
 18. We may perceive a certain system (south to north) in the enume- 
 ration. After Jerusalem and Judah the prophet takes in order the 
 furthest south (Egypt), south-east (Uz), south-west (Philistines), east 
 (Edom, etc.), west (Tyre, etc.), east and northwards (Dedan, etc. to the 
 Medes), and finally the north far and near (ver. 26). 
 
 ki7igs] For the use of the plural see note on xix. 3. 
 a desolation...] See notes on v. 30 and xviii. 16. 
 as it is this day] may well be an insertion of Jeremiah's after the 
 fulfilment of the prophecy. 
 
 19. Pharaoh] a name belonging not to an individual but (compare Cesar 
 and Czar) to the monarch as such. The word is no doubt Coptic, more 
 or less altered in shape by its transmission to us through Hebrew. Accord- 
 ing to the latest view it = great house (compare SublitJte Porte), while 
 others have thought it to be either (i) from PI = the definite article and 
 OURO = king, or (ii) PI RA = sun-god, whom the king of Egypt repre- 
 sented. (For authorities see SchafT's Through Bible Lands, p. 91.) 
 
vv. 20—23-] JEREMIAH, XXV. 175 
 
 and his princes, and all his people ; and all the mingled 20 
 people, and all the kings of the land of Uz, and all the 
 kings of the land of the Philistines, and Ashkelon, and 
 Azzah, and Ekron, and the remnant of Ashdod : Edom, 21 
 and Moab, and the children of Ammon, and all the kings 22 
 of Tyrus, and all the kings of Zidon, and the kings of the 
 isles which are beyond the sea, Dedan, and Tema, and Buz, 23 
 
 20. the mingled people] This phrase, which occurs alsover. 24, seems 
 to mean in general those who without being connected by blood with the 
 nation had for one reason or other attached themselves to it (compare 1. 
 37). Some have thought that here there is a particular reference to merce- 
 nary troops from Ionia and Caria, whom Psammetichus, father of Pharaoh- 
 nechoh, had hired. This however is probably too limited a reference. 
 
 and all the kings of the land of Uz\ The Septuagint Version omits 
 these words, and it has been supposed that it did so, as knowing that 
 Uz lay much too far north to be introduced at this part of the enumera- 
 tion. On the contrary however Uz appears (Lam. iv. 21) to have been 
 in the neighbourhood of Idumaea, and therefore not far from Egypt. 
 
 and Ashkelon] even Ashkelon. 
 
 Azzah] Gaza, which is the ordinary spelling, although that adopted 
 here (and in Deut. ii. 23 ; i Kings iv. 24) is perhaps nearer the Heb. 
 
 the remnant of Ashdod] For twenty-nine years Psammetichus pressed 
 the siege of Azotus without intermission, till finally he took the place 
 (Rawl. Herod, II. 157). The coincidence is very remarkable between 
 what we might have gathered as the likely result of such a protracted 
 siege followed by capture and the expression here ' the remnant of Ashdod.' 
 If we compare this list of Philistine towns with earlier ones (Josh, 
 xiii. 3 ; I Sam. vi. 17) we notice that Gath is here wanting, as it is also 
 Amos i. 7, 8 ; Zeph. ii. 4 ; and Zech. ix. 5, 6. It is not apparently 
 as belonging to Judah that it is omitted in these places, for thougli 
 taken by David (i Chron. xviii. i) it recovered independence afterwards 
 (i Kings ii. 39). The reason therefore probably is that it was no longer 
 a separate kingdom. 
 
 22. Tyrus] This form in place of Tyre is found in the Eng. Vers, 
 of Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Hosea, Amos, Zechariah, besides the Apocryphal 
 Books of Esdras, Judith and Maccabees. 
 
 Zidon] the ordinary form of the name in the O. T. Compare xxvii. 3, 
 xlvii. 4. Sidon however, which as the Greek form is that which occurs 
 in the N. T., we find also in Gen. x. 15, 19. The similar usage in the 
 name Zion (Sion) may be compared. 
 
 isles] more literally, inhabited places. The word is used however 
 most commonly of the places which were, roughly speaking, west of 
 Palestine, and thus it had special reference to the islands of the Grecian 
 Archipelago. 
 
 23. Dedan] a tribe descended from Abraham by his wife Keturah 
 (Gen. XXV. 3) and dweUing S.E. of Edom. Their caravans maintained 
 a trade between Tyre and Arabia (Ezek. xxvii. 15, 20). 
 
176 JEREMIAH, XXV. [vv. 24-26. 
 
 24 and all that are in the utmost corners, and all the kings 
 of Arabia, and all the kings of the mingled people that 
 
 25 dwell in the desert, and all the kings of Zimri, and all the 
 
 26 kings of Elam, and all the kings of the Medes, and all the 
 kings of the north, far and near, one with another, and all 
 the kingdoms of the world, which are upon the face of the 
 earth: and the king of Sheshach shall drink after them. 
 
 Te7nd\ descendants of Ishmael (Gen. xxv. 15). 
 Buz\ See Gen. xxii. 21. Elihu was a Buzite (Job xxxii. 2). 
 all that are in the utmost corners] For a more correct rendering see 
 note on ix. 26, and for the persons referred to here xlix. 28, 32. 
 
 24. Aradia] the part near Palestine. 
 the mingled people] See note on ver. 20. 
 
 25. Zimri] This name as that of a people occurs here only. It is 
 commonly connected with Zimran, son of Abraham by Keturah (Gen. 
 xxv. 2). A people of similar name are said to have occupied a terri- 
 tory between Arabia and Persia. This would agree with the context 
 here. 
 
 Elam] Persia. 
 
 26. all the kings of the north] put thus vaguely, as dwelling beyond 
 the ken of the Israelitish nation. 
 
 which are upon the face of the earth] This would not suggest to the 
 Jewish ear, as it does to us, the thought of absolutely universal dominion 
 on the part of Babylon. This we see from such passages as Dan. ii. 38, 
 iv. 22, where the sense intended to be conveyed cannot be in accordance 
 with the sound of the words taken literally. 
 
 king of Sheshach] Sheshach has been taken by some as equivalent to 
 Hur ( Ur), a city containing a very celebrated temple of the moon-god, 
 whose name, as it can be shewn, was, or might have been, read in one 
 of the ancient dialects of Babylon as Shishaki (Rawl. Herod, i. p. 505, 506). 
 This is however improbable. Sheshach is xz\.htx = Babel (Babylon) in 
 accordance with a secret (Kabalistic) system of writing dating from an 
 unknown antiquity among the Jews. This system took different forms, 
 of which this (called Atbash) consists in substituting the last letter of the 
 Heb. alphabet for the first, the last but one for the second and so oh. 
 Sh Sh Ch will on this principle take the places of B B L. This is con- 
 firmed by li. 41, where Sheshach and Babylon occur in parallel clauses. 
 Another instance of this is seen in li. i, where the Heb. (Le B Ka Ma Y) 
 for "the midst of them that rise up against me" becomes, when thus 
 transmuted, CaSDI]VI = Chaldaeans, which is the actual rendering of 
 the Septuagint. They however omit the whole clause in the present 
 passage and the word Sheshach in li. 41. If that word be intended to 
 be significant in itself as well and not to be merely a transmutation of 
 Babel, it will mean either (i) a mass of people or buildings, or (ii) a 
 sinking, downfall, in which case li. 64 will contain an allusion to this 
 name. 
 
vv. 27-31.] JEREMIAH, XXV. i77 
 
 Therefore thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of 27 
 hosts, the God of Israel ; Drink ye, and be drunken, and 
 spue, and fall, and rise no more, because of the sword 
 which I will send among you. And it shall be, if they 28 
 refuse to take the cup at thine hand to drink, then shalt 
 thou say unto them. Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; Ye 
 shall certainly drink. For lo, I begin to bring evil on the 29 
 city which is called by my name, and should ye be utterly 
 unpunished ? Ye shall not be unpunished : for I will call 
 for a sword upon all the inhabitants of the earth, saith the 
 Lord of hosts. Therefore prophesy thou against them all 30 
 these words, and say unto them, 
 
 30 — 38. The judgment to come upon all the peoples of the 
 earth. 
 
 The Lord shall roar from on high. 
 
 And utter his voice from his holy habitation ; 
 
 He shall mightily roar upon his habitation ; 
 
 He shall give a shout, as they that tread the grapes^ 
 
 Against all the inhabitants of the earth. 
 
 A noise shall come even to the ends of the earth ; 31 
 
 shall drink after then{\ The turn of Babylon shall itself come to 
 perish. 
 
 28, 29. Resistance is vain. If God's own people suffer, much more 
 the heathen. 
 
 30 — 38. The judgment to come upon all the peoples of 
 
 THE earth. 
 
 30. The Lord shall roar] The figure in this section is that of a lion 
 coming forth from his covert, and terrifying by his approach the shep- 
 herds and their flocks. There is no escape and the slain cover the 
 earth. 
 
 upon Ms habitation] against his pasture. The word in the Heb. is the 
 same as in xxiii. 3, where see note. It is important that it should not 
 be rendered habitation here with the Eng. Vers., as it is contrasted in 
 sense with the 'holy habitation,' heaven, of the previous clause, and means 
 the land of the chosen people. 
 
 a shotit] literally, a vintage shout, derived from a root meaning to tramp, 
 and alluding to the cry with which the treaders of the grapes used to 
 animate their toil. We see however that the word might also mean 
 a battle shout. Compare li. 14 for its use as against Babylon. 
 
 31. A noise'] The word denotes a sound like the trampling of a 
 multitude such as an army. It is variously rendered in the Eng. Vers. 
 
 JEREMIAH 12 
 
178 JEREMIAH, XXV. [vv. 32—34. 
 
 For the Lord hath a controversy with the nations, 
 
 He will plead with all flesh ; 
 
 He will give them that are wicked to the sword, saith the 
 
 Lord. 
 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
 Behold, evil shall go forth from nation to nation. 
 And a great whirlwind shall be raised up from the coasts 
 
 of the earth. 
 And the slain of the Lord shall be at that day 
 From one end of the earth even unto the other end of the 
 
 earth : 
 They shall not be lamented, neither gathered, nor buried; 
 They shall be dung upon the ground. 
 Howl, ye shepherds, and cry ; 
 And wallow yourselves in the ashes, ye principal of the 
 
 flock: 
 For the days of your slaughter and of your dispersions 
 
 are accomplished. 
 And ye shall fall like a pleasant vessel. 
 
 Is. xiii. 4, **a tumultuous nohe ',''* Is. xvii. 12, " the /v/j/^m^ of nations... 
 like the riishmg of mighty waters;" Hosea x. 14, ** Therefore shall 
 a tumult arise ;" Amos ii. 2, " Moab shall die with tumult.''^ 
 
 hath a controversy .. .will plead with'] See note on ii. 9, 35. We 
 have here the same two Heb. verbs and in the same order. In the former 
 clause therefore God is as it were the prosecutor and in the latter the 
 judge, will give judgment. 
 
 he will give them that are wicked] literally, (as for) the wicked he will 
 give them. Thus the object of the verb is made more emphatic. 
 
 32. luhirlwind] tempest, as in xxiii, rg. 
 
 33. the slain of the Lord] Yox the phrase compare Is. Ixvi. 16. 
 
 34. wallow yourselves in the ashes] See note on vi. 26. Roll [tipon 
 the ground) is the probable meaning here, the words *in the ashes' 
 being added apparently only because they occur in the Heb. of the 
 other passage. 
 
 principal of the flock] not equivalent with 'shepherds,' although 
 parallel to it in the construction, but rather, chief among the sheep, 
 V ealthy ones of the people, whose rank and riches avail nothing now. 
 
 and of your dispersions] The Heb. is difficult in point of grammar. 
 The best rendering seems to be, And I will disperse you. Accordingly 
 the words ' are accomplished ' will refer to ' the days of your slaughter ' 
 only. 
 
 like a pleasant 7'essel] In order not to change the figure so abruptly, 
 which however is quite in keeping with Jeremiah's style, it has been 
 proposed to alter the Heb. reading slightly for the purpose of rendering 
 
vv. 35— 38; I-] JEREMIAH, XXV. XXVI. 179 
 
 And the shepherds shall have no way to flee, 35 
 
 Nor the principal of the flock to escape. 
 
 A voice of the cry of the shepherds, 36 
 
 And a howling of the principal of the flock, shall he heard: 
 
 For the Lord hath spoiled their pasture. 
 
 And the peaceable habitations are cut down 37 
 
 Because of the fierce anger of the Lord. 
 
 He hath forsaken his covert, as the lion : 38 
 
 For their land is desolate 
 
 Because of the fierceness of the oppressor, 
 
 And because of his fierce anger. 
 
 Chap. XXVL i — 6. A few words of solemn warnings 
 
 addressed to the people collectively. 
 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of 26 
 
 like chosen rams. Even with the new reading however there is a diffi- 
 culty in translating thus, and to this we may add that the figure of a 
 vessel in such a connexion has been already used by Jeremiah (chap, 
 xxii. 28). Here a vessel of fragile material by a fall and consequent 
 fracture suddenly ceases to be of any value. 
 
 36. shall be heard'] These words are best omitted. Thus we shall 
 better get the force of the prophet's exclamation, which is in fact the 
 cry which he has called upon them (ver. 34) to make and which he already 
 hears. 
 
 hath spoiled] spoileth. 
 
 37. habitations] better, pastures. The Heb. word is not however 
 exactly the same as in ver. 30. 
 
 cut down] better, put to silence. See notes on viii. 14, where the 
 Heb. verb is the same. These pastures so lately abounding in flocks 
 are now silent ; in other words the country is denuded of its inhabitants. 
 
 38. He hath forsaken his covei-t] a repetition of the figure with 
 which the section opened. The Lord is gone forth in wrath to lay waste. 
 
 the fierceness of the oppressor] Owing to the word rendered 'oppres- 
 sor ' being scarcely found elsewhere except as an adjective in the expres- 
 sion "oppressing sword" (xlvi. 16 and 1. 16), a reading which by a slight 
 alteration of the Heb. text we may obtain here, that reading has been 
 adopted by some. The (Latin) Vulgate renders the Heb. word above 
 referred to in its more ordinary sense of a dove, and it has accordingly 
 been supposed that the Babylonian army bore such a device on their 
 standards. This however is little more than conjectural. On the whole 
 there seems no necessity to alter the reading of the Heb. text. 
 
 Chap. XXVL 1 — 6. A few words of solemn warning, 
 
 ADDRESSED TO THE PEOPLE COLLECTIVELY. 
 
 1. In the beginning of the reign of J ehoiakim] For a discussion of the 
 
 T2 2 
 
i8o JEREMIAH, XXVI. [w. 2— 6. 
 
 Josiah king of Judah came this word from the Lord, saying, 
 
 2 Thus saith the Lord ; Stand in the court of the Lord's 
 house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come 
 to worship in the Lord's house, all the words that I com- 
 
 3 mand thee to speak unto them ; diminish not a word : if so 
 be they will hearken, and turn every man from his evil way, 
 that I may repent me of the evil, which I purpose to do 
 
 4 unto them because of the evil of their doings. And thou 
 shalt say unto them. Thus saith the Lord ; If ye will not 
 hearken to me, to walk in my law, which I have set before 
 
 5 you, to hearken to the words of my servants the prophets, 
 whom I sent unto you, both rising up early, and sending 
 
 6 them^ but ye have not hearkened ; then will I make this 
 house like Shiloh, and will make this city a curse to all 
 the nations of the earth. 
 
 question, whether these verses are a summary of chaps, vii. — x,, see note 
 at the beginning of chap. vii. This chapter as a whole gives us a rapid 
 sketch of the circumstances under which Jeremiah had delivered himself 
 of the prophecies that went before. The more definite he had become 
 in his warnings, the more he excited the wrath of the false prophets and 
 of those who sided with them ; and now that he had explicitly announced 
 (xxv. 11) a seventy years' captivity, their indignation boiled over, and 
 they sought to compass his death. From the contents of this chap, 
 then we can realize better under what conditions and with what courage 
 the prophet continued his forecastings of definite calamity in the chapters 
 which follow. 'The beginning' will naturally denote some date earlier 
 than the fourth year of Jehoiakim's reign, when the crisis came 
 about, and Jeremiah was no longer listened to nor tolerated (chap. 
 xxxvi.). 
 
 2. the court of the Lord's house'] probably the outer court, as that in 
 which the people would assemble; so chap. xix. 14. The spot may 
 have been the same as that occupied by Baruch when he read the roll 
 (xxxvi. ro). 
 
 diminish not a 7vord] "Ye shall not add unto the word which I 
 command you, neither shall you diminish ought from it," was the com- 
 mand given through Moses to Israel (Deut. iv. 2; compare xii. 32). 
 Here of course the temptation was only in the way of suppression, 
 through natural shrinking from the danger involved in honest discharge 
 of duty. 
 
 5. rising' up early, and sending] For this phrase see note on vii. 
 
 13- 
 
 6. Shiloh] See note on vii. \i. 
 
 will 7nake this city a curse to] will subject it to the curses, will make 
 it vile in the sight, of all nations. So in chap. xxiv. 9. 
 
vv. 7— lo.] JEREMIAH, XXVI. i8i 
 
 7 — 15. Impeachment of Jeremiah by the priests and prophets 
 before the princes and people. His defence. 
 
 So the priests and the prophets and all the people heard 7 
 Jeremiah speaking these words in the house of the Lord. 
 Now it came to pass, Avhen Jeremiah had made an end 8 
 of speaking all that the Lord had commanded him to speak 
 unto all the people, that the priests and the prophets and 
 all the people took him, saying. Thou shalt surely die. 
 Why hast thou prophesied in the name of the Lord, saying, 9 
 This house shall be like Shiloh, and this city shall be de- 
 solate without an inhabitant? And all the people were 
 gathered against Jeremiah in the house of the Lord. 
 When the princes of Judah heard these things, then they 10 
 came up from the king's house unto the house of the Lord, 
 
 7—15. Impeachment of Jeremiah by the priests and 
 prophets before the princes and people. his defence. 
 
 7. prophets] The Septuagint, in order to make the sense clearer, 
 renders the Heb. here, as in verses 8, 11 and 16, *7^/j<f prophets." 
 
 8. The reverence in which the people held one who, as they had 
 reason to believe (in spite of their desire to think the contrary), was a 
 prophet of God, is here incidentally shewn. No one ventured to lay 
 hands on him till he had finished his address. 
 
 Thoti shalt surely die] That prophet, who spoke without God's com- 
 mand, was according to the Mosaic Law (Deut. xviii. 20) to be put to 
 death. The charge against Jeremiah then was of this nature, and the 
 alleged proof, that it was impossible in the nature of things that such a 
 calamity could be allowed to happen to the people of God. 
 
 9. all the people were gathered against] all the people were gathered 
 unto. The people were not universally against Jeremiah, and therefore 
 the words all the people in ver. 8 are not to be taken as implying more 
 than that a large following accompanied the priests and prophets. In 
 ver. 1 6 on the other hand we find **all the people" on Jeremiah's side. 
 
 10. the princes of Judah] The position and powers of these persons 
 are not quite clear. They have been thought to be the heads of promi- 
 nent houses in the tribes, which had a sort of hereditary jurisdiction first 
 from local influence in their country abodes, and afterwards, when on 
 account of the dangers and disturbances incidental to a country life in 
 these troublesome times they had removed to Jerusalem. Their em- 
 ployment in high offices about the court and the constantly increasing 
 weakness of the monarchy would help them to the further acquisition of 
 such power as we find them here exercising. After the return from the 
 captivity the Sanhedrin succeeded to their powers, and held them in a 
 more precisely defined form. 
 
 came up] See xxii. i ("go down "}. 
 
i82 JEREMIAH, XXVI. [vv. ii— 16. 
 
 and sat down in the entry of the new gate of the Lord'^ 
 
 11 house. Then spake the priests and the prophets unto the 
 princes and to all the people, saying, This man is worthy to 
 die ; for he hath prophesied against this city, as ye have 
 
 12 heard with your ears. Then spake Jeremiah unto all the 
 princes and to all the people, saying, The Lord sent me to 
 prophesy against this house and against this city all the 
 
 13 words that ye have heard. Therefore now amend your 
 ways and your doings, and obey the voice of the Lord your 
 God ; and the Lord will repent him of the evil that he 
 
 14 hath pronounced against you. As for me, behold, I a77i in 
 your hand: do with me as seemeth good and meet unto 
 
 15 you. But know ye for certain, that if ye put me to death, 
 ye shall surely bring innocent blood upon yourselves, and 
 upon this city, and upon the inhabitants thereof: for of 
 a truth the Lord hath sent me unto you to speak all these 
 words in your ears. 
 
 16 — 24. Result of the trial. Cases of Micah and Urijah. 
 
 16 Then said the princes and all the people unto the priests 
 
 the entry of the new gate of the Lord's house'] literally, the door of the 
 new gate of the Lord. Such a place as this was the ordinary one for 
 trials. This particular gate was in all probability that built by Jotham 
 (2 Kings XV. 35). 
 
 11. This man is worthy to die] literally, A sentence of death is due to 
 this man. 
 
 hath prophesied against this city] Compare for the scene and thought 
 Acts vi. 12, 13. 
 
 as ye have heard with your ears] This is addressed to the people only, 
 as they (ver. 7) and not the princes had been actually present at Jeremiah's 
 address. 
 
 12. Jeremiah's defence is that the message is from God and there- 
 fore true. Let his accusers beware, lest in putting him to death they 
 be really fighting against God. Compare Gamaliel's language as to 
 the Apostles (Acts v. 39). 
 
 13. yo7ir ways and your doings] See note on vii. 3. 
 
 15. of a truth] St Thomas Aquinas {Summ. Theol.) points to 
 Jeremiah's words here as an illustration of the firmness of conviction 
 which in the main sustained the prophets in their trying and dangerous 
 calling. 
 
 16—24. Result of the trial. Cases of Micah and Urijah. 
 
 16. The princes and people, not being prejudiced as were Jeremiah's 
 accusers, gave a fair decision. "The nobles, reckless and worldly 
 
vv. 17—19.] JEREMIAH, XXVI. 183 
 
 and to the prophets ; This man is not worthy to die : for he 
 hath spoken to us in the name of the Lord our God. Then '7 
 rose up certain of the elders of the land, and spake to all 
 the assembly of the people, saying, Micah the Morasthite ^s 
 prophesied in the days of Hezekiah king of Judah, and 
 spake to all the people of Judah, saying, Thus saith the 
 Lord of hosts ; 
 
 Zion shall be plowed h'^e a field, 
 
 And Jerusalem shall become heaps. 
 
 And the mountain of the house as the high places of a 
 forest. 
 
 Did Hezekiah king of Judah and all Judah put him at 19 
 all to death? did he not fear the Lord, and besought the 
 Lord, and the Lord repented him of the evil which he had 
 
 as they were, with a deeper sense of justice than his fanatical 
 assailants, solemnly acquitted him." Stanley, y. Ch. They perceived 
 from his words and manner that he was, as he gave himself out to be, 
 a prophet of God, counselling reformation, and warning of its necessity. 
 This man is 7tot worthy to die\ literally (compare ver. 11), No sentence 
 of death is due to this man. 
 
 17. the elders of the land'\ "The elders of Israel" appear as early 
 as Exod. iii. 16. Their action in civil procedure we gather from Ruth 
 iv. 2, etc. The involuntary homicide had to make out his case to the 
 satisfaction of the elders of the city of refuge, before being admitted. 
 The institution of elders was continued among the Ten Tribes in their 
 separation (i Kings xx. 7). It has been conjectured that as the princes 
 represented the king in judgment, so the elders represented the people, 
 adding their assent to the previously expressed decision. 
 
 18. Micah (better, Micaiah) the Moras thitel oneof the Minor Prophets, 
 who prophesied in the days of Jotham, Ahaz and Hezekiah. The passage 
 here quoted as uttered in the days of the last-named king agrees verbatim 
 with Mic. iii. 12. 
 
 Morasthite'] native of Moresheth, a place by Eusebius and St 
 Jerome identified with Morasthi, a small village east of Eleutheropolis, 
 where the prophet's tomb had once been shewn. This however had dis- 
 appeared in St Jerome's time. 
 
 19. Did Hezekiah... put him at all to death?] The words of Micah 
 had been to the full as harsh-sounding as any that had been uttered by 
 Jeremiah. The precedent supplied by the case of the former prophet 
 therefore, the elders argue, is in favour of him who is now attacked. 
 
 besought] The Heb. is literally stroked the face of; and so in Exod. 
 xxxii. 11; X Sam. xiii. 12. We are not elsewhere told that Hezekiah's 
 prayers were in direct connexion with the prophecy of Micah. There is 
 however no difficulty in the way of our accepting the testimony of these 
 elders, that it was so. 
 
i84 JEREMIAH, XXVI. [vv. 20—24. 
 
 pronounced against them? Thus inight we procure great 
 
 20 evil against our souls. And there was also a man that 
 prophesied in the name of the Lord, Urijah the son of 
 Shemaiah of Kirjath-jearim, who prophesied against this 
 city and against this land according to all the words of 
 
 21 Jeremiah : and when Jehoiakim the king, with all his mighty 
 7nejiy and all the princes, heard his words, the king sought 
 to put him to death : but when Urijah heard //, he was 
 
 22 afraid, and fled, and went into Egypt ; and Jehoiakim the 
 king sent men into Egypt, namely^ Elnathan the son of 
 
 23 Achbor, and certain men with him into Egypt. And they 
 fet forth Urijah out of Egypt, and brought him unto Je- 
 hoiakim the king ; who slew him with the sword, and cast 
 
 24 his dead body into the graves of the common people. Never- 
 theless the hand of Ahikam the son of Shaphan was with 
 
 Thus might we procinr...'] rather, Attd we are (thinking of) commit- 
 ting (what will prove) a great evil against oztr souls. 
 
 20. there was also a man'\ This narrative was probably introduced 
 later by Jeremiah to shew the danger in which he stood at the time, and 
 does not form a portion of that which was said on the occasion by any of 
 the parties present. It would have been a dangerous attack to make 
 upon Jehoiakim, the reigning king. It is hardly likely also that there 
 would have been time between the accession of Jehoiakim and the some- 
 what vague date assigned to this attack on Jeremiah (ver. i) for all these 
 events to have occurred in the case of Urijah. 
 
 Kirjath-jeari77i\ probably identical with the present Kuriet-el-Enaby a 
 city on the borders of Judah and Benjamin (Josh. xv. 9, xviii. 14, 15), 
 about ten miles N. W. of Jerusalem on the road to Joppa (Jaffa). It was 
 the resting place of the ark for twenty years (see i Sam. vi. 20 — vii. 2). 
 
 21. mighty men] As the princes were the civil, so these were the 
 military chiefs. 
 
 22. Elnathan the son of Achbor] He is mentioned again xxxvi. 12, 
 25. He may have been the "Elnathan of Jerusalem," who is mentioned 
 as Jehoiachin's maternal grandfather in 1 Kings xxiv. 8. Achbor was one 
 of the deputation sent by Josiah to Huldah the prophetess (2 Kings 
 xxii. 12) when the Law was found in the House of the Lord. 
 
 23. they fet forth Urijah out of Egypt] "As Jehoiakim was a 
 vassal of Egypt (2 Kings xxiii. 34), he would easily obtain the surrender 
 of a man accused of treason. JerolDoam, on the contrary, and others had 
 found a safe refuge there in the days of Solomon, i Kings xi. 17, 40" 
 {Sp. Comrn.). For 7^/ compare to fet in xxxvi. 21, and 
 
 "To see my tears and hear my deep^^/ groans." 
 
 Shakespeare, II Henry VI. Act II. Sc. 4. 
 into the graves of the common people] probably in the neighbourhood of 
 the brook Kidron. See note on xvii. 19 and 2 Kings xxiii. 6. 
 
 24. Nevertheless] But. 
 
V. I.] JEREMIAH, XXVII. 185 
 
 Jeremiah, that they should not give him into the hand of 
 the people to put him to death. 
 
 Chaps. XXVII.— XXIX. The sway of Babylon over Judea 
 and the neighbouring nations will be by no means brief. 
 
 Chap. XXVII. i — 11. Warning to the neighbouring natio?is. 
 In the beginning of the reign of Jehoiakim the son of 27 
 
 Ahikam the son of Shaphan\ He was one of the five sent by Josiah 
 (2 Kings xxii. 12) to consult Huldah. His son Gedaliah stood the 
 prophet's friend subsequently, when the former was left by Nebuchad- 
 rezzar a governor of the land (xxxix. 14, xl. 5). It was in the chamber 
 of another son of Shaphan, Gemariah, that Baruch read Jeremiah's roll 
 in the ears of the people. 
 
 Chap. XXVII. — XXIX. The sway of Babylon over Judea 
 
 AND THE NEIGHBOURING NATIONS WILL BE BY NO MEANS 
 BRIEF. 
 
 These three chapters belong to the time of Zedekiah (see below). The 
 power of Babylon had already been shewn forth upon Judah. Some of 
 the people had been carried captive, and the present king existed as such 
 only upon sufferance. Under these circumstances the neighbouring 
 nations were willing to make common cause with the Jews against their 
 foe, while in Palestine there were still many who would not believe that 
 the danger from Babylon was anything more than a passing one. In 
 these three chapters therefore Jeremiah sets himself to correct the most 
 pressing evil, namely this notion of the possibility of getting rid of the 
 power which had become paramount in the Eastern world. He ad- 
 dresses on the subject (in this chap, verses i — 11) the neighbouring 
 nations, (12 — 15) Zedekiah, (16—22) the priests and prophets, (in 
 chap, xxviii.) the false prophets, (in chap, xxix.) the exiles in Babylon. 
 
 Chap. XXVII. 1 — 11. Warning to the neighbouring 
 
 NATIONS. 
 
 1. In the beginning of the reign ofjehoiakini] It is clear from verses 
 3, 12 and 20 that for Jehoiakim we must read Zedekiah. This is not 
 without support among Heb. MSS., while the Syriac Version also reads 
 the name of the latter king. The Septuagint omits the verse. It is 
 therefore either a later insertion in the text, or a confusion between the 
 opening verses of chaps, xxvi. and xxvii. led to the introduction of the 
 wrong name here. In xxviii. i, where the same words are further de- 
 fined as "in the fourth year and in the fifth month," it has been supposed 
 that "in the beginning... Judah" is a note first placed by a copyist in the 
 margin as a comment on the date mentioned, and then by a subsequent 
 hand inserted in the text. The difficulty however which is avoided by 
 this explanation, viz. that the fourth year of a reign consisting of but 
 
i86 JEREMIAH, XXVII. [w. 2—7. 
 
 Josiah king of Judah came this word unto Jeremiah from 
 
 2 the Lord, saying, Thus saith the Lord to me ; Make thee 
 
 3 bonds and yokes, and put them upon thy neck, and send 
 them to the king of Edom, and to the king of Moab, and to 
 the king of the Ammonites, and to the king of Tyrus, and 
 to the king of Zidon, by the hand of the messengers which 
 
 4 come to Jerusalem unto Zedekiah king of Judah ; and com- 
 mand them to say unto their masters. Thus saith the Lord 
 of hosts, the God of Israel ; Thus shall ye say unto your 
 
 5 masters; I have made the earth, the man and the beast that 
 are upon the ground, by my great power and by my out- 
 stretched arm, and have given it unto whom it seemed meet 
 
 6 unto me. And now have I given all these lands into the 
 hand of Nebuchadnezzar the king of Babylon, my servant ; 
 and the beasts of the field have I given him also to serve 
 
 7 him. And all nations shall serve him, and his son, and his 
 
 eleven years in all cannot properly be called its beginning is not a very 
 serious one. Any part of Zedekiah's reign which preceded his journey 
 to Babylon in the fourth year (chap. li. 59) might naturally be spoken of 
 in these terms. 
 
 2. bonds and yokes\ The former were cords by which the wooden 
 beams composing the yoke proper were fastened together. The use of 
 the plural 'yokes' here seems to shew that Jeremiah did not merely 
 exhibit one yoke on his own neck (chap, xxviii. 10), and consider this 
 act as a figurative sending of yokes to the various kings (compare xxv. 
 1 7), but that he made one for each king and gave them to the ambas- 
 sadors. 
 
 3. The five kings are enumerated in geographical order from south 
 to north, if we assume that the Ammonites were at any rate not south 
 of Moab. Their position, probably from the wandering character of the 
 nation (observe the expression AmmoniteSy not Amnion), is ill-defined in 
 any notices that we have. 
 
 the messejigersl These, as we may gather from the import of 
 Jeremiah's message to them, had come for the purpose of bringing about 
 a defensive and offensive alliance against the Babylonian power. 
 
 6. The terms of the message are these: — God, as Creator of the 
 world and of all that is in it, has the right to give it to whomsoever He 
 will. He has therefore placed Nebuchadnezzar in power for such time 
 as it shall please Him, and none may resist His will. 
 
 6. the king of Babylon, my servant] So xxv. 9, where see note. 
 and the beasts of the field] Compare xxviii. 14; Dan. ii. 38. 
 
 7. hhn, and his son, and his son^s son] If this prophecy be meant 
 to be taken literally, it will signify that the power of Babylon would last 
 for three generations of rulers. According to profane history however 
 
vv. 8— II.] JEREMIAH, XXVII. 187 
 
 son's son, until the very time of his land come : and then 
 many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him. 
 And it shall come to pass, that the nation and kingdom 8 
 which will not serve the same Nebuchadnezzar the king of 
 Babylon, and that will not put their neck under the yoke of 
 the king of Babylon, that nation will I punish, saith the 
 Lord, with the sword, and with the famine, and with the 
 pestilence, until I have consumed them by his hand. There- 9 
 fore hearken not ye to your prophets, nor to your diviners, 
 nor to your dreamers, nor to your enchanters, nor to your 
 sorcerers, which speak unto you, saying. Ye shall not serve 
 the king of Babylon : for they prophesy a lie unto you, to 10 
 remove you far from your land ; and that I should drive 
 you out, and ye should perish. But the nations that bring n 
 their neck under the yoke of the king of Babylon, and serve 
 him, those will I let remain still in their own land, saith 
 the Lord ; and they shall till it, and dwell therein. 
 
 it was somewhat more prolonged. For the successive rulers and their 
 lengths of reign see note on chap. xxv. 11. In the seventeenth year of 
 Nabonnedus Babylon was taken by Cyrus. We may thus conclude 
 that the expression in the text merely means that for the Jews and 
 the other nations there was to be no speedy riddance of Babylon, as 
 the false prophets taught. Compare the use of the phrase in Deut. iv. 
 25, vi. 1. The Septuagint omit the verse, perhaps from the difficulty 
 which they felt in harmonising its statements, when taken literally, with 
 the facts of history. 
 
 the very time] the appointed end. Compare Is. xiii. 22, where a 
 similar expression is used of Babylon. 
 
 many nations and great kings shall serve themselves of him] For 
 the phrase see xxv. 14. Babylon should yield her dominions to the 
 empires and kingdoms that should follow, viz. Persia, Greece, and 
 the fragments of the latter empire. 
 
 8. by his hand] Death not only by the sword, but also by famine 
 and pestilence might well be ascribed to Nebuchadnezzar's hand, as the 
 two latter would closely attend upon war. 
 
 9. dreamers] dreams, either those which the diviners etc. professed 
 to have had, or those which the people brought to them for in- 
 terpretation. 
 
 enchanters] The exact sense of the Heb. word is disputed. Ac- 
 cording to some it means bringers of clouds (storms) ; others explain 
 fascinators, bewitching with the evil eye. 
 
 11. the nations..,] In the Heb. it is 'the nation^ that brings its 
 neck ' etc. 
 
i88 JEREMIAH, XXVII. [vv. 12—17. 
 
 12 — 22. Warning to the king, priests aJid people. 
 
 12 I spake also to Zedekiah king of Judah according to all 
 these words, saying, Bring your necks under the yoke of the 
 king of Babylon, and serve him and his people, and live. 
 
 13 Why will ye die, thou and thy people, by the sword, by the 
 famine, and by the pestilence, as the Lord hath spoken 
 against the nation that will not serve the king of Babylon ? 
 
 14 Therefore hearken not unto the words of the prophets that 
 speak unto you, saying, Ye shall not serve the king of 
 
 15 Babylon : for they prophesy a lie unto you. For I have not 
 sent them, saith the Lord, yet they prophesy a He in my 
 name ; that I might drive you out, and that ye might perish, 
 
 16 ye, and the prophets that prophesy unto you. Also I spake 
 to the priests and to all this people, saying, Thus saith the 
 Lord ; Hearken not to the words of your prophets that 
 prophesy unto you, saying, Behold, the vessels of the Lord's 
 house shall now shortly be brought again from Babylon : for 
 
 t7 they prophesy a lie unto you. Hearken not unto them ; 
 
 12—22. Warning to the king, priests and people. 
 
 12 — 15. These verses correspond in the main to the previous section, 
 the warning against the false prophets in verses 14, 15, answering 
 to that of 9, 10. Ahhough Zedekiah is addressed, the plural is used 
 throughout on account of his many sympathisers among all ranks. 
 
 16 — 22. The same message is addressed to the priests and to the 
 people. 
 
 16. the vessels of the Lord's house\ They had been made by Solo- 
 mon (i Kings vii. 15, 23, 27, 48 — 50). Some had been taken by 
 Nebuchadnezzar in the time of Jehoiachin (ver. 20; 1 Kings xxiv. 
 13). The rest (ver. 11) should follow. See the fulfilment in 1 Kings 
 XXV. 13. In the Septuagint these verses appear in a very much short- 
 ened form, viz. : — " For thus saith the Lord of the rest of the vessels, 
 which the king of Babylon took not, when he carried away Jechonias 
 from Jerusalem, they shall go to Babylon, saith the Lord." That the 
 Septuagint have thus omitted the statement that the vessels should 
 remain in Babylon till the end of the captivity ("until the day that 
 I visit them," ver. ■22), has been thought, as in ver. 7 above, to point 
 to an historical difficulty, the vessels according to this view having 
 in point of fact been sent back to Jerusalem soon after the com- 
 mencement of the captivity. The passage of Baruch (i. 8) however, 
 which alone is quoted in support of this view, besides sharing in the 
 uncertainty which would belong to any unsupported statement in an 
 Apocryphal Book, only asserts that there were returned "silver vessels, 
 which Sedecias (Zedekiah) the son of Josias king of Juda had made." 
 
vv. 18—22; I.] JEREMIAH, XXVII. XXVIII. 189 
 
 serve the king of Babylon, and live : wherefore should this 
 city be laid waste ? But if they be prophets, and if the word 18 
 of the Lord be with them, let them now make intercession 
 to the Lord of host?, that the vessels which are left in the 
 house of the Lord, and in the house of the king of Judah, 
 and at Jerusalem, go not to Babylon. For thus saith the 19 
 Lord of hosts concerning the pillars, and concerning the 
 sea, and concerning the bases, and concerning the residue 
 of the vessels that remain in this city, which Nebuchadnezzar 20 
 king of Babylon took not, when he carried away Jeconiah 
 the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah from Jerusalem to 
 Babylon, and all the nobles of Judah and Jerusalem ; yea, 21 
 thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, concerning 
 the vessels that remain in the house of the Lord, and in 
 the house of the king of Judah and of Jerusalem ; they shall 22 
 be carried to Babylon, and there shall they be until the day 
 that I visit them, saith the Lord ; then will I bring them 
 up, and restore them to this place. 
 
 Chap. XXVIII. i — 11. Warning to the false prophets 
 through Hananiah. Hajianiah's rejoinder. 
 
 And it came to pass the same year, in the beginning of 28 
 the reign of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the fourth year, and 
 in the fifth month, that Hananiah the son of Azur the 
 prophet, which was of Gibeon, spake unto me in the house 
 
 18. intercession^ This word had by no means once that limited 
 meaning of prayer for others which we now ascribe to it. See Ap. 
 Trench, Synonyms^ 7th ed. p. 179. Compare chap, xxxvi. 25. 
 
 19. the sea\ at which the priests washed their hands and feet 
 before offering sacrifice (i Kings vii. 23 — 26). 
 
 the bases'\ the supports of the ten lavers at which the animals about 
 to be offered as burnt-offerings are washed (i Kings vii. 27 — 37; 
 2 Chron. iv. 6). 
 
 Chap. XXVIII. 1 — 11. Warning to the false prophets 
 THROUGH Hananiah. Hananiah's rejoinder. 
 
 1. in the beginning'] See note on xxvii. i. 
 
 zvhich was of Gibeon] Gibeon was one of the cities of tlie priests 
 (Josh. xxi. 17), and therefore Hananiah may well have been himself 
 a priest, as was Jeremiah. 
 
 The false prophets were among the severest trials to which Jeremiah 
 had to submit; see xxiii. 9, xxix. 8, 9, 31, 32. Compare Ezek. xiii. 
 
I90 JEREMIAH, XXVIII. [w. 2—9. 
 
 of the Lord, in the presence of the priests and of all the 
 
 2 people, saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God 
 of Israel, saying, I have broken the yoke of the king of 
 
 3 Babylon. Within two full years will I bring again into this 
 place all the vessels of the Lord's house, that Nebuchad- 
 nezzar king of Babylon took away from this place, and 
 
 4 carried them to Babylon : and I will bring again to this 
 place Jeconiah the son of Jehoiakim king of Judah, with all 
 the captives of Judah, that went into Babylon, saith the 
 Lord : for I will break the yoke of the king of Babylon. 
 
 5 Then the prophet Jeremiah said unto the prophet Hananiah 
 in the presence of the priests, and in the presence of all the 
 
 6 people that stood in the house of the Lord, even the 
 prophet Jeremiah said. Amen : the Lord do so : the Lord 
 perform thy words which thou hast prophesied, to bring 
 again the vessels of the Lord's house, and all that is carried 
 
 7 away captive, from Babylon into this place. Nevertheless 
 hear thou now this word that I speak in thine ears, and in 
 
 8 the ears of all the people. The prophets that have been 
 before me and before thee of old prophesied both against 
 many countries, and against great kingdoms, of war, and of 
 
 9 evil, and of pestilence. The prophet which prophesieth of 
 
 2. The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel] Either this solemn form of 
 introduction was a usual one with all who claimed the prophetic gift, 
 or Hananiah assumed it as implying an equal claim to inspiration with 
 Jeremiah, in whose mouth we so constantly find the formula, e.g. 
 vii. 3, 21, xvi. 9, xix. 3, 15, xxv. 27, xxvii. 4, 21, ver. 14 of the 
 present chapter and often subsequently (xxix. 4, 8, 21, 25, etc.). 
 
 4. Hananiah here contradicts Jeremiah's prophecy in chap. xxii. 26, 
 27. It is by no means necessary to assume that there is here involved 
 an expression of personal hostility towards the present king Zedekiah, 
 or that he was absent at this time on his visit to Babylon to take" 
 the oath of allegiance which he so soon afterwards violated, and hence 
 might safely be alluded to as unpopular. The words of Hananiah 
 need not mean more than that all the captives should return home 
 within two years. 
 
 6. Amen.] So be it. Compare xi. 5 with note. 
 
 7. 9. The tenor of all preceding prophecies has been calamity and 
 war. If then Hananiah's forecasts are in opposition to these, the 
 presumption is against him, and he can only be proved a true prophet 
 i)y the fulfilment of his predictions, an event which Jeremiah in spite 
 of his wishes is assured will not take place. 
 
 8. of war^ and of evil^ and of pestilence] For * evil' another reading 
 
vv. 10—15.] JEREMIAH, XXVII I. 191 
 
 peace, when the word of the prophet shall come to pass, 
 then shall the prophet be known, that the Lord hath truly 
 sent him. Then Hananiah the prophet took the yoke from 10 
 off the prophet Jeremiah's neck, and brake it. And Hananiah n 
 spake in the presence of all the people, saying, Thus saith 
 the Lord; Even so will I break the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar 
 king of Babylon from the neck of all nations within the space 
 of two full years. And the prophet Jeremiah went his way. 
 
 12 — 17. Rebuke and punishment of Hananiah. 
 Then the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the-^-^ 
 prophet, after that Hananiah the prophet had broken the 
 yoke from off the neck of the prophet Jeremiah, saying. Go 13 
 and tell Hananiah, saying. Thus saith the Lord ; Thou hast 
 broken the yokes of wood ; but thou shalt make for them 
 yokes of iron. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God m 
 of Israel ; I have put a yoke of iron upon the neck of all 
 these nations, that they may serve Nebuchadnezzar king of 
 Babylon ; and they shall serve him : and I have given him 
 the beasts of the field also. Then said the prophet Jeremiah 15 
 unto Hananiah the prophet. Hear now, Hananiah; The 
 
 is famine. This however probably arose from the recollection of 
 Jeremiah's frequent union of sword, famine and pestilence (xiv. 12, 
 xxi. 9, xxiv. 10, xxvii. 8, 13, xxix. 17, 18). Here however war, not 
 sword, is the introductory word. 
 
 9. when the ivord of the prophet shall come to pass\ This was from 
 the first the criterion of a true prophet (Deut. xviii. 22) unless he 
 advocated idolatry, in which case he was not to be believed, even 
 though his "sign or wonder" came to pass (Deut. xiii. 1 — 3). 
 
 10. Hananiah, instead of waiting the issue of events, as Jeremiah 
 suggests that he should do, has recourse to an act of violence that shall 
 impress the multitude. 
 
 12—17. Rebuke and punishment of Hananiah. 
 
 13. Thou hast broken the yokes of zvood'] Hananiah's act only 
 served, by exciting the Jews to resistance, to render the servitude which 
 they should undergo more harsh. Had Zedekiah not resisted further 
 he and the remainder of the people might have been spared the horrors 
 of a siege and their subsequent exile. 
 
 thoic shalt make'] perhaps, thou hast made, i.e. by this action of 
 thine. . 
 
 14. / have given him the beasts of the field alsd\ See xxvii. 6 with 
 note. 
 
192 JEREMIAH, XXVIII. XXIX. [vv. i6, 17; i, 2. 
 
 Lord hath not sent thee ; but thou makest this people to 
 
 16 trust in a He. Therefore thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I 
 will cast thee from off the face of the earth : this year thou 
 shalt die, because thou hast taught rebellion against the 
 
 17 Lord. So Hananiah the prophet died the same year in the 
 seventh month. 
 
 Chap. XXIX. i — 3. Circumstances under which JeremiahUs 
 letter to the exiles was written. 
 
 29 Now these are the words of the letter that Jeremiah the 
 prophet sent from Jerusalem unto the residue of the elders 
 which were carried away captives, and to the priests, and to 
 the prophets, and to all the people whom Nebuchadnezzar 
 2 had carried away captive from Jerusalem to Babylon ; (after 
 that Jeconiah the king, and the queen, and the eunuchs, 
 
 16. / will cast thee] literally, / send thee away. There is ap- 
 parently a play on the word, which is the same as that rendered * sent ' 
 in ver. 15. The Lord hath not sent thee here to prophesy, but is 
 now sending thee away to die. 
 
 because thou hast taught rebellion against the Lord] For the law in 
 such cases see Deut. xiii. 5, xviii. 20. 
 
 17. in the seventh month] two months after this time (see ver. i). 
 
 Chap. XXIX. 1 — 3. Circumstances under which Jeremiah's 
 
 LETTER TO THE EXILES WAS WRITTEN. 
 
 1. Now these are the words of the letter] The exiles in Babylon 
 were subjected to the same danger from false prophets as their 
 fellowcountrymen, who remained at home. The former were however 
 on the whole a better class (chap. xxiv. 5 — 7), and thus the prophet 
 might hope that his words would have more effect. The assertion that 
 the captivity would speedily come to an end, which was loudly made 
 at Babylon as at Jerusalem by those who bid recklessly for their 
 favour, would prevent the captivity from having the salutary effect 
 which it was intended to have upon both those who went and those 
 who remained. It was therefore Jeremiah's duty earnestly to deprecate 
 such a belief, and insist in the plainest language that the punishment 
 should last for seventy years. 
 
 the residue of the elders] This probably means those who had sur- 
 vived the journey, and the (perhaps two or three years') interval since 
 then. 
 
 2. After that yeconiah...] This gives us only an approximation to 
 the date of the letter. It may have been as late as the fourth year of 
 Zedekiah, when he went up himself with Seraiah (li. 59) to Babylon. 
 It is more likely however on account of the different names mentioned 
 in connexion with this journey (ver. 3) to have been sent on a somewhat 
 
vv. 3—9.] JEREMIAH, XXIX. 193 
 
 the princes of Judah and Jerusalem, and the carpenters, 
 and the smiths, were departed from Jerusalem ;) by the 3 
 hand of Elasah the son of Shaphan, and Gemariah the son 
 of Hilkiah, whom Zedekiah king of Judah sent unto Baby- 
 lon to Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, saying, 
 
 4 — 14. Release shall come, but not till after seventy years. 
 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, unto all 4 
 that are carried away captives, whom I have caused to be 
 carried away from Jerusalem unto Babylon; build ye houses, 5 
 and dwell in the?n; and plant gardens, and eat the fruit of 
 them ; take ye wives, and beget sons and daughters ; and 6 
 take wives for your sons, and give your daughters to hus- 
 bands, that they may bear sons and daughters ; that ye 
 may be increased there, and not diminished. And seek the 7 
 peace of the city whither I have caused you to be carried 
 away captives, and pray unto the Lord for it: for in the 
 peace thereof shall ye have peace. For thus saith the Lord 8 
 of hosts, the God of Israel ; Let not your prophets and your 
 diviners, that be in the midst of you, deceive you, neither 
 hearken to your dreams which ye cause to be dreamed. For 9 
 
 earlier occasion not elsewhere mentioned. At any rate it appears to 
 have been later than chap, xxiv., to which it plainly alludes more than 
 once. Compare ver. 17 with xxiv. -2, 8, and ver. 18 with xxiv. 9. 
 
 the queeii] See note on chap. xiii. 18. 
 
 the princes of Judah and ferusalem, and the carpenters, afid the 
 smiths^ Compare chap. xxiv. i, 
 
 3. Elasah^ As the son of Shaphan he may have been a brother of 
 Ahikam (xxvi. 24) who, taking Jeremiah's side in political matters, 
 would be well received at Babylon. 
 
 4 — 14, Release shall come, but not till after seventy 
 
 YEARS. 
 
 4 — 7. Instead of looking for an immediate return to Palestine, 
 which would cause the exiles to sit loose to the country where they 
 found themselves, they were to be interested in its welfare and to 
 make homes for themselves. Otherwise they would not only fail to 
 obtain any influence, but would soon dwindle away. 
 
 7. seek the peace of the city] probably referring not to Babylon 
 only, but to any city in which a body of exiles might be planted. 
 
 8. your dreams %vhich ye cause to be dreamed] The dreams may be 
 either (i) those of the people, induced by their restlessness and in turn 
 intensifying that condition, or (ii) those announced by the false prophets, 
 as portending a speedy return to Palestine. The form of the verb in 
 
 JEREMIAH I -l 
 
194 JEREMIAH, XXIX. [vv. lo— 15. 
 
 they prophesy falsely unto you in my name : I have not sent 
 10 them, saith the Lord. For thus saith the Lord, That after 
 
 seventy years be accomplished at Babylon I will visit you, 
 
 and perform my good word towards you, in causing you to 
 " return to this place. For I know the thoughts that I think 
 
 towards you, saith the Lord, thoughts of peace, and not of 
 
 12 evil, to give you an expected end. Then shall ye call upon 
 me, and ye shall go and pray unto me, and I will hearken 
 
 13 unto you. And ye shall seek me, and find me^ when ye 
 
 14 shall search for me with all your heart. And I will be found 
 of you, saith the Lord : and I will turn away your captivity, 
 and I will gather you from all the nations, and from all the 
 places whither I have driven you, saith the Lord; and I 
 will bring you again into the place whence 1 caused you to 
 be carried away captive. 
 
 15 — 23. The mouths of the False Prophets at Babylon shall 
 soon be stopped. 
 
 15 Because ye have said. The Lord hath raised us up pro- 
 
 the original is peculiar. On the whole the latter sense is perhaps the 
 better of the two. 
 
 10. after seventy years] See note on xxv. 11. 
 
 at Babylon] for Babylon. The announcement has respect to the dura- 
 tion of the empire of Nebuchadnezzar and his successors, and only 
 secondarily to the consequent limitation of the captivity. 
 
 7ny good word] my gracious promise. See xxvii. 22. 
 
 11. For I know] The pronoun is emphatic in the original. The 
 suppressed contrast however is not, as some have taken it to be, between 
 the false prophets' ignorance and God's knowledge, but rather between 
 this latter and the suspicions and faithlessness of the people. Ye may 
 think me regardless, but I know to the contrary. 
 
 an expected end] a future (literally, something after), and an expec- 
 tation. Compare Prov. xxiii. 18, xxiv. 14, 20. 
 
 12. Then shall ye call upon me] Here comes the reason for the 
 favourable change that God has announced as about to come when the 
 punishment shall be completed. 
 
 16—23. The mouths of the False Prophets at Babylon 
 shall soon be stopped. 
 
 16, 16. A difficulty has been found in connecting these two verses. 
 Hence it has been suggested that the former has got out of its place and 
 should rightly stand before ver. 20. Others would wholly omit verses 
 16 — 19. These however are very unlike an interpolation, being much 
 too long to be a marginal note which might in the hands of a copyist 
 
vv. 16—20.] JEREMIAH, XXIX. 195 
 
 phets in Babylon ; Ktiow that thus saith the Lord of the 16 
 king that sitteth upon the throne of David, and of all the 
 people that dwelleth in this city, a?id of your brethren that 
 are not gone forth with you into captivity ; thus saith the ^^ 
 Lord of hosts ; Behold, I will send upon them the sword, 
 the famine, and the pestilence, and will make them like vile 
 figs, that cannot be eaten, they are so evil. And I will per- 18 
 secute them with the sword, with the famine, and with the 
 pestilence, and will deliver them to be removed to all the 
 kingdoms of the earth, to be a curse, and an astonishment, 
 and a hissing, and a reproach, among all the nations whither 
 I have driven them: because they have not hearkened 19 
 to my words, saith the Lord, which I sent unto them by 
 my servants the prophets, rising up early and sending theyn; 
 but ye would not hear, saith the Lord. Hear ye there- 20 
 
 find its way into the text, and unlikely to have been inserted without 
 cause from the very difficulty which exists at first sight in discovering 
 the connexion of thought. The Septuagint it is true omits these verses, 
 but, as has been said before (notes on chap. xix. 11), this by itself forms 
 no sort of argument against them. The sense appears to be in fact this. 
 One of the difficulties raised by the exiles when the prospect of seventy 
 years' captivity was held out to them would be. We have prophets here 
 at Babylon who tell us just the reverse of all this. Which shall we 
 believe? To this the reply of Jeremiah is twofold, (i) These prophets' 
 teaching shall soon be disproved. The king and the remnants of the 
 kingdom, upon whose continued existence at Jerusalem they lay such 
 stress, will soon pass away. Ye shall not soon be restored to your 
 brethren, but they shall be exiles and scattered like to you. (ii) The 
 false prophets, who thus delude you, shall themselves miserably perish 
 and become a proverb and by- word. 
 
 15. in Babylon^ literally, as far as Babylon, i. e. His prophets reach 
 even hither. 
 
 16. Know that thus saith"] Yea, thus saith, is perhaps more literal, 
 but the Eng. Vers, expresses the sense with sufficient closeness. 
 
 of the king\ concerning the king. See note on ver. 24. 
 
 17. vile figs'] Compare xxiv. 2—8. The exiles would probably have 
 already heard of that prophecy, and if not, they would naturally learn it 
 now from the embassy who brought this letter. The word rendered vile 
 is derived from a root meaning to shudder, and hence is a word in- 
 tended to express intense badness. 
 
 18. For the general sense and language of the verse compare xix. 8, 
 xxiv. 9, XXV. 18, xlii. 18. 
 
 to be removed to] See note on xv. 4. 
 
 19. ye zvould not hear] The sudden change of person is very natural, 
 and yet serves to shew us incidentally the scrupulous care with which 
 
 13—2 
 
196 JEREMIAH, XXIX. [vv. 21—23. 
 
 fore the word of the Lord, all ye of the captivity, whom 
 
 21 I have sent from Jerusalem to Babylon: thus saith the 
 Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, of Ahab the son of 
 Kolaiah, and of Zedekiah, the son of Maaseiah, which 
 prophesy a He unto you in my name ; Behold, I will deliver 
 them into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon; 
 
 22 and he shall slay them before your eyes ; and of them shall 
 be taken up a curse by all the captivity of Judah which are 
 in Babylon, saying. The Lord make thee like Zedekiah and 
 like Ahab, whom the king of Babylon roasted in the fire; 
 
 23 because they have committed villany in Israel, and have 
 committed adultery with their neighbours' wives, and have 
 spoken lying words in my name, which I have not com- 
 manded them; even 1 know, and am a witness, saith the 
 Lord. 
 
 the Jews have handed down from one to another the letter of the Scrip- 
 tures. An obvious alteration would have been to turn this second person 
 into the third, but it was retained. Jeremiah desires to shew that it was 
 not merely other persons who had behaved wickedly, and by thus includ 
 ing the very people whom he was addressing, he prepared the way for the 
 opening words of ver. 20. 
 
 20. This begins the second part of Jeremiah's answer to the objection 
 supposed to be raised on the part of the exiles in ver. 15. The prophets, 
 of whom they there speak, shall perish, and that by a cruel death. 
 
 21. Of these two prophets nothing further is known. 
 
 22. Kolaiah, curse (kelalah) and roasted (kalah) are three such similar 
 words that a play on them as used in these verses seems intended. The son 
 of Kolaiah was to be called Kelalah (a curse) because the king of Baby- 
 lon kalah (roasted) him in the fire. That this form of punishment 
 was not too cruel to be uncommon we learn as well from the Moloch 
 rites so often spoken of, and the passing "through the brick kiln " (2 Sam. 
 xii. 31), as from the case of Shadrach and his companions (Dan. iii. 20) 
 and various references to the subject in Assyrian inscriptions deciphered 
 in modern times. 
 
 23. I k7iow\ The Ileb. is rather difficult. Probably the best literal 
 rendering of it is I am one who knows. 
 
 24—32. Shemaiah the Nehelamite rebuked and 
 
 THREATENED. 
 
 On the arrival at Babylon of Jeremiah's letter, which ends with ver. 23, 
 there is much indignation on the part of the false prophets, and one of 
 them, Shemaiah by name, writes to Zephaniah the acting high-priest, 
 urging upon him that he should take severe measures to silence Jeremiah 
 as a madman. This suggestion however Zephaniah is so Air from fol- 
 lowing that he shews the letter to the prophet, who writes again to 
 
vv. 24— 28.] JEREMIAH, XXIX. I97 
 
 24 — 32. Shemaiah the Nehelamite rebuked and threatened. 
 Thus shalt thou also speak to Shemaiah the Nehelamite, 24 
 saying, Thus speaketh the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, =5 
 saying, Because thou hast sent letters in thy name unto all 
 the people that are at Jerusalem, and to Zephaniah the son 
 of Maaseiah the priest, and to all the priests, saying, The 26 
 Lord hath made thee priest in the stead of Jehoiada the 
 priest, that ye should be officers in the house of the Lord, 
 for every man that is mad, and maketh himself a prophet, 
 that thou shouldest put him in prison, and in the stocks. 
 Now therefore why hast thou not reproved Jeremiah of Ana- 27 
 thoth, which maketh himself a prophet to you ? For there- =8 
 
 Babylon, this time for the purpose of condemning Shemaiah's conduct 
 in the severest terms, and announcing its penalty. 
 
 24. t6\ or, concerning, as the same preposition in the original is ren- 
 dered in ver. 31. See also ver. 16. 
 
 the Nehelamite] named thus no doubt after a village not otherwise 
 known. The alternative rendering dreamer suggested in the margin of 
 the Eng. Vers, is very improbable. 
 
 25. letters] The Heb. might mean a single letter, but the plural is 
 probably right. 
 
 i)i thy name] The "thy " is probably to be emphasized. Shemaiah 
 spoke in his own name, not as Jeremiah in the name of the Lord. 
 
 Zephaniah] mentioned xxi. i (which however belongs to a somewhat 
 later time than this) as having been sent with Pashur by Zedekiah to 
 Jeremiah. He is also mentioned chap. lii. 24, 2 Kings xxv. 18 as 
 "second priest" or the high-priest's deputy. He seems to have been 
 put to death when the city was finally taken by the Chaldaeans. 
 
 26. This and the two following verses give us the words of Shemaiah's 
 letter to Zephaniah, as quoted in Jeremiah's reply. 
 
 thee] Zephaniah. 
 
 in the stead of Jehoiada] Some have referred this to Jehoiada the high- 
 priest of the days of king Joash (2 Kings xi. 4, etc.). Against this view 
 however are the words that follow, viz.: — that ye should be officers = 
 ;)^?/t;Vj- = deputies. This shews that the Jehoiada here mentioned was 
 himself but a deputy. He may well have come in between Pashur 
 (xx. i) and Zephaniah. There were doubtless many changes of this 
 kind in such troublous times. 
 
 that is mad] Madness was looked on in the East as a sort of gift of 
 prophecy perverted. 
 
 prison] the pillory. See note on chap. xx. 2, where the same word 
 is rendered "stocks." 
 
 the stocks] rather, the collar. Another meaning suggested is a close 
 prison house. The word however occurs in the former sense in the kin- 
 dred Arabic, and may well denote that which confined the neck. 
 
198 JEREMIAH, XXIX. [w. 29—32. 
 
 fore he sent unto us in Babylon, saying, This captivity is 
 long: build ye houses, and AweW in them ; and plant gardens, 
 
 29 and eat the fruit of them. And Zephaniah the priest read 
 
 30 this letter in the ears of Jeremiah the prophet. Then came 
 
 31 the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, Send to all 
 them of the captivity, saying. Thus saith the Lord concern- 
 ing Shemaiah the Nehelamite ; Because that Shemaiah hath 
 prophesied unto you, and I sent him not, and he caused 
 
 32 you to trust in a lie: therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, 
 I will punish Shemaiah the Nehelamite, and his seed: he 
 shall not have a man to dwell among this people ; neither 
 shall he behold the good that I will do for my people, saith 
 the I^ord; because he hath taught rebellion against the 
 Lord. 
 
 28. For therefore he sent] Because ye have allowed him to do as he 
 likes at home, he has taken the same liberty with us. We may however 
 render simply, Forasmuch as he hath sent, etc. 
 
 32. therefore thus saith the Lord] These and the following words 
 come at length as the part of the sentence answering to "because 
 thou hast sent," etc. of ver. 25. The intervening break has resulted from 
 the long explanation and detail which was necessary. The punishment 
 to be inflicted on Shemaiah was twofold, First, he was to leave no chil- 
 dren behind him, and secondly, he should see no good come upon his 
 people, either in the way of the speedy return which he had been 
 promising them, or in the way of peace and comparative prosperity in 
 exile. 
 
 Chaps. XXX.— XXXIII. 
 
 Hitherto the general tone of Jeremiah's prophecies has been gloomy. 
 Any gleams of brightness that have from time to time appeared (e. g. 
 iii. 14, xvi. 14, 15, xxiii. 3) have borne but a very small proportion to the 
 long stretches of melancholy foreboding and stern declaration of coming 
 punishment, which have formed the gist of his prophecies. In chaps. 
 XXX. — xxxiii. we have a marked change in this respect, and the whole 
 tone here is that of hope. This is the more remarkable, as chaps, xxxii., 
 xxxiii. were written in the tenth year of Zedekiah, and in the midst of 
 tlie siege (xxxii. i, compare xxxiii. i^, while it seems probable from the 
 internal evidence that the two earlier chapters, connected so closely with 
 these in subject-matter, were composed and committed to writing some- 
 where about the same date. The prophet was in prison, famine and 
 pestilence held possession of the city, and the prospects of the nation 
 were such as to create despair in every mind. It was at such a time as 
 this, when humanly speaking the people most needed the comfort of hope, 
 and yet the prophet, had he been speaking his own words, was least 
 likely to be able or willing to afford it them, that it was announced 
 
w. 1—5.] JEREMIAH, XXX. 199 
 
 Chap. XXX. i — 5. Introduction. 
 
 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord, saying, 30 
 Thus speaketh the Lord God of Israel, saying, Write thee 2 
 all the words that I have spoken unto thee in a book. For 3 
 lo, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will bring again 
 the captivity of my people Israel and Judah, saith the Lord: 
 and I will cause them to return to the land that I gave to 
 their fathers, and they shall possess it. And these are the 4 
 words that the Lord spake concerning Israel and concern- 
 ing Judah. For thus saith the Lord , 5 
 
 through Jeremiah that the people of God should not perish, that through 
 them the Gentile nations should be led to a knowledge of the truth, and 
 that the Righteous Branch should yet arise from the house of David 
 and Zion's name be The Lord our Righteousness. We may divide the 
 whole prophecy into three parts : (i) "The triumphal hymn of Israel's 
 salvation" (Hengst.) xxx., xxxi.; (ii) The purchase by Jeremiah of a field 
 in Anathoth with an explanation of the significance of this act ; (iii) 
 Promise of restoration of the nation with renewed glory conferred on 
 the house of David and the Levitical priesthood. 
 
 Chap. XXX. 1—5. Introduction. 
 
 2. Write thee all the words] Jeremiah had already in the fourth year 
 of Jehoiakim's reign adopted this method of securing that his words 
 should have permanent effect upon the minds of his countrymen. It was 
 now still more necessary that they should be committed to writing, 
 as many had meanwhile been removed to Babylon and a second depor- 
 tation of captives was imminent. Besides we are not sure how far he 
 may at this time have possessed personal freedom. See chap, xxxiii. i. 
 
 that I have spoken tinto thee] From a certain amount of similarity 
 between these chaps, and iii. — vi. (especially iii. 17 — 25) it has been 
 thought that the former are contemporary with the latter, i. e. that both 
 are to be referred to the days of Josiah. This however is quite unsus- 
 tained by the opinion of commentators generally or by the probabilities 
 of the case. 
 
 3. For / will bring again the captivity] This verse shews that 
 
 "all the words" (ver. 2) are not to be taken as meaning all the revela- 
 tions that God had ever made to Jeremiah, but that which He had de- 
 clared to him upon the special subject of the restoration of the people. 
 
 4. concerning Israel and concerning Jtcdah] Both divisions of the 
 kingdom of David are thus mentioned, as they are to be spoken of 
 separately in the prophecy which follows in chap. xxxi. (Israel i — 22, 
 Judah 23 — 26). 
 
2ob JEREMIAH, XXX. [vv. 6— 8. 
 
 5 — 9. W7ie?i all is darkest, deliverance shall come. 
 We have heard a voice of trembling, 
 Of fear, and not of peace. 
 Ask ye now, and see whether a man doth travail with 
 
 child ? 
 Wherefore do 1 see every man with his hands on his loins, 
 
 as a woman in travail, 
 And all faces are turned into paleness ? 
 Alas! for that day is great, so that none is like it: 
 It is even the time of Jacob's trouble ; 
 But he shall be saved out of it. 
 For it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord of 
 
 hosts. 
 That I will break his yoke from off thy neck. 
 And will burst thy bonds. 
 And strangers shall no more serve themselves of him : 
 
 6—9. When all is darkest, deliverance shall come. 
 
 6. We have heard a voice of trembling] The prophet begins the 
 prophecy which is to contain the promise of deliverance with a descrip- 
 tion which shall intensify the contrast that is coming. The restoration 
 can only be effected by the overthrow of their oppressors in war, which 
 of necessity involves 'trembling.' 
 
 Of fear, and not of peace] Fear and no peace. It is best to take the 
 words thus, as those of the exiles themselves. The approaching capture 
 of Babylon does not bring them unmixed joy. They must in common 
 M'ith their masters submit to the horrors and uncertainties of war and siege. 
 
 7. that day is great, so that none is like it] the day of the overthrow 
 of Babylon. It is even greater than that of Nineveh, as described by 
 Nahum (ii. 10—12, iii. 8, 10). The language here seems to be suggested 
 by Joel ii. 7, II. 
 
 he shall be saved out of it] Here we have the transition to the joyous 
 note which dominates the rest of the prophecy. 
 
 8. his yoke] Does this mean (i) the yoke imposed liy him (the king 
 of Babylon) or (ii) borne by him (Israel)? To take it in the second sense 
 might have seemed an intolerably harsh construction in the face of the 
 instantaneous change of person 'from off thy neck ' but for the frequency 
 with which such a change occurs in Jeremiah, another instance present- 
 ing itself in the latter part of this same verse. If (ii) be right however, 
 the change from 'his (yoke)' to 'thy (neck),' as occurring in the very 
 same clause, is even harsher than from 'thy (bonds)' to '(of) him.' 
 
 bonds] The Ileb. is the word rendered as here in the text of xxvii. 1, 
 where however see note. 
 
 serve themselves of him] This phrase has been already used, in xxv. 
 14, xxvii. 7. 
 
vv. 9— 12.] JEREMIAH, XXX. 201 
 
 But they shall serve the Lord their God, 9 
 
 And David their king, whom I will raise up unto them. 
 
 10 — 17. Israel shall not be as now forgotten and afflicted. 
 
 Therefore fear thou not, O my servant Jacob, saith the 10 
 
 Lord; 
 Neither be dismayed, O Israel: 
 For lo, I will save thee from afar. 
 And thy seed from the land of their captivity; 
 And Jacob shall return. 
 And shall be in rest, and be quiet, 
 And none shall make him afraid. 
 
 For I am with thee, saith the Lord, to save thee: u 
 
 Though I make a full end of all nations whither I have 
 
 scattered thee, 
 Yet will I not make a full end of thee : 
 But I will correct thee in measure, 
 And will not leave thee altogether unpunished. 
 For thus saith the Lord, 12 
 
 Thy bruise is incurable, 
 And thy wound is grievous. 
 
 9. the Lord their God, and David their king] For the whole ex- 
 pression as unilmg the Lord and the Messiah compare Hos. iii. 5, and 
 for the Messiah spoken of elsewhere also under the name David, Ezek. 
 xxxiv, •23, 24, xxxvii. 24. 
 
 Bp Jer. Taylor (Epistle Dedicatory to his Dnctor Dzibitantium) applies 
 verses 7 and 9 to the English Commonwealth under Oliver Cromwell 
 and the Restoration of the House of Stuart. "We have been sorely 
 smitten and for a long time ; for (that I may use the words of the pro- 
 phet) 'Alas, for that day was great, so that none was like it, it was even 
 the time of Jacob's trouble.... But since God hath left off to smite us 
 with an iron rod, and hath once more said unto these nations. They 
 shall serve the Lord their God, and David their king, whom I have 
 raised up unto them ; ' now our duty stands on the sunny side, " etc. 
 
 10—17. Israel shall not be as now forgotten and afflicted, 
 
 10. from afar'] from thy distant land of exile. 
 
 11. Yet will I not make a f till end of thee] See note on iv. 27. 
 I will correct thee in measure] See note on ii. 19, and on x. 24. 
 
 12. Thy bruise is incurable] more literally, It is ill zvith thy bruise, 
 incurable] See note on xvii. 9. 
 
 The pronouns in the verse are fem. as referring to the nation, as in 
 xxii. 20 and often elsewhere. For the whole verse compare Lam. ii. 13. 
 
202 JEREMIAH, XXX. [vv. 13, 14. 
 
 13 T/iere is none to plead thy cause, that thou mayest be 
 bound up: 
 Thou hast no healing medicines. 
 t4 All thy lovers have forgotten thee ; 
 They seek thee not ; 
 For I have wounded thee wM the wound of an enemy, 
 
 7m f A. the chastisement of a cruel one, 
 For the multitude of thine iniquity ; 
 Because thy sins were increased. 
 
 13. It has been already pointed out (Tntrod. chap. ii. 8) that 
 ' Jeremiah frequently mixes together an image or figure of speech and 
 
 the thing which it represents. Here we have a case of the rapid inter- 
 change of two images or figures. In the same verse the people of God 
 appears as defendant in a suit at law, and as one suffering from a wound 
 which cannot be staunched. 
 
 There is none to plead thy cause] Thine enemies at present are having 
 it all their own way, as they arraign thee for thy sins before the bar of 
 God's Justice. 
 
 that thou mayest be bound up] This, which obviously has no con- 
 nexion with the earlier metaphor, should be joined with the words that 
 follow. For (the pressing together of) thy wound (there is no healing, 
 no plaister). The Heb. thus rendered wound coxnts from a root signi- 
 fying to press together (the sides of a wound). It occurs but seldom 
 (Hos. v. 13 twice; Obad. 7) but in each other case the sense is 
 clear. 
 
 medicines'] plaister, literally, that which goes up (on the wound). 
 
 14. thy lovers] the nations which sought to ally themselves with thee. 
 See xxvii. 3. 
 
 For the multitude...] This had best be rendered because of the mul- 
 titude, or, the greatness, etc. Thus the whole verse will form three 
 divisions, each subdivided into two parallel clauses : 
 All thy lovers have forgotten thee, 
 
 They seek thee not; 
 Fur I have wounded thee with the wound of an enemy. 
 
 With the chastisement of a cruel one; 
 Because of the multitude of thine iniquity, 
 Because thy sins were increased. 
 were increased] literally, are strong. 
 
 16. Here again we get a parallelism of clauses, and we must further 
 amend the punctuation of the Eng. Vers. 
 
 Why criest thou for thine affliction? 
 (Because) thy sorrow is incurable? 
 Because of the multitude of thine iniquity, 
 
 Because thy sins are increased, 
 I have done these things unto thee. 
 
vv. 15—18.] JEREMIAH, XXX. 203 
 
 Why criest thou for thine affliction ? 15 
 
 Thy sorrow is incurable for the multitude of thine iniquity : 
 Because thy sins were increased, I have done these things 
 
 unto thee. 
 Therefore all they that devour thee shall be devoured ; 16 
 And all thine adversaries, every one of them, shall go 
 
 into captivity ; 
 And they that spoil thee shall be a spoil, 
 And all that prey upon thee will I give for a prey. 
 For I will restore health unto thee, 17 
 
 And I will heal thee of thy wounds, saith the Lord ; 
 Because they called thee an Outcast, sayings 
 This is Zion, whom no man seeketh after. 
 
 18 — 24. Jerusalem shall be prosperous and in favour with 
 God. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord : ,8 
 
 Behold, I will bring again the captivity of Jacob's tents, 
 And have mercy on his dwelling places ; 
 
 Why criest thou, &c.] Why dost thou complain of that which is the 
 natural consequence of thy sins? 
 sorro'w\ properly pain of body, or hurt. 
 incurable] See note on xvii. 9. 
 for the multitude'] This we alter as in the previous verse. 
 
 16. Therefore] Because thou hast undergone thy portion of suffer- 
 ing and it is plain that none other than myself can deliver thee. 
 
 all they that devour thee] See chap. ii. 3 with note. 
 
 17. / will restore health unto thee] better, / zuill place a healing 
 plaister upon thee. See viii. 22, also note on xxxiii. 6, where the word 
 is translated cure in the Eng. Vers. Healing plaister is a preferable ' 
 rendering to that which represents more closely the sense of the cor- 
 responding Arabic word, viz. the new skin which forms over a wound 
 in healing. In this latter way however some would translate the Heb. 
 here. 
 
 Zion] The Septuagint have "a spoil," shewing that they followed 
 a reading in the original, not now found in any Heb. authorities, but 
 differing only slightly from the other which is beyond doubt correct. 
 
 18 — 24. Jerusalem shall be prosperous and in favour with 
 
 God. 
 
 18. the captivity of JacoVs tents] For the word tents see note on 
 chap. iv. 20. The sense here is in general, The Jews who have been 
 taken captive shall dwell again in their land as aforetime. 
 
204 JEREMIAH, XXX. [w. 19—21. 
 
 And the city shall be builded upon her own heap, 
 And the palace shall remain after the manner thereof. 
 And out of them shall proceed thanksgiving and the 
 
 voice of them that make merry : 
 And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few ; 
 I will also glorify them, and they shall not be small. 
 Their children also shall be as aforetime, 
 And their congregation shall be established before me, 
 And I will punish all that oppress them. 
 And their nobles shall be of themselves, 
 And their governor shall proceed from the midst of them ; 
 And I will cause him to draw near, and he shall approach 
 
 unto me : 
 For who is this that engaged his heart to approach unto 
 
 me ? saith the Lord. 
 
 tipon her otvn heap] meaning, not heap of ruins, but the hill on which 
 she had previously stood, on her old site. A 'hill' was the usual position 
 of the eastern cities (Matt. v. 14), as helping to protect them alike from 
 sudden attack and from inundation. Hence the frequency with which 
 the word Tel (which is the Heb. here translated heap) forms part of the 
 name of a city; Telassar (Thelassar) (2 Kings xix. 12; Is. xxxvii. 12); 
 Tel-Haresha = Tel-Harsa and Tel-Melah (Ezra ii. 59; Neh. vii. 61); 
 Tel-Abib (Ezek. iii. 15). 
 
 shall remain after the fuanner thereof] shall be inhabited after its 
 fashion, i.e. it shall be occupied by a king and shall be kept up with 
 all the appliances and state suitable for such a place. 
 
 19. And out oftheni] both city and palace. 
 shall proceed thanksgiving] Compare xxxiii. 11. 
 
 20. Their childi-en] The Heb. is His Qacob's) children, and so for 
 tlie other ]:)ronouns of the verse. 
 
 as aforetime] as in the times of David and Solomon, the golden age 
 of the Jewish kingdom. 
 
 congregation] the people collectively. 
 
 21. A Messianic prophecy. As the Jews were now coming under 
 foreign rule, so the promise is that in the end they shall again be placed 
 under a Prince of their own. This Prince shall draw near to God with- 
 out a go-between, in other words he shall be Priest as well as King. Thus 
 he shall be greater than even David or Solomon. 
 
 their nobles] Both pronoun and substantive are singidar, his (Jacob's) 
 mighty one. 
 
 of themselves] This expression waj' mean something more than Jewish, 
 opposed to foreign, as explained above. It may furtlier imply thai 
 the new Ruler shall spring from a lowly family, one as yet unknown to 
 fame. This sense however we cannot j^rcss. 
 
 that engaged his heart to approach] that hath staked his life to 
 
vv. 22— 24; I.] JEREMIAH, XXX. XXXI. 205 
 
 And ye shall be my people, and I will be your God. 22 
 
 Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord goeth forth with 23 
 
 fury, 
 A continuing whirlwind : 
 
 It shall fall with pain upon the head of the wicked. 
 The fierce anger of the Lord shall not return, until he 24 
 
 have done //, 
 And until he have performed the intents of his heart : 
 In the latter days ye shall consider it. 
 
 Chap. XXXI. i — 9. Peace, plenty and the blessmg of God 
 shall yet abide with Israel. 
 At the same time, saith the Lord, oj 
 
 Will I be the God of all the families of Israel, 
 
 approach. None but the priests were permitted to enter the Lord's 
 presence, and the Holy of Holies was open but once a year to the high- 
 priest himself. To all others this was a profanity to be punished with 
 death. For Messiah as being God the Son the approach to the Father 
 was open. This is the thought concealed in the verse till Christian 
 times should bring it to light. Even to Jewish ears however the expres- 
 sions betokened the Messiah. 
 
 23. This and the following verse are nearly identical with xxiii. 19, 
 20 (see notes there), where judgment is pronounced upon the false pro- 
 phets. The reference in this place is not quite clear, although there is 
 every reason to believe that the verses are genuine. If they are con- 
 nected with the foregoing section, the connexion will be. Although these 
 blessings are in store for the nation, yet the wicked, those who continue 
 impenitent, shall reap none of the benefit nor have their punishment in 
 any wise abated. If on the other hand, as seems more probable, they 
 should be joined with the following section, the sense will be, Babylon 
 (and all other nations as well as individuals who oppose themselves to 
 the Lord) shall suffer for it, while the repentant Israel shall be accepted 
 and blessed. 
 
 A continuing whirlwind^ The rendering of the participle has caused 
 some difficulty. Probably sweepingox rushing is the meaning intended, as 
 the senses in which the original word is found elsewhere, viz. sojourning 
 (I Kings xvii. 20) and assembling {Y^o%. vii. [4) are here unsuitable. 
 
 24. consider] understand. 
 
 Chap. XXXI. 1—9. Peace,' plenty and the blessing of God 
 
 SHALL YET ABIDE WITH ISRAEL. 
 
 1. At the sa)7ie time] In the latter days spoken of at the end of 
 chap. XXX, 
 
 all the families of Israel] the twelve tribes. Afterwards the Northern 
 kingdom is dealt with (2—22), then the Southern (23 — 26), and then 
 again both together (27 — 40). 
 
;o6 JEREMIAH, XXXI. [vv. 2—4. 
 
 And they shall be my people. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, 
 
 The people which were left of the sword found grace in 
 
 the wilderness ; 
 Even Israel when / went to cause him to rest. 
 The Lord hath appeared of old unto me, sayifig, 
 Yea, I have loved thee ivith an everlasting love ; 
 Therefore with lovingkindness have I drawn thee. 
 Again I will build thee, and thou shalt be built, O virgin 
 
 of Israel: 
 Thou shalt again be adorned 7mth thy tabrets, 
 
 2. Interpretations which have been offered of this verse are to refer 
 it (i) to the Exodus from Egypt, (ii) to the return from exile. Accord- 
 ing to (i) the sense will be, The escaped fi-om Pharaoh's oppression were 
 supported in the desert that lay between Egypt and Canaan ; according 
 to (ii) Those who surv-ive the sufferings of the Assyrian captivity are 
 promised a safe journey through the desert home. On the other hand in 
 Ii, 50 the Jews delivered from Babylon are spoken of as escaped from the 
 sword, and are told to remember the Lord afar off {see note on verse 3). 
 If we accept (ii), the verb will of course be in \X\e prophetic past. The 
 expression "left of the sword" hardly suits the circumstances of the 
 Egyptian bondage or the deliverance from that servitude. On the other 
 hand even if in the case of these words we adopt (ii), it is open to us to 
 understand those that follow as relating to the wilderness of Sinai, 
 which therefore will make a third possible interpretation. Perliaps on 
 the whole (ii) is best, understanding however the expression "found 
 grace in the wilderness" to be chosen as having a distinct allusion to 
 the wilderness journey of old time. The grace then shewn God has 
 now determined to repeat. 
 
 Even Israel when I went to cause him to rest] Let mo go to give him 
 rest (or, when he (the Lord) went to find him rest), even Israel. 
 
 3. The Lord hath appeared of old utito fue] It is best to take this as 
 put in the mouth of the people themselves. 
 
 of old] from afar, as the same Heb. word is rendered chap. xxx. 10. 
 The people from their distant exile in Assyria think upon God as dwell- 
 ing upoo His accustomed seat, Mount Zion. 
 
 with lovingkindness have I drazun thee] rather, I have prolonged 
 loving-kindness to thee. So the Heb. word is rightly rendered in Ps. 
 xxxvi. 10, cix. I ■2. 
 
 4. / will build thee, and thou shalt be built] For build = make to 
 prosper, see note on xii. 16. 
 
 O virgin of Israel] The nation is addressed under the figure of a 
 woman, as so often. 
 
 tabrets] The margin has timbrels. Both words are used in the Eng. 
 Vers, to translate the Heb. toph, the duff ox diff of the Arabs, a hoop on 
 
vv. 5—7.] JEREMIAH, XXXI. 207 
 
 And shalt go forth in the dances of them that make 
 
 merry. 
 Thou shalt yet plant vines upon the mountains of 5 
 
 Samaria : 
 The planters shall plant, and shall eat thetn as common 
 
 things. 
 For there shall be a day, 6 
 
 That the watchmen upon the mount Ephraim shall cry. 
 Arise ye, and let us go up to Zion unto the Lord our 
 
 God. 
 For thus saith the Lord ; 7 
 
 Sing with gladness for Jacob, 
 
 which pieces of brass are often fixed, and over which parchment is ex- 
 tended. It is thus played with the fingers Hke our tambourine. The 
 whole group of words (compare French tambour, tabouret, Proven9al 
 tabor^ Eng. tabor. Span, tambor, Ital. tamburo) were probably introduced 
 into Europe by the Crusaders, who learned the name and use of the 
 instrument from the Saracens. Taber is used as a verb (to beat as a 
 tabor or tabret) in Nah. ii. 7. The name tdph is probably derived 
 either from the sound or from a root meaning to strike (Gk. tvtt-tw, 
 TijfjLTr-avov, Eng. thump, tap). The tabret was used in early times by 
 the Syrians of Padan-aram (Gen. xxxi. 27), played principally by 
 women (Ex. xv. 20; Jud. xi. 34; i Sam. xviii. 6; Ps. Ixviii. 25), but 
 also by prophets (i Sam. x. 5) and by others (2 Sam. vi. 5 ; i Chron. 
 xiii. 8). See Sm., Bibl. Diet., Art. 'Timbrel.' 
 
 5. shall eat them as common things'] Our version here quite misses 
 the sense, which is shall eat the fruit. The fruit borne by a tree for the 
 first three years was not to be gathered, that of the fourth year was to be 
 consecrated to God, while that of the fifth year the owner might eat. See 
 Lev. xix. 2p, — 25; Deut. xx. 6, xxviii. 30. The word which in those 
 passages expresses the handing over of the fruit to God or to the owner's 
 use, as the case may be, is that used in this passage also. 
 
 6. watchfueti] According to a Jewish tradition, which is by them re- ^ 
 ferred back to Moses himself, watchers were placed seven times a year on 
 the 30th day of the month on heights round Jerusalem to await the appear- 
 ance of the new moon and thus determine the beginning of the month, 
 which with them coincided with its phases. When they made the an- 
 nouncement, the news was conveyed from the Mount of Olives by beacon 
 fires upon the hills. These watchmen are posted in the present case in 
 order that members of the Northern kingdom may go up to keep the 
 Feasts in Jerusalem, thus betokening the end of the schism which had so 
 long kept the two kingdoms apart. 
 
 7. Sing] The imperatives throughout are in the plural, and that not 
 Israel only is meant, but in general all who are acquainted with the cir- 
 cumstances of the nation before and after this joyful change in its fortunes, 
 is rendered probable by ver. 10 ("O ye nations"). 
 
2o8 JEREMIAH, XXXI. [vv. 8—10. 
 
 And shout among the chief of the nations : 
 Publish ye, praise ye, and say, 
 
 Lord, save thy people, the remnant of Israel. 
 Behold, I will bring them from the north country, 
 And gather them from the coasts of the earth, 
 And with them the blind and the lame, 
 
 The woman with child and her that travaileth with child 
 
 together : 
 A great company shall return thither. 
 They shall come with weeping, 
 And with supplications will I lead them : 
 
 1 will cause them to walk by the rivers of waters 
 In a straight way, wherein they shall not stumble : 
 For I am a father to Israel, 
 
 And Ephraim is my firstborn. 
 
 10 — 14. Sifuilar promises removed. 
 
 Hear the word of the Lord, 
 O ye nations, 
 
 amo7tgthe chief of the nations\ either, at the head of the nations^ or on 
 account of the chosen people, now restored to their rightful position. 
 
 O Lord, save] Hosannah^ the expression of a joyful wish, or con- 
 gratulation, rather than strictly speaking a prayer. Compare Ps. cxviii. 
 25; Matt. xxi. 9. 
 
 8. The Lord's reply to the joyous acclamation. 
 north country] See note on chap. iii. 12. 
 coasts of the earth] See note on vi. 22. 
 
 the blind and the lame...] None shall be omitted, even those who 
 would naturally have most difficulty in travelling shall return. 
 thither] hither, to Palestine, where the prophet is now writing. 
 
 9. with weeping] tears at once of contrition for their rebellion and 
 of joy at their return. 
 
 supplications] not favours, as the Eng. margin reads. 
 
 by the rivers] to the rivers. 
 
 Ephraim is jny firstborn] These words may merely express the choice 
 of Israel as against all other nations of the world. It is also however 
 very possible that Ephraim may here mean the Northern kingdom (of 
 which this was the principal tribe), and then the sense will be. Although 
 its punishment came earlier than that of the Southern kingdom, yet if it 
 repent, it shall be forgiven first. Compare for this sense chap. iii. i^ 
 u ith note. 
 
 10—14. Similar promises renewed. 
 
 10. O ye nations] See note on ver. 9. 
 
w. II— 14.] JEREMIAH, XXXI. 209 
 
 And declare it in the isles afar off, and say, 
 
 He that scattered Israel will gather him, 
 
 And keep him as a shepherd doth his flock. 
 
 For the Lord hath redeemed Jacob, n 
 
 And ransomed him from the hand of him thai was stronger 
 
 than he. 
 Therefore they shall come and sing in the height of Zion, 12 
 And shall flow together to the goodness of the Lord, 
 For wheat, and for wine, and for oil. 
 And for the young of the flock and of the herd : 
 And their soul shall be as a watered garden ; 
 And they shall not sorrow any more at all. 
 Then shall the virgin rejoice in the dance, 13 
 
 Both young men and old together : 
 For I will turn their mourning into joy, 
 And will comfort them, and make them rejoice from their 
 
 sorrow. 
 And I will satiate the soul of the priests with fatness, 14 
 
 the isles\ See note on xxv. 22. 
 
 He that scattered Israel will gather hiui] The nations are instructed 
 that as it was not their doing but God's, that His people had been sub- 
 ject to a foreign yoke, so now their restoration was His work alone. 
 
 12. shall flow together'] shall flow. The exact sense however is not 
 quite plain. Does it continue the picture which the first clause gives 
 us of the returned tribes assembling in joyful worship on the holy 
 mountain, that they may receive the blessings of a fruitful land, or 
 are they likened to a river which pours down from Zion, so that, their 
 religious service over, they go forth to their several abodes to reap the 
 produce of the field, vineyard and oliveyard? There is good authority 
 for the latter of these, but the use of the word in the parallel passages 
 (chap. li. 44 ; Is. ii. 2 ; Mic. iv. i) makes the former to be perhaps 
 on the whole the better of the two. 
 
 for wheat...'] or, to the corn, to the wine etc., as an explanation of 
 that in which "the goodness of the Lord" shall consist. 
 
 wheat] com. 
 
 sorrozu] pine, waste away through listlessness and inactivity, such as 
 they had felt when exiles. Compare ver. 25 and note. 
 
 13. both young men] and young men, etc. This rendering will save 
 us from imagining, as the Eng. Vers, suggests, that any but the virgins 
 shew their rejoicing by the special means of the dance. With the others 
 we have merely to understand 7-ejoice. 
 
 14. satiate] literally, water. 
 
 the soul of the priests with fatness] The sacrifices shall be so numerous 
 that the priests and their families shall have more than enough for their 
 share. The priest's portion was the wave-breast and heave-shoulder 
 (Lev. vii. 31—34). 
 
 JEREMIAH 14 
 
JEREMIAH, XXXI. [v. 15. 
 
 And my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, saith 
 the Lord. 
 
 i^ — 26. Ephraim's weeping and remorse shall disappear. 
 Judah also shall be brought back. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord ; 
 A voice was heard in Ramah, 
 Lamentation, ^;2d? bitter weeping; 
 Rahel weeping for her children 
 Refused to be comforted for her children, because 
 they were not. 
 
 15—26. Ephraim's weeping and remorse shall disappear. 
 Judah also shall be brought back. 
 
 15. This verse is specially familiar to our ears through the use made 
 of it by St Matt. (ii. 17, 18), who, having related the slaughter of the 
 Innocents at Bethlehem, adds, "Then vv'as fulfilled that which was 
 spoken by Jeremy the prophet, saying. In Rama was there a voice 
 heard, lamentation," etc. It is possible that there may have been a 
 place of this name near Bethlehem which has since disappeared (and in 
 favour of this may be advanced the meaning of the name, which is 
 simply high place), but this is by no means necessary in order to under- 
 stand the Apostle's use of the verse. It is quoted by him as an illustra- 
 tion, or type. The mourning at Ramah is a forecast of that bitter wailing 
 which shall be raised by the mothers of the slaughtered babes, while 
 Rachel's name (Rahel), used in the prophecy, is naturally associated with 
 Bethlehem by the fact that her tomb was in its neighbourhood (Gen. 
 XXXV. 16 — 19, xlviii. 7). The two best known Ramahs in the O.T. 
 history are (a) a city mentioned first in Josh, xviii. 25, between Gibeon 
 and Beeroth, five miles north of Jerusalem; and {b) the birth-place, 
 home, and place of burial of Samuel (r Sam. i. 19, xxv. i). The latter 
 was in Mount Ephraim, the limits of which are however rather vague, 
 and was probably about four miles north-west of Jerusalem. Both 
 of these are much too far from Bethlehem to be in any way ivwiediately 
 connected with the subject in illustration of which St Matt, quotes the 
 passages. On^e or other of them was doubtless the Ramah at which the 
 exiles were assembled before departing for Babylon, as described chap, 
 xl. r. The appropriateness of calling upon Rachel to weep in Ramah 
 consists in this, that she, the one of Jacob's wives who had so ardently 
 longed for children (Gen. xxx. i), and mother of Ephraim, Manasseh, 
 and Benjamin, should in a conspicuous border town of the two kingdoms, 
 with both of which she was thus immediately connected, lament the 
 overthrow of her offspring. The fitness of the figure is unaltered, whether 
 we take the reference to be to some special butchery on the part of the 
 Assyrian captors, of which Ramah was remembered in Jeremiah's day as 
 the scene, or only lo their general cruelty. 
 
vv. 16—20.] JEREMIAH, XXXI. 211 
 
 Thus saith the Lord, 
 
 Refrain thy voice from weeping, 
 
 And thine eyes from tears : 
 
 For thy work shall be rewarded, saith the Lord ; 
 
 And they shall come again from the land of the enemy. 
 
 And there is hope in thine end, saith the Lord, 
 
 That thy children shall come again to their own border. 
 
 I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself /////j ; 
 
 Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, 
 
 As a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke ; 
 
 Turn thou me, and I shall be turned ; 
 
 For thou art the Lord my God. 
 
 Surely after that I was turned, I repented ; 
 
 And after that I was instructed, I smote upon my thigh : 
 
 I was ashamed, yea, even confounded, 
 
 Because I did bear the reproach of my youth. 
 
 Is Ephraim my dear son ? is he a pleasant child ? 
 
 16 thy work shall be rewarded ] As children have been in thy life 
 and thy death a subject of pain and grief to thee, and as these tliy de- 
 scendants again have grievously perished, so the recompense for all this 
 trouble now arrives, and thou shalt witness the return of the captives. 
 
 18. The Lord declares that He has heard Ephraim confessing that 
 his punishment was the just consequence of his sin, and praying for 
 acceptance. 
 
 as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke'\ as a calf that has not been 
 tamed. 
 
 19. after that I was turned^ The word 'turn,' as we have already 
 seen (chap. iii. 22, viii. 4), is ambiguous, meaning either turning //-<?/« 
 or to God. Here the parallel clause which follows ('after that I was 
 instructed,' etc.) would rather suggest the latter of these senses. Re- 
 pentance, however, comes a//<?r this turning, and thus it is shewn to 
 mean turning away from God, seeing that turning towards Him would 
 come not after, but before or with, repentance. 
 
 instructed^ by punishment. Compare the use of the word "taught" 
 (the same verb in the Heb. ), Judg. viii. 16. 
 
 I smote upon my thigh'] in token of contrition. 
 
 the reproach of 7ny youth\ the disgrace brought upon me by the sins 
 of my earlier life as a nation. 
 
 20. God is represented as the speaker. He asks Himself whether 
 Ephraim is still beloved by Him. The answer is contained in the words 
 that follow. As often as He makes mention of him. His affection 
 towards him is stirred. The picture is of course adapted to human 
 modes of thought and feeling, and represents God as acting in the same 
 
 14— 2 
 
212 JEREMIAH, XXXI. [vv. 21, 22. 
 
 For since I spake against him, I do earnestly remember 
 
 him still : 
 Therefore my bowels are troubled for him ; 
 I will surely have mercy upon him, saith the Lord. 
 Set thee up waymarks, make thee high heaps : 
 Set thine heart toward the highway, 
 Even the way which thou wentest : 
 Turn again, O virgin of Israel, 
 Turn again to these thy cities, 
 How long wilt thou go about, O thou backsliding 
 
 daughter ? 
 For the Lord hath created a new thing in the earth, 
 A woman shall compass a man. 
 
 way in which a man would, when thinking upon the ingratitude and 
 rebellion of a son, whom he nevertheless cannot but continue to love. 
 
 pleasant childl literally, a child of delights, a beloved child. 
 
 since I spake against hini] rather, as often as I speak of him. 
 
 my botuels are troubled^ They were the supposed seat of the emotions. 
 My affection is stirred within me. 
 
 21. 'U)aymarks'\ stones either as sepulchral (2 Kings xxiii. 17, 
 "title;" Ezek. xxxix. 15, "sign"), or, as here, to mark the road. 
 
 high heaps'] pillars, sig^-posts. The verse is a lively way of calling 
 upon the people to make all speed to return. 
 
 set thine heart] The heart in Heb. denotes the seat of the intellect. 
 Hence the sense is, ttirn thy attention to the way by which thou wentest 
 into exile, that thou mayest retrace thy steps. 
 
 22. How long wilt thou go about] How long wilt thou hesitate to 
 return? A sign follows, in order to induce Israel to complete her recon- 
 ciliation with her offended God. 
 
 the Lord hath created...] Much difficulty has been felt in the explana- 
 tion of the last part of the verse. Any rendering which will not present 
 'a new thing,' a complete exception to the established order of things, 
 will plainly not satisfy the requirements of the context. This disposes at 
 once of such as the woman will become manly in spirit, the woman will 
 keep close to the tnan, the woman zvill seek protection from the man, all of 
 which have been proposed. The only help we seem to get for the (Heb.) 
 verb of the clause, which primarily means, as in the Eng. Vers., to 'com- 
 pass,' surround, comes from Deut. xxxii. 10, "He (the Lord) led\\\vc\ 
 (Israel) about, he instructed him, he kept him as the apple of his eye; " and 
 Ps. xxxii. 10. "He that trusteth in the Lord, mercy shall compass him 
 abouty^^ where the verb is that used here. The same notion then of 
 cherishing and protecting will here signify that such is the Lord's con- 
 descension towards Israel, that He will for her glory allow the natural 
 order to be reversed, and deign to accept protection (of His Temple, 
 services, honour, etc.) at her hands. This thought is really Messianic, 
 for it attains completion only in the Incarnation of the Divine Son of 
 
w. 23—27.] JEREMIAH, XXXI. 213 
 
 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; 23 
 
 As yet they shall use this speech in the land of Judah and 
 in the cities thereof, 
 
 When I shall bring again their captivity ; 
 
 The Lord bless thee, O habitation of justice, and moun- 
 tain of holiness. 
 
 And there shall dwell in Judah itself, 24 
 
 And in all the cities thereof together. 
 
 Husbandmen, and they that go forth with flocks. 
 
 For I have satiated the weary soul, 25 
 
 And I have replenished every sorrowful soul. 
 
 Upon this I awaked, and beheld ; 26 
 
 And my sleep was sweet unto me. 
 
 2 7 — 3 4 . Israel and Judah together shall serve God and prosper. 
 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 27 
 
 That I will sow the house of Israel and the house of Judah 
 
 God, growing up and in youth at any rate cherished (Luke ii. 52) by the 
 Jewish nation, of which in His human nature He was a child. Accord- 
 ingly many interpreters in all ages have understood the passage of the 
 miraculous conception of Christ. It can hardly, however, be limited 
 to this. 
 
 The Septuagint ("men shall walk about in safety"), departing from 
 the words of the original, and seeking to render the sense only, have 
 missed the meaning. 
 
 23. The Lord now turns from Israel (Ephraim) to Judah, and in this 
 and the next two verses promises her like blessing. 
 
 23. As yei] rather, Again, as was the use in former time. 
 mountain of holiness] The expression seems to be used indifferently 
 
 of the Temple Mountain and of Jerusalem as a whole. See Ps. ii. 6 ; 
 Is. xi. 9, xxvii. 13, and especially for Jerusalem the following: Is. Ixvi. 
 20; Dan. ix. i6; Zech. viii. 3. 
 
 24. they that go forth] they that go about, opposed to dwellers in 
 fixed habitations, such as the inhabitants of the towns and husbandmen. 
 
 25. sorrowjul] pining, practically the same word as that rendered 
 "sorrow" in ver. 12, where see note. 
 
 26. The words of the prophet himself, as they are not suitable either 
 to God or to the exiles. The ecstatic state under which Jeremiah had 
 received the foregoing communications he here calls 'sleep,' and as the 
 prophecy had been of so umiaually cheering a character, that sleep might 
 well be called sweet. 
 
 27 — 34. Israel and Judah together shall serve God and 
 
 PROSPER. 
 
 27. / will sow... with the seed of vian^ and 7vith the seed of beast\ I 
 
214 JEREMIAH, XXXI. [vv. 28—31. 
 
 With the seed of man, and with the seed of beast. 
 z8 And it shall come to pass, that like as I have watched 
 over them. 
 
 To pluck up, and to break down, and to throw down, 
 
 And to destroy, and to afflict ; 
 
 So will I watch over them, to build, and to plant, saith the 
 Lord. 
 *9 In those days they shall say no more, 
 
 The fathers have eaten a sour grape, 
 
 And the children's teeth are set on edge. 
 30 But every one shall die for his own iniquity : 
 
 Every man that eateth the sour grape, 
 
 His teeth shall be set on edge. 
 ^^ Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
 
 That I will make a new covenant 
 
 will make the people and their cattle to prosper and multiply so fast, 
 that the offspring of both shall seem almost to spring from the ground 
 after the manner of seed sown. 
 
 28. / /lave luatched over them^ The Heb. verb is the same as that 
 rendered "I will hasten" in the Eng. Vers, of chap. i. 12, where see 
 note. 
 
 to pluck up, &c.] Compare chap. i. 10, xviii. 7, 9. Thus the later 
 and more cheering part of the message for which Jeremiah was ordained 
 is now being delivered by him. 
 
 29, 30. The words 'The fathers have eaten,' &c. (quoted also Ezek. 
 xviii. •2) was a common proverb among the Jews, suggested probalily, 
 though not (in the sense in which they used it) supported, by the words of 
 the Second Commandment (Exod. xx. 5, 6). The punishment wiiich 
 succeeded to the accumulated iniquities of "the third and fourth 
 generation" could be averted by repentance ("shewing mercy unto 
 thousands of them that love me and keep my commandments"). 
 The commandment, therefore, is in no wayo]-)posed to the words 'every 
 one shall die for his own iniquity,' words which express that justcr view 
 of the sins of each generation, younger as well as older, which was tr) 
 succeed the complaining tone adopted by those blind to their own dis- 
 obedience, and convinced that they, though innocent, were suffering only 
 for their fathers' faults. We should read the plural sour grapes in both 
 verses, the Ileb. being a noun of multitude. 
 
 31 — 34. We have here the announcement of a new covenant which 
 should supersede that made at the time of the Exodus from Egypt, differ- 
 ing from it (i) in permanence, (ii) in the principle by which it should be 
 maintained unbroken. The Mosaic Law consisted of duties imposed 
 u|)on the people from without; the spring of action which should produce 
 willing conformity to the new covenant was to be wholly within. Moses 
 indeed (Deut. xxx. 6) speaks of the people's hearts beingcircumcised to love 
 
VV.32— 34-] JEREMIAH, XXXI. 215 
 
 With the house of Israel, and with the house of 
 Judah : 
 
 Not according to the covenant that I made with 3: 
 their fathers 
 
 In the day that I took them by the hand, 
 
 To bring them out of the land of Egypt; 
 
 Which my covenant they break, 
 
 Although I was a husband unto them, saith the 
 Lord: 
 
 But this shall be i\\Q covenant that I will make 3 
 with the house of Israel; 
 
 After those days, saith the Lord, 
 
 I will put my law in their inward parts, 
 
 And write it in their hearts; 
 
 And will be their God, 
 
 And they shall be my people. 
 
 And they shall teach no more every man hiss- 
 neighbour, and every man his brother, saying, 
 
 Know the Lord: 
 
 For they shall all know me, 
 
 the Lord with all their heart and soul, but now the motive power that 
 belongs to the new dispensation is for the first time made plain. The y 
 sense of forgiveness (ver. 34) through God's grace shall call out such 
 a spirit of gratitude as sliall ensure a willing service, depending on 
 inward not outward motives, based on love, not fear. The new cove- 
 nant therefore is at once to replace the old (see Heb. viii. 8 — 12), 
 and yet, new in form, to be still the same in substance. 'I will be 
 their God, and they shall be my people,' was the central object of the 
 old (Exod. xxix. 45; Lev. xxvi. 12), even as it is now of the new. 
 
 32. in the day that\ referring not to the single night of their de- 
 parture from Egypt, but to the whole exodus time, whose culminating 
 point was when the Law was given at Sinai. 
 
 althotigh I was a husband utito the/?i] The only important difference 
 in the form of the passage as quoted in the Epistle to the Hebrews (see 
 above) is that this clause, following the Septuagint rendering, appears in 
 the form ' ' and I regarded them not." The Eng. Vers, here is undoubtedly 
 a more faithful rendering of the Heb. The argument of the writer of the 
 Epistle however in no way depended upon the sense of this clause, and 
 there was therefore no reason why he should not give it as it stood in 
 the Authorised Version of his day (Septuagint). 
 
 34. The sense is not that there shall be no longer any need of instruc- 
 tion in religion, but that there shall be a directness of access to God, 
 both for Jew and Gentile, which did not exist under the old covenant. 
 (See note on the word kuoiv, chap. xvi. 1 3.) A distinctive f<;ature of the 
 
2i6 JEREMIAH, XXXI. [vv. 35—37. 
 
 From the least of them unto the greatest of them, 
 
 saith the Lord : 
 For I will forgive their iniquity, 
 And I will remember their sin no more. 
 
 35 — 40. The restoration of Israel to favour is as certain as 
 the ordinances of nature. 
 
 35 Thus saith the Lord, which giveth the sun for a light by 
 
 day. 
 And the ordinances of the moon and of the stars for a 
 
 light by night, 
 Which divideth the sea when the waves thereof roar ; 
 The Lord of hosts is his name : 
 
 36 If those ordinances depart from before me, saith the 
 
 Lord, 
 Then the seed of Israel also shall cease 
 From being a nation before me for ever. 
 
 37 Thus saith the Lord ; 
 
 If heaven above can be measured. 
 
 And the foundations of the earth searched out beneath, 
 
 I will also cast off all the seed of Israel 
 
 For all that they have done, saith the Lord. 
 
 « 
 
 old covenant was mve (Exod. xx. 19, "And they said unto Moses, Speak 
 thou with us and we will hear : but let not God speak with us, lest we 
 die"). Human mediation was necessary. fBut in future, while the 
 knowledge of forgiveness and the quickening graces of the Spirit shall 
 inspire men with a more lively desire to know God as He has revealed 
 Himself to man, the barrier is broken down and there is an immediate 
 approach to Him through the great High Priest, Christ Jesus. Such is 
 the full sense of the words in their application to the Christian dispensa- 
 tion, though from the nature of the case it is a sense only disclosed by 
 the event. See Eph. iii. 12; Heb. iv. 16, x. 19 — ^^. 
 
 35—40. The restoration of Israel to favour is as certain 
 as the ordinances of nature. 
 
 36. divideth the sea when...] stirreth up the sea so that its waves 
 roar. 
 
 36. a nation] a people. The word nation implies fixity of habi- 
 tation, government, etc. 
 
 37. If men can find, by measuring, a limit to the height of heaven, or 
 probe the earth through and through, then and not otherwise will God 
 utterly reject the whole of his people, whatever He may meanwhile do to 
 individuals among them. 
 
vv. 38— 40.] JEREMIAH, XXXI. 217 
 
 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 38 
 
 That the city shall be built to the Lord 
 From the tower of Hananeel unto the gate of the corner. 
 And the measuring line shall yet go forth over against it 39 
 Upon the hill Gareb, and shall compass about to Goath. 
 And the whole valley of the dead bodies, and of the 40 
 
 ashes, 
 And all the fields unto the brook of Kidron, 
 Unto the corner of the horse gate towards the east, 
 SJiall be holy unto the Lord ; 
 It shall not be plucked up, nor thrown down any more 
 
 for ever. 
 
 38. Behold, the days cornel The word come is omitted in the earliest 
 form of the Heb. text, but probably by an error in copying, as the phrase 
 is a favourite one with Jeremiah. See note on xxiii. 5. 
 
 that the city shall be dm'lt] The words which follow no doubt express 
 an enlarging of the bounds of the city, but from our ignorance of the ex- 
 act position of the places named, we cannot see precisely how it was so. 
 From the mention made of "the tower of Hananeel" in Neh. iii. i, 
 xii. 39; and of "the corner-gate" in 2 Kings xiv. 13 (compare Zech. 
 xiv. 10 for both places) it appears likely that the former was at or near 
 the north-east and the latter the north-west corner of the city wall. 
 
 to the Lord'\ for the Lord, for His honour. 
 
 39. This verse, continuing the description from the north-west corner, 
 takes the western side of Jerusalem and promises an extension in that 
 direction also towards the valley of Hinnom southwards. 
 
 Gareb'\ a word meaning itch. Hence it is thought the name here 
 may denote the hill of lepers, and thus mark a spot naturally outside the 
 boundaries of the existing city. Nothing further is known of this name. 
 
 Goath'l Goali. To this place also we have no clue beyond what this 
 verse supplies. 
 
 40. valley of the dead bodies'] the valley of Hinnom, into which 
 carcases of criminals and of animals were cast. 
 
 and of the ashes'] Although this valley was as a whole unclean, yet a 
 part of it would seem to have been reserved for the ashes which (Lev. 
 vi. 11) were ordered to be carried out after a sacrifice "without the 
 camp into a clean place." The word for ashes denotes properly fat and 
 ashes mixed, such as would be left from a sacrifice. 
 
 all the fields] The right reading and the more difficult one seems that 
 which the Septuagint have preserved, although they did not venture to 
 do more than transcribe the Heb. word Sademoth. It probably means 
 either quarries or clefts, rugged rocks. 
 
 the horse gate] mentioned Neh. iii. 28. 
 
 This verse makes the same announcement as to the south side of 
 Jerusalem as the earlier ones had done for the north and west sides, viz., 
 that it should in the future enclose spaces now considered unclean. 
 
2i8 JEREMIAH, XXXII. [vv. 1-3. 
 
 Chap. XXXII. i — 5. Com7nence7nent of the history of the 
 two years preceding the destruction of Jerusalem. 
 
 32 The word that came to Jeremiah from the Lord in the 
 tenth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, which was the 
 
 2 eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar. For then the king of 
 Babylon's army besieged Jerusalem : and Jeremiah the 
 prophet was shut up in the court of the prison, which was 
 
 3 in the king of Judah's house. For Zedekiah king of Judah 
 had shut him up, saying, Wherefore dost thou prophesy, 
 and say, Thus saith the Lord, Behold, I will give this city 
 
 Nothing is said of the east side, or of the rebuilding of the Temple, 
 although Jeremiah had foretold its destruction, as well as that of the 
 city. Hence we may gather that he is speaking not so much of the 
 literal city as of the spiritual Jerusalem, the Church of the "new 
 covenant," which shall include nations hitherto considered profane, and 
 at once extend the salvation which it offers and banish impurity. 
 
 Chap. XXXH. 1—5. Commencement of the history of the 
 two years preceding the destruction of jerusalem. 
 
 1. The word that came] This is the introduction to a long section of 
 the Book more continuously historical than any of the preceding por- 
 tions. It gives the incidents of the two years preceding the capture of 
 Jerusalem, the capture itself, and the events which immediately followed, 
 with prophecies interspersed. The first incident related is Jeremiah's 
 purchase of the field from Hanameel, an act intended to encourage the 
 people to hope for a return from captivity, and in order that it may be 
 brought out that it is in spite of the gloomiest appearances that Jere- 
 miah's faith in the future is thus firm, his own circumstances and those 
 of the state are given with great particularity in these five introductory 
 verses. 
 
 the tenth year of Zedekiah] The siege had commenced in his ninth 
 year (xxxix. i), but the Chaldaeans, hearing that an Egyptian army was 
 approaching, had departed for a time (xxxvii. 5). Jeremiah, about the 
 same time, was found leaving Jerusalem, and charged with falling away 
 to the Chaldaeans, and in spite of his denial he was imprisoned. He 
 seems however after a while to have had the stringency with which he 
 was at first treated relaxed (xxxii. 12, xxxviii. 1). We find nevertheless 
 that he was still 'shut up in the court of the prison' (ver. 2). This 
 pai t of the narrative therefore is somewhat subsequent in date to those 
 incidents above referred to which are recounted later. 
 
 the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar] This agrees with the other two 
 occasions on which his reign is compared directly in date, with those of 
 kings of Judah (xxv. i, lii. 12). 
 
 2. the court of the prison] rather, the court of the guard, the quarters 
 of the sentries who guarded the palace. 
 
vv. 4— 8.] JEREMIAH, XXXII. 219 
 
 into the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall take it ; 
 and Zedekiah king of Judah shall not escape out of the -» 
 hand of the Chaldeans, but shall surely be delivered into 
 the hand of the king of Babylon, and shall speak with him 
 mouth to mouth, and his eyes shall behold his eyes : and 5 
 he shall lead Zedekiah to Babylon, and there shall he be 
 until I visit him, saith the Lord : though ye fight with the 
 Chaldeans, ye shall not prosper. 
 
 6 — 15. Jeremiah! s purchase a7id its 7neaning. 
 
 And Jeremiah said, The word of the Lord came unto 6 
 me, saying. Behold, Hanameel the son of Shallum thine ^ 
 uncle shall come unto thee, saying. Buy thee my field 
 that is in Anathoth : for the right of redemption is 
 thine to buy //. So Hanameel mine uncle's son came to s 
 
 4. This verse occurs again in almost the same words at chap, xxxiv. 
 3, where see note. 
 
 5. until I visit hitn] The words are in themselves ambiguous. It 
 was not necessary for Zedekiah to know exactly what was to happen to 
 him. See chap, xxxix. 6, 7. For visit in a good sense see chaps. 
 xxvii. 22, xxix. 10; in a bad sense vi. i5,xlix. 8; Numb. xvi. 29. And 
 after all Zedekiah's fate contained good as well as evil. See chap, 
 xxxiv. 4, 5. 
 
 6 — 15. Jeremiah's purchase and its meaning. 
 
 7. Hanameel the son of Shallum thine uncle^ The last two words 
 according to Heb. usage (see note on "the son of Hilkiah," chap. i. i) 
 should rather belong to the first of the proper names, and this agrees 
 with the Heb. text of ver. 12. The distinct statement in verses 8 and 9 
 however that Hanameel was Jeremiah's first cousin makes it necessary 
 either to refer the word uncle of this verse to Shallum, and consider the 
 word son in the Eng. Vers, of ver. 12 to have been accidentally omitted 
 by a Heb. copyist, or, as Heb. names of relationship are used much 
 more loosely than with us, to take the word which we render uncle, as 
 including either relationship. 
 
 7ny field^ The question arises how any member of a Levitical family 
 such as Jeremiah's was (chap. i. i) could sell land in spite of the law in 
 Lev. XXV. 34. It may have been that the law did not apply to pro- 
 perty in land which came to a Levite through the female line and in ac- 
 cordance with the law of inheritance mentioned Numb, xxvii. 8. 
 
 Anathoth'] See Introd. chap. I. § 2 (c). 
 
 the right of redemption is thine to buy it] If land was, or was about 
 to be, sold, the nearest of kin was bound to purchase or re-purchase it 
 as the case might be (see Lev. xxv. 24, 25; Ruth iv. 6), so that land 
 should not pass from one family to another. The land in question must 
 
220 JEREMIAH, XXXII. [vv. 9, lo. 
 
 me in the court of the prison according to the word of 
 the Lord, and said unto me, Buy my field, I pray thee, 
 that is in Anathoth, which is in the country of Benjamin : 
 for the right of inheritance is thine, and the redemption is 
 thine ; buy it for thyself Then I knew that this was the 
 
 9 word of the Lord. And I bought the field of Hanameel 
 my uncle's son, that was in Anathoth, and weighed him the 
 
 10 money, ei'en seventeen shekels of silver. And I subscribed 
 
 have been within 2000 cubits (the cubit = about 18 or 19 inches) of the 
 city. See Numb. xxxv. 5. 
 
 8. the right of inheritance is thine\ Jeremiah being the next heir, 
 we infer that Hanameel had no children. 
 
 Then I knew... ^ as falling in with what had been announced to him 
 beforehand (ver. 6, 7). 
 
 9. my uncle's son^ See note on ver. 7. 
 
 weighed him the money, even seventeen shekels of silver"] The shekel 
 weighed about 220 of our grains. The Heb. is literally, as the margin 
 renders it, seven shekels and ten pieces of silver. Hence since the amount, 
 as it stands, may appear small (about £2. 2s. 6d.}, it has been suggested 
 that the seven were golden shekels. This however is improbable, and it 
 is by no means certain that the sum was really a small one. At any rate 
 it would appear from the aim of the whole transaction, that it was the 
 fair price of the field. We do not of course know its size, but it is 
 likely that it was but a small one, the property of the Levites being of 
 limited extent in accordance with what has been mentioned above. We 
 must remember also that in those days silver was of much more value 
 than in our own. Araunah's threshing floor, oxen and implements were 
 bought at a time of great prosperity for fifty shekels (2 Sam. xxiv. 24, 
 See Sp. Comm. for other instances bearing the same way). We are also 
 to remember that as Jeremiah had no children, the land would at the 
 year of jubilee, which may not have been far off, revert to the next heirs 
 of Hanameel, and Jeremiah's interest in it under any circumstances ex- 
 tended only to that date. 
 
 10. And I subscribed the evidence] And I wrote the particulars In 
 the deed. If we replace 'evidence' hy deed all through, we shall see 
 the sense more clearly. It appears that Jeremiah made out and signed 
 in the presence of witnesses, whose signatures also were added, two 
 copies of the deed of purchase, specifying the particulars of the land, 
 
 ,and the conditions under which he bought it (viz. that it should be 
 restored at the jubilee, etc.). He then caused one of these deeds to be 
 sealed up and the other left open, the former to be referred to, in case 
 at any time it were suspected that the latter had been tampered with. 
 Both deeds were delivered solemnly to Baruch in the presence of the 
 seller, the witnesses and all the Jews who happened to be present, that 
 he might preserve them secure against damp in an earthen vessel, 
 and that thus a proof of a transaction so important in its bearing on 
 the prospects of the nation should be permanent. 
 
w. II— 16.] JEREMIAH, XXXII. 221 
 
 the evidence, and sealed //, and took witnesses, and weighed 
 him the money in the balances. So I took the evidence of n 
 the purchase, both that which was sealed according to the 
 law and custom, and that which was open : and I gave the 12 
 evidence of the purchase unto Baruch the son of Neriah, 
 the son of Maaseiah, in the sight of Hanameel mine uncle's 
 sofij and in the presence of the witnesses that subscribed 
 the book of the purchase, before all the Jews that sat in the 
 court of the prison. And I charged Baruch before them, 13 
 saying. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; m 
 Take these evidences, this evidence of the purchase, both 
 which is sealed, and this evidence which is open ; and put 
 them in an earthen vessel, that they may continue many 
 days. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel; 15 
 Houses and fields and vineyards shall be possessed again in 
 this land. 
 
 16 — 25. The prophet asks the Lord ho7u his recent action 
 could be consistent with comiftg events. 
 
 Now when I had delivered the evidence of the purchase 16 
 
 sealed it'\ not in our sense of adding a seal to a signature ("under 
 one's hand and seal") but sealed up, closed securely. 
 
 11. the evidence of the ptirchase\ the deed of purchase. See note 
 above. 
 
 according to the laiv and ctisfom'] rather, the offer and the conditions, 
 literally, the thing fixed and the statutes, the two parts of which the 
 deed consisted, as explained above, viz. the description of the property 
 and the conditions under which it was sold. 
 
 12. the evidence of the purchase... the book of the purchase] the pur- 
 chase deed in each case, and so in ver, 14. See former notes. 
 
 in the court of the prison'] See note on ver. 2. 
 
 15. shall be possessed] shall be bought. 
 
 "It is not the only time in the history of States and Churches that 
 he who has been denounced as a deserter and traitor [see note on the 
 tenth year of Zedekiah ver. i] becomes in the last extremity the best 
 comforter and counsellor. Demosthenes, who had warned his fellow 
 country-men in his earlier days against their excessive confidence, in 
 his later days was the only man who could reassure their excessive de- 
 spondency." Stanley's y«?w?>A Church, II. 465. 
 
 For an illustration of the above transaction from Roman history see 
 Introd. chap. i. § r6. 
 16 — 25. The prophet asks the Lord how his recent action 
 
 COULD BE consistent WITH COMING EVENTS. 
 
 16. I prayed unto the Lord] Jeremiah still felt a difficulty in recon- 
 ciling the obvious sense of the transaction which he had just carried 
 
222 JEREMIAH, XXXII. [vv. 17—23. 
 
 unto Baruch the son of Neriah, I prayed unto the Lord, 
 
 17 saying, Ah Lord God ! behold, thou hast made the heaven 
 and the earth by thy great power and stretched out arm, 
 
 18 and there is nothing too hard for thee : thou shewest loving- 
 kindness unto thousands, and recompensest the iniquity 
 of the fathers into the bosom of their children after them : 
 the Great, the Mighty God, the Lord of hosts, is his name, 
 
 19 great in counsel, and mighty in work : for thine eyes are 
 open upon all the ways of the sons of men : to give every 
 one according to his ways, and according to the fruit of 
 
 20 his doings : which hast set signs and wonders in the land of 
 Egypt, even unto this day, and in Israel, and amongst other 
 
 21 men ; and hast made thee a name, as at this day ; and 
 hast brought forth thy people Israel out of the land of 
 Egypt with signs, and with wonders, and with a strong 
 hand, and with a stretched out arm, and with great terror ; 
 
 22 and hast given them this land, which thou didst swear to 
 their fathers to give them, a land flowing with milk and 
 
 23 honey ; and they came in, and possessed it ; but they obeyed 
 
 out at the Lord's command with that overthrow which at the command 
 of the same Lord he had so frequently announced to the guilty city. 
 This difficulty he expresses towards the end of this section, the earlier 
 [)art being introductory and setting forth the goodness of God as re- 
 peatedly shewn in the history of the people and on the other hand their 
 ingratitude. 
 
 17. Ah] Alas. See note on chap. i. 6. 
 
 too hard for thee] literally, too wonderful /fr thee. 
 
 18. recompensest the iniquity of the fathers] See note on xxxi. ■29. 
 into the bosom] The Eastern garment formed at the bosom numerous 
 
 folds, which served as a pocket. Compare Ruth iii. 15; Prov. xvii. 23. 
 
 20. zvhich hast set] who zvroughtest. 
 
 even unto this day] The construction is elliptical. We must under- 
 stand before these words, and hast continued them (signs and wonders). 
 
 and in Israel] both in Israel. 
 
 and amo7tgst other men] In illustration of men, thus used of heathen 
 nations in opposition to Israel, compare Is. xlii'. 4. 
 
 21. Almost the same as Deut. xxvi. 8. For the terror caused to 
 neighbouring nations by the miracles attendant upon the Exotlus com- 
 pare Exod. XV. 14; Deut. iv. 34. 
 
 22. a land flo~cving with milk and honey] See note on xi. 5. 
 
 23. possessed it] The verb in the Heb. is the same as that rendered 
 "shall inherit" in chap viii. 10, where see note. 
 
 law] Another reading in the Heb. is laws, but that which our version 
 follows is the better one. 
 
vv. 24—31.] JEREMIAH, XXXll. 
 
 not thy voice, neither walked in thy law ; they have done 
 nothing of all that thou commandedst them to do: there- 
 fore thou hast caused all this evil to come upon them: 
 behold the mounts, they are come unto the city to take it ; 24 
 and the city is given into the hand of the Chaldeans, that 
 fight against it, because of the sword, and of the famine, 
 and of the pestilence : and what thou hast spoken is come 
 to pass ; and behold, thou seest //. And thou hast said 25 
 unto me, O Lord God, Buy thee the field for money, and 
 take witnesses ; for the city is given into the hand of the 
 Chaldeans. 
 
 26 — 35. The first part of the Lord^s reply ; Judgment'. 
 
 Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, 26 
 Behold, I am the Lord, the God of all flesh : is there any 27 
 thing too hard for me ? Therefore thus saith the Lord ; 23 
 Behold, I will give this city into the hand of the Chaldeans, 
 and into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, and 
 he shall take it : and the Chaldeans, that fight against this 2j 
 city, shall come and set fire on this city, and burn it with 
 the houses, upon whose roofs they have offered incense 
 unto Baal, and poured out drink offerings unto other gods, 
 to provoke me to anger. For the children of Israel and the 30 
 children of Judah have only done evil before me from their 
 youth : for the children of Israel have only provoked me to 
 anger with the work of their hands, saith the Lord. For 31 
 
 24. the motciits] See note on chap. vi. 6. 
 
 are come unto the city] The enemy have pushed them forward so 
 that they already reach to the walls. 
 
 is given] The thing is virtually done, there being a complete blockade, 
 and no hope of rescue for the starving population within. 
 
 25. The two things, the state of the city and God's command, are 
 placed side by side that their apparent inconsistency may be most 
 strikingly shewn. 
 
 26 — 35. The first part of the Lord's reply; Judgment. 
 27. too hard for me] See ver. 1 7 and note. 
 
 29. and buj'71 it] This would in fact have been the duty of the Jews 
 themselves according to Deut. xiii. 12 — 16. 
 
 with the houses] literally, and the houses. 
 
 30. from their youth] from the earliest times of the nation. In chap, 
 ii. 2 the Exodus is spoken of as the youth of Israel. 
 
 the work of their hands] This may mean their wicked deeds gene- 
 
224 JEREMIAH, XXXII. [vv. 32—36. 
 
 this city hath been to me as a provocation of mine anger 
 and of my fury from the day that they built it even unto 
 this day; that / should remove it from before my face, 
 
 32 because of all the evil of the children of Israel and of the 
 children of J udah , which they have done to provoke me to anger, 
 they, their kings, their princes, their priests.and their prophets, 
 and the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem. 
 
 33 And they have turned unto me the back, and not the face : 
 though / taught them, rising up early and teaching them, 
 
 34 yet they have not hearkened to receive instruction. But 
 they set their abominations in the house, which is called by 
 
 35 my name, to defile it. And they built the high places of 
 Baal, which are in the valley of the son of Hinnom, to cause 
 their sons and their daughters to pass through the fire unto 
 Molech ; which I commanded them not, neither came it 
 into my mind, that they should do this abomination, to 
 cause Judah to sin. 
 
 36 — 44. Second part of the Lord's reply ; Mercy. 
 
 36 And now therefore thus saith the Lord, the God of 
 
 rally, but it seems better to take it as referring to their idols in regard 
 to wliich similar expressions are often used (chap. x. 3, 9 ; Deut. iv. 28 ; 
 1 Kings xix. 18, etc). 
 
 31. as a provocation of] literally, t//>on. The preposition which 
 Jeremiah uses is often employed by him in a vaguer sense than is usual 
 elsewhere in the Bible. Here the meaning seems to be that the city 
 constitutes a burden which rests on God's wrath, so to speak, and makes 
 it incumbent upon Him to display it in the shape of punishment. 
 
 from the day that they built it] from the earliest times of the occupa- 
 tion of it by Israel (from David's days; 2 Sam. v. 6, 7). 
 
 33. though /taught them...] This and the two participles following 
 are infinitives (as in chap. vii. 9 where see note), aud there was a 
 teaching of them, he. 
 
 36. See notes on vii. 30, 31 where this and ver. 34 have already 
 occurred in the main. In addition it is to be remarked that here 
 Baal and Molech are identified. "Molech the /J'/;/^and Baal the lord 
 are simply different names of the sun god, but in altered relations. 
 Molech is the sun as the mighty fire, which in passing through the signs 
 of the Zodiac burns up its own children." Sp. Comm. Compare with 
 these last words the classical legend of Kronos who devoured his chil- 
 dren as they were born. 
 
 36—44. Second part of the Lord's reply; Mercy. 
 86. And 1107V therefore] These words resume the thought of ver. 27 
 
vv. 37—44.] JEREMIAH, XXXlI. 225 
 
 Israel, concerning this city, whereof ye say, it shall be 
 delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the 
 sword, and by the famine, and by the pestilence ; behold, 1 37 
 will gather them out of all countries, whither I have driven 
 them in mine anger, and in my fury, and in great wrath; 
 and I will bring them again unto this place, and I will cause 
 them to dwell safely : and they shall be my people, and 1 38 
 will be their God : and I will give them one heart, and one 39 
 way, that they may fear me for ever, for the good of them, 
 and of their children after them : and I will make an ever- 40 
 lasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from 
 them, to do them good; but I will put my fear in their 
 hearts, that they shall not depart from me. Yea, I will 41 
 rejoice over them to do them good, and I will plant them 
 in this land assuredly with my whole heart and with my 
 whole soul. For thus saith the Lord ; Like as I have 42 
 brought all this great evil upon this people, so will I bring 
 upon them all the good that I have promised them. And 43 
 fields shall be bought in this land, whereof ye say, // is 
 desolate without man or beast ; it is given into the hand of 
 the Chaldeans. Men shall buy fields for money, and sub- 4 \ 
 
 "is there any thing too hard for me?" In spite of the richly deserved 
 ruin which has been dwelt on in the intermediate verses, deliverance 
 and restoration to the land shall assuredly come. 
 
 39. and one way] See note on chap. vi. 16. 
 
 that they may fear me for ever] The words seem suggested by those 
 of Deut. iv. 10, as the next words are also taken from that Book (vi. 24). 
 
 for ever] literally, all the days. Compare Matt, xxviii. 20, where 
 our Saviour says to His disciples, "I am with you alway^" literally, all 
 the days. 
 
 40. The sense would be made clearer by the omission of the comma 
 after /«;-« away frotn them. God's side of the covenant is that He will 
 not turn away (cease) from doing his people good ; their side, that His 
 fear shall be in their hearts, so that they shall not depart from Him. 
 
 41. assuredly] in truth, referring to God's purpose. The other 
 rendering (Eng. margin), in stability, is less correct, as referring to the 
 condition of the people. 
 
 43. fields'] literally, the field. As opposed to ' fields ' at the begin- 
 ning of ver. 44, the sense here is the open country. See note on chap. 
 iv. 17. We are therefore pointed to a large increase in the population 
 generally. 
 
 44. fields] individual properties, as in that case of which the particu- 
 lars have been given. 
 
 JEREMIAH IC 
 
226 JEREMIAH, XXXIII. [vv. 1—4. 
 
 scribe evidences, and seal them, and take witnesses in the 
 land of Benjamin, and in the places about Jerusalem, and 
 in the cities of Judah, and in the cities of the mountains, 
 and in the cities of the valley, and in the cities of the south: 
 for I will cause their captivity to return, saith the Lord. 
 
 Chap. XXXIII. i — 13. Renewed promise of return and of 
 ho7iour among the nations. 
 
 33 Moreover the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah the 
 second time, while he was yet shut up in the court of the 
 
 2 prison, saying, Thus saith the Lord the maker thereof, the 
 Lord that formed it, to establish it ; the Lord is his name ; 
 
 3 call unto me, and I will answer thee, and shew thee great 
 
 4 and mighty things^ which thou knowest not. For thus saith 
 
 subscribe evidences'] write the particulars of the purchase in the 
 deed. 
 
 ill the land of Benjamin...] The several parts of the land are specified 
 in order to make the promise more distinct that it should be possessed 
 again in its entirety. See note on chap. xvii. 26, where the word "plain" 
 is the same in the Heb. as that here rendered valley (and in xxxiii. 13 
 **vale"). 
 
 I will cause their captivity to return'] probably not, I will bring back 
 the captives, but rather, I will remove their captive condition and restore 
 them to their former estate. 
 
 Chap. XXXIII. 1 — 13. Renewed promise of return and of 
 
 HONOUR AMONG THE NATIONS. 
 
 1. the second time] From the tenor of the communication as well as 
 from the words which follow in this verse we gather that it was not 
 much subsequent to the former. 
 
 in the court of the prison] in the court of the g^iard. See chap, xxxii. 
 2 with note. 
 
 2. the viaker thereof] xvho does it (viz. that which he has purposed).- 
 the Lord is his name] He is God and not man, and so is unchange- 
 able and omnipotent. Compare xxxi. 35. 
 
 3. great and mighty things] The only other cases where the Heb. 
 ] occurs have reference to the cities of the Amorites (Deut. i. 1%, ix. i, 
 ' and once or twice elsewhere). It is there rendered in the Eng. Vers. 
 
 fenced, or walled, and hence the notion of mighty, as in the text. But 
 the Heb. for 'mighty things' becomes by the easy change of one letter 
 the original expression in Is. xlviii. 6, there rightly rendered "hidden 
 things." Some have supposed accordingly that, as the Isaiah passage 
 is obviously not taken from this, this has been taken from it either by 
 Jeremiah himself or by some one subsequent to him, and that the right 
 
vv. 5—8.] JEREMIAH, XXXIII. 227 
 
 the Lord, the God of Israel, concerning the houses of this 
 city, and concerning the houses of the kings of Judah, which 
 are thrown down by the mounts, and by the sword ; they 5 
 come to fight with the Chaldeans, but // is to fill them with 
 the dead bodies of men, whom I have slain in mine anger 
 and in my fury, and for all whose wickedness I have hid my 
 face from this city. Behold, I will bring it health and 6 
 cure, and I will cure them, and will reveal unto them the 
 abundance of peace and truth. And I will cause the cap- 7 
 tivity of Judah and the captivity of Israel to return, and 
 will build them, as at the first. And I will cleanse them 8 
 from all their iniquity, whereby they have sinned against 
 me, and I will pardon all their iniquities, whereby they have 
 
 reading here is that found in Isaiah. This assumption is improbable, 
 although we may fitly say that this whole passage is more in the style 
 of Isaiah than of Jeremiah. 
 
 4. by the mounts, and by the sword'\ rather, against the mounts 
 and against the sword. These houses of the city and of the kings were 
 not thrown down by the besiegers, as our Version suggests, but by the 
 besieged, in order to make room for defensive works to be raised 
 against these forms of attack. See chap. v. 1 7 with note, and Is. xxii. 
 10; also Ezek. xxvi. 9 where for "axes" we should read sivords. 
 
 5. they come] As far as grammar is concerned 'they' should refer 
 to 'houses.' As the sense precludes this, the verse becomes extremely 
 difficult. The Septuagint cuts the knot by the omission of the word. 
 Among the expedients proposed the most satisfactory seems to be that 
 we should understand the besieged Jews to be meant, who, although 
 not directly mentioned, can be readily understood from the sense of the 
 earlier part of the passage : While they coi7ie to fight with the Chaldaeans 
 and to fill them (the houses) with, &c. The sudden change from the 
 buildings to i\i& people is illustrated immediately in ver. 6. 
 
 have hid my face'] a phrase used elsewhere also (e.g. Deut. xxxi. 17) 
 to express displeasure. 
 
 6. / will bring it health and cure'] I will lay upon it a bandage 
 and a remedy^ i.e. a healing bandage. See notes on chaps, viii. 23, 
 XXX. 17. 
 
 / will bring it. ..I will cure them] For the change from city (zV) to 
 inhabitants {theni) see note on ver. 5. 
 
 and will reveal unto them] and will roll doivn (pour out) upon them, 
 is another possible translation, but (as in xi. 20, where see note) our 
 Version's rendering is better. 
 
 truth] (God's) faithfulness. 
 
 8. And I tuill cleanse them] This distinctive feature of the new 
 covenant has been already brought out strongly in xxxi. 34. We shall 
 have it again, 1. 20. 
 
 15—2 
 
228 JEREMIAH, XXXIII. [vv. 9— 13. 
 
 sinned, and whereby they have transgressed against me. 
 9 And it shall be to me a name of joy, a praise and an honour 
 before all the nations of the earth, which shall hear all the 
 good that I do unto them : and they shall fear and tremble 
 for all the goodness and for all the prosperity that I procure 
 
 10 unto it. Thus saith the Lord ; Again there shall be heard 
 in this place, which ye say shall be desolate without man 
 and without beast, even in the cities of Judah, and in the 
 streets of Jerusalem, that are desolate, without man, and 
 
 11 without inhabitant, and without beast, the voice of joy, 
 and the voice of gladness, the voice of the bridegroom, and 
 the voice of the bride, the voice of them that shall say. 
 Praise the Lord of hosts : for the Lord is good ; for his 
 mercy endureth for ever : and of them that shall bring the 
 sacrifice of praise into the house of the Lord. For I will 
 cause to return the captivity of the land as at the first, saith 
 
 12 the Lord. Thus saith the Lord of hosts, Again in this 
 place, which is desolate without man and without beast, 
 and in all the cities thereof, shall be a habitation of shep- 
 
 13 herds causing their flocks to lie down. In the cities of the 
 mountains, in the cities of the vale, and in the cities of the 
 south, and in the land of Benjamin, and in the places about 
 Jerusalem, and in the cities of Judah, shall the flocks pass 
 again under the hands of him that telleth theni^ saith the 
 Lord. 
 
 9. they shall fear and tremble"] as inferring, and rightly, that the God 
 who so honours those who seek Him will punish with equal emphasis 
 those who disregard Him. 
 
 10. which ye say shall be desolate^ Of which ye say, It is desolate. 
 
 11. the voice of Joy...'] See note on vii. 34. 
 
 Praise the Lord of hosts : for the Lord is good ; for his mercy endureth 
 for ever] These clauses seem to have been liturgical forms used in the 
 Temple services. This we gather from such passages as 2 Chron. v. 13, 
 vii. 3, 6; Ezra iii. ir ; Ps. cvi. i. 
 
 and of them that shall bring] rather, (and) that bring, or, as they 
 bring, to be joined with thefn that shall say, etc. above. 
 
 the sacrifice of praise] For the probable sense see note on xvii. 26. 
 
 / will cause to return the captivity of the land] See note on xxxii. 
 
 44' 
 
 12. a habitation of shepherds] See note on ix. 10, also vi. 2. 
 
 13. In the cities...] See note on xxxii. 44. 
 
 under the hands of hi?n that telleth them] Tell is used, as often in 
 
vv. 14—18.] JEREMIAH, XXXIII. 229 
 
 14 — 18. The Kingly and Priestly Offices shall be 
 re-established. 
 
 Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, that I will perform t4 
 that good thing which I have promised unto the house of 
 Israel and to the house of Judah. In those days, and at 15 
 that time, will I cause the Branch of righteousness to 
 grow up unto David; and he shall execute judgment and 
 righteousness in the land. In those days shall Judah be 16 
 saved, and Jerusalem shall dwell safely: and this is the name 
 wherewith she shall be called, The Lord our righteousness. 
 For thus saith the Lord ; David shall never want a man to 17 
 sit upon the throne of the house of Israel ; neither shall the is 
 priests the Levites want a man before me to offer burnt 
 offerings, and to kindle meat offerings, and to do sacrifice 
 continually. 
 
 old English, in the sense of coimt. Other instances in the Bible are 
 Gen. XV. 5 ; Ps. xxii. 17, xlviii, 12. Compare Shakespeare, 
 
 "While one with moderate haste might tell a hundred." 
 
 Hamlet, Act. I, Sc. 2. 
 so Milton, 
 
 * ' And every shepherd tells his tale (counts the number of his sheep) 
 Under the hawthorn in the dale." 
 
 V Allegro, 67. 
 For tale in the Bible in the sense oi number see Exod. v. 8, 18; i Sam. 
 xviii. 27 ; I Chron. ix. 28. — Bible Word Book. 
 
 14 — 18. The Kingly and Priestly Offices shall be 
 re-established. 
 
 The Septuagint omit from ver. 14 to the end of the chapter. 
 
 15, 16. See notes on xxiii. 5, 6. 
 
 17, 18. The permanence of the kingly and priestly line is here em- 
 phatically declared. But elsewhere Jeremiah no less plainly announces 
 the cutting off of both, of the former in xxii. 30, xxx. 21, of the latter 
 in iii. 16, xxxi. 33. We must therefore take the passage as one of the 
 prophet's pictures of the Christian dispensation, clothed in a Jewish 
 dress, the only form in which it could present any meaning to those to 
 whom it was delivered. It is no doubt to such passages as this that 
 St Peter refers (i Pet. i. 10, 11), when he speaks of the prophets as 
 '* enquiring and searching diligently... what or what manner of time the 
 Spirit of Christ which was in them did signify, when it testified before- 
 hand the sufferings of Christ, and the glory that should follow'^ Christ 
 uniting the offices of King and Priest should make the spiritual Israel 
 more glorious than ever. 
 
230 JEREMIAH, XXXTII. [vv. 19—24. 
 
 jg — 2 2. God's Covenant is as certain as the ordinaiices 
 of nature. 
 19 And the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, saying, 
 ^o Thus saith the Lord ; If you can break my covenant of the 
 day, and my covenant of the night, and that there should 
 
 21 not be day and night in their season ; then may also my 
 covenant be broken with David my servant, that he should 
 not have a son to reign upon his throne; and with the 
 
 22 Levites the priests, my ministers. As the host of heaven 
 cannot be numbered, neither the sand of the sea measured : 
 so will I multiply the seed of David my servant, and the 
 Levites that minister unto me. 
 
 23 — 26. Renewal of the assurance to the people as a whole, 
 with the same illustration. 
 
 23 Moreover the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, saying, 
 
 24 Considerest thou not what this people have spoken, saying, 
 
 19—22. God's Covenant is as certain as the ordinances 
 OF nature. 
 
 20. The argument of this section is the same as that of chap. xxxi. 
 :^_(5_27. The only distinction is that .while there the fixity of God's 
 work in nature is appealed to as an illustration of the fixity with which 
 he will retain Israel as His people, here the same natural laws are 
 appealed to as illustrating the certainty with which the particular 
 blessings of the monarchy and priesthood are secured to the people. 
 
 21. The covenant with David's line is given 2 Sam. vii. 12—16, 
 while that with the Levites (so far as it was not included in the general 
 covenant to maintain Israel, of whom the Levites were an integral part) 
 was made in the person of Phinehas (Numb. xxv. 13). 
 
 23—26. Renewal of the assurance to the people as a 
 
 WHOLE, WITH the SAME ILLUSTRATION. 
 
 24. Considerest thou not...'] Hast thou not seen, etc. ? 
 
 this people] Some understand these words of the heathen, in order 
 to escape the difficulty of giving to them the same reference (viz. to 
 the Jews), as the words * my people ' just after. In usage however, 
 the two expressions differ exactly as is required here, the former 
 being used frequently by Jeremiah (e.g. iv. 10, v. 14, 23, etc.) of the 
 people in a state of estrangement from God, while the latter denotes 
 the same people as viewed with affection by Him. The sense of this 
 verse then is, that the people, seeing that both Israel and Judah ('the 
 two families ') are being apparently cast off, despise their own nation, 
 despair of any better days, and consider their national existence to be a 
 thing of the jiast. 
 
vv. 25, 26; I.] JEREMIAH, XXXIII. XXXIV. 231 
 
 The two families which the Lord hath chosen, he hath even 
 cast them off? thus they have despised my people, that they 
 should be no more a nation before them. Thus saith the 25 
 Lord ; If my covenant be not with day and night, and if I 
 have not appointed the ordinances of heaven and earth ; 
 then will I cast away the seed of Jacob, and David my 26 
 servant, so that / will not take a7iy of his seed to be rulers 
 over the seed of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob : for I will 
 cause their captivity to return, and have mercy on them. 
 
 Chap. XXXIV. i — 7. Prophecy of the burning of the city 
 and the captivity of Zedekiah. 
 
 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, 34 
 when Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and all his army, 
 and all the kingdoms of the earth of his dominion, and all 
 the people, fought against Jerusalem, and against all the 
 
 thus they have] and they have. 
 
 that they should de] so that they are. 
 
 26. There shall yet be rulers and priests over Israel in its spiritual 
 sense viz. the Christian Church, the natural successor and develop- 
 ment of Judaism. For this thought one step further advanced, and 
 pointing faintly to the means by which the issue was to be brought 
 about, compare Is. Ixvi. 19 — 21. 
 
 Chap. XXXIV. 1 — 7. Prophecy of the burning of the 
 
 CITY AND THE CAPTIVITY OF ZeDEKIAH. 
 
 1. The word which £ame\ The similarity between the earlier part 
 (verses 2, 3) of this message to Zedekiah and that of xxxii. 3 — 5 suggests 
 what is the ordinary view, that this prophecy is merely the fuller form 
 of the same. Verses 4, 5 however are not sufficiently like anything in 
 the former passage, and rather suggest a peaceful reign and death in 
 Jerusalem, followed by kingly obsequies. Either therefore this is in 
 fact their sense, and the verse is really a conditional promise, though 
 here given in an abbreviated form with the condition omitted (see 
 xxxviii. 17, where the condition is given), or the words mean only that 
 Zedekiah should escape with his life in the destruction of the city, and 
 should on the occasion of his death in Babylon receive from his 
 fellow-exiles the honours here described. 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar... and all his army] The long enumeration of the 
 hostile forces seems meant to refer to their number and perhaps un- 
 wieldiness, as composed of many different nations whose connecting 
 links were of the slenderest. Compare Ezek. xxvi. 7, where the like 
 description is given of Nebuchadnezzar's attack on Tyre. 
 
 and all the people] and all the peoples, separate natioiis. 
 
232 JEREMIAH, XXXIV. [vv. 2—7. 
 
 2 cities thereof, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of 
 Israel ; Go and speak to Zedekiah king of Judah, and tell 
 him. Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, I will give this city into 
 the hand of the king of Babylon, and he shall burn it with 
 
 3 fire : and thou shalt not escape out of his hand, but shalt 
 surely be taken, and delivered into his hand; and thine eyes 
 shall behold the eyes of the king of Babylon, and he shall 
 speak with thee mouth to mouth, and thou shalt go to 
 
 4 Babylon. Yet hear the word of the Lord, O Zedekiah 
 king of Judah ; Thus saith the Lord of thee. Thou shalt 
 
 5 not die by the sword : but thou shalt die in peace : and with 
 the burnings of thy fathers, the former kings which were 
 before thee, so shall they burn odours for thee; and they 
 will lament thee, sayi?ig, Ah lord! for I have pronounced 
 
 6 the word, saith the Lord. Then Jeremiah the prophet 
 spake all these words unto Zedekiah king of Judah in Jeru- 
 
 7 salem, when the king of Babylon's army fought against 
 Jerusalem, and against all the cities of Judah that were 
 
 all the cities thereof\ including Lachish and Azekah of ver. 7. The 
 fact that those cities were not taken, and that Jeremiah was still free 
 ('go and speak' ver. 2) shews us that the date was early in this last 
 campaign of Nebuchadnezzar, and probably in the ninth year of 
 Zedekiah. 
 
 3. thine eyes shall behold the eyes of the king 0/ Babylon'] See xxxii. 4. 
 "The fact of Zedekiah's interview with Nebuchadnezzar at Riblah, and 
 his being carried blind to Babylon, [see chap. lii. 11], reconciles two 
 predictions of Jeremiah and Ezekicl, which at the time of their delivery 
 must have appeared conflicting, and which Josephus indeed particularly 
 states that Zedekiah alleged as his reason for not giving more heed 
 to Jeremiah. The former of these (Jer. xxxii. 4) states that Zedekiah 
 shall 'speak with the king of Babylon mouth to mouth, and his eyes 
 shall behold his eyes,' the latter (Ezek. xii. 13) that 'he shall be 
 brought to Babylon and shall not see it, though he die there."* Sm. 
 Bibl. Diet. Art. Zedekiah. 
 
 5. i«/^rtr^] in tranquillity. See note on xi. 12. 
 
 with the burnings of thy fatheis] See 2 Chron. xvi. 14, xxi. 19. 
 
 shall they bttrn odours'] Shall they make a burning. There is 
 nothing in the Hebrew implying more than a burning, which might 
 have been of wood, perhaps with some of the personal property of the 
 deceased. Odours would probably have been difficult for the exiles to 
 procure in Babylon, if the words here really have reference to the actual 
 event. (See note on The word 7v hie h came, ver. i.) 
 
 Ah lord] See xxii. 18 with note. 
 
w. 8, 9.] JEREMIAH, XXXIV. 233 
 
 left, against Lachish, and against Azekah: for these de- 
 fenced cities remained of the cities of Judah. 
 
 8 — 1 1. The treatment received by the Hebrew servants. 
 
 This is the word that came unto Jeremiah from the Lord, 8 
 after that the king Zedekiah had made a covenant with all 
 the people which were at Jerusalem, to proclaim liberty 
 unto them ; that every man should let his manservant, and 9 
 
 7. against Lachish, atid against Azekah} Both these were in the 
 low country of Judah near the borders of Egypt. Nebuchadnezzar 
 would not venture to advance on his career of conquest into Egypt, 
 leaving such important fortresses untaken. 
 
 8 — 11. The treatment received by the Hebrew servants. 
 
 8. had made a covenant} This covenant was merely to the effect \ 
 that the Law of Moses regarding Hebrew slaves should be carried out. 
 There were two classes of rules on the subject in the Pentateuch, 
 apparently but not really conflicting. According to Exod. xxi. 2 a 
 Hebrew male slave was to be set free after six years' service, and by 
 Deut. XV. 12, this was extended to female slaves. In Lev. xxv. 39 — 55 
 on the other hand we find that a Hebrew slave was to be treated not as 
 a slave, but a hired servant, and to be set free at the jubilee (each 
 fiftieth year ; but see note on ver. 14 below). It is clear however, from • 
 the context of this last passage that it had regard to out-door service, 
 tillage, etc., while the others are concerned with domestic slavery. , 
 This law seems to have fallen out of use among many Jews. In i 
 general the Mosaic Law would be more closely kept at Jerusalem than 
 elsewhere, and it may well be that the coming in of many of the 
 wealthier Jews from the country to avoid the invading army, made the 
 laxity on their part more conspicuous by contrast. This, coupled with 
 the conscience-quickening power of impending danger, in meeting which 
 the slaves, if enfranchised, would be more ready to co-operate with 
 their former masters, seems to have induced Zedekiah, naturally too 
 weak-minded a man to have displayed much vigour in urging any such 
 conduct upon his subjects, to make the agreement with them here 
 spoken of. It probably has reference to all slaves who according to the 
 above law had a claim to freedom either of shorter or longer standing. 
 It is possible indeed that all Hebrew slaves, even those who had not 
 completed their six years' servitude, were in the terror of the moment set 
 free. It appears however that when the Babylonian army withdrew for 
 
 a short time to meet the Egyptian force from which they imagined 
 themselves in danger (xxxvii. 5), the Jews, fancying all danger passed, 
 basely withdrew the gift of freedom from their newly emancipated 
 compatriots of both sexes. 
 
 to proclaim liberty unto them} The same phrase is used of the 
 proclamation made in the year of jubilee (Lev. xxv. 10). 
 
234 JEREMIAH, XXXIV. [vv. 10—14. 
 
 every man his maidservant, beifig a Hebrew or a Hebrewess, 
 go free; that none should serve himself of them, to wit^ 
 
 10 of a Jew his brother. Now when all the princes, and all 
 the people, which had entered into the covenant, heard 
 that every one should let his manservant, and every one his 
 maidservant, go free, that none should serve themselves of 
 
 " them any more, then they obeyed, and let them go. But 
 afterwards they turned, and caused the servants and the hand- 
 maids, whom they had let go free, to return, and brought 
 them into subjection for servants and for handmaids. 
 
 12 — 22. The punishment of their masters which is to ensue. 
 
 12 Therefore the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah from 
 
 13 the Lord, saying, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel ; I 
 made a covenant with your fathers in the day that I brought 
 them forth out of the land of Egypt, out of the house of 
 
 M bondmen, saying. At the end of seven years let ye go every 
 
 9. serve himself of theni] See note on xxx. 8. 
 
 10. heard^ The Hebrew verb is the same as that rendered later in 
 the verse 'obeyed.' In strictness therefore it should be rendered alike 
 in both places. For the sake of the English idiom however, which 
 does not repeat a verb in this way, it is better to vary. '* It is part of 
 the courtesy of oriental countries to represent obedience as the necessary 
 result of hearing another's wishes." — Sp. Conim. 
 
 11. they turned, a7id caused... to reiurii] they again brought back. 
 For the Hebrew idiom, which our version has literally translated, see 
 note on chap. xii. 15. 
 
 12—22. The punishment of their masters which is to ensue. 
 
 12. Therefore the word of the Lord came to yercmiah'\ The prophet 
 reminds the people of the covenant which God made with their fathers, 
 of the circumstances under which it was made, of their shortlived 
 obedience to it, and then announces the penalty. 
 
 13. the house of boiidmc7i\ The phrase occurs Deut. vii. 8, and the 
 phrase 'house of bondage' frequently in Exod. and Deut. The point of 
 its use here is to remind Israel that their position, as recently delivered 
 from slavery when this covenant was made, should have taught them to 
 be specially tender of others. 
 
 14. At the end of seven years'] As 7^'^ should say of six years. In 
 Hebrew counting of this kind both the first and the last items were 
 reckoned in. So the jubilee was in strictness the forty-ninth (the 
 seventh Sabbatical) not the fiftieth year. Compare the rite of circumci- 
 sion administered on the eighth (seventh) day after birth, and our Lord's 
 Resurrection on ** the third (second) day." 
 
vv. 15—20.] JEREMIAH, XXXIV. 235 
 
 man his brother a Hebrew, which hath been sold unto thee; 
 and when he hath served thee six years, thou shalt let him 
 go free from thee : but your fathers hearkened not unto me, 
 neither inclined their ear. And ye were now turned, and 15 
 had done right in my sight, in proclaiming liberty every man 
 to his neighbour ; and ye had made a covenant before me 
 in the house which is called by my name. But ye turned 16 
 and polluted my name, and caused every man his servant, 
 and every man his handmaid, whom ye had set at liberty at 
 their pleasure, to return, and brought them into subjection, 
 to be unto you for servants and for handmaids. Therefore 17 
 thus saith the Lord ; Ye have not hearkened unto me, in 
 proclaiming liberty, every one to his brother, and every man 
 to his neighbour : behold, I proclaim a liberty for you, saith 
 the Lord, to the sword, to the pestilence, and to the famine; 
 and I will make you to be removed into all the kingdoms of 
 the earth. And I will give the men that have transgressed 18 
 my covenant, which have not performed the words of the 
 covenant which they had made before me, when they cut 
 the calf in twain, and passed between the parts thereof, the 19 
 princes of Judah, and the princes of Jerusalem, the eunuchs, 
 and the priests, and all the people of the land, which passed 
 between the parts of the calf; I will even give them into 20 
 the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that 
 
 hearkened'\ the same verb as in ver. 10, where see note. 
 15. And ye] The pronoun is emphatic, as contrasting them with 
 the former generations. At last men were found to obey. 
 in proclaiming liberty] See note on ver. 8. 
 
 17. / proclaim a liberty for you] The people, hitherto God's 
 servants, and secure in that service, shall be cast off by Him, and shall 
 accordingly, being no longer under His protection as their Owner, be 
 exposed to the perils which follow. 
 
 to be removed] See notes on xv. 4, and xxiv, 9. 
 
 18. The construing of this verse presents a difficulty. 'When they 
 cut the calf in twain' is literally the calf which they cut in ttvain. 'Calf 
 then is most probably either a second accusative after 'I will give,' or, 
 better, in apposition to 'the covenant.' In the former case the 
 rendering will be, *■ I will make the men... the calf i.e. I will cut them 
 in pieces as they have done to the calf of sacrifice, in the latter, I will 
 ^/^(f... (resuming this at ver. 20 I zvill even give) the men... which have 
 not performed the words of the covenant... even the calf^vhich they cut, 
 &c. See Gen xv. 10 for ceremonies of this kind as attendant upon a 
 covenant. 
 
236 JEREMIAH, XXXIV. XXXV. [vv. 21, 22; 1—3. 
 
 seek their life : and their dead bodies shall be for meat unto 
 the fowls of the heaven, and to the beasts of the earth. 
 
 21 And Zedekiah king of Judah and his princes will I give into 
 the hand of their enemies, and into the hand of them that 
 seek their life, and into the hand of the king of Babylon's 
 
 22 army, which are gone up from you. Behold, I will com- 
 mand, saith the Lord, and cause them to return to this city; 
 and they shall fight against it, and take it, and burn it with 
 fire : and I will make the cities of Judah a desolation with- 
 out an inhabitant. 
 
 Chap. XXXV. i — 11. The incident of the Rechabites. 
 
 35 The word which came unto Jeremiah from the Lord in 
 the days of Jehoiakim the son of Josiah king of Judah, 
 
 2 saying. Go unto the house of the Rechabites, and speak 
 unto them, and bring them i7ito the house of the Lord, into 
 
 3 one of the chambers, and give them wine to drink. Then 
 I took Jaazaniah the son of Jeremiah, the son of Habazi- 
 
 21. which are gone up\ The same verb is also used of raising the siege 
 in xxxvii. 5 ("departed,") 11 ("was broken up"). 
 
 Chap. XXXV. 1—11. The incident of the Rechabites. 
 
 1. The word which came. ..in the days of Jehoiakini] This and the 
 following chapter form a remarkable break in the narrative of chaps. 
 xxxii — xliv. They at once bring us back seventeen years, viz. from the 
 tenth year of the reign of Zedekiah to the fourth year of Jehoiakim, 
 when the Babylonian army had entered Palestine and compelled many 
 of its inhabitants to take refuge within Jerusalem. Among these were 
 the Rechabites, and the unwonted presence of a nomadic tribe like 
 theirs must have produced quite a sufficient interest and stir to cause 
 Jeremiah's act and subsequent address to make a deep impression 
 upon the people. 
 
 2. Go itnto the hotise\ The families (compare Gen. vii. i, &c.) are 
 meant, not the dwelling-houses. See ver. 7. 
 
 of the Rechabites'] They were a wandering tribe of Kenite descent 
 and thus connected with Moses' father-in-law (Jud. i. 16). Some of 
 tliat family had settled in the south of Judah (ibid.) others near Kedesh 
 in Naphtali (Jud. iv. 1 1). This branch however as we see were no- 
 madic. 
 
 chambers'] used as store-houses (i Chron. xxviii. i2)or places of meet- 
 ing for those whose duties lay about the Temple. It is the same word 
 in the original as that which occurs three times in ver. 4. 
 
 3. Jaazaniah] apparently the leader of the tribe or of that part of 
 it which had taken refuge in Jerusalem. 
 
VV.4— 6.] JEREMIAH, XXXV. 237 
 
 niah, and his brethren, and all his sons, and the whole 
 house of the Rechabites ; and I brought them into the 4 
 house of the Lord, into the chamber of the sons of Hanan, 
 the son of Igdaliah, a man of God, which was by the 
 chamber of the princes, which was above the chamber of 
 Maaseiah the son of Shallum, the keeper of the door : and 5 
 I set before the sons of the house of the Rechabites pots 
 full of wine, and cups, and I said unto them, Drink ye 
 wine. But they said. We will drink no wine : for Jonadab 6 
 the son of Rechab our father commanded us, saying, Ye 
 
 4. a7id I brought them into the house of the Lord\ that so what was 
 to follow might be made most prominent and be most widely known. 
 
 the sons of Hattan\ meaning probably not the actual sons but the 
 disciples, Hanan being the name of a prophet or teacher, who like 
 many others founded a school of 'sons.' Of him however we know 
 nothing further. 
 
 Jgdaliah'] the longer form of Gedaliah, a name which we meet so 
 frequently in the later chapters of this historical portion as belonging to 
 the son of Ahikam. 
 
 a man of God] i.e. a prophet, viz. Hanan, not Igdaliah. See note on 
 chap. i. I. 
 
 Maaseiah] probably father of the Zephaniah (xxi. i, xxix. 25, xxxvii. 
 3) who is mentioned as second priest in lii. 24. 
 
 keeper of thi door] literally, keeper of the threshold. There were 
 three of these officers (lii. 24; 2 Kings xxv. 18). They may have had 
 charge respectively of the outer and inner courts of the Temple and of 
 the entrance door itself. They seem to have stood next in rank after 
 the high-priest and his deputy (ibid.), and were charged with the care 
 of the money contributed for the restoration of the Temple (2 Kings xii. 9). 
 
 5. pots] bowls, large vessels, from which drinking cups were filled. 
 
 6. We will d?'ink 710 wine: for yonadab... commanded us] Jonadab , 
 is the same who assisted Jehu (2 Kings x. 15 — 28) in the overthrow of 
 the worship of Baal, and for two or three hundred years his descendants 
 had been faithful to the command which he had imposed on them. 
 The reason for the command doubtless was the corruption and excess 
 which he saw to be engendered and fostered by city-life. Thus the 
 customs of towns were to be avoided, and an ascetic life to be fol- 
 lowed, stMngly resembling that practised within the limits of Israel by 
 the Nazantes (Numb. vi.). 
 
 the son of Rechab] father or more likely perhaps an ancestor 
 of Jonadab. The word means Rider, and hence it has been con- 
 jectured that it is rather an epithet [the bold Rider) than a proper name. 
 If this be so, which however is but doubtful, it has been remarked as a 
 strange coincidence that his son Jonadab should have been so closely 
 allied (see ref. to 2 Kings x. above) with one who is noted as driving his 
 chariot furiously (2 Kings ix. 20). 
 
238 JEREMIAH, XXXV. [vv. 7—13. 
 
 shall drink no wine, neither ye, nor your sons for ever : 
 
 7 neither shall ye build house, nor sow seed, nor plant vine- 
 yard, nor have a?iy: but all your days ye shall dwell in 
 tents ; that ye may live many days in the land where ye be 
 
 8 strangers. Thus have we obeyed the voice of Jonadab the 
 son of Rechab our father in all that he hath charged us, to 
 drink no wine all our days, we, our wives, our sons, nor our 
 
 9 daughters ; nor to build houses for us to dwell in : neither 
 
 10 have we vineyard, nor field, nor seed : but we have dwelt in 
 tents, and have obeyed, and done according to all that 
 
 11 Jonadab our father commanded us. But it came to pass, 
 when Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon came up into the 
 land, that we said. Come, and let us go to Jerusalem for 
 fear of the army of the Chaldeans, and for fear of the army 
 of the Syrians : so we dwell at Jerusalem. 
 
 12 — 17. Application of this incident to the Jews. 
 
 12 Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah, saying, 
 
 13 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Go and 
 tell the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem, 
 Will ye not receive instruction to hearken to my words ? 
 
 7. neither shall ye build house... "l A noteworthy instance of a 
 body of persons in the same country but in later times, the description 
 of whom coincides almost verbally with that of the Rechabites, is the 
 case of the Nabathaeans of whom Diodorus Siculus (xix. 94) says that 
 they neither sow seed, nor plant fruit-tree, nor use wine, nor build a 
 house, and if any one is found transgressing these rules, death is the 
 penalty. "We find however nomads using wine, Gen. xxvii. 25, and 
 even sowing corn, ib. xxvi. 12, as it was possible to buy the one, and 
 to break up the encampment after reaping the other. " Sp. Comm. 
 
 11. for fear of the army of the Chaldeans'] It was necessary that 
 they should justify themselves for thus taking up their quarters in a 
 town in spite of the strictness of their nomadic rules. It was only for 
 the sake of self-preservation. 
 
 Syrians'] These were allies of the Chaldaeans at this period, as we 
 learn also from 2 Kings xxiv. 2. 
 
 12—17. Application of this incident to the Jews. 
 
 12. Then came the word] Jeremiah is told to go and apply the 
 lesson which the Rechabites taught. For this purpose he is to go forth 
 from the chamber where his interview with them was held, and address 
 the people we must suppose in the adjacent Temple court. 
 
vv. 14— 19.1 JEREMIAH, XXXV. 239 
 
 saith the Lord. The words of Jonadab the son of Rechab, 14 
 that he commanded his sons not to drink wine, are per- 
 formed ; for unto this day they drink none, but obey their 
 father's commandment: notwithstanding I have spoken 
 unto you, rising early and speaking ; but ye hearkened not 
 unto me. I have sent also unto you all my servants the 15 
 prophets, rising up early and sending thein^ saying, Return 
 ye now every man from his evil way, and amend your doings, 
 and go not after other gods to serve them, and ye shall 
 dwell in the land which I have given to you and to your 
 fathers : but ye have not inclined your ear, nor hearkened 
 unto me. Because the sons of Jonadab the son of Rechab 16 
 have performed the commandment of their father, which he 
 commanded them ; but this people hath not hearkened 
 unto me : therefore thus saith the Lord God of hosts, the 17 
 God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring upon Judah and upon 
 all the inhabitants of Jerusalem all the evil that I have 
 pronounced against them : because I have spoken unto 
 them, but they have not heard; and I have called unto 
 them, but they have not answered. 
 
 18, 19. The Rechahites* reward. 
 And Jeremiah said unto the house of the Rechabites, 18 
 Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Because 
 ye have obeyed the commandment of Jonadab your father, 
 and kept all his precepts, and done according unto all that 
 he hath commanded you : therefore thus saith the Lord of 19 
 hosts, the God of Israel ; Jonadab the son of Rechab shall 
 not want a man to stand before me for ever. 
 
 14. an performed^ are established, they not only are carried out but 
 are secure in their hold upon the minds of those who practise them. 
 
 unto this dav] for adotit three hundred years. 
 
 16. Because\ This conjunction really belongs rather to the latter 
 part of the verse, as it was not the obedience of the Rechabites but the 
 disobedience of the Jews that involved punishment. Its place however 
 makes the contrast between the two parties more marked. 
 
 18, 19. The Rechabites' reward. 
 
 19. shall not want a j/ian to stand before me for ever] Disobedience 
 being followed by ruin, so shall obedience be by lasting prosperity, and 
 tliat prosperity shall be of the purest kind, viz. ministering in the pre- 
 sence of God. Such seems to be the sense of the words to stand before me. 
 
240 JEREMIAH, XXXVI. [v. i. 
 
 Chap. XXXVI. i — lo. Jeremiah' s Roll dictated to Baruch 
 and read before the people, 
 36 And it came to pass in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the 
 
 See chaps, vii. lo, xv. 19, and in reference to the tribe of Levi Deut. x. 8, 
 xviii. 5, 7. This also is the sense given to the words here in the Targum 
 of Jonathan, a Hebrew commentary on the Prophets which reflects the 
 views of pious Rabbis of our Lord's time. Traces of the fulfilment of 
 this promise are (i) Ps. Ixxi. {possibly however earlier than this time) 
 the heading of which in the Septuagint makes it belong to "the sons 
 of Jonadab and the first captives" and thus includes them among the 
 Levites to whom it fell to conduct the sacred music and occasionally 
 no doubt to compose the words to which it was set ; (ii) omitting one or 
 two other and more obscure references in the O. T., in the account of 
 the martyrdom of James the Just (Eusebius, Eccles. Hisi. ii. 23) "priests 
 of the sons of Rechab" are spoken of; (iii) Benjamin of Tudela, a 
 Jewish traveller of the 12th century, mentions a body of Jews who 
 were called Rechabites, and whose customs corresponded with those 
 detailed in Jeremiah; (iv) Dr Wolfif {yownal, 1829) describes a body of 
 Rechabites near Mecca who claimed to be sons of Jonadab. See Sjk. 
 Bibl. Diet, Art. Rechabites. 
 
 Chap. XXXVL 1—10. Jeremiah's Roll dictated to Baruch 
 and read before the people. 
 
 1. And it came to pass in the fourth year of J ehoiakim'\ Here we 
 have the particulars of Jeremiah's record in a permanent form of the 
 substance of those prophecies which he had been uttering against Judah 
 and Jerusalem. This chapter like the last (where see note on ver. i) is a 
 break in the historical section (chaps, xxxii. — xliv.), as they both go back 
 to the fourth year of Jehoiakim. The attack on Jerusalem by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's army, through fear of which the Rechabites had taken 
 refuge, occurred in that year, and it is important to determine whether 
 the command to prepare the Roll was prior or subsequent to this event. 
 J For the view that the attack had not yet taken place ver. 29 is quoted, 
 where however see note. For the other view, which is much the more 
 probable, we have the facts {a) that the first capture of Jerusalem by 
 Nebuchadnezzar took place (see xxv. i with note) in the thirty-fourth 
 month of Jehoiakim's reign, and i)robably therefore early in the fourth 
 (calendar) year, and {b) that the Roll was not read till the ninth month of 
 the fifth year of Jehoiakim (ver. 9), and even allowing for the slow rate 
 of writing in those days, nine months would be almost or quite enough 
 for the completion of such a work. It is important to notice the order 
 of these events. In chap. xxv. we have the announcement plainly made 
 that the captivity shall be no trifling or passing matter, but shall last 
 seventy years. Thereupon comes at a distance of at most but a few 
 months the capture of the city. The indignation with which that first 
 distinct prophecy of captivity was received must now have been qualified 
 by a fear that the threatened punishment was but too evidently coming 
 upon the nation. This is the slate of people's minds, when on a fast 
 
vv. 2—5.] JEREMIAH, XXXVI. 241 
 
 son of Josiah king of Judah, that this word came unto Jere- 
 miah from the Lord, saying, Take thee a roll of a book, 2 
 and write therein all the words that I have spoken unto thee 
 against Israel, and against Judah, and against all the nations, 
 from the day I spake unto thee, from the days of Josiah, 
 even unto this day. It may be that the house of Judah will 3 
 hear all the evil which I purpose to do unto them; that they 
 may return every man from his evil way ; that I may for- 
 give their iniquity and their sin. Then Jeremiah called 4 
 Baruch the son of Neriah : and Baruch wrote from the 
 mouth of Jeremiah all the words of the Lord, which he 
 had spoken unto him, upon a roll of a book. And Jere- 5 
 miah commanded Baruch, saying, I am shut up \ I cannot 
 
 day, specially appointed in connexion with the national danger, very 
 possibly fixed for the first anniversary of the capture of the city, Jere- 
 miah gives the king and people a summar}' of the warnings which he had 
 for so many years sounded in their ears without avail. 
 
 2. Take thee a roll of a book] The command to Isaiah (viii. i) was 
 "Take thee a great roll." The word used in his case however, though 
 bearing some resemblance to the Hebrew word here, meant rather a 
 tablet of wood or metal, with a thin coating of wax. Here the substance 
 on which the prophet was to write was parchment. Several skins were 
 stitched together and attached to a roller of wood at one or both ends. 
 The writing was arranged in columns parallel to the rollers, so that as 
 the parchment was gradually unrolled from one end to the other, the 
 successive columns could be read. Our word volume (that which is 
 rolled tip) points by its derivation to this older form of book. 
 
 write therein all the words] This would be done in part by tran- 
 scribing from such comparatively fragmentary records as are spoken of 
 in chaps xxii. 30, xxx. 2, and in part from the prophet's memory, which 
 would supply him with the substance at any rate of the prophecies 
 which he had uttered for the twenty-three years of his mission on the 
 subjects indicated in ver. 3. 
 
 3. // may be that the house of Judah..!] Compare for a similar 
 expression of hopefulness chap. xxvi. 3. Meantime probably (see note 
 on ver. i, above) the capture of Jerusalem had added to the prophet's 
 hope that this final warning might be effectual. 
 
 4. Then Jeremiah called Baruch] He has been mentioned already 
 (xxxii. 12, 13) as the prophet's attendant. 
 
 5. / am shut up] The same verb in the original is used chaps, 
 xxxiii. I, xxxix. 15, where it means imprisoned. Here however, it 
 cannot have that force, as we see by ver. 19, but simply means that he 
 was hindered from addressing the people by some cause, probably 
 danger to his life arising from the extreme unpopularity of his recent 
 utterances. 
 
 JEREMIAH 16 
 
242 JEREMIAH, XXXVI. [vv. 6—10. 
 
 6 go into the house of the Lord : therefore go thou, and read 
 in the roll, which thou hast written from my mouth, the 
 words of the Lord in the ears of the people i7i the Lord's 
 house upon the fasting day: and also thou shalt read them 
 
 7 in the ears of all Judah that come out of their cities. It 
 may be they will present their supplication before the Lord, 
 and will return every one from his evil way : for great is the 
 anger and the fury that the Lord hath pronounced against 
 
 8 this people. And Baruch the son of Neriah did according 
 to all that Jeremiah the prophet commanded him, reading 
 in the book the words of the Lord in the Lord's house. 
 
 9 And it came to pass in the fifth year of Jehoiakim the son 
 of Josiah king of Judah, in the ninth month, that they 
 proclaimed a fast before the Lord to all the people in Jeru- 
 salem, and to all the people that came from the cities of 
 
 10 Judah unto Jerusalem. Then read Baruch in the book the 
 words of Jeremiah in the house of the Lord, in the cham- 
 ber of Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe, in the 
 higher court at the entry of the new gate of the Lord's 
 house, in the ears of all the people. 
 
 6. the fasting day\ or, a fast-day. The original may bear either 
 sense, as implying that the day was or was not already determined. 
 
 7. they will present their supplication'] literally, their supplication 
 will fall. The attitude of the petitioners is transferred in thought to 
 the petition. We have the same phrase in several other places (xxxvii. 
 20, xxxviii. 26, etc.), and sometimes (xxxvii. 20, xlii. 2) with the further 
 sense, which hardly belongs to it here, of acceptance. 
 
 8. And Baruch... did according to all] This concise statement that 
 Baruch discharged the commands laid on him, is followed by the 
 detailed account of the same in the subsequent verses. 
 
 9. in the nijith month] our December, see ver. 22. Thus the fast 
 was not that annual one of the seventh month, the only stated fast of 
 the Law (Lev. xvi. 29, xxiii. 27), but specially appointed probably, 
 either in memory of the capture of the city by the Chaldaeans in the 
 previous year, or on account of the blow given to the independence of 
 the Jews by the battle of Carchemish, and the anticipation of a speedy 
 attack from Nebuchadnezzar. 
 
 10. in the chamber] probably at the door of it, so as to be heard by 
 the people. 
 
 Gemariah the son of Shaphan the scribe] Shaphan was himself scribe 
 in the days of Josiah (2 Kings xxii. 3). We gather from xxvi. 24 that 
 this Gemariah was brother of Ahikam, who was friendly to Jeremiah. 
 He is, of course, distinct from the Gemariah mentioned xxix. 3. 
 
vv. II— 17.] JEREMIAH, XXXVI. 243 
 
 II — 19. The Roll is read before the princes. 
 When Michaiah the son of Gemariah, the son of Shaphan, 1 i 
 had heard out of the book all the words of the Lord, then 12 
 he went down into the king's house, into the scribe's cham- 
 ber : and lo, all the princes sat there, eveti Elishama the 
 scribe, and Delaiah the son of Shemaiah, and Elnathan 
 the son of Achbor, and Gemariah the son of Shaphan, and 
 Zedekiah the son of Hananiah, and all the princes. Then 13 
 Michaiah declared unto them all the words that he had 
 heard, when Baruch read the book in the ears of the peo- 
 ple. Therefore all the princes sent Jehudi the son of 14 
 Nethaniah, the son of Shelemiah, the son of Cushi, unto 
 Baruch, saying. Take in thine hand the roll wherein thou 
 hast read in the ears of the people, and come. So Baruch 
 the son of Neriah took the roll in his hand, and came unto 
 them. And they said unto him, Sit down now, and read 15 
 it in our ears. So Baruch read // in their ears. Now it 16 
 came to pass when they had heard all the words, they were 
 afraid both one and other, and said unto Baruch, We will 
 surely tell the king of all tjiese words. And they asked 17 
 Baruch, saying. Tell us no\^!^ow didst thou write all these 
 
 11 — 19. The Roll is read before the princes. 
 
 11. When Michaiah... had heard^ As it was in the chamber 01 
 Michaiah's father that Baruch had been allowed to read the roll, 
 Gemariah, engaged at the moment at a council of the princes in another 
 room, would naturally be desirous of learning as soon as might be the 
 particulars of what had occurred. 
 
 12. then he went down\ See notes on xxii. i, xxvi. 10. 
 Elnathan the son of Achbor] mentioned chap. xxvi. 22. 
 
 14. Jehudi.. .the son of Cushi] Although the first of these names 
 also means a Jew, and the second an Ethiopian, it is more probable that 
 both are distinctly proper names here. There may however still be a 
 reference to Ethiopian descent in the latter name. 
 
 15. Sit down] These words taken with ver. 19 shew that the 
 princes were favourably disposed towards Baruch and Jeremiah. The 
 same has been marked already in chap, xxvi. 16. Baruch took the 
 position ordinarily assumed by an Eastern teacher. Compare Luke iv. 
 20. 
 
 16. they were afraid both one and other] literally, they trembled 
 every one to his neighbour, i. e. they looked at each other and trembled. 
 
 We will surely telf] rather. We must certainly tell. It is in no wise 
 a threat, but the expression of a solemn duty. 
 
 17. Hozv didst thou write] They desired to know how far the words 
 
 16 — 2 
 
244 JEREMIAH, XXXVI. [vv. 18—23. 
 
 18 words at his mouth ? Then Bamch answered them, He 
 pronounced all these words unto me with his mouth, and I 
 
 19 wrote the7)i with ink in the book. Then said the princes 
 unto Baruch, Go, hide thee, thou and Jeremiah ; and let no 
 man know where ye he. 
 
 20 — 26. // is read before the King. Its fate. 
 
 20 And they went in to the king into the court, but they 
 laid up the roll in the chamber of Elishama the scribe, and 
 
 21 told all the words in the ears of the king. So the king sent 
 Jehudi to fet the roll : and he took it out of Elishama the 
 scribe's chamber. And Jehudi read it in the ears of the 
 king, and in the ears of all the princes which stood beside 
 
 22 the king. Now the king sat i7i the winterhouse in the ninth 
 month : and there was a fire on the hearth burning before 
 
 23 him. And it came to pass, that when Jehudi had read 
 three or four leaves, he cut it with the penknife, and cast it 
 into the fire that was on the hearth, until all the roll was 
 
 might be Baruch's own, that they might be able to state to the king the 
 amount of responsibility for them which rested upon each, 
 
 19. Go, hide thee, thou and J ereiniah^ See note on ver. 5. 
 20—26. It is read before the King. Its fate. 
 
 20. into the court] into the inner court yard, where the king's apart- 
 ments were. 
 
 they laid up\ they gave in charge, committed to safe keeping. 
 
 21. fet] See note on xxvi. 23. 
 
 beside] literally, above, referring to the fact that the king was 
 sitting and his attendants standing. 
 
 22. in the winter-house in the nijith montJi] See note on ver. 9 
 above. Amos (iii. 15) mentions both winter and summer houses. "Such 
 language is easily understood by an Oriental. In common parlance the 
 lower apartments are simply el beit — the house; the upper is the alliyeh, 
 which is the summer house. Every respectable dwelling has both... 
 If these are on the same storey, then the external and airy apartment is 
 the summer house, and that for winter is the interior and more sheltered 
 room. It is rare to meet a family which has an entirely separate 
 dwelling for summer." — Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 309. 
 
 there was afire on the hearth burning] Hearths are unknown in the 
 East. Braziers containing charcoal are placed in a depression in the 
 middle of a room for purposes of warming. Render therefore here, 
 the fire-pan was burning. 
 
 23. leaves] pages, literally, folding doors, referring to the ordinary 
 arrangement of the writing as described above (see note on ver. 2). 
 
 penknife] literally, scribe's knife, 
 on the hearth] in the fire-pan. 
 
vv. 24—29.] JEREMIAH, XXXVI. 245 
 
 consumed in the fire that was on the hearth. Yet they were 24 
 not afraid, nor rent their garments, neither the king, nor 
 any of his servants that heard all these words. Neverthe- 25 
 less Elnathan and Delaiah and Gemariah had made inter- 
 cession to the king that he would not burn the roll : but he 
 would not hear them. But the king commanded Jerahmeel 26 
 the son of Hammelech, and Seraiah the son of Azriel, and 
 Shelemiah the son of Abdeel, to take Baruch the scribe and 
 Jeremiah the prophet : but the Lord hid them. 
 
 27 — 32. Its contents re-written. 
 
 Then the word of the Lord came to Jeremiah, after that 27 
 the king had burnt the roll, and the words which Baruch 
 wrote at the mouth of Jeremiah, saying, Take thee again -^s 
 another roll, and write in it all the former words that were 
 in the first roll, which Jehoiakim the king of Judah hath 
 burnt. And thou shalt say to Jehoiakim king of Judah, Thus 29 
 saith the Lord; Thou hast burnt this roll, saying. Why 
 hast thou written therein, saying, The king of Babylon shall 
 certainly come and destroy this land, and shall cause to 
 
 24. Yet they were not afraid .. .neither the king\ Contrast with this 
 the conduct of the king's father when the newly found Book of the Law 
 was read in his ears (and compare i Kings xxi. 27). Josiah on that 
 occasion in sorrowful dismay rent his garments (2 Kings xxii, 11) but 
 his son now rends not his garments, but the Roll itself. And thus 
 passed away "his last chance, his last offer of mercy : and as he threw 
 the torn fragments of the roll on the fire he thi-ew there in symbol his 
 royal house, his doomed city, the temple, and all the people of the 
 land." — Sp. Comm. 
 
 24. nor a?ty of his servants] This cannot refer to the princes, who, 
 as we have seen (ver. 16), were by no means of the king's mind. 
 
 25. Elnatha7t...had made intercessionl See note on xxvi. 22; also 
 on xxvii. 18. Elnathan seems to have changed his view of things, as we 
 find him here so thoroughly on Jeremiah's side. 
 
 26. the S071 of Hamvielech] As this name might be rendered the 
 king, some would take it so here, understanding that Jerahmeel was 
 Jehoiakim's son. It is however in all probability simply a proper 
 name. See chap, xxxviii. 6. 
 
 27—32. Its contents re-written. 
 
 29. The kijig of Babylon shall certainly cornel See note on ver. i. 
 This expression by no means proves that the king of Babylon had not 
 come already. It is probable that this prophecy was uttered after 
 such a visitation, a much less severe disaster however than that 
 
24^ Jeremiah, xxxvi. xxxvit. [vv.30— 32; i, 2. 
 
 30 cease from thence man and beast ? Therefore thus saith 
 the Lord of Jehoiakim king of Judah ; He shall have none 
 to sit upon the throne of David : and his dead body shall 
 be cast out in the day to the heat, and in the night to the 
 
 31 frost. And I will punish him and his seed and his ser- 
 vants for their iniquity; and I will bring upon them, and 
 upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and upon the men of 
 Judah, all the evil that I have pronounced against them ; 
 
 32 but they hearkened not. Then took Jeremiah another roll, 
 and gave it to Baruch the scribe, the son of Neriah ; who 
 wrote therein from the mouth of Jeremiah all the words 
 of the book which Jehoiakim king of Judah had burnt in 
 the fire : and there were added besides unto them many 
 like words. 
 
 Chap. XXXVII. I— 5. Zedekiah' s reign. The Siege of the 
 
 city is temporarily raised. 
 
 37 And king Zedekiah the son of Josiah reigned instead of 
 
 Coniah the son of Jehoiakim, whom Nebuchadrezzar king 
 
 2 of Babylon made king in the land of Judah. But neither 
 
 which Jeremiah here threatens, and which in consequence of the im- 
 penitence of king and people did a few years later come to pass. The 
 destruction was carried still further in the sacking of the city at the end 
 of Zedekiah's reign. We gather from the verse that it was this threat 
 that most stirred the passionate wrath of the king, whose spirit was 
 probably already chafed by the humiliation which he and his city had 
 lately undergone. 
 
 30. He shall have none to sit upon the throne of David'\ In point of 
 fact he was succeeded by his son Jehoiachin, but he was immediately 
 besieged by Nebuchadnezzar, and at the end of three months carried to 
 Babylon. See further in note on xxii. 30. 
 
 his dead body shall be cast out] See note on xxii. 19. 
 
 32. and there were added... many like words] This second Roll 
 therefore, still preserved to us in the earlier chapters of the Book, is 
 fuller than that which was read in the cars of the people, and which 
 contained briefer extracts from many years of prophecies. 
 
 Chap. XXXVII. 1—5. Zedekiah's reign. The Siege of the 
 
 CITY IS TEMPORARILY RAISED. 
 
 1. And king Zedekiah... reigned] Here we return from the two 
 
 parenthetical chapters which concerned the time of Jehoiakim to the last 
 
 king of Judah, and the narrative (begun chap, xxxii.) of the last two years 
 
 of that monarch's reign. 
 
 I whom Nebuchadrezzar... made king] i.e. Zedekiah. See 1 Kings 
 
vv. 3—7.] JEREMIAH, XXXVII. 247 
 
 he, nor his servants, nor the people of the land, did hearken 
 unto the words of the Lord, which he spake by the prophet 
 Jeremiah. And Zedekiah the king sent Jehucal the son of 3 
 Shelemiah and Zephaniah the son of Maaseiah the priest to 
 the prophet Jeremiah, saying, Pray now unto the Lord our 
 God for us. Now Jeremiah came in and went out among 4 
 the people : for they had not put him into prison. Then 5 
 Pharaoh's army was come forth out of Egypt : and when 
 the Chaldeans that besieged Jerusalem heard tidings of 
 them, they departed from Jerusalem. 
 
 6 — 10. Jeremiah foretells the return of the Chaldaeans. 
 
 Then came the word of the Lord unto the prophet Jere- 6 
 miah, saying. Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel ; Thus ^ 
 shall ye say to the king of Judah, that sent you unto me to 
 inquire of me ; Behold, Pharaoh's army, which is come 
 forth to help you, shall return to Egypt into their own land. 
 
 xxiv. 17. These first two verses are a sort of sketch of the position 
 of affairs. 
 
 3. And Zedekiah the king sent] This mission took place later than 
 that related in chap. xxi. r, which was sent when Nebuchadnezzar's 
 army was approaching Jerusalem. In this case on the contrary the 
 siege had begun and been raised, and the hopes of the people were 
 excited in consequence. 
 
 Jehucal] In chap, xxxviii. 4 he proposes that Jeremiah should be 
 put to death. 
 
 Zephaniah] the deputy high-priest. See chaps, xxi. i, xxix. 25, Hi. 
 24, 26, 27. 2 Kings XXV. 18, 20, 21. 
 
 Fray now unto the Lord our God for us] There seemed to be a hope 
 that as in the time of Sennacherib's invasion, when Hezekiah was king 
 (2 Kings xix. 35), there might now be given in answer to prayer a 
 miraculous overthrow of the invading host. 
 
 4. came in and went out] was still free, had not suffered arrest. 
 That was immediately to follow. 
 
 6. when the Chaldeans... heard tidings of thetn^ they departed] See 
 notes on xxxiv. 8 and 21. We do not know whether the retreat on the 
 part of the Egyptians which followed was due to a defeat from the 
 Chaldaeans, or not. The latter seems the most natural construction of 
 the words which end ver. 7. Pharaoh-Hophra (called Apries by Herod- 
 otus), although an ally of the king of Judah, yet would feel it a serious 
 matter to come face to face with such a force as that which Nebuchad- 
 nezzar was able to bring into the field. For this Pharaoh's reign and 
 overthrow see note on chap. xliv. 30. 
 
248 JEREMIAH, XXXVII. [vv. 8— 12. 
 
 8 And the Chaldeans shall come again, and fight against this 
 
 9 city, and take it, and burn it with fire. Thus saith the 
 Lord; Deceive not your selves, saying, The Chaldeans 
 
 10 shall surely depart from us : for they shall not depart. For 
 though ye had smitten the whole army of the Chaldeans 
 that fight against you, and there remained but wounded 
 men among them, yet should they rise up every man in his 
 tent, and burn this city with fire. 
 
 II — 15. Jeremiah is seized under a misunderstanding and 
 impriso?ied. 
 
 11 And it came to pass, that when the army of the Chaldeans 
 was broken up from Jerusalem for fear of Pharaoh's army, 
 
 12 then Jeremiah went forth out of Jerusalem to go i7ito the 
 land of Benjamin, to separate himself thence in the midst 
 
 6 — 10. Jeremiah foretells the return of the Chaldaeans. 
 8. The prophet is careful to leave no ground whatever for hope. 
 
 10. there remained but wounded mei{\ Our version fails to give the 
 full force of the Hebrew, which is that even though but a fev^^ individuals 
 remained, and those severely wounded (literally, transfixed), they would 
 be more than a match for the Jews. So certainly was it God's purpose 
 that Jerusalem should be overthrown. 
 
 'wounded\ The same Heb. word is, according to the common render- 
 ing, used in a secondary sense ("stricken through") of those dying of 
 hunger in Lam. iv. 9. See however note there. 
 11 — 15. Jeremiah is seized under a misunderstanding and 
 imprisoned. 
 
 11. was broken up\ See note on xxxiv. 21. 
 
 12. to separate hi?fiself'[ rather, to talce his portion. The Hebrew 
 , is difficult. The verb means literally to cause to divide, and hence the 
 
 best explanation here seems to be to refer it to a portion of land in the 
 neighbourhood of Anathoth belonging to him. He would naturally 
 wish to take this opportunity of securing himself in the possession of 
 it, so far as he might, particularly as the circumstances of the siege, and 
 his knowledge that it was only raised for a time, would make it neces- 
 sary for him to do his utmost to provide himself with the means of 
 subsistence. Another rendering is that of the Eng. margin, to slip away. 
 in the midst of the people'] There was naturally a rush to get out of 
 the city not only on account of the close confinement which the people 
 had suffered, but because of the past and prospective scarcity and con- 
 sequent high price of provisions. It therefore behoved all to furnish 
 themselves as far as they could with these or with money for their pur- 
 chase. We cannot connect Jeremiah's action with the portion of land 
 which he is described in chap xxxii. as purchasing, as that event had 
 not yet occurred. 
 
vv. 13—16.] JEREMIAH, XXXVII. 249 
 
 of the people. And when he was in the gate of Benjamin, 13 
 a captain of the ward was there, whose name was Irijah, 
 the son of Shelemiah, the son of Hananiah; and he took 
 Jeremiah the prophet, saying, Thou fallest away to the Chal- 
 deans. Then said Jeremiah, // is false ; I fall not away to 14 
 the Chaldeans. But he hearkened not to him : so Irijah 
 took Jeremiah, and brought him to the princes. Wherefore 15 
 the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and 
 put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe : for 
 they had made that the prison. 
 
 16 — 21. Zedekiah takes compassion on the prophet. 
 When Jeremiah was entered into the dungeon, and into 16 
 the cabins, and Jeremiah had remained there many days; 
 
 13. the gate of Benjamin\ on the north side of the city, mentioned 
 also by this name in xxxviii. 7 ; Zech. xiv. 10. It led through the terri- 
 tory of Benjamin to that of Ephraim, and hence appears also (2 Kings 
 xiv. 13; Nehem. viii. 16, xii. 39) as "the gate of Ephraim." 
 
 a captain of the ward'\ literally, a lord of the watch, i.e. one charged 
 with the duty of taking cognisance of those who passed the gate. 
 
 Thou fallest away] For the same Heb. verb, applied, in accordance 
 with our own idiom, in this secondary sense of going over to the enemy 
 compare i Sam. xxix. 3; 2 Kings xxv. 11. The views which Jeremiah 
 was known to hold as to the propriety of yielding to the Chaldaeans 
 (e.g. as expressed somewhat later in the words of chap. xxi. 9) would 
 give some ground for suspicion under these circumstances. 
 
 15. the princes were wroth with Jeremiah] These were not the 
 princes who had looked upon the prophet with favour in the reign of 
 Jehoiakim (xxvi. 16, xxxvi. 19). Those were now no doubt exiles, and 
 these their successors, as thoroughly opposed to the Chaldaean rule, and 
 sympathizing with their compatriots of Babylon, had no favour to 
 bestow upon Jeremiah. They would remember how he had likened 
 them to evil figs (chap. xxiv.). 
 
 16 — 21. Zedekiah takes compassion on the prophet. 
 
 16. dungeon] literally, " house of the pit." 
 
 cadins] The marginal reading cells is better. In Heb. indeed the 
 word is found here only, but in the Chaldee and Syriac dialects it is 
 found in the sense of shop. Thus it probably means a vaulted 
 recess off a passage or room. In Jerusalem at the present day "the 1 
 whole of the plateau on which the temple and palace stood is honey- 
 combed underneath with works of various kinds. Captain Warren 
 describes thirty-four such excavations, some of which are cisterns and 
 others passages. One of these extends about 1 50 feet from north to south, 
 and nearly as much from east to west, and its roof is supported by \ 
 massive rude piers, which give the place a look of elephantine strength." 
 
250 JEREMIAH, XXXVII. [vv. 17—21. 
 
 17 then Zedekiah the king sent, and took him out: and the 
 king asked him secretly in his house, and said, Is there aiiy 
 word from the Lord ? And Jeremiah said. There is : for, 
 said he, thou shalt be dehvered into the hand of the king of 
 
 18 Babylon. Moreover Jeremiah said unto king Zedekiah, 
 What have I offended against thee, or against thy servants, 
 
 19 or against this people, that ye have put me in prison? Where 
 are now your prophets which prophesied unto you, saying. 
 The king of Babylon shall not come against you, nor against 
 
 20 this land ? Therefore hear now, I pray thee, O my lord the 
 king : let my supplication, I pray thee, be accepted before 
 thee, that thou cause me not to return to the house of Jona- 
 
 21 than the scribe, lest I die there. Then Zedekiah the king 
 commanded that they should commit Jeremiah into the court 
 of the prison, and that they should give him daily a piece 
 of bread out of the bakers' street, until all the bread in the 
 
 many days] during which time the Chaldaeans resumed the siege and 
 the danger became so jnessing that Zedekiah was induced to send for the 
 prophet, and ask him for some intimation of the future. 
 
 17. as/:cct him secretly] This shews us that tlie prophet was as un- 
 popular as ever. It also points to Zedekiah's moral weakness, as dread- 
 ing the interference of the princes in the matter. 
 
 thou shalt be delivered...] coinciding with the prophecies delivered at 
 greater length and in writing about the same time. See chaps, xxxii. 
 3, 4, xxxiv. 2, 3. 
 
 19. Where are now your prophets which prophesied unto yoii\ Jere 
 miah in this verse addresses the whole people tlirough their king ('your 
 ...you') as opposed to his address in the singular number before and after. 
 The question is equivalent to a challenge to them to come forward and 
 defend their prediction or acknowledge their falsehood. 
 
 20. let my supplication... be accepted before thee] See note on xxxvi. 7. 
 
 21. court of the prison] court of the guard. See note on xxxii. 1. 
 
 a piece of bi-ead] a round cake of bread. The dough was divided into, 
 round cakes not unlike flat stones in shape and appearance (Matt. vii. 9, 
 comp. iv. 3) about a span in diameter and a finger's breadth in thick- 
 ness : three of these were required for the meal of a single person (Luke 
 xi. 5), and consequently one was barely sufficient to sustain life (1 Sam. 
 ii. 36 "morsel" Eng. Vers.) Sm. Bibl. Diet. Art. Bread. 
 
 out of the bakers' street] This is the only case in which even the name 
 of a Jerusalem street is preserved to us. The baking of a household was 
 done from primitive times by the women of the family. But "baking as 
 a profession was carried on by men (IIos. vii. 4, 6). In Jerusalem the 
 bakers congregated in one quarter of the town, as we may infer from the 
 name 'bakers' street,' and tower of the ovens (Neh. iii. 11, xii. 38 
 'furnaces' A. v.). " Ibid. 
 
vv. 1—5.] JEREMIAH, XXXVIII. 251 
 
 city were spent. Thus Jeremiah remained in the court of 
 the prison. 
 
 Chap. XXXVIII. i — 6. Zedekiah allows the princes to put 
 Jeremiah again into the dungeon. 
 
 Then Shephatiah the son of Mattan, and Gedalia.h the 38 
 son of Pashur, and Jucal the son of Shelemiah, and Pashur 
 the son of Malchiah, heard the words that Jeremiah had 
 spoken unto all the people, saying, Thus saith the Lord, 2 
 He that remaineth in this city shall die by the sword, by 
 the famine, and by the pestilence : but he that goeth forth 
 to the Chaldeans shall live ; for he shall have his life for a 
 prey, and shall live. Thus saith the Lord, This city shall 3 
 surely be given into the hand of the king of Babylon's army, 
 which shall take it. Therefore the princes said unto the 4 
 king, We beseech thee, let this man be put to death : for 
 thus he weakeneth the hands of the men of war that remain 
 in this city, and the hands of all the people, in speaking 
 such words unto them : for this man seeketh not the welfare 
 of this people, but the hurt. Then Zedekiah the king said, 5 
 
 until all the bread in the city were spent'X Compare chap. lii. 6. 
 
 Chap. XXXVIII. 1 — 6. Zedekiah allows the princes to put 
 Jeremiah again into the dungeon. 
 
 1. Then Shephatiah'\ The removal of Jeremiah from prison to the 
 court of the guard was of course favourable to the publication of his 
 message. Hence the princes take alarm and apply to the king for 
 permission to put him to death. There was no doubt truth in their 
 assertion that Jeremiah's words were 'weakening the hands of the men 
 of war,' but the fact, that the words which he spoke were not his own 
 but the Divine message with which he was charged, made all the differ- 
 ence in the case. 
 
 Gedaliali] He was probably a son of the Pashur who put Jeremiah 
 in the stocks (chap. xx. i, 1). 
 
 y?/(:a/] = Jehucal of chap, xxxvii. 3. 
 
 Pashur the son of Malchiah^ the same who is mentioned chap. 
 xxi. I. 
 
 2. He that remaineth...'] This and the following verse occur sub- 
 stantially in the reply of the prophet to the messengers (including 
 Pashur) of chap. xxi. (See verses 8, 9 and notes). 
 
 4. for thus] rather, Because. 
 
 the men of war that remai?t] shewing that a good many had gone 
 over to the Chaldaeans, a fact which is implied also in ver. 19. 
 
252 JEREMIAH, XXXVIII. [vv. 6—10. 
 
 Behold, he is in your hand : for the king is not he that can 
 
 6 do any thing against you. Then took they Jeremiah, and 
 cast him into the dungeon of Malchiah the son of Hamme- 
 lech, that was in the court of the prison : and they let down 
 Jeremiah with cords. And in the dungeon there was no 
 water, but mire : so Jeremiah sunk in the mire. 
 
 7 — 13. Ife is rescued by Ebed-Melech. 
 
 7 Now when Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, one of the eunuchs 
 which was in the king's house, heard that they had put 
 Jeremiah in the dungeon ; the king then sitting in the gate 
 
 8 of Benjamin ; Ebed-melech went forth out of the king's 
 
 9 house, and spake to the king, saying, My lord the king, 
 these men have done evil in all that they have done to Jere- 
 miah the prophet, whom they have cast into the dungeon ; 
 and he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is: 
 
 10 for there is no more bread in the city. Then the king com- 
 
 6. the king is not /le...} The literal rendering is, T/ie king cannot as 
 to you {do) a thing. Zedekiah, aware of his own moral weakness, here 
 acknowledges himself powerless in the hands of the princes. If they 
 united in urging anything as requisite for the safety of the state, he 
 declined even to argue the point, but confessed at once that he was but 
 a cypher in the matter. 
 
 6, the dtingeon of Malchiah'\ probably meaning that he was in charge 
 of it. We might rather render cistern. See chap. vi. 7 with note. 
 The depth and consequent wretchedness of this place of confinement is 
 shewn by the means employed to place Jeremiah in it. 
 
 the son of Hammelech'] See note on xxxvi. 26. 
 
 7 — 13. He is rescued by Ebed-melech. 
 
 7. Ebed-melech the Ethiopian'\ a negro eunuch, attached to the 
 court or harem after the Eastern custom. See note on xiii, 23. 
 
 the gate of Benja7?iin\ See note on chap xxxvii. 13. 
 
 9. he is like to die for hunger in the place where he is'\ literally, he 
 is dead of htmger on the spot. The words are uttered impulsively, and 
 when taken strictly are inconsistent, death by hunger and a speedy 
 death (*on the spot') being incompatible. Ebed-melech's meaning how- 
 ever is clear, viz. that Jeremiah was probably at death's door already, 
 as suffering at once from hunger and from confinement in so dismal a 
 dungeon. The Heb. for *on the spot' is still more literally under him. 
 The same expression is used of Asahel ("in the same place" Eng. Vers.) 
 1 Sam. ii. 23. 
 
 for there is no more bread in the city] This again is an exaggeration 
 shewing the eagerness of the speaker, and pardonable, as certain to be 
 
w. II— 15.] JEREMIAH, XXXVIII. 253 
 
 manded Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying, Take from 
 hence thirty men with thee, and take up Jeremiah the pro- 
 phet out of the dungeon, before he die. So Ebed-melech n 
 took the men with him, and went into the house of the 
 king under the treasury, and took thence old cast clouts 
 and old rotten rags, and let them down by cords into the 
 dungeon to Jeremiah. And Ebed-melech the Ethiopian said 12 
 unto Jeremiah, Put now these old cast clouts and rotten rags 
 under thine armholes under the cords. And Jeremiah did 
 so. So they drew up Jeremiah with cords, and took him up 13 
 out of the dungeon : and Jeremiah remained in the court 
 of the prison. 
 
 14 — 23. Zedekiah again seeks his counsel. 
 
 Then Zedekiah the king sent, and took Jeremiah the 14 
 prophet unto him into the third entry that is in the house 
 of the Lord : and the king said unto Jeremiah, I will ask 
 thee a thing ; hide nothing from me. Then Jeremiah said 15 
 
 understood by the king. If it had been absolutely true, there could 
 have been no object in freeing Jeremiah. As it was, the sense was 
 only that there was so scanty a supply of provision that there was little 
 or no chance of any reaching Jeremiah in the place where he was then 
 confined. 
 
 10. thirty men\ This large number seems to have been intended to 
 preclude any attempt at interference on the part of the princes. Zede- 
 kiah knew enough of them to see that a strong force would be necessary 
 under such circumstances. 
 
 before he diel The words of the king shew that he understood the 
 real sense of Ebed-melech's remark he is dead on the spot of ver. 9. 
 
 11. under the treasury] more fully to (the place) under the treasury, 
 old cast clouts and old rotten rags] rags of torn garments and rags of 
 
 ivoym out garments. 
 
 13. court of the prison] court of the guard. See note on xxxii. 2. 
 
 14—23. Zedekiah again seeks his counsel. 
 
 14. the third entry] The Eng. margin Yizs principal , which however 
 is not likely to be the sense. It was probably a chamber, retired from 
 public observation, and connected with a passage leading from the 
 palace to the Temple, and may have been identical with that which in 
 1 Kings xvi. 18 is called "the king's entry," 
 
 I will ask thee a thing ; hide nothing from me] literally, I am asking 
 thee a thing (or word); thou shalt not hide from me a thing {ox word). 
 Zedekiah's anxiety as to the future led him to take the same course as 
 previously (chap, xxxvii. 17). 
 
254 JEREMIAH, XXXVIII. [vv. 16—22. 
 
 unto Zedekiah, If I declare it unto thee, wilt thou not 
 surely put me to death? and if I give thee counsel, wilt 
 
 16 thou not hearken unto me ? So Zedekiah the king sware 
 secretly unto Jeremiah, saying, As the Lord liveth, that 
 made us this soul, I will not put thee to death, neither will 
 I give thee into the hand of these men that seek thy life. 
 
 17 Then said Jeremiah unto Zedekiah, Thus saith the Lord, 
 the God of hosts, the God of Israel ; If thou wilt assuredly 
 go forth unto the king of Babylon's princes, then thy soul 
 shall live, and this city shall not be burnt with fire; and thou 
 
 18 shalt live, and thine house : but if thou wilt not go forth to 
 the king of Babylon's princes, then shall this city be given 
 into the hand of the Chaldeans, and they shall burn it with 
 
 19 fire, and thou shalt not escape out of their hand. And Zede- 
 kiah the king said unto Jeremiah, I am afraid of the Jews that 
 are fallen to the Chaldeans, lest they deliver me into their 
 
 20 hand, and they mock me. But Jeremiah said, They shall not 
 deliver thee. Obey, I beseech thee, the voice of the Lord, 
 which I speak unto thee : so it shall be well unto thee, and 
 
 21 thy soul shall live. But if thou refuse to go forth, this is 
 
 22 the word that the Lord hath shewed me : and behold, all 
 
 15. wilt thou not hearken unto me?] thou wilt not hearken unto me. 
 
 This clause is not an interrogative one in the Hebrew. Jeremiah knew too 
 well from his experience of the king's recent conduct that he could not 
 be depended upon to carry out even those commands which he might 
 believe to come from God. That Zedekiah was simply swayed by the 
 person in whose presence he happened to be at the moment and had 
 no fixity of purpose or resolution is well illustrated by his words in the 
 next verse, when compared with those he had addressed to the princes 
 a short time before (ver. 5)- 
 
 16. that made us this soul] an unusual form of oath. The 
 soul or life being God's creation is also in His power to take away, 
 if the speaker should prove false to this his promise. 
 
 17. ^0 forth] surrender thyself. 
 
 the kini:; of Babylon^ s princes] an intimation that Nebuchadnezzar was 
 not himself at this time in command of the besieging forces. While the 
 tedious blockade continued, he had no doubt taken up his position at 
 Riblah, where we find him somewhat later (xxxix. 5). 
 
 19. / atn afraid of the Jr^vs that are fallen to the Chaldeans] See 
 note on ver. 4. These, the king fears, would be severe upon him for not 
 doing himself as they had ilone at an earlier period, and so sparing 
 the city the miseries of a siege. 
 
vv. 23—26.] JEREMIAH, XXXVIII. 255 
 
 the women that are left in the king of Judah's house shall 
 be brought forth to the king of Babylon's princes, and those 
 wo?nen shall say. Thy friends have set thee on, and have 
 prevailed against thee : thy feet are sunk in the mire, and 
 they are turned away back. So they shall bring out all thy 23 
 wives and thy children to the Chaldeans : and thou shalt 
 not escape out of their hand, but shalt be taken by the hand 
 of the king of Babylon : and thou shalt cause this city to 
 be burnt with fire. 
 
 2 4 — 2 8. Re stilt of the co?iference. 
 Then said Zedekiah unto Jeremiah, Let no man know of 24 
 these words, and thou shalt not die. But if the princes hear 25 
 that I have talked with thee, and they come unto thee, and 
 say unto thee: Declare unto us now what thou hast said unto 
 the king, hide it not from us, and we will not put thee to 
 death; also what the king said unto thee: then thou shalt say 26 
 
 22. all the women that are left] the women of the harem generally, 
 concubines and their attendants. If Zedekiah prove obstinate, these 
 also shall join in the reproaches that shall be heaped upon him. 
 
 Thy friends have set thee on, and have prevailed against theel This 
 is so like a part of Obad. 7 that either it is adapted from that passage, 
 or both are due to the same original, in the shape perhaps of an ordi- 
 nary proverb. 
 
 friends'] The same expression in the Heb. is rendered "familiars" 
 in chap. xx. 10, vi^here see note. 
 
 ha've set thee on] The Heb. in the Obadiah passage is somewhat 
 similar in sound, but there means "deceived." The sense however 
 here comes nearly to this. Thy friends have persuaded thee against 
 thy better judgment, and as soon as thou hast through following their 
 advice become involved in difficulties, they turn back and leave thee. 
 
 23. So they] And they, etc. Not only shalt thou be mocked, but 
 those whom thou boldest most dear shall be placed in the enemy's 
 hands. 
 
 thou shalt canse this city to be burnt] literally, thou shalt burn 
 this city. Zedekiah through his obstinacy shall be as much the cause, 
 as if he had set fire to Jerusalem with his own hands. 
 
 24 — 28. Result of the conference. 
 
 24. Let no man know] Zedekiah's feebleness is again conspicuous 
 in this and the two following verses. 
 
 26. then thou shalt say unto them] Jeremiah is to mention but 
 one of the subjects of his conversation with the king. This he was 
 quite justified in doing, as the princes had no right to insist on hearing 
 the whole purport of the conversation or even a part of it. 
 
256 JEREMIAH, XXXVIII. [vv. 27, 28. 
 
 unto them, I presented my supplication before the king, that 
 he would not cause me to return to Jonathan's house, to die 
 
 27 there. Then came all the princes unto Jeremiah, and 
 asked him : and he told them according to all these words 
 that the king had commanded. So they left off speaking 
 
 28 with him ; for the matter was not perceived. So Jeremiah 
 abode in the court of the prison until the day that Jerusalem 
 was taken : and he was there when Jerusalem was taken. 
 
 / presented my supplication] For the more literal rendering of the 
 words see note on xxxvi. 7. 
 
 to Jonathan's house'] See xxxvii. 15. 
 
 28. of the prison] of the gyidiXd. See xxxii. 2. 
 
 and he was there when Jerusalem was taken] This, which is an 
 inadmissible rendering of the Heb., has only arisen in connexion with 
 an erroneous division of the chapters. These words belong to chapter 
 xxxix., and are to be translated And it came to pass, when Jerusalem 
 was taken {in the ninth year of Zedekiah . . .the city was broken up) then 
 all the princes of the king of Babylon, etc. 
 
 Chap. XXXIX. 1 — 7. Capture of the city. Fate of 
 Zedekiah. 
 j There at once arises a question as to the genuineness of the greater 
 ' part of this chapter, (i) Verses 4 — 13 (inclusive) are omitted in the 
 Septuagint, and (ii) the narrative coincides in the main with that of 
 chap. Hi. and of 2 Kings xxv. while it yet presents certain difficulties 
 in matters of detail, when compared with these and with other parts 
 of the narrative. To (i) we may reply, as in earlier cases, that the 
 . Septuagint presents throughout this book far too much appearance of 
 \ arbitrariness to make its testimony on such a point to be of any con- 
 I siderable weight, unless supported by important evidence from other 
 sources. As regards (ii) it is not easy to give any plausible conjecture 
 as to the reason for the repetition of so much of this chapter in the 
 -narrative contained in lii. further than to suggest that it may very 
 possibly be connected in some way with the fact of the hiatus in the 
 Septuagint here, and with the difference of authorship in lii. See 
 note on ver. i of that chap. The difficulties of detail are {a) in xxxix. 
 2 the ninth day of the fourth month is mentioned as that on which the 
 city was captured, but in lii. 6 as that on which provisions failed, 
 and {b) Nebuzar-adan, who did not reach Jerusalem till a month after 
 its capture (lii. 12), was commissioned to call Jeremiah from prison 
 (xxxix. II, 12), whereas according to xxxviii. 28 Jeremiah was freed 
 on the day of the capture of the city. To this may be added (r) that 
 the princes of Babylon on freeing Jeremiah committed him to Gedaliah 
 (xxxix. 14), while (xl. i) he seems to have nevertheless been made to 
 walk in chains with the other captives, and in no wise distinguished 
 from them till freed by Nebuzar-adan in person. All these however 
 admit of fairly easy replies, viz. to {a) that the total failure of pro- 
 visions would naturally coincide with the end of the siege, to (b) that 
 
w. 1—3.] JEREMIAH, XXXIX. 257 
 
 Chap. XXXIX. i — 7. Capture of the city. Fate of Zedekiah. 
 
 In the ninth year of Zedekiah king of Judah, in the tenth 39 
 month, came Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon and all his 
 army against Jerusalem, and they besieged it. And in the 2 
 eleventh year of Zedekiah, in the fourth month, the ninth 
 day of the month, the city was broken up. And all the 3 
 princes of the king of Babylon came in, and sat in the 
 middle gate, even Nergal-sharezer, Samgar-nebo, Sarsechim, 
 
 the purport of chap, xxxviii. 28, is merely to account for Jeremiah up 
 to the date of the capture of the city without making any assertion 
 beyond that date, to {c) that Gedaliah after receiving Jeremiah into his 
 charge had gone off without him to Mizpeh (xl. 6), in which case it 
 was by no means unnatural that in the absence of this protector Jere- 
 miah should not receive any special favour till his meeting with "the 
 captain of the guard" (xl. i). 
 
 1. In the ninth year\ This and ver. 2 give us the dates of the begin- 
 ning and end of the siege. We have the former still more particularly 
 in chap. Hi. 4, where occur the words **in the tenth day of the month," 
 as also in 2 Kings xxv. i, and Ezek. xxiv. i. In this last passage, 
 which introduces a description of the crimes and consequent sufferings ■ 
 of Jerusalem, the date of the commencement of the siege is further 
 emphasized thus (ver. 2) "Son of man, write thee the name of the 
 day, even of this same day ; the king of Babylon set himself against 
 Jerusalem this same day." 
 
 2. And in the eleventh year... ^ We gather from this verse that the 
 siege lasted one day short of eighteen months. 
 
 3. in the middle gate'] not mentioned elsewhere, but probably 
 between the upper and lower divisions of the city, and thus connecting 
 Mount Zion with the rest. 
 
 Nergal-sharezer...'] From the Eng. it would appear that there are 
 six princes mentioned by name. In fact however there are but four 
 at the most, [a) Nergal-sharezer {may Nirgal protect the king), {b) Sam- 
 gar-nebo {be gracioiis, O Nebo), {c) Sarsechim, of whose name the 
 meaning is still unknown, [d) another Nergal-sharezer. Rab-saris 
 {chief 0/ the eunuchs) and Rab-mag {chief of the magi) are the titles of 
 those whose names they follow. It has been proposed to reduce the 
 number still further by getting rid of Samgar-nebo as a proper name. 
 Samgar will then be rendered a cup-bearer and attached as title to the 
 preceding name, while the second part of the compound is rejected 
 as a later addition on the ground that in all other cases of proper 
 names compounded with nebo this part comes at the beginning of 
 the word, e. g. Nebuchadnezzar, Nebuzar-adan, Nebopolassar, etc. 
 The second Nergal-sharezer is a son-in-law of Nebuchadnezzar, and 
 the same who murdered Evil-Merodach and after four years' reign 
 was slain by Cyrus. In the cuneiform (arrow-headed) inscriptions 
 he is called Raba-Emga (Rab-mag). This is the first passage of the 
 
 JEREMIAH ly 
 
258 JEREMIAH, XXXIX. [vv. 4—7. 
 
 Rab-saris, Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, with all the residue of 
 
 4 the princes of the king of Babylon. And it came to pass, 
 that when Zedekiah the king of Judah saw them, and all 
 the men of war, then they fled, and went forth out of the 
 city by night, by the way of the king's garden, by the gate 
 betwixt the two walls : and he went out the way of the 
 
 5 plain. But the Chaldeans' army pursued after them, and 
 overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jericho : and when they 
 had taken him, they brought him up to Nebuchadnezzar 
 king of Babylon to Riblah in the land of Hamath, where he 
 
 6 gave judgment upon him. Then the king of Babylon slew 
 the sons of Zedekiah in Riblah before his eyes : also the 
 
 7 king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. Moreover he 
 
 ; Bible in which one of the magi is mentioned by this title. We find 
 them again Dan. ii. 2, iv. 7, and in the Greek of Matt. ii. 1 , etc. 
 
 It has been objected against the genuineness of this verse that the 
 chief of the eunuchs (Rab-saris) mentioned in ver. 13 is Nebushasban, 
 
 I while Nebuzar-adan appears there and not here. The explanation of 
 both these differences however is probably the same, i.e. that ver. 3 
 gives us those who were in command at the actual capture of the city, 
 while, as is brought out more clearly in chap. lii. 12, Nebuzar-adan did 
 not arrive till a month later, to which date therefore verses 13, 14 of 
 this chapter really refer. 
 
 4. saw them] It was night, so that the sense may be, learned that 
 they were in possession of the gate of the citadel of Zion. 
 
 by the way of the king's garden] Probably on the slope of the hill 
 Zion. 
 
 dy the gate betwixt the two walls] We are reduced to conjecture for 
 the position not only of this gate but of the walls spoken of. Either 
 the gate was in a double wall between Zion and Ophel which lay 
 beneath it (but in this case we should expect a double gate also) or it 
 pierced a wall connecting the two here spoken of. 
 
 the way of the plain] The direction in which he fled shews that 
 his aim was to escape to the eastern bank of the Jordan. 
 
 5. Riblah] probably not the same as that mentioned in Numb, xxxiv. 
 II as on the eastern boundary of the land. This Riblah was the 
 place whither Pharaoh-Nechoh proceeded after the battle of Carchemish 
 and summoned Jehoahaz to appear before him (2 Kings xxiii. 33). 
 From the use which the king of Babylon made of this place it was 
 evidently on the high road between Babylon and Palestine, "It has 
 been discovered in modern times, and retains its name. It lies on the 
 banks of a mountain stream in the midst of a vast and fertile plain 
 yielding the most abundant supplies of forage." Robinson's Bible 
 Researches, ill. 545. 
 
 gave judgment upon him] See note on chap. i. 16. 
 
 6. nobles] The word here used in the Heb, differs from the word 
 
vv. 8— II.] JEREMIAH, XXXIX. 259 
 
 put out Zedekiah's eyes, and bound him with chains to 
 carry him to Babylon. 
 
 8 — 10. Treatment of the city and inhabitants. 
 And the Chaldeans burnt the king's house, and the 8 
 houses of the people, with fire, and brake down the walls 
 of Jerusalem. Then Nebuzar-adan the captain of the 9 
 guard carried away captive into Babylon the remnant of the 
 people that remained in the city, and those that fell away, 
 that fell to him, with the rest of the people that remained. 
 But Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard left of the poor 10 
 of the people, which had nothing, in the land of Judah, and 
 gave them vineyards and fields at the same time. 
 
 II — 14. Nebuchadnezzar' s care for Jeremiah. 
 Now Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon gave charge con- i, 
 
 in the corresponding passage in chap. lii. ("princes," ver. 10) while 
 the former, although not occurring in many books of the Bible, is used 
 elsewhere by Jeremiah (xxvii. 20). This is an additional argument 
 in favour of the genuineness of this narrative of the capture of the 
 city. 
 
 7. Moreover he put out Zedekiah^s eyes] See note on xxxiv. 3. 
 " Putting out the eyes has been at all times a common Oriental pun- 
 ishment... The frequency of the punishment in the time of the younger 
 Cyrus is indicated by a passage in Xenophon, where it is said that men 
 deprived of sight for their crimes were a common spectacle along the 
 highways within his government." Rawlinson's Herod, vol. iv. p. 16. 
 Compare Jud. xvi. 2 1 . 
 
 8 — 10. Treatment of the city and inhabitants. 
 This section by way of introduction to the brief account of the 1 
 treatment of Jeremiah, gives a sketch of the fate of the inhabitants \ 
 generally. If we had only this summary, we might suppose that 1 
 Nebuzar-adan was present at the time in person. We find from the two 
 other forms of the account (chap, lii ; 2 Kings xxv.) that he did not 
 arrive till a month after the taking of Jerusalem. 
 
 9. captain 0/ the guard] literally, chief of the executioners, i.e., of 
 the king's body guard, to whom such duties fell. 
 
 that fell to him] i.e. that went over to the Chaldaeans, and so were 
 under Nebuzar-adan from such time as he appeared in command. 
 
 10. gave them vineyards and fields] The parallel accounts (lii. r6; 
 2 Kings xxv. 12) say that they were left as vinedressers and husband- 
 men. Combining the accounts then we see precisely how the matter 
 was. They were put in charge of this kind of property, which in a 
 sense was given to them as their own, but might be resumed at any 
 moment by the conqueror. 
 
 17 2 
 
26o JEREMIAH, XXXIX. [vv. 12—18. 
 
 cerning Jeremiah to Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard, 
 
 12 saying, Take him, and look well to him, and do him no 
 harm ; but do unto him even as he shall say unto thee. 
 
 13 So Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard sent, and Ne- 
 bushasban, Rab-saris, and Nergal-sharezer, Rab-mag, and 
 
 14 all the king of Babylon's princes ; even they sent, and took 
 Jeremiah out of the court of the prison, and committed him 
 unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, that 
 he should carry him home : so he dwelt among the people. 
 
 15 — 18. Message to Ebed-melech. 
 
 15 Now the word of the Lord came unto Jeremiah, while 
 
 16 he was shut up in the court of the prison, saying. Go and 
 speak to Ebed-melech the Ethiopian, saying. Thus saith 
 the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; Behold, I will bring 
 my words upon this city for evil, and not for good ; and 
 
 17 they shall be acco77iplished in that day before thee. But I 
 will dehver thee in that day, saith the Lord : and thou 
 shalt not be given into the hand of the men of whom thou 
 
 t8 art afraid. For I will surely deliver thee, and thou shalt 
 
 11 — 14. Nebuchadnezzar's care for Jeremiah. 
 
 12. Take hif?i, and look well to hivi'\ This favour sliewn by 
 Nebuchadnezzar was due to the fact that Jeremiah had consistently 
 throughout counselled submission to him on the part of the Jews. A 
 practical instance of the favour was that Jeremiah was freed from his 
 chains at Ramah (xl. 1 ) instead of being compelled to proceed to Riblah 
 under the same circumstances as the other captives. 
 
 13. For the names, see remarks on ver. 3. 
 
 14. For the apparent contradiction between this and xl. i — 4, see 
 note at beginning of this chap. 
 
 Gedaliahl See note on xxvi. 24. 
 
 home] to the house. This has been taken as [a) Gedaliah's house, 
 {b) the (chief) house, in the immediate neighbourhood of "the court of 
 the guard," in other words, the king's palace, {c) (best, as most in agree- 
 ment with the last words of the verse) Jeremiah's own house. 
 
 15 — 18. Message to Ebed-melech. 
 
 15. came] rather, had come, for this incident should in point of 
 time be connected with the events of chap, xxxviii. It probably was 
 postponed till now in order that there might be no break in the narra- 
 tive of Jeremiah's imprisonment and the capture of the city. 
 
 17. the men of whom thou art afraid] meaning, not the princes, who 
 were hostile to Jeremiah and so would punish Ebed-melech for helping 
 
vv. 1—4.] JEREMIAH, XL. 261 
 
 not fall by the sword, but thy life shall be for a prey unto 
 thee : because thou hast put thy trust in me, saith the 
 Lord. 
 
 Chap. XL. i — 6. Jeremiah is released and returns to 
 
 Gedaliah. 
 
 The word which came to Jeremiah from the Lord, after 40 
 that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had let him go 
 from Ramah, when he had taken him being bound in 
 chains among all that were carried away captive of Jeru- 
 salem and Judah, which were carried away captive unto 
 Babylon. And the captain of the guard took Jeremiah, 2 
 and said unto him, The Lord thy God hath pronounced 
 this evil upon this place. Now the Lord hath brought //, 3 
 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. And now behold, 4 
 I loose thee this day from the chains which were upon thine 
 hand. If it seem good unto thee to come with me into 
 
 him out of the dungeon, but, as we see from the next verse, the con- 
 quering army in the day of the capture of the city. 
 
 18. thy life shall be fo7' a prey unto thee'\ See for the same phrase 
 xxi. 9, xxxviii. 2, xlv. 5, with note on the first of these. 
 
 Ch. XL. 1—6. Jeremiah is released and returns to 
 Gedaliah. 
 
 1. The word ivhichca7ne\ The mode of introduction leads us to expect \ 
 a prophetic utterance to follow. In fact, however, none such occurs 
 until chap. xlii. 9, etc. We must take the expression then in a wider 
 sense, including history as well as prophecy. This would present no 
 difliculty to a Jew, as the two things were intimately connected in 
 his mind. This is shewn by the including of Historical Books of the 
 Bible under the title of the Prophets. This introduction then serves for 
 both history and prophecy contained in chaps, xl. — xliv. 
 
 after that Nebuzar-adan... had let hii7i go frovi Kamah'\ See note on 
 xxxix. 14, and for Ramah, note on xxxi. 15. 
 chains] manacles, confining the hands only. This appears from ver. 4. 
 
 2. The language of this and the following verse, although spoken 
 by Nebuzar-adan, is in Jeremiah's style throughout. We must therefore 
 suppose either that the former had acquired a very accurate acquaintance 
 with the prophet's teacliing, or thai we have here but the substance of 
 his words. 
 
262 JEREMIAH, XL. [vv. 5—7. 
 
 Babylon, come ; and I will look well unto thee : but if it 
 seem ill unto thee to come with me into Babylon, forbear : 
 behold, all the land is before thee : whither it seemeth 
 s good and convenient for thee to go, thither go. Now while 
 he was not yet gone back, he said, Go back also to Gedaliah 
 the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, whom the king 
 of Babylon hath made governor over the cities of Judah, 
 and dwell with him among the people : or go wheresoever 
 it seemeth convenient unto thee to go. So the captain of 
 the guard gave him victuals and a reward, and let him go. 
 
 6 Then went Jeremiah unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to 
 Mizpah ; and dwelt with him among the people that were 
 left in the land. 
 
 y — 12. Gedaliah seeks to restore quiet and prosperity to the 
 re^naining inhabitants of the country. 
 
 7 Now when all the captains of the forces which were in 
 
 4. / will look well unto thee] The margin is more literal, / will set 
 mine eye upon thee. Compare the phrases, to have an eye to, to keep an 
 eye upon. 
 
 5. Now while he was not yet gone back] This is perhaps the most 
 satisfactory explanation of the Heb., which is obscure. It has also been 
 rendered, And while he yet answered nothing. 
 
 victuals] implying enough for a meal. The same word is rendered 
 "dinner," Prov. xv. 17. 
 
 a reward] rather, a present. The Heb. word was used in older 
 times for a mess of food sent from the table (Gen. xliii. 34; 2 Sam. xi. 8), 
 and afterwards for a present in general (2 Chron. xxiv. 6 "collection"; 
 Esther ii. 18 "gifts"). 
 
 6. Mizpah] not the city in Gilead, mentioned from time to time in 
 the history of the Judges, but a city of Benjamin, a short distance south- 
 west of Ramah and north-west of Jerusalem. It was there that Samuel 
 assembled the people, when sorely troubled by Philistine incursions, 
 to confess their sins and seek deliverance (i Sam. vii. 5), and there too 
 Saul was publicly named King of Israel (i Sam. x. 17). Asa, King 
 of Judah, had fortified it against the attacks of the northern kingdom 
 (1 Kings XV, 22), and now it became the chief scene of the incidents 
 described in this and the next succeeding chapters. It was probably 
 chosen as standing on a ridge commanding a view of Jerusalem. It 
 seems to be identical with "Nob" (Is. x. 32), from which Sennacherib 
 looked down threateningly on the holy city. 
 
 7 — 12. Gedaliah seeks to restore quiet and prosperity to 
 
 THE remaining INHABITANTS OF THE COUNTRY. 
 
 7. all the captains of the forces] the various leaders of bands among 
 the Jews, who would keep out of the way during the presence of the 
 
vv. 8— II.] JEREMIAH, XL. 263 
 
 the fields, even they and their men, heard that the king of 
 Babylon had made Gedaliah the son of Ahikam governor in 
 the land, and had committed unto him men, and women, 
 and children, and of the poor of the land, of them that were 
 not carried away captive to Babylon ; then they came to 8 
 Gedaliah to Mizpah, even Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, 
 and Johanan and Jonathan the sons of Kareah, and Seraiah 
 the son of Tanhumeth, and the sons of Ephai the Neto- 
 phathite, and Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite, they and 
 their men. And Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of 9 
 Shaphan sware unto them and to their men, saying, Fear 
 not to serve the Chaldeans : dwell in the land and serve the 
 king of Babylon, and it shall be well with you. As for me, 10 
 behold, I will dwell at Mizpah to serve the Chaldeans, 
 which will come unto us : but ye, gather ye wine, and 
 summer fruits, and oil, and put them in your vessels, and 
 dwell in your cities that ye have taken. Likewise when all n 
 
 Babylonian forces and until they found what was likely to be the con- 
 dition of the country and the nature of the new government. 
 
 which were in the fields] which were in the field. See notes on iv. 1 7, 
 xxxii. 43, and compare ver. 1 3 below. 
 
 8. Ishmael the son of Nethaniah'] His full designation (xli. i, 
 where see further in note) is "Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, the son of 
 Elishama, of the seed royal." The last words may mean [a) that he was 
 a son of Zedekiah or of one of the other later kings of Judah, or {b) that 
 he was a descendant of some king of the Jews, perhaps through Elishama 
 the son of David {2 Sam. v. 16), not so probably Elishama of chap. 
 xxxvi. 12, or (c) that, as he took refuge (xli. 10) at the court of Baalis 
 king of tiie children of Amnion, he may have been on his mother's side 
 related to that royal house. 
 
 the Netophathite] Netophah was a village near Bethlehem. See 
 Neh. vii. ■26. 
 
 Jezaniah the son of a Maachathite] probably not the "Jezaniah" of 
 chap. xlii. i, where see note. 
 
 10. to serve the Chaldeans] The verb is not the same as that trans- 
 lated serve in ver. 9, but is literally stand before, and means to be the 
 minister of another and look after his interests. See xv. 19 and xxxv. 
 19, with notes. 
 
 wine, and summer fruits, and oil] Although, owing to the national 
 troubles, no corn had been sown, yet the fruits here spoken of would 
 be produced as usual, and as Jerusalem was taken about July ("the 
 fourth month," xxxix. 2), they would now be ripening. 
 
 taken] seized. There is implied in the verb what was no doubt the 
 case, viz. that these captains had not scrupled to take possession of such 
 walled towns or fortresses of any kind as best suited their purposes. 
 
264 JEREMIAH, XL. [vv. 12—15. 
 
 the Jews that were in Moab, and among the Ammonites, 
 and in Edom, and that were in all the countries, heard that 
 the king of Babylon had left a remnant of Judah, and that 
 he had set over them Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son 
 
 12 of Shaphan ; even all the Jews returned out of all places 
 whither they were driven, and came to the land of Judah, to 
 Gedaliah, unto Mizpah, and gathered wine and summer 
 fruits very much. 
 
 13 — 16. Gedaliah is in vain 7varned of IshfuaeVs intended 
 treachery. 
 
 13 Moreover Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the captains 
 of the forces that were in the fields, came to Gedaliah to 
 
 14 Mizpah, and said unto him, Dost thou certainly know that 
 BaaUs the king of the Ammonites hath sent Ishmael the 
 son of Nethaniah to slay thee ? But Gedaliah the son of 
 
 15 Ahikam believed them not. Then Johanan the son of 
 Kareah spake to Gedaliah in Mizpah secretly, saying. Let 
 me go, I pray thee, and I will slay Ishmael the son of 
 Nethaniah, and no man shall know it : wherefore should he 
 slay thee, that all the Jews which are gathered unto thee 
 
 12. the Jews returned out of all places] The fact that a governor 
 of their own nation had been set over such as were left in the land, gave 
 an assurance to those Jews who were waiting in neighbouring nations 
 to see what would be the issue, that they might return and dwell at 
 peace. 
 
 13-16. Gedaliah is in vain warned of Ishmael's intended 
 treachery. 
 
 13. fields] See note on ver. 7. 
 
 14. Baalis the king of the Ammonites'] It is easier to see the motives 
 of Ishmael than those of his instigator Baalis. The former no doubt felt 
 aggrieved that he, although of royal birth, should be set aside in favour 
 of Gedaliah, and at once determined to get rid of him and take his 
 place. Baalis may have had a spite against Gedaliah and his family as 
 friends of Jeremiah, and as having probably taken the side of that pro- 
 phet openly, when (chap, xxvii.) he sent back the messengers of Ammon 
 and the other neighbouring nations, refusing the alliance against the 
 Chaldaeans which they had desired ; or it may have been only a design 
 .against Palestine generally which influenced him on this occasion, and 
 the belief that, if he were to get rid of Gedaliah and the firm and 
 peaceful rule which he seemed to be inaugurating, there would be more 
 chance for himself in carrying out his jilans of conquest. 
 
vv. i6; 1—3.] JEREMIAH, XL. XLI. 265 
 
 should be scattered, and the remnant in Judah perish? 
 But Gedaliah the son of Ahikam said unto Johanan the son 16 
 of Kareah, Thou shalt not do this thing : for thou speakest 
 falsely of Ishmael. 
 
 Chap. XLI. i — 3. IsJunael murders Gedaliah and others. 
 
 Now it came to pass in the seventh month, that Ishmael 41 
 the son of Nethaniah the son of Elishama, of the seed 
 royal, and the princes of the king, even ten men with him, 
 came unto Gedaliah the son of Ahikam to Mizpah ; and 
 there they did eat bread together in Mizpah. Then arose 2 
 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, and the ten men that were 
 with him, and smote Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son 
 of Shaphan with the sword, and slew him, whom the king of 
 Babylon had made governor over the land. Ishmael also 3 
 slew all the Jews that were with him, eveji with Gedaliah 
 
 15. the remnant in Judah perish^ Johanan no doubt hoped to in- 
 fluence a high-minded man like Gedaliah by this argument that on his 
 life depended the welfare of those who remained yet in the country. 
 
 Chap. XLI. 1—3. Ishmael murders Gedaliah and others. 
 
 1. in the seventh month'] three months after the capture and two after 
 the burning of the city. 
 
 and the princes of the king] The Septuagint omits these words. It is 
 objected {a) that if these princes, as well as Ishmael, had come to Geda- 
 liah, the visit from so many prominent personages would have awakened 
 in his mind a suspicion, from which we see that he was in fact 
 wholly free; {b) that these princes are never again mentioned in the 
 narrative. It is therefore proposed to render the Heb. {of the seed royal) 
 and of the princes of the king; and thus to make the whole to be a 
 description of Ishmael, and to signify that he was not merely of royal 
 blood, but was also one of those who had counselled and assisted the 
 king in affairs of state. In this case we shall render, and ten men with 
 him. 
 
 and there they did eat bread together in Mizpah] Josephus {Antiq. X. 
 9) speaks of Gedaliah 's defenceless state as arising from intoxication. 
 
 2. Then arose Ishmael... and the ten men] That eleven men should 
 be able to overpower and murder so large a number, including men 
 skilled in war, shews that from some cause these last must have been 
 wholly off their guard. 
 
 3. all the Jews that were with him] meaning, all that were in the 
 house with him. On their return from the exile the Jews used to keep 
 the third day of the seventh month (Tisri) as a fast in memory of Ish- 
 mael's deed (Zech. vii. 5, viii. 19). 
 
266 JEREMIAH, XLI. [vv. 4— 7. 
 
 at Mizpah, and the Chaldeans that were found there, and 
 the men of war. 
 
 4 — 10. He commits further 7?iassacres and carries off captives. 
 
 4 And it came to pass the second day after he had slain 
 
 5 Gedaliah, and no man knew it, that there came certain from 
 Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria, even fourscore 
 men, having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent, and 
 having cut themselves, with offerings and incense in their 
 
 6 hand, to bring them to the house of the Lord. And Ish- 
 mael the son of Nethaniah went forth from Mizpah to meet 
 them, weeping all along as he went: and it came to pass, 
 as he met them, he said unto them, Come to Gedaliah the 
 
 7 son of Ahikam. And it was so, when they came into the 
 midst of the city, that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah slew 
 them, and cast them into the midst of the pit, he, and the 
 
 4 — 10. He commits further massacres and carries off 
 captives. 
 
 4. the second day... and no man knew it] The long concealment of 
 the murder shews what precautions Ishmael must have taken, even 
 though we suppose, which is quite possible, that the fortress inhabited 
 by Gedaliah was not inside the town. 
 
 6. /rom Shechem, from Shiloh, and from Samaria"] These three 
 towns are in Ephraim. Shechem (the Sychar of John iv. 5), now Ndblus, 
 is beautifully situated in a valley between the mountains Gerizim and 
 Ebal. For Shiloh, see note on chap. vii. 12. It lay 18 miles south of 
 Shechem, which however is no objection to its occurrence in the present 
 narrative. One MS. of the Septuagint however, apparently for this 
 reason, reads Salem, a town which appears to have been close to She- 
 chem. 
 
 having their beards shaven, and their clothes rent] in sign of mourning 
 for the destruction of the Temple. 
 
 having cut themselves] See note on chap. xvi. 6. 
 
 offerings and incense] a meat offering and incense. For the former 
 see note on chap. xvii. ■26. Unbloody sacrifices were all that could 
 now be offered, as the only place at which others were permitted (Deut. 
 xii. 13, 14, 17, 18) had been destroyed. 
 
 6. weeping all along] so as to feign equal concern with them for the 
 fate of the Temple, and thus put them off their guard. 
 
 , Come to Gedaliah] probably as governor, to whom therefore they 
 should shew respect and offer greeting. 
 
 7, Ishmael the son of Nethaniah sleiv them] His object probably 
 was twofold ; plunder, including captives, and to keep the land in a state 
 of unrest, so as to help out Uaalis's ambitious wishes. 
 
 the pit] the cistern. 
 
vv. 8— II.] JEREMIAH, XLI. 267 
 
 men that were with him. But ten men were found among 8 
 them that said unto Ishmael, Slay us not: for we have trea- 
 sures in the field, of wheat, and of barley, and of oil, and of 
 honey. So he forbare, and slew them not among their 
 brethren. Now the pit wherein Ishmael had cast all the 9 
 dead bodies of the men, whom he had slain because of 
 Gedaliah, was it which Asa the king had made for fear of 
 Baasha king of Israel : and Ishmael the son of Nethaniah 
 filled it with them that were slain. Then Ishmael carried 10 
 away captive all the residue of the people that were in 
 Mizpah, even the king's daughters, and all the people that 
 remained in Mizpah, whom Nebuzar-adan the captain of the 
 guard had committed to Gedaliah the son of Ahikam : and 
 Ishmael the son of Nethaniah carried them away captive, 
 and departed to go over to the Ammonites. 
 
 II — 18. The captives are rescued by Johanan^ and they 
 
 prepare to flee into Egypt. 
 But when Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the cap- u 
 
 8. we have treasures] we have hidden stores. In the East it is to 
 this day a common custom to use ' ' wells or cisterns for grain. In them 
 the farmers store their crops of all kinds after the grain is threshed and 
 winnowed. These cisterns are cool, perfectly dry, and tight. The top 
 is hermetically sealed with plaster, and covered with a deep bed of earth. 
 ...The custom extended through the Carthaginians of North Africa into 
 Spain.. ..These ten men had doubtless thus hid their treasures to avoid 
 being plundered in that time of utter lawlessness ; and in a similar time 
 I found people storing away grain in cisterns far out in the open country, 
 between Aleppo and Hamath, and they told me it was to hide it from 
 the government tax-gatherers. ...They would not answer in a wet country, 
 but in these dry climates stores have been found quite fresh and sound 
 many years after they were thus buried." Thomson (The Land and the 
 Book, pp. 509, 510). 
 
 9. the pit\ the cistern. 
 
 because of Gedaliah^ by the side of Gedaliah, i.e. their corpses placed 
 beside his. 
 
 Asa the king had made'] This pit is not mentioned in the Historical 
 Books. However, we are told (i Kings xv. 22 and 2 Chron. xvi. 6) 
 that Asa caused the materials of Ramah, which Baasha had just built, 
 to be removed and used for fortifying Geba and Mizpah. 
 
 filled it with them that were slain] like the well of Cawnpore in the 
 Indian mutiny of 1S57. 
 
 10. all the residue of the people that were in Mizpah'] It would appear 
 from the fulness with which the previous particulars are given that 
 Jeremiah (and probably Baruch also) belonged to this number. 
 
268 JEREMIAH, XLI. [w. 12—17. 
 
 tains of the forces that were with him, heard of all the evil 
 
 12 that Ishmael the son of Nethaniah had done, then they 
 took all the men, and went to fight with Ishmael the son 
 of Nethaniah, and found him by the great waters that are 
 
 ,3 in Gibeon. Now it came to pass, that when all the people 
 which were with Ishmael saw Johanan the son of Kareah, 
 and all the captains of the forces that were with him, then 
 
 ,4 they were glad. So all the people that Ishmael had carried 
 away captive from Mizpah cast about and returned, and 
 
 15 went unto Johanan the son of Kareah. But Ishmael the 
 son of Nethaniah escaped from Johanan with eight men, 
 
 i6 and went to the Ammonites. Then took Johanan the son 
 of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces that were with 
 him, all the remnant of the people whom he had recovered 
 from Ishmael the son of Nethaniah, from Mizpah, after that 
 he had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, even mighty men 
 of war, and the women, and the children, and the eunuchs, 
 
 17 whom he had brought again from Gibeon : and they de- 
 parted, and dwelt in the habitation of Chimham, which is 
 
 11 — 18. The captives are rescued by Johanan, and they 
 
 PREPARE TO flee INTO EgYPT. 
 
 12. the great waters that are in Gibeon'] Gibeon (the modern El Jib), 
 a city of the priests (Josh, xviii. 25, xxi. 17) in the tribe of Benjamin. 
 It stands on one of the hills which abound there. On the east of it " is 
 a copious spring... In the trees further down are the remains of a pool or 
 tank of considerable size. This is doubtless the pool of Gibeon at which 
 Abner and Joab met (2 Sam. ii. 13). ..Here, or at the spring, were the 
 great waters (or the many waters) at which Johanan the son of Kareah 
 found the traitor Ishmael." Sm. Bibl. Diet. Art. Gibeon. 
 
 14. cast about\ turned round. The old English phrase may be 
 illustrated from the writings of John Gower (1325 — 1408 nearly). "Then 
 cast I all the world about.''' Confessio Amantis; and Sir Philip Sidney 
 ('554 — 1586) "Musidorus could doe no more but perswade the mariners 
 to cast about againe." Arcadia. 
 
 15. Ishmael, we see from this verse, lost two men in the encounter. 
 weyit to the Ammonites] Compare xl. 14. It is probable that the 
 
 connection of Baalis with these acts of treachery was in part at any rate 
 the cause of the misfortunes predicted for Ammon by Jeremiah (xlix. 
 I — 6) and Ezckiel (xxv. i — 7). 
 
 16. mighty men of war] Hence we learn that there were soldiers at 
 Mizpah who, either from the sudden panic, or from disaffection towards 
 Gedaliah, had made no stand against Ishmael and his small force. 
 
 17. the habitation of Chimham, which is by Beth-lchcm] For Chim- 
 
vv. i8; 1,2.] JEREMIAH, XLI. XLII. 269 
 
 by Beth-lehem, to go to enter into Egypt, because of the »8 
 Chaldeans : for they were afraid of them, because Ishmael 
 the son of Nethaniah had slain Gedaliah the son of Ahikam, 
 whom the king of Babylon made governor in the land. 
 
 Chap. XLII. i — 6. Johanan and the others seek through 
 
 Jeremiah a declaration of God's will. 
 
 Then all the captains of the forces, and Johanan the son 42 
 of Kareah, and Jezaniah the son of Hoshaiah, and all the 
 people from the least even unto the greatest, came near, 
 and said unto Jeremiah the prophet, Let, we beseech thee, 2 
 our supplication be accepted before thee, and pray for us 
 unto the Lord thy God, even for all this remnant ; (for we 
 
 ham (for which however there is also another reading in the Heb. 
 Chemohani), the son of Barzillai, see 2 Sam. xix. 37, 38. It was natural 
 that David as a mark of gratitude should have given him, as appears 
 from this passage, a portion of land which, being in the neighbourhood 
 of Bethlehem the king's birth-place, may be supposed to have belonged 
 to him. The Heb. for habitation [geruth) occurs here only. The sense 
 however is pretty clear, viz. Khan, or Caravanserai. "The need of 
 shelter led very early to the erection of rude and simple buildings of 
 varying size, known as khans, which offered the wayfarer the protection 
 of walls and a roof, and water, but little more. ...From immemorial 
 antiquity it has been a favourite mode of benevolence to raise such 
 places of shelter." The special utility of this Khan lay in its being on 
 the great caravan route to Egypt. Such was the inn, and in that very 
 neighbourhood too, in which "there was no room" for the mother of 
 our Lord and Joseph just before the Nativity (Luke ii. 7). 
 
 to go to enter into Egypf] to prepare for the journey into Egypt, a 
 journey which, according to the first words of the next verse, was under- 
 taken from fear of the Chaldaeans. It seemed likely that the outbreak 
 which had taken place in connexion with the overthrow and death of 
 the governor appointed by the king of Babylon, might be revenged 
 without much discrimination by that monarch. 
 
 Chap. XLII. 1 — 6. Johanan and the others seek through 
 Jeremiah a declaration of God's will. 
 
 1. yezaniah, the son of Hoshaiah'] probably not the Jezaniah of 
 chap. xl. 8. In xliii. 2 he is called Azariah, a name which the 
 Septuagint here also has instead of Jezaniah. It is thus possible that 
 the latter name in this place may be due to a copyist, who thought that 
 the names of captains here must correspond as closely as might be with 
 the list in chap. xl. 
 
 frojfi the least even unto the greatest] i.e. all, without exception. 
 
 2. be accepted] literally, y»//. See note on xxxvi. 7. 
 
270 JEREMIAH, XLII. [vv.3-10. 
 
 3 are left but a few of many, as thine eyes do behold us :) that 
 the Lord thy God may shew us the way wherein we may 
 
 4 walk, and the thing that we may do. Then Jeremiah the 
 prophet said unto them, I have heard you ; behold, I will 
 pray unto the Lord your God according to your words ; 
 and it shall come to pass, that whatsoever thing the Lord 
 shall answer you, I will declare // unto you ; I will keep 
 
 5 nothing back from you. Then they said to Jeremiah, The 
 Lord be a true and faithful witness between us, if we do 
 not even according to all things for the which the Lord thy 
 
 6 God shall send thee to us. Whether it be good, or whether 
 // be evil, we will obey the voice of the Lord our God, to 
 whom we send thee ; that it may be well with us, when we 
 obey the voice of the Lord our God. 
 
 7 — 22. God's will is that they should remain ifi their 07vn 
 land. 
 
 7 And it came to pass after ten days, that the word of the 
 
 8 Lord came unto Jeremiah. Then called he Johanan the 
 son of Kareah, and all the captains of the forces which 7vere 
 with him, and all the people from the least even to the greatest, 
 
 9 and said unto them, Thus saith the Lord, the God of Israel, 
 unto whom ye sent me to present your supplication before 
 
 10 him : if ye will still abide in this land, then will I build you, 
 
 3. that the Lord thy God may shew us\ The desire to ascertain 
 God's will expressed here, even when compared with their disobedience 
 to that will when declared (chap, xliii. 4), need not imply hypocrisy. 
 They may have made up their minds that it was necessary to flee into 
 Egypt, and, assuming that this resolution would be confirmed by the 
 divine response, desired only to know what particular course they should 
 adopt in accordance with it. 
 
 4. I have heard yoti] See note on xxxiv. 10. 
 
 5. between mj] against us, i.e. to bear witness and punish us if we 
 fail to do our part as we now promise. 
 
 7 — 22. God's will is that they should remain in their own 
 
 LAND. 
 
 7. after ten days] Generally the reply seems to have come at once. 
 We can easily see however in the present case a reason for delay, viz. 
 that the panic consequent upon the late disasters might be over before 
 the command not to flee into Egypt was given. 
 
 9. tapresent] literally, to make to fall. See note on ver. •2. 
 
 10. then 7tnll I build you...] Compare i. 10 and xxiv. 6 for these 
 figures of speech. 
 
vv. II— 18.] JEREMIAH, XLII. 271 
 
 and not pull you down, and I will plant you, and not pluck 
 you up : for I repent me of the evil that I have done unto 
 you. Be not afraid of the king of Babylon, of whom ye are n 
 afraid ; be not afraid of him, saith the Lord : for I am with 
 you to save you, and to deliver you from his hand. And I 12 
 will shew mercies unto you, that he may have mercy upon 
 you, and cause you to return to your own land. But if ye 13 
 say, We will not dwell in this land, neither obey the voice 
 of the Lord your God, saying. No ; but we v/ill go ifito the 14 
 land of Egypt, where we shall see no war, nor hear the 
 sound of the trumpet, nor have hunger of bread ; and there 
 will we dwell: and now therefore hear the word of the ,5 
 Lord, ye remnant of Judah ; Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 
 the God of Israel ; If ye wholly set your faces to enter into 
 Egypt, and go to sojourn there ; then it shall come to pass, 16 
 that the sword, which ye feared, shall overtake you there in 
 the land of Egypt, and the famine, whereof ye were afraid, 
 shall follow close after you there in Egypt; and there ye 
 shall die. So shall it be with all the men that set their faces 17 
 to go into Egypt to sojourn there ; they shall die by the 
 sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence : and none of 
 them shall remain or escape from the evil that I will bring 
 upon them. For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of 18 
 Israel ; As mine anger and my fury hath been poured forth 
 
 / repent me} a figure of speech. I change my conduct towards you, 
 which with men is commonly caused by change o{ purpose. 
 
 12. / will shew mercies unto you] I will grant you compassion, 
 i.e. from Nebuchadnezzar. The Heb. phrase in the text occurs also 
 in the same sense in Gen. xliii. 14; i Kings viii. 50. 
 
 cause you to return] or, with the difference of a vowel only in the 
 original, cause you to dwell. The latter is perhaps preferable, not only 
 as according more literally with the condition of the persons addressed, 
 but also as agreeing better with the following verse (* We will not dwell,' 
 etc. ). 
 
 14. we shall see no war] We shall be in a land further from Babylon, 
 and therefore not liable to invasion. 
 
 15. and now therefore] now therefore. This is the second or 
 answering part of the sentence {apodosis), the first part {protasis) con- 
 sisting of the two previous verses. 
 
 to enter into Egypt and go] to go into Egypt and go. The verbs are 
 the same in the Heb. 
 
 17. none of them shall remain or escape] See note on vi. 9. 
 
272 JEREMIAH, XLII. XLIII. [vv. 19—22 ; 1,2. 
 
 upon the inhabitants of Jerusalem ; so shall my fury be 
 poured forth upon you, when ye shall enter into Egypt : 
 and ye shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and 
 a curse, and a reproach ; and ye shall see this place no 
 
 19 more. The Lord hath said concerning you, O ye remnant 
 of Judah; Go ye not into Egypt: know certainly that I have 
 
 20 admonished you tkis day. For ye dissembled in your 
 hearts, when ye sent me unto the Lord your God, saying, 
 Pray for us unto the Lord our God; and according unto all 
 that the Lord our God shall say, so declare unto us, and we 
 
 21 will do it. And now I have this day declared it to you ; but 
 ye have not obeyed the voice of the Lord your God, nor 
 
 22 any thing for the which he hath sent me unto you. Now 
 therefore know certainly that ye shall die by the sword, by 
 the famine, and by the pestilence, in the place whither ye 
 desire to go and to sojourn. 
 
 Chap. XLIII. i — 7. They disobey and go down to Egypt. 
 
 43 And it came to pass, that when Jeremiah had made an 
 
 end of speaking unto all the people all the words of the 
 
 Lord their God, for which the Lord their God had sent 
 
 2 him to them, even all these words ; then spake Azariah the 
 
 son of Hoshaiah, and Johanan the son of Kareah, and all 
 
 19. The Lord's reply has ended, and Jeremiah is now adding a brief 
 and emphatic address. 
 
 The Lord hath said concerning you\ the Lord hath spoken concerning 
 you. 
 
 admonished] become a witness against is the more literal rendering. 
 
 20. ye dissembled in your hearts] either, (a) ye err at the risk of your 
 souls, or \b) ye have deceived yourselves , i.e. ye believed that ye were asking 
 of God in absolute good faith, but all the while nothing but your 
 own way would content you. 
 
 22. to go and to sojotirn\ to go to sojoum, the latter verb expressing 
 the object of the former. 
 
 Chap. XLIII. 1 — 7. They disobey and go down to Egypt. 
 
 2. then spake Azariah] See note on chap. xlii. i. The attack 
 upon Baruch, and only indirectly and through him upon the prophet, 
 may have arisen from their being reluctantly compelled to acknowledge 
 that Jeremiah himself at any rate was possessed of integrity of purpose. 
 This he had shewn by his refusal to seek protection and honourable 
 treatment from the Chaldaeans, whose favour the worse section of his 
 countrymen always suspected him of seeking. 
 
vv. 3— lo.] JEREMIAH, XLIII. 273 
 
 the proud men, saying unto Jeremiah, Thou speakest false- 
 ly : the Lord our God hath not sent thee to say. Go not 
 into Egypt to sojourn there : but Baruch the son of Neriah 3 
 setteth thee on against us, for to deliver us into the hand of 
 the Chaldeans, that they might put us to death, and carry 
 us away captives into Babylon. So Johanan the son of 4 
 Kareah, and all the captains of the forces, and all the 
 people, obeyed not the voice of the Lord, to dwell in the 
 land of Judah. But Johanan the son of Kareah, and all the 5 
 captains of the forces, took all the remnant of Judah, that 
 were returned from all nations, whither they had been 
 driven, to dwell in the land of Judah : Even men, and 6 
 women, and children, and the king's daughters, and every 
 person that Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard had left 
 with Gedaliah the son of Ahikam the son of Shaphan, and 
 Jeremiah the prophet, and Baruch the son of Neriah. So 7 
 they came into the land of Egypt : for they obeyed not the 
 voice of the Lord : thus came they even to Tahpanhes. 
 
 8 — 13. Prophecy of the fall of Egypt. 
 Then came the word of the Lord unto Jeremiah in Tah- s 
 panhes, saying, Take great stones in thine hand, and hide 9 
 them in the clay in the brickkiln, which is at the entry of 
 Pharaoh's house in Tahpanhes, in the sight of the men of 
 Judah ; and say unto them, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, 10 
 
 5. that were returned from all nations\ See note on chap. xl. 12. 
 
 7. Tahpanhes] See note on chap. ii. 16. 
 
 8 — 13. Prophecy of the fall of Egypt. 
 
 8. in Tahpanhes\ The exiles would be compelled to halt here in 
 order to secure permission to sojourn in the country and obtain if pos- 
 sible such recognition from the king as would help to supply them with 
 means of subsistence. 
 
 9. hide them in the clay] i.e. cover them over with mortar. 
 
 in the brickkiln] The Heb. word occurs in but three (or, since i 
 Sam. xii. 31 has a various reading, possibly in but two) passages in the 
 Bible. SeeNah. iii. 14. Beyond the fact that it means a place con- 
 nected with bricks the form of the word in the original does not help 
 us. Brick pavement, or wall, or building, have all been suggested as 
 the sense here, so as to avoid the objection that a brickkiln would not be 
 likely to be set up close to a royal palace. Such a thing however is far 
 from impossible in that country and at that time. 
 
 JEREMIAH 18 
 
274 JEREMIAH, XLllI. [vv. 11—13. 
 
 the God of Israel^, Behold, I will send and take Nebuchad- 
 rezzar the king of Babylon, my servant, and will set his 
 throne upon these stones that I have hid ; and he shall 
 
 II spread his royal pavilion over them. And when he cometh, 
 he shall smite the land of Egypt, and deliver such as are for 
 death to death ; and such as are for captivity to captivity ; 
 
 [2 and such as are for the sword to the sword. And I will 
 kindle a fire in the houses of the gods of Egypt ; and he 
 shall burn them, and carry them away captives : and he 
 shall array himself with the land of Egypt, as a shepherd 
 putteth on his garment ; and he shall go forth from thence 
 
 r3 in peace. He shall break also the images of Beth-shemesh, 
 
 10. my servant] See note on xxv. 9. 
 
 upon these stones that I have hid] The action of Jeremiah would 
 naturally excite much attention and enquiry among the people, although 
 we must not suppose, arguing from our Western and precise manners, 
 that he would be at all necessarily interfered with. In fact he would 
 have a twofold security, as a prophet of God to those who acknowledged 
 him as such, and in the opinion of others as insane, and according to 
 Eastern ideas thus specially under Divine promptings in his acts. To 
 the crowd collected by these symbolic acts Jeremiah would proclaim 
 the meaning of the sign which he was commanded thus to shew. 
 
 his royal pavilion] rather, Ms canopy shall be stretched (literally, 
 one shall stretch). The covering, however, is probably not a fixed one, 
 like an awning or tent, but borne by an attendant. **It had a tall and 
 thick pole, which the bearer grasped with both his hands, and in the 
 early times a somewhat small circular top. Under the later kings the 
 size of the head was considerably enlarged, and at the same time a 
 curtain or flap was attached, which, falling from the edge of the parasol, 
 more effectually protected the monarch from the sun's rays." Rawl. 
 Anc, Mon. I. 496. 
 
 11. and deliver] These words may be omitted. Under the name of 
 ' the land ' its inhabitants are apportioned out among the various forms 
 of ill that follow. 
 
 /'or the sword] the sword of the executioner : 'death' in the earlier part 
 the verse referring therefore to other forms of fate such as famine or 
 deadly wound in battle. 
 
 12. / will kindle] a sudden change of person, but nothing beyond 
 what is frequent with Jeremiah. He immediately returns to the third 
 person, 'he shall burn them,' etc. 
 
 as a shepherd putteth on his garment] Nebuchadnezzar shall have no 
 more difficulty in carrying off the spoil of Egypt than the shepherd has 
 in wrapping his outer garment about him at the end of his ordinary day's 
 labour. 
 
 13. the images] The same word is rendered pillar in Is. xix. 19, 
 and there as well as here in all probability means obelisk (see next note). 
 
vv. I, 2.] JEREMIAH, XLIV. 275 
 
 that is in the land of Egypt ; and the houses of the gods of 
 the Egyptians shall he burn with fire. 
 
 Chap. XLIV. i — 10. Rebuke addressed to the Egyptian Jeivs. 
 
 The word that came to Jeremiah concerning all the Jews 44 
 which dwell in the land of Egypt, which dwell at Migdol, 
 and at Tahpanhes, and at Noph, and in the country of 
 Pathros, saying, Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of 2 
 
 This announcement of the destruction of such splendid contributions to 
 the favourite Egyptian sun worship shewed the extent to which the 
 devastation of the land by Nebuchadnezzar should go. For the fulfil- 
 ment of this prophecy against Egypt, see note on xliv. 30. 
 
 Beth-skemesh'] house of the sun (Greek Heliopolis, Egyptian On, 
 which last is altered by a play on the word to ^z/m = iniquity, Ezek. 
 xx:c. 17). It is near the southern point of the Delta and about ten 
 miles north-east of Cairo. An ancient sycamore hard by 'r, pointed 
 out according to a local tradition as that beneath which the Holy 
 Family rested (Matt. ii. 14). At On there was a spring which was 
 ^■believed by the credulous to have been salt until the Virgin's coming. 
 It was a city of obelisks, two of which stood before the entrance to the 
 Temple of the Sun. "When Strabo visited the city twenty years before 
 Christ it was already a heap of ruins. Nothing now remains of Helio- 
 polis but some traces of the massive walls, fragments of sphinxes, 
 and an obelisk of red granite sixty-eight feet high. It is, with the 
 exception of a small obelisk which Lepsius discovered in the Acropolis 
 of Memphis, the oldest obelisk extant." Schaff 's Through Bible Lands. 
 Obelisks were brought from Heliopolis to Rome by Augustus and 
 Caligula and still stand there. The shape of such monuments has been 
 rendered yet more familiar to many of late by the erection on the 
 Thames embankment of '* Cleopatra's Needle." 
 
 Chap. XLIV. 1 — 10. Rebuke addressed to the Egyptian 
 Jews. 
 
 1, The word that came to JeretniaKl This is the last prophecy of . 
 Jeremiah in respect of time. The occasion we see to have been the 
 unabated idolatry which characterised the people even in the midst of 
 the punishment which they were undergoing in exile. It may have 
 been uttered at any time between the arrival in Egypt (about 585 B.C.) 
 and the fulfilment (not earlier than 572 B.C.). 
 
 at Migdol} twelve miles from Pelusium, on the northern boundary. 
 See Exod. xiv. 2. 
 
 at Tahpanhes, and at Noph] See note on ii. 16 {Tahapanes). Authori- 
 ties are divided as to the exact position of Pathros, some passages where 
 it is mentioned suggesting Lower (northern) and some Upper (southern) 
 Egypt. We have no distinct intimation that Jeremiah ever went into Upper 
 Egypt, yet in that direction on the whole the preponderance of opinion 
 seems to incline. 
 
 18—2 
 
276 JEREMIAH, XLIV. [w. 3—9. 
 
 Israel; Ye have seen all the evil that I have brought upon 
 Jerusalem, and upon all the cities of Judah ; and behold, 
 this day they are a desolation, and no man dwelleth therein, 
 
 3 because of their wickedness which they have committed to 
 provoke me to anger, in that they went to burn incense, and 
 to serve other gods, whom they knew not, neither they, you, 
 
 4 nor your fathers. Howbeit I sent unto you all my servants 
 the prophets, rising early and sending them^ saying, Oh, do 
 
 5 not this abominable thing that I hate. But they hearkened 
 not, nor inclined their ear to turn from their wickedness, to 
 
 6 burn no incense unto other gods. Wherefore my fury and 
 mine anger was poured forth, and was kindled in the cities 
 of Judah and in the streets of Jerusalem ; and they are 
 
 7 wasted and desolate, as at this day. Therefore now thus 
 saith the T_^ord, the God of hosts, the God of Israel ; Where- 
 fore commit ye this great evil against your souls, to cut off 
 from you man and woman, child and suckling, out of Judah, 
 
 8 to leave you none to remain ; in that ye provoke me unto 
 wrath with the works of your hands, burning incense unto 
 other gods in the land of Egypt, whither ye be gone to 
 dwell, that ye might cut yourselves off, and that ye might 
 be a curse and a reproach among all the nations of the 
 
 9 earth ? Have ye forgotten the wickedness of your fathers, 
 and the wickedness of the kings of Judah, and the wicked- 
 ness of their wives, and your own wickedness, and the wick- 
 
 3. and to serve] In the Heb. there is no and, and the infinitive 
 may therefore very well depend upon *to burn incense.' 
 
 4. Howbeit] literally, And. 
 
 7. Therefore now] in the face of all the warnings that ye have had. 
 against your souls] against yourse/ves. 
 
 8. the works of your hands] your idols. 
 
 that ye might cut yourselves off] The Heb. is exactly the same as 
 that rendered in the previous verse ' to cut off from you.' Hence, as there 
 seems no authority for the use of the reflexive rendering, we may best 
 consider the object of the verb in that verse ('man etc.') as understood 
 with it here. 
 
 9. their wives] The Heb. has his wives. The Septuagint has your 
 princes (compare verses 17, 21), taking thus quite a different word, for 
 which there is no authority in any Heb. text which has come down 
 to us. Our present reading, however, may spring from an error on the 
 part of a Heb. copyist, arising from the word wives which follows in the 
 verse. If on the other hand we are to take it as the genuine reading, the 
 
vv. 10—14.] JEREMIAH, XLIV. 277 
 
 edness of your wives, which they have committed in the 
 land of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem ? They are 10 
 not humbled even unto this day, neither have they feared, 
 nor walked in my law, nor in my statutes, that I set before 
 you and before your fathers. 
 
 1 1 — 14. The punishment that shall overtake them. 
 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of n 
 Israel ; Behold, I will set my face against you for evil, and 
 to cut off all Judah. And I will take the remnant of Judah, ra 
 that have set their faces to go into the land of Egypt to 
 sojourn there, and they shall all be consumed, a7id fall in 
 the land of Egypt; they shall even be consumed by the 
 sword, and by the famine : they shall die, from the least 
 even unto the greatest, by the sword and by the famine : 
 and they shall be an execration, and an astonishment, and 
 a curse, and a reproach. For I will punish them that dwell u 
 in the land of Egypt, as I have punished Jerusalem, by the 
 sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence : so that none 14 
 of the remnant of Judah, which are gone into the land of 
 Egypt to sojourn there, shall escape or remain, that they 
 
 singular pronoun will refer either {a) to the nation (kings and people 
 alike), where, however, we should have expected the feminine, or {p) 
 to the individual kings of Judah. 
 
 10. humbled] literally, bruised, contrite and penitent for sin. The 
 word is used of the vicarious bearing of the sins of the guilty by the 
 innocent in Is. liii. 5, "he was bruised for our iniquities." The pro- 
 phet changes to the third person, as including in his remark the previous 
 generations also. 
 
 11 — 14. The punishment that shall overtake them. 
 
 11. I will set Tfiyface'] See note on xxi. 10. 
 
 all ytcdah'] all that are in Egypt, i.e. of those now going to sojourn 
 there and with the exceptions mentioned afterwards (verses 14, 28). 
 
 12. The emphatic way in which the prediction of Judah's misfor- 
 tunes in Egypt is repeated again is very remarkable. We gather at 
 least one of the reasons from the subsequent verses. They still cling to 
 idolatry in the face of warnings and facts. 
 
 14. which are gone] which are going. The prophet is not speaking 
 of any who may be permanent residents in Egypt. Naturally those 
 might better escape the coming troubles, as being (a) dispersed 
 through the country, {b) acquainted with the Egyptian language and 
 customs, [c) possessed of private means gathered during their previous 
 residence. 
 
278 JEREMIAH, XLIV. [vv. 15—17. 
 
 should return into the land of Judah, to the which they have 
 a desire to return to dwell there : for none shall return but 
 such as shall escape. 
 
 15 — 19. The people's reply to the prophet. They refuse 
 to give up idolatry. 
 
 15 Then all the men which knew that their wives had burnt 
 incense unto other gods, and all the women that stood by, a 
 great multitude, even all the people that dwelt in the land of 
 
 16 Egypt, in Pathros, answered Jeremiah, saying, As for the 
 word that thou hast spoken unto us in the name of the 
 
 17 Lord, we will not hearken unto thee. But we will certainly 
 do whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth, to 
 burn incense unto the queen of heaven, and to pour out 
 drink offerings unto her, as we have done, we, and our 
 fathers, our kings, and our princes, in the cities of Judah, 
 and in the streets of Jerusalem : for then had we plenty of 
 
 they have a desirel they lift up their soul. Compare xxii. 27. 
 
 15—19. The people's reply to the prophet. They refuse 
 TO give up idolatry. 
 
 15. had burnt'] burned. Their idolatry was still going on. 
 
 and all the women] This suggests to us, as do the words 'a great 
 multitude,' that it was on the occasion of an idolatrous festival, in which 
 the women took a leading part, that Jeremiah had rebuked the people. 
 Otherwise the women at any rate would not be thus assembled. 
 
 all the people that dzvelt in the land of Egypt] not of course intended 
 to be understood literally, but that they were very numerous and repre- 
 sented the whole. Any difficulty connected with the statements in the 
 Pentateuch that a// the people were assembled before Moses at the door of 
 the tabernacle, and addressed by him, is removed by such a passage as 
 this. 
 
 17. whatsoever thing goeth forth out of our own mouth] It is not, as 
 the Eng. Vers, implies, that the people declare in general their inten- 
 tion of following their own will rather than God's. P'or whatsoever 
 thing goeth forth we should rather render all the tiling (or, every word) 
 that is gone forth, i.e. the particular vow that we have vowed to the 
 queen of heaven we will perform to the uttermost. For this phrase as 
 employed of vows, see Numb. xxx. 2, 12; Deut. xxiii. 23; Ps. Ixvi. 13, 
 14. The people rely on the argument that this is no new worship of 
 theirs, and that their experience shews that it was for their national ad- 
 vantage that it should be kept up. The queen of heaven has done 
 more for them than the God whose prophet now addresses them. 
 
 the queen of heaven] See note on chap. vii. 18. 
 
vv. 18—22.] JEREMIAH, XLIV. 279 
 
 victuals, and were well, and saw no evil. But since we left 18 
 off to burn incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out 
 drink offerings unto her, we have wanted all things, and have 
 been consumed by the sword and by the famine. And when 19 
 we burnt incense to the queen of heaven, and poured out 
 drink offerings unto her, did we make her cakes to worship 
 her, and pour out drink offerings unto her, without our 
 men? 
 
 20 — 23. Jeremiah declares that idolatry is the cause of 
 their present troubles as a nation. 
 
 Then Jeremiah said unto all the people, to the men, and 20 
 to the women, and to all the people which had given him 
 that answer, saying. The incense that ye burnt in the cities 21 
 of Judah, and in the streets of Jerusalem, ye, and your 
 fathers, your kings, and your princes, and the people of the 
 land, did not the Lord remember them, and came it not 
 into his mind ? So that the Lord could no longer bear, 22 
 
 then had we plenty of victuals^ They perversely attribute the mis- 
 fortunes which had befallen their country from the battle of Megiddo 
 and death of Josiah onwards to the attack made upon idolatry by that 
 king; and not to the gradual degradation of the people though the 
 medium of that idolatry during the reigns of Manasseh and Amon 
 and the earlier part of that of Josiah. 
 
 18. since we left off to burn incense\ Although practised, as we have 
 seen, in the times of kings of Judah subsequent to Josiah with more 
 or less openness, idolatry was probably always by way of being discoun- 
 tenanced in the time of those kings. 
 
 19. cakes to worship her] rather, cakes to make an image of her, 
 referring to the image of the full moon either formed by the cake or 
 stamped upon it. See note on "cakes" vii. 18. 
 
 without our men] without our husbands. The consent of the 
 husband was necessary before the wife's vow could be binding (Numb. 
 XXX. 6, 7). Hence the women plead that they have their husbands' 
 approval in this worship and that therefore Jeremiah has no right to 
 interfere. 
 
 20 — 23. Jeremiah declares that idolatry is the cause of 
 their present troubles as a nation. 
 
 21. came it not into his mind?] See note on chap. iii. 16. 
 
 22. could no longer bear] This contains the pith of the answer to 
 the people's argument that they had been more prosperous while openly 
 practising idolatry than afterwards. Jeremiah points out that even 
 though their national misfortunes were subsequent to Josiah's reforma- 
 
28o JEREMIAH, XLIV. [vv. 23—26. 
 
 because of the evil of your doings, and because of the abo- 
 minations which ye have committed ; therefore is your land 
 a desolation, and an astonishment, and a curse, without an 
 
 23 inhabitant, as at this day. Because you have burnt incense, 
 and because ye have sinned against the Lord, and have not 
 obeyed the voice of the Lord, nor walked in his law, nor in 
 his statutes, nor in his testimonies; therefore this evil is 
 happened unto you, as at this day. 
 
 24 — 30. With the solemn forecast of further pu7iishme7it 
 Jeremiah concludes his prophecy. 
 
 24 Moreover Jeremiah said unto all the people, and to all 
 the women, Hear the word of the Lord, all Judah that are 
 
 25 in the land of Egypt : Thus saith the Lord of hosts, the 
 God of Israel, saying ; Ye and your wives have both spoken 
 with your mouths, and fulfilled with your hand, saying, We 
 will surely perform our vows that we have vowed, to burn 
 incense to the queen of heaven, and to pour out drink 
 offerings unto her : ye will surely accomplish your vows, 
 
 26 and surely perform your vows. Therefore hear ye the word 
 of the Lord, all Judah that dwell in the land of Egypt ; Be- 
 hold, I have sworn by my great name, saith the Lord, that 
 my name shall no more be named in the mouth of any man 
 
 tion, and therefore after what they might have called the golden age 
 of idolatry had ceased, yet it was owing to the idolatry so long ram- 
 pant, and even afterwards cherished and practised as far as its votaries 
 dared, that the overthrow came. The long suffering of God was at last 
 exhausted. 
 
 24—30. With the solemn forecast of further punishment 
 Jeremiah concludes his prophecy. 
 
 24. Moreover fereviiah said^ The people in all likelihood ob- 
 stinately pressed forward to carrj' out their idolatrous intentions. Jere- 
 miah therefore declares the consequences of this persistence, and with 
 the announcement that in their ruin shall be involved that of the 
 Egyptian king Pharaoh-Hophra, closes, as far as we know, the whole 
 series of his prophecies. 
 
 26. with your hand\ with your hands. Jeremiah no doubt points 
 to the cakes which they were at the very moment carrying. 
 
 ye will surely accofuplish'] rather, accomplisli ye by all means, 
 the future used as imperative in an ironical sense. If ye will persist 
 in spite of all my warnings, then be it so. 
 
 26. my name shall no more be named'\ meaning either that the Jews 
 
vv. 27—29.] JEREMIAH, XLIV. 281 
 
 of Judah in all the land of Egypt, saying, The Lord God 
 liveth. Behold, I will watch over them for evil, and not ,7 
 for good : and all the men of Judah that are in the land of 
 Egypt shall be consumed by the sword and by the famine, 
 until there be an end of them. Yet a small number that 23 
 escape the sword shall return out of the land of Egypt into 
 the land of Judah, and all the remnant of Judah, that are 
 gone into the land of Egypt to sojourn there, shall know 
 whose words shall stand, mine, or theirs. And this shall be 29 
 a sign unto you, saith the Lord, that I will punish you in 
 this place, that ye may know that my words shall surely 
 
 in Egypt shall be exterminated (this however in its literal sense, as we 
 see, was not to happen), or that the Lord would no longer reckon Himself 
 as their covenant God, and thus they should lose the right of calling 
 upon His name as such. See note on shall bless themselves in him, 
 chap. iv. 2. 
 
 27. / will watch] or, / am watching. The verb is the same as 
 that rendered "hasten" in chap. i. 12, and "watch" in chap. v. 6, 
 where see notes. 
 
 28. Yet a small number that escape the sword shall... land of Judah] 
 more literally. Yet those that escape the sword shall... land of Jttdah, 
 men of number, i.e. easily to be numbered on account of their fewness. 
 
 whose words] rather, whose word. The reference is to the particular 
 threat of punishment and the people's refusal to give credit to it. 
 
 As in ver. 14 above, the assertion that all the Egyptian Jews shall 
 perish is here immediately qualified. A remnant shall escape. The 
 many Jewish colonists afterwards living in Egypt were probably attracted 
 thither in times subsequent to this, partly through the fertility of the 
 country watered by the Nile, and partly through the liberality of 
 Ptolemy Lagi, the successor of Alexander the Great. Ptolemy, after 
 his capture of Jerusalem (b.c. 320), brought many Jews into Egypt 
 as settlers, and gave those at Alexandria equal rights with the Mace- 
 donians (Josephus, Ant. xii. i). This coupled with the mercantile 
 advantages of Alexandria soon made the Jews to be a very important 
 element of the population. 
 
 29. And this shall be a sigit] It has been inferred from the fact 
 that the overthrow of Pharaoh-Hophra (the sign referred to), uncertain 
 as is its date (see next verse), was much later than the time of the 
 above prophecy, that these two verses are therefore an interpolation 
 made after the event. There is no need however of our assuming 
 that such a sign of the truth of the rest of Jeremiah's words would 
 not be given by the prophet. The fulfilment of it, postponed for 
 seven years, would be all the more striking to those Jews who 
 survived to behold it. Besides, there are various other instances in the 
 Bible of a sign which was not to take place till many years after that 
 of which it was to be the proof. See e.g. Ex. iii. 12; 2 Kings xix. 29. 
 
282 JEREMIAH, XLIV. XLV. [vv. 30; i. 
 
 30 stand against you for evil : Thus saith the Lord ; Behold, 
 I will give Pharaoh-hophra king of Egypt into the hand of 
 his enemies, and into the hand of them that seek his life ; 
 as I gave Zedekiah king of Judah into the hand of Nebu- 
 chadrezzar king of Babylon, his enemy, and that sought his 
 life. 
 
 Chap. XLV. i — 5. A supplementary notice on the part of 
 Baruch. 
 
 45 The word that Jeremiah the prophet spake unto Baruch 
 
 30. into the hand of his enemies] This clearly points to an invasion 
 of Egypt by the Babylonish power, but by no means implies that 
 the king shall lose his life at their hand. The parallel case of Zedekiah 
 as adduced in the verse shews this, and thus removes the difficulty 
 which has been raised in the fact that history makes Pharaoh- Hophra 
 (the Apries of Herodotus) to have become intensely unpopular after 
 a defeat from the people of Cyrene, to have been in consequence 
 overthrown and imprisoned by Amasis (about six years after this 
 time), and after about ten years of captivity strangled by him (Herod. 
 II. 161, 169). We have here indeed no account of a Babylonian 
 invasion, but the Egyptian priests, from whom Herodotus derived 
 the above information, would be careful to omit such, if it re- 
 sulted m. disgrace to their own country, just as the defeat of Nechoh 
 at Carchemish was passed over by them for the same reason. It is 
 quite possible, although in the obscurity in which the dates of this 
 period are involved, it is not easy to shew with any certainty, that 
 a successful invasion of Egypt by Nebuchadnezzar may have had 
 much to do with the unpopularity of Hophra and the setting up of 
 Amasis. See also note on xlvi. 13. 
 
 Chap. XLV. 1—5. A supplementary notice on the part 
 OF Baruch. 
 j 1. unto Baruch] This address to an individual following upon 
 
 I words spoken to a nation has been compared to the Epistles addressed 
 by St Paul to individuals (Timothy, Titus, Philemon), which in like 
 manner are placed after those which he indites to churches. Baruch 
 was a man of high birth, grandson of Maaseiah (chap, xxxii, 12), who 
 was governor of the city in the time of Josiah (2 Chron. xxxiv. 8). He 
 seems to have expected to have either important office in the state 
 or more probably the gift of prophecy bestowed upon him. His 
 ambition is destined not to be gratified, and the prophet here warns 
 him of the fact. In addition to the burden of the sins and sorrows of 
 his country which afflict him sorely, he must learn to repress the 
 desire to be anything more than the attendant upon him whose gift 
 of prophecy he may not hope to share. "To play a prominent part 
 in the impending crisis, to be the hero of a national revival, to gain 
 the favour of the conqueror whose coming he announced, this, or 
 
vv. 2—5 ; I.] JEREMIAH, XLV. XLVI. 283 
 
 the son of Neriah, when he had written these words in a 
 book at the mouth of Jeremiah, in the fourth year of Jehoi- 
 akim the son of Josiah king of Judah, saying. Thus saith 2 
 the Lord, the God of Israel, unto thee, O Baruch ; Thou 3 
 didst say, Woe is me now ! for the Lord hath added grief 
 to my sorrow ; I fainted in my sighing, and I find no rest. 
 Thus shalt thou say unto him. The Lord saith thus ; Be- 4 
 hold, that which I have built will I break down, and that 
 which I have planted I will pluck up, even this whole land. 
 And seekest thou great things for thyself? seek them not: for 5 
 behold, I will bring evil upon all flesh, saith the Lord : but 
 thy life will I give unto thee for a prey in all places whither 
 thou goest. 
 
 Chap. XLVL i, 2. hitroduction to the prophecies against 
 
 the Gentiles. 
 The word of the Lord which came to Jeremiah the pro- 46 
 
 something like this had been the vision that had come before him, 
 and when this passed away he sank into despair at the seeming fruit- 
 lessness of his efforts." S771. Bibl. Did. Art. Jeremiah. See also 
 Keble's Christian Year, nth Sunday after Trinity, *'Is this a time 
 to plant and build, etc." Baruch is thus a signal illustration for us 
 how far that gift of prophecy was from depending upon individuals, 
 and how completely it was acknowledged to be for God alone to 
 bestow or withhold. See further in Introd. ill. § 6. 
 
 these words] the Roll of chap, xxxvi. as is shewn us by the addition 
 of the date * in the fourth year of Jehoiakim '. 
 
 3- ^fi^f io my sorroiv] The ' sorrow ' was pain at the sins of his 
 fellow-countrymen, the 'grief that which was caused by the im- 
 pending judgments. 
 
 I fainted in my sighing] a quotation from Ps. vi. 6 (**I am weary 
 with my groaning"). 
 
 4. Behold, that tuhich I have built...] the same language as in 
 chap. i. 10, and thus forming the general burden of Jeremiah's 
 prophecy. 
 
 even this whole land] literally, and as regards the whole earth, 
 it is {so). According to the present text however the last words are, it 
 is mine. The reference is to the scourge inflicted upon the known 
 world by the rise and aggressions of the power of Babylon. 
 
 5. seek them not] do not hope to be more than thou now art. 
 See note above. 
 
 thy life will I give unto thee for a prey] See note on \xi. 9. 
 
 Chap. XLVI. 1, 2. Introduction to the prophecies 
 
 AGAINST THE GeNTILES. 
 
 1. The word of the Lord .. .against the Gentiles'] The custom of 
 
284 JEREMIAH, XLVI. [v. 2. 
 
 2 phet against the Gentiles ; against Egypt, against the army 
 of Pharaoh-necho king of Egypt, which was by the river 
 Euphrates in Carchemish, which Nebuchadrezzar king of 
 
 placing in a group as here prophecies against heathen nations is illus- 
 trated by Isaiah (chaps xiii. — xxiii.) ; Ezekiel (chaps, xxv. — xxxii.); 
 and Amos (chaps, i. 3 — ii. 3). It has been sought to draw significance 
 from the division into seven nations which may be made in the case 
 of Ezekiel and Amos, and even here, but it requires some forcing of 
 the parts of the prophecy to carry this out. Here for instance the 
 division into eight or even nine parts is more natural, viz. Egypt 
 (in two parts, xlvi. 3 — i-z, 14 — 28), Philistia (xlvii.), Moab (xlviii.), 
 Ammon (xlix. 1—6), Edom (xlix. 7 — 22), Damascus (xhx. 23 — 27), 
 Kedar and Hazor (xlix. 28 — 33), Elam (xlix. 34 — 39), and Babylon 
 (1. li.). The order of these in the Heb. is by no means the same as that 
 of the Septuagint, who place Babylon immediately after Egypt, with 
 other differences. The former, however, is more likely to be correct, 
 even judging the matter only from internal considerations. It is more 
 natural, taking Egypt first, as the nation whose overthrow by Nebu- 
 chadnezzar would be the signal to the rest of a similar fate, to go 
 thence to Philistia (including Tyre and Sidon), then (passing round 
 to the East of Palestine) Moab, Ammon, and Edom, then Damascus, 
 as representing the kingdoms of the north, Kedar and Hazor as 
 indicating the kings mentioned in the summary of chap. xxv. (ver. 
 24), while lastly the nations of the East are included under Elam. 
 The prophecies against Egypt and Babylon agree in containing a 
 promise of restoration to Israel (xlvi. 27, 28, 1. 19, 20). As each 
 represented the great power of evil, hostile to the people of God, 
 it is quite natural that these last should reap benefit from such an 
 overthrow. 
 
 2. against Egypt\ concerning Egypt. The two parts into which 
 this prophecy is divided (see above) were probably written at different 
 times, the new heading at ver. 13 suggesting this. As regards sub- 
 ject matter however the second follow naturally upon the first, the 
 declaration of further subjugation of Egypt upon the proclamation 
 of the enemy's signal success at Carchemish. See further in notes on 
 verses 13, 14. 
 
 Pharaoh-necho\ This monarch had defeated and slain Josiah at 
 Megiddo, and set Jehoahaz on the throne. In three months he had 
 deposed and imprisoned him at Riblah, and set up Jehoiakim. He 
 was extending his conquests in the Asiatic direction when in the fourth 
 year of Jehoiakim's reign he was overthrown at Carchemish. 
 
 Carchemish'] probably not Cercesium at the junction of the 
 rivers Chebar and Euphrates, but considerably higher up the latter 
 stream and some distance to the north of lat. 36". Professor Ravvlinson 
 (Anc. Mon. ii. 475) describes it as the key of Syria on the east and as 
 commanding the ordinary passage of the Euphrates. It was, he adds, 
 the only great city in that quarter. It is nearly identical in situation 
 
vv. 3—5.] JEREMIAH, XLVI. 285 
 
 Babylon smote in the fourth year of Jehoiakim the son 
 of Josiah king of Judah. 
 
 3 — 12. The first prophecy regarding Egypt. 
 
 Order ye the buckler and shield, and draw near to 3 
 
 battle. 
 Harness the horses ; and get up, ye horsemen, 4 
 
 And stand forth with your helmets ; 
 Furbish the spears, and put on the brigandines. 
 Wherefore have I seen them dismayed and turned away 5 
 
 back? 
 And their mighty ones are beaten down, 
 
 with Mabog, or Hierapolis. The word means the fort of Chemosh the 
 god of the Moabites (2 Kings xxiii. 13). 
 
 3 — 12. The first prophecy regarding Egypt. 
 3 — 6. These verses give us a lively description of the preparation 
 and the advance, which were followed by the disastrous defeat at 
 Carchemish. 
 
 3. Order ye\ rather, Prepare ye. 
 
 buckler and shield'\ The former of these was a small round target 
 which the light armed troops carried, the latter covered the whole 
 body and was borne accordingly by the heavy-armed. 
 
 4. Harness the horses'] Bring into operation the chariots which 
 formed a very important feature of Egyptian armies. 
 
 get up, ye horsemen] probably, mount the steeds, although the Heb. 
 substantive is used in both senses. 
 
 stand forth with your helmets] literally, place yourselves with helmets 
 (on), i.e. put yourselves in battle array. Helmets were not worn 
 except actually in battle, and hence this command was equivalent 
 to an order instantly to engage. 
 
 drigandines] coats of mail. The word is connected with brigade 
 (a division of an army), and brigadier (the commander of such a division) ; 
 also with brigands. The sense of robber, which we now attach to this 
 last word, is modem. Brigandine then, as occurring here and in li. 3, 
 was *'a kind of scale armour or coat of mail, so called from being 
 worn by the light troops called brigands, the name given to light 
 armed skirmishers (Wedgwood).... In the course of time the Italian 
 brigante came to mean a robber, pirate, and hence brigandine denoted 
 a light pinnace used for piracy.. .Of this word the modern 'brig' is 
 an abbreviation. " Bible Word Book. 
 
 5. Wherefore have I seen them dismayed] literally, Why do I see {it) ? 
 they are dismayed. The Heb. thus expresses the inexplicable character 
 of the sight. That so brilliant a host should be defeated ! It is beyond 
 comprehension. 
 
286 JEREMIAH, XLVI. [w. 6-9. 
 
 And are fled apace, and look not back : 
 
 For fear was round about, saith the Lord. 
 
 Let not the swift flee away, nor the mighty man escape ; 
 
 They shall stumble, and fall toward the north by the river 
 
 Euphrates. 
 Who is this that cometh up as a flood, 
 Whose waters are moved as the rivers ? 
 Egypt riseth up like a flood, 
 And his waters are moved like the rivers ; 
 And he saith, I will go up, and will cover the earth ; 
 I will destroy the city and the inhabitants thereof. 
 Come up, ye horses ; and rage, ye chariots ; 
 And let the mighty men come forth ; 
 The Ethiopians and the Libyans, that handle the shield ; 
 And the Lydians, that handle and bend the bow. 
 
 look not 6ack] turn not back. 
 
 fear was round about] Jeremiah's favourite expression once more 
 and in circumstances which could not be more appropriate. See note 
 on chap. vi. 25. 
 
 6. Let not the swift] rather, The swift shall not. Even the most 
 active and heroic of the Egyptian army shall not gain their homes, but 
 shall perish in a distant land. 
 
 toward the north] "Carchemish in lat. 36^ would be four degrees 
 north of Jerusalem in lat. 32*^." Sp. Comm. 
 
 7. We are now to be told the name of the nation, the defeat of 
 whose army we have been witnessing. 
 
 as a flood] as the Nile. The advance of the Egyptian host is likened 
 to the annual overflow of their own sacred river. 
 
 whose waters are moved] his waters toss themselves. 
 
 as the rivers] like the branches of the Nile in the Delta of Lower 
 Egypt. The same Heb. word is used in Ex. vii. 19 (rendered streams 
 in the Eng. Vers.) in precisely the same application as here and in ver. 8. 
 
 9. Cotne up] Go up. The summons is to cavalry chariots and 
 infantry that they should set forth from Egypt. 
 
 rage] drive furiously. 
 
 come forth] ^0 forth. 
 
 the Ethiopians and the Libyans... and the Lydians] the mercenary 
 troops, who formed from the days of Psammetichus the chief part of 
 the Egyptian armies. The Ethiopians (Cush) and the Libyans (Phut) 
 were children of Ham (Gen. x. 6). They formed the heavy-armed 
 troops. The Lydians (the " Ludim" of Gen. x. 13) were also Africans, 
 and not to be confused with the Lydians of the coast of Asia Minor, 
 who were Shemites (Lud, Gen. x. 22). We have the three peoples here 
 mentioned spoken of again as Egyptian mercenaries in Ezek. xxx. 5. 
 In Isaiah on the other hand (Ixvi. ig) Lud is connected with Asiatic 
 
vv. lo— 12.] JEREMIAH, XLVI. 287 
 
 For this is the day of the Lord God of hosts, 
 
 A day of vengeance, that he may avenge him of his 
 
 adversaries : 
 And the sword shall devour, and it shall be satiate and 
 
 made drunk with their blood : 
 For the Lord God of hosts hath a sacrifice 
 In the north country by the river Euphrates. 
 Go up into Gilead, and take balm, 
 O virgin, the daughter of Egypt : 
 In vain shalt thou use many medicines ; 
 For thou shalt not be cured. 
 The nations have heard of thy shame, 
 And thy cry hath filled the land : 
 
 and European tribes. These Lydians, as we see, formed the light- 
 armed portion of the army. 
 bend'\ literally, tread, string. 
 
 10. For this is the day of] But that day belongeth to. There is 
 a contrast between the alacrity with which the army goes forth and the 
 fate that awaits them at Carchemish, described as 'the north country'. 
 The joy at this disaster as rightfully inflicted on Egypt the enemy of 
 God's people arises not only from the undying memory of the bondage 
 of old times, but from later troubles, such as that of Rehoboam's time 
 (i Kings xiv. 25, •26) and those in much more recent days. See note 
 on ver. 2. 
 
 11. dalrn] See note on viii. 22. 
 
 O virgin, the daughter of Egypt'\ used of the Egyptians generally, 
 with the additional notion however of their having hitherto been kept 
 free from hurt, like a virgin safe in her father's house. 
 
 shalt thou usel hast thou used. 
 
 thou shalt not be cured] healing plaister thou hast none. See note 
 on XXX. 13. 
 
 "Not only was the study of medicine of very early date in Egypt, but 
 medical men there were in such repute, that they were sent for at 
 various times from other countries. Their knowledge of medicine is 
 celebrated by Homer (Od. iv. 229), who describes Polydamna, the wife 
 of Thonis, as giving medicinal plants 'to Helen in Egypt, a country 
 possessing an infinite number of drugs.. .where each physician possesses 
 knowledge above all other men. '...Cyrus and Darius both sent to 
 Egypt for medical men (Herod, iil. i, 132); and Pliny (xix. 5) says 
 post mortem examinations were made in order to discover the nature of 
 maladies.... It is to the Arabs, who derived it from Egypt and India, that 
 Europe is indebted for its first acquaintance with the science of medi- 
 cine." (Note [G. W.] in Rawl. Herod, ii. ri6.) 
 
 12. the land] the earth. See xlv. 4. The mention of 'the nations' 
 in the parallel clause shews that the Eng. is to be thus emended. 
 
288 JEREMIAH, XLVI. [vv. 13, 14. 
 
 For the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty, 
 A7id they are fallen both together. 
 
 13. Introduction to the second prophecy. 
 
 13 The word that the Lord spake to Jeremiah the prophet, 
 how Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon should come and 
 smite the land of Egypt. 
 
 14 — 28. The second prophecy regarding Egypt. 
 
 14 Declare ye in Egypt, and publish in Migdol, 
 And publish in Noph and in Tahpanhes : 
 Say ye, Stand fast, and prepare thee ; 
 
 For the sword shall devour round about thee. 
 
 the mighty man hath stumbled against the mighty'] The heroes 
 fighting on the Egyptian side have in their flight and confusion got in 
 each other's way. 
 
 13. Introduction to the second prophecy. 
 
 13. The word that the Lord spake] In the absence of any definite 
 statement like that prefixed to the earlier prophecy as to the date of 
 its delivery, we are led by the general tone, which seems to point to 
 a later time (see ver. 14) and a more intimate acquaintance with Egypt 
 (see ver. 25), to conjecture that this one is to be ascribed to the time of 
 the prophet's residence in that country. Compare xliii. 8 — 13, and 
 xliv. 29, 30, with notes. It therefore would not be included in the Roll 
 read before Jehoiakim, as the former prophecy probably was. The 
 actual coming of Nebuchadnezzar at any rate was long subsequent to 
 the battle of Carchemish. Nevertheless that victory opened the way to 
 his advance into the country, whose army he had there defeated. 
 
 how Nebuchadrezzar... should come and smite] Of (concerning) the 
 coming of Nebuchadrezzar and his smiting. 
 
 14 — 28. The second prophecy regarding Egypt. 
 
 14. Declare ye in Egypt] If we place the prophecy soon after the 
 defeat at Carchemish, and therefore many years before its fulfilment, 
 the meaning of these words will be, Announce the defeat and desola- 
 tion that is in store. If on the other hand, as seems preferable, we 
 make the words to be uttered on the eve, or almost on the eve, of 
 their accomplishment, the sense will be, Declare that the enemy has 
 already reached the borders. 
 
 Migdol] See note on xliv. i. For Noph and Tahpanhes, see notes 
 on ii. 16. 
 
 shall devour] hath devoured. The neighbouring nations had been 
 subdued, perhaps including Tyre, after the capture of which Nebu- 
 chadnezzar probably advanced into Egypt. 
 
vv. 15—18.] JEREMIAH, XLVI. 289 
 
 Why are thy valiant men swept away ? 15 
 
 They stood not, because the Lord did drive them. 
 
 He made many to fall, 16 
 
 Yea, one fell upon another : 
 
 And they said, Arise, and let us go again to our own 
 
 people, 
 And to the land of our nativity. 
 From the oppressing sword. 
 They did cry there, Pharaoh king of Egypt is but a 17 
 
 noise ; 
 He hath passed the time appointed. 
 
 As I live, saith the King, 18 
 
 Whose name is the Lord of hosts. 
 Surely as Tabor is among the mountains, 
 
 15. valiant men\ The adjective in the Heb. is plural, while both the 
 verb connected with it and the pronouns that follow are in the sing. 
 Hence it seems probable that the singular is the right reading, and 
 that the reference is, as the Septuagint makes it to be, to the sacred 
 bull Apis, worshipped at Memphis, and called the mighty ojte, i.e. the 
 deity of Egypt, just as God is named the Mighty One of Jacob or of 
 Israel in Gen. xlix. 24; Is. i. 24; xlix. 26, etc. A failure to under- 
 stand this application of the word may have early induced a Heb. 
 copyist to alter it to the plural (which was effected by the insertion of 
 the smallest Heb. letter). If the plural be the right reading, we 
 must render as does the Eng. Vers. 
 
 16. tofall^ to stumble. 
 
 to our own people\ The mercenary troops, as belonging to various 
 nations, propose among themselves to return to their several countries. 
 the oppressing sword] See note on xxv. 38. 
 
 17. They did cry there] The Septuagint, Syriac, and (Latin) 
 Vulgate are agreed in reading for there, (by a mere change of vowel 
 in the Heb.) the natne of. This is strong evidence in itself, although 
 there is no difficulty in understanding there, meaning their respective 
 countries, in which they should report the ruin of Egypt. 
 
 a noise] a ruin. This sense is necessary here, and is borne out by 
 Ps. xl. 2, where the same change must be made in the Eng. Vers, ("a 
 pit of noise " marginal for ** an horrible pit"), and by the sense of other 
 words from the same Heb. root, e.g. that rendered desolation Lam. iii. 
 47 (where see note) and destruction Is. xxiv. 12. 
 
 he hath passed the time appointed] He hath let the time elapse 
 within which he was called upon by God to reform. The period of 
 grace is over, and consequently ruin can no longer be averted. 
 
 18. as Tabor is] The is should be omitted. The sense is not that 
 his coming is as certain as is the existence of the mountains Tabor and 
 Carmel in their respective positions, but that he, Nebuchadnezzar, 
 
 JEREMIAH IQ 
 
29« JEREMIAH, XLVI. [vv. 19—21. 
 
 And as Carmel by the sea, so shall he come. 
 
 19 O thou daughter dwelling in Egypt, 
 Furnish thyself to go into captivity : 
 For Noph shall be waste 
 
 And desolate without an inhabitant. 
 
 20 Egypt is like a very fair heifer, 
 
 But destruction cometh ; it cometh out of the north. 
 ai Also her hired men are in the midst of her like fatted 
 bullocks ; 
 
 shall resemble them as standing out conspicuous above all neighbour- 
 ing rulers. Tabor (1805 feet above the sea-level) is not indeed the 
 highest mountain of the whole region, but as standing in the midst 
 of an extensive plain, is more striking than even loftier ones, which 
 have not its advantages m the way of position. Carmel again (about 
 500 feet above the sea) stretches for about three miles as a long bold 
 promontoiy into the Mediterranean. 
 
 19. O thou daughter dwelling in Egypf] a circumlocution for inhabi- 
 tants of Egypt. 
 
 furnish thyself to go into captivityl The marginal "make thee 
 instruments of captivity" is more literal, supply thyself with all that 
 thou wilt need as thy outfit for exile. 
 
 Noph'] See note on ii. 16. 
 
 desolate] the same word in the Heb. as that rendered "burnt" 
 in chap. ii. 15, which may very well be its sense here also. 
 
 20. is like] is. This is more literal, and probably points to Apis the 
 bull god, as that to which the country was as it were espoused. 
 
 but destruction cometh ; it cometh out of the north] a gadfly from 
 the north is come upon her. The least possible change in the Heb. 
 produces the latter part of this rendering, which is supported by the 
 early Versions. The existing Heb. text is far from untranslateable, 
 the two verbs however being placed together at the end of the 
 sentence and not in the middle with a considerable pause between, as 
 in the Eng. Vers. We may compare for such a repetition, Ps. xcvi. 13, 
 "For he cometh, for he cometh," etc. The Heb. word translated 
 destruction^ occurs here only. There is good authority for correcting 
 it as above. It has also been rendered a goad, an army, and (ap- 
 parently without much meaning) by the Septuagint, a torn off shred. 
 
 21. her hired men] her mercenary troops. 
 
 are in the midst of her] in the midst of her are. 
 
 like fatted bullocks] or, like calves of the stall. The mercenaries were 
 no longer Africans, as in the days of Pharaoh-Nechoh (vcr. 9), but 
 Ionian and Carian soldiers, who {Herod. II. 163) numbered 30000 and 
 were placed in a fertile district on the Pelusiac branch of the Nile, 
 where they came to merit the description given of them in the text. 
 Hophra had not ventured to send them on his expedition against 
 Cyrene (see note on xliv. 30) but was defeated at their head by Amasis 
 and the troops of the Cyrene expedition, who had mutinied. 
 
w. 22—25.] JEREMIAH, XLVI. 291 
 
 For they also are turned back, and are fled away together; 
 
 they did not stand. 
 Because the day of their calamity was come upon them, 
 
 afid the time of their visitation. 
 The voice thereof shall go like a serpent ; 22 
 
 For they shall march with an army, 
 And come against her with axes, as hewers of w^ood. 
 They shall cut down her forest, saith the Lord, 23 
 
 Though it cannot be searched ; 
 Because they are more than the grasshoppers, 
 And are innumerable. 
 
 The daughter of Egypt shall be confounded ; 24 
 
 She shall be delivered into the hand of the people of the 
 
 north. 
 The Lord of hosts, the God of Israel, saith ; 25 
 
 they did not stand... was come] It is better to continue the present 
 tense in Eng. they do not stand... is co??ie. 
 
 and the time] the time. It is only a further explanation of ' the day 
 of their calamity.' 
 
 22. The voice thereof shall go like a serpent] The sound of Egypt 
 fleeing away from the enemy shall be like the rustling of a serpent 
 escaping from danger through the thick underwood. 
 
 they shall march with afi army] The enemy shall advance with 
 might, as the last word may also be tianslated. 
 
 as hewers of wood] The fact of the Chaldaeans bearing axes would 
 make a deep impression upon the mind of nations like the Jews, who 
 had no such custom. "The battle-axe was a weapon but rarely 
 employed by the Assyrians. It is only in the very latest sculptures, 
 and in a very few instances, that we find axes represented as used by 
 the warriors for any other purpose besides the felling of trees. Where 
 they are seen in use against the enemy, the handle is short, the head 
 somewhat large, and the weapon wielded with one hand." Rawlinson, 
 Anc. Mon. I. 459. 
 
 23. her forest] or, her beauty. For this use of the word see note 
 on xxi. 14. 
 
 though it cannot be searched] We may either with the Eng. Vers, 
 refer these words to the 'forest,' and render in that case, because it is 
 impenetrable, or to the number of the invaders, because it is un- 
 searchable. 
 
 the grasshoppers] locusts : so rendered in Joel i. 4, where four stages 
 of that animal's existence are represented by as many distinct words 
 in the original. This one seems to denote the second stage of its being. 
 The enemy shall come in like a plague, in a form but too familiar 
 to the people of those countries. 
 
 24. shall be confounded] is disgraced. 
 
 19 2 
 
292 JEREMIAH, XLVI. [w. 26—28. 
 
 Behold, I will punish the multitude of No, 
 
 And Pharaoh, and Egypt, with their gods, and their 
 
 kings ; 
 Even Pharaoh, and all them that trust in him : 
 
 26 And I will deliver them into the hand of those that seek 
 
 their lives, 
 And into the hand of Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon, 
 And into the hand of his servants : 
 And afterwards it shall be inhabited. 
 As in the days of old, saith the Lord. 
 
 27 But fear not thou, O my servant Jacob, 
 And be not dismayed, O Israel : 
 
 For behold, I will save thee from afar off. 
 And thy seed from the land of their captivity ; 
 And Jacob shall return, and be in rest and at ease, 
 And none shall make him afraid. 
 
 28 Fear thou not, O Jacob my servant, 
 Saith the Lord : for I am with thee ; 
 
 For I will make a full end of all the nations whither I 
 have driven thee : 
 
 25. the multitude of Nd\ Amon of No, i.e. the chief god worshipped 
 in No (called also No Amon, margin of Nah. iii. 8). The name Amon 
 signified invisible, and hence he was connected with the most spiritual 
 form of Egyptian worship. The Greeks and Romans compared him 
 to Zeus and Jupiter, and hence his name, familiar to us, of Jupiter 
 Amnion. 
 
 their gods, and their kings'] her gods and her kings. After the 
 mention of the chief god, the ruler of the country, and the country 
 itself, the inferior gods and rulers are included collectively in the 
 coming disaster. ' Kings ' however may perhaps better be taken of 
 the predecessors of Hophra. 
 
 all them that trust in him] those Jews who had put their trust in 
 Egypt as a support against Babylon. 
 
 26. afterwaj'ds it shall be inhabited] The calamity shall after all 
 be but temporary. Peace and prosperity shall come at last. Compare 
 the closing words of the prophecies against Moab (xlviii. 47), Ammon 
 (xlix. 6), Elam (xlix. 39). The words have also, but not with such 
 probability, been rendered shall rest as in the days of old, i.e. shall 
 not be an aggressive power, as in its later days. History does not 
 however justify us in believing that there was any difference between 
 the earlier and the later days of Egypt in this respect. 
 
 27. 28. See notes on chap. xxx. 10, 11, where these verses have 
 already occurred in substance; also for the word 'correct' (ver. 28) 
 
vv. I, 2.] JEREMIAH, XLVII. 293 
 
 But I will not make a full end of thee, 
 
 But correct thee in measure ; 
 
 Yet will I not leave thee wholly unpunished. 
 
 Chap. XLVII. i. Introduction to the Prophecy regarding 
 Philistia. 
 
 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the pro- 47 
 phet against the Philistines, before that Pharaoh smote 
 Gaza. 
 
 2 — 7. The Prophecy regarding Philistia. 
 
 Thus saith the Lord ; 2 
 
 Behold, waters rise up out of the north, 
 
 And shall be an overflowing flood, 
 
 And shall overflow the land, and all that is therein ; 
 
 The city, and them that dwell therein : 
 
 note on ii. 19. They have probably been introduced here by the prophet 
 as a quotation from the earlier passage, which is one prophetic of the 
 return from exile, in order to shew that if Egypt's troubles were to 
 be but temporary, much more should those of Judah and even of 
 Israel also pass away. 
 
 Chap. XLVII. 1. Introduction to the Prophecy regarding 
 Philistia. 
 
 1. against the Philistines] concerning: the Philistines. 
 
 before that Pharaoh s?note Gaza] With the small amount of accurate 
 historical information which we have relating to those times, this ' 
 statement is but small help towards determining the date of the 
 prophecy. The main views are, (i) that the Pharaoh is Nechoh, 
 and that he captured Gaza about the same time that he conquered 
 Josiah at Megiddo; (ii) that the reference is to the same king, as 
 having taken Gaza on his way back from the defeat at Carchemish ; 
 (iii) that the Pharaoh is Hophra, and that the capture of Gaza was 
 in his expedition against Tyre and Sidon. 
 
 2 — 7. The Prophecy regarding Philistia. 
 
 2. waters rise up] In xlvi. 8 the same figure was used for an 
 army. Compare Is. viii. 7, where the Assyrian army is likened to 
 the floods of the Euphrates. 
 
 out of the north] the direction in which the Chaldaeans are to be 
 looked for. Compare i. 13, 14. 
 
 an overflowing flood] a river suddenly swelling up through the effect 
 of the winter rains. 
 
294 JEREMIAH, XLVII. [w. 3— 6. 
 
 Then the men shall cry, 
 
 And all the inhabitants of the land shall howl. 
 
 At the noise of the stamping of the hoofs of his strong 
 horses, 
 
 At the rushing of his chariots, 
 
 A?id at the rumbling of his wheels. 
 
 The fathers shall not look back to their children 
 
 For feebleness of hands ; 
 
 Because of the day that cometh to spoil all the Phi- 
 listines, 
 
 Afid to cut off from Tyrus and Zidon every helper that 
 remaineth : 
 
 For the Lord will spoil the Philistines, 
 
 The remnant of the country of Caphtor. 
 ; Baldness is come upon Gaza ; 
 
 Ashkelon is cut off with the remnant of their valley : 
 
 How long wilt thou cut thyself? 
 i O thou sword of the Lord, how long will it be ere thou 
 be quiet ? 
 
 Put up thyself into thy scabbard, rest, and be still. 
 
 3. stro7if; horses\ See note on viii. 16. 
 rushing'] rattling, or din. 
 
 the fathers shall not look back to their children'] their terror in the 
 flight shall be so great that a father will not care for his son's safety. 
 
 4. cT^ery helper that remaineth] in other words the Philistines, the 
 other helpers having been already cut off. 
 
 the remnant of the cotmtry of Caphtor] the few of the Philistine 
 nation that still survive after the wars with Egypt and Assyria, which 
 they had long undergone. Caphtor is spoken of also in Deut. ii. 23; 
 Amos ix. 7, as the origin of the Philistines. Its position is somewhat 
 doubtful. Some identify it with Crete, but more probably it was the 
 Delta of J'^^gypt. * The country ' is literally the isle, or the sea-coast. 
 
 6. Baldness] in token of mourning. See note on xvi. 6. 
 
 is cut off] or is dumb. Either sense belongs to the verb in the 
 Heb. 
 
 with the remnant of their valley] It is better to omit the 7vith, 
 the remaining words being in apposition to Ashkelon, or possibly, but 
 not so probably, in the vocative and so connected with the words that 
 follow (0 remnant of their valley, how long, etc.). The Septuagint 
 reads the remnant of the Anakim (Numb. xiii. 33 ; Deut. ii. 10) the old 
 giants, so many of whom belonged to Gath (i Sam. xvii. 4; i Chron. 
 XX. 5 — 8), that this town may possibly be here meant by that Version. 
 The readmg, which has not much in its favour, is got by a slight 
 variation of the llcb. text, as it now stands. 
 
w. 7; I.] JEREMIAH, XLVII. XLVIII. 295 
 
 How can it be quiet, seeing the Lord hath given it a 7 
 
 charge 
 Against Ashkelon, and against the sea shore ? there hath 
 
 he appointed it. 
 
 Chap. XLVIII. i — 10. Opem?ig of the Prophecy regarding 
 Moab. 
 
 Against Moab thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of 48 
 
 Israel ; 
 Woe unto Nebo ! for it is spoiled : 
 Kiriathaim is confounded and taken : 
 
 7. Hffiv can it be qinet\ The Heb. verb would admit better of 
 the rendering How canst thou rest? but probably the Eng. Vers, is 
 right, and the original word is not pure Heb. but a dialectic form. 
 
 Chap. XLVIII. 1—10. Opening of the Prophecy regarding 
 
 Moab. 
 
 1. Against Moab'] Concerning Moab. See note on xlvi. t. Just 
 as chap. xlix. 7, etc. (concerning Edam) is closely allied to the 
 prophecy of Obadiah (see notes on that verse), so here Jeremiah uses 
 sometimes the substance, sometimes the actual words, of Is. xv., xvi. ; 
 Amos ii. i — 3 ; Zeph. ii. 8 — lo, together with the earlier warnings 
 uttered by Balaam against Moab (Numb. xxiv. 17). It is however 
 quite likely that Isaiah, Amos, and Jeremiah may have all borrowed the 
 language of other prophets on the same subject. We have no clue 
 to the determination of the date of the prophecy, except that in all 
 probability it was contained in the Roll of chap, xxxvi. As to its ful- 
 filment also the scanty records of the time give us but little information. 
 The Moabites succeeded the Emims on the eastern side of the Dead 
 Sea (Deut. ii. 10). Moab having been dispossessed of the ncrlhern 
 part of this territory down to the river Arnon (Numb. xxi. 13) by the 
 Amorites, Israel conquered these latter, and the tribe of Reuben obtained 
 the district (Numb. xxi. 24, etc.). Hence arose the constant hostility 
 between Moab and Israel shewn from the time of Balak onwards 
 (see Judg. iii. 12 etc.; i Sam. xiv. 47; 2 Sam. viii. 2; 2 Kings i. i, 
 iii. 4, 5, xiii. ^o, xiv, 25; 2 Chron. xx. 20 — 25). For particulars lately 
 brought to light as to the relations between Moab and Israel see Dr 
 Ginsburg's account of the "Moabite Stone." 
 
 Nebo] not the mountain (Deut. xxxii. 49, xxxiv. i), but the city 
 in the territory of Reuben (Numb, xxxii. 38). It is spoken of here 
 and in Is. xv. 2 as a Moabite town, having been taken by Mesha 
 king of Moab about 895 B.C. according to the records of the "Moabite 
 stone." 
 
 Kiriathaim] either the modern Et Teim three miles south of 
 
296 JEREMIAH, XLVIII. [vv. 2— 4. 
 
 Misgab is confounded and dismayed. 
 
 There shall be no more praise of Moab : 
 
 In Heshbon they have devised evil against it ; 
 
 Come, and let us cut it off from being a nation. 
 
 Also thou shalt be cut down, O Madmen ; 
 
 The sword shall pursue thee. 
 
 A voice of crying shall be from Horonaim, 
 
 Spoiling and great destruction. 
 
 Moab is destroyed ; 
 
 Her little ones have caused a cry to be heard. 
 
 Heshbon, or Kureiyat. This latter however is less likely as being 
 in the territory belonging to Gad not Reuben. 
 
 Misgab] rather, the height, or, the citadel, meaning probably 
 some particular fortress called by this name, and not, as it has also 
 been taken to mean, the high lands in general. 
 
 dismayed] literally, broken^ crushed. The same Heb. root {chdthath) 
 is rendered "broken down" in verses 70, 39. It has been conjectured 
 that Ghetto, the word for the quarter at Rome in which the Jews used 
 to be confined and often barbarously treated, is a derivative from it. 
 
 2. There shall be no more praise of Moab] The glory of Moab is no 
 more. 
 
 i7i Heshbon they have devised] There is a play on the two Heb. words 
 thus rendered {b'' Cheshbon hash'vu) which cannot be reproduced in 
 I'.nglish. Heshbon was a border town between Reuben and Gad, given 
 u]i to the latter tribe and made a Levitical city (Josh. xxi. 39). It was 
 seized by the Ammonites in Jeremiah's time (see xlix. 3 with note), and 
 was on the border of Moab, Hence it was the j^lace where the Chal- 
 daean enemy would lay their final plans for the attack upon the latter 
 nation. 
 
 be cut down] or, as the Eng. margin, be brous^ht to silence. 
 
 O Madmen] a town not mentioned elsewhere, but obviously 
 distinct from Madmenah in Benjamin (Is. x. 31), Madmannah in 
 Judah (Josh. xv. 31), and Dimriah in Zebulon (Josh. xxi. 35). Here 
 again there is a play on the sound in the Heb. which is, Madmht, 
 iidddmi. 
 
 3. shall be from Horonaim] 'shall be' should be omitted, and the 
 following words 'spoiling and great destruction' taken as themselves 
 the cry that is raised. 
 
 4. Moab] Some would explain this not of the country at large but 
 of the city called Ar of Moab (Numb. xxi. 28; Is. xv. i) and simply Ar 
 (Numb. xxi. 15; Dcut. ii. 9) in the valley of the Arnon. But this is 
 unlikely. 
 
 her little ones] See xiv. 3. Here however, though the meaning is 
 not children, the sense is slightly diflVrcnt from that passage, and 
 is her abject ones, those reduced to an extremity of distress. There is 
 
vv. 5—8.] JEREMIAH, XLVIII. 297 
 
 For in the going up of Luhith s 
 
 Continual weeping shall go up ; 
 
 For in the going down of Horonaim 
 
 The enemies have heard a cry of destruction. 
 
 Flee, save your lives, 6 
 
 And be like the heath in the wilderness. 
 
 For because thou hast trusted in thy works and in thy 7 
 
 treasures, 
 Thou shalt also be taken : 
 And Chemosh shall go forth into captivity 
 With his priests and his princes together. 
 And the spoiler shall come upon every city, 8 
 
 And no city shall escape : 
 The valley also shall perish, 
 And the plain shall be destroyed, 
 As the Lord hath spoken. 
 
 but little to be said for the Septuagint rendering, Declare ye unto Zoar^ 
 except that Zoar occurs in Isaiah (xv. 5) in the same connexion. 
 
 6. the goi7ig up of Luhith... the going down of Horonaini\ We thus 
 gather that the one was situated on a hill, the other on low ground. 
 For Luhith there is another reading luhoth, planks. The sense, if this 
 (less likely) reading is adopted, will be that weeping mounts up upon 
 weeping, as boards are placed one upon another in a house. 
 
 continual weeping shall go up'\ literally, with weeping shall go up 
 weeping, i.e. there shall be successive bands of weeping fugitives. 
 
 the ene7nies have heard a cry of destruction'] The construction in the 
 Heb. is difficult. The most probable rendering however is, the distress 
 (literally, distresses) of the cry of destruction (literally, breaJdng) they 
 have heard. 
 
 6. the heath] the destitute man. See note on xvii. 6. The word 
 here however is not precisely the same as in that passage, but similar 
 to it, and identical, as it happens, with the proper name of a city Aroer, 
 of which there were several in Palestine. See note on ver. 19. It is 
 possible therefore that a play on this name may be meant as well as 
 the literal meaning which is given above. 
 
 7. -works] perhaps meaning results of work, gains. This is suggested 
 by the word 'treasures 'which follows. Compare chap. xx. 5, where how- 
 ever the Heb. (translated "labours") is not the same. 
 
 Chemosh] the object of Moab's national worship. The oldest Heb. 
 form of the word in this passage seems to be Chemish, and although it is 
 not elsewhere found, yet probability is given to it.9 existence by such 
 compounds as Car-chemish (see note on xlvi. 2). If the god is powerless 
 to prevent his own captivity, what chance is there for ihQ people? 
 
 8. the valley] the valley of Jordan which bounded part of Moab on 
 the west. 
 
298 JEREMIAH, XLVIII. [vv. 9— 12. 
 
 Give wings unto Moab, 
 
 That it may flee and get away : 
 
 For the cities thereof shall be desolate, 
 
 Without any to dwell therein. 
 
 Cursed be he that doeth the work of the Lord deceit- 
 
 fully, 
 And cursed be he that keepeth back his sword from 
 
 blood. 
 
 II — 25. Con fin iiajice of threaten tng and further detail. 
 
 Moab hath been at ease from his youth, 
 And he hath settled on his lees, 
 And hath not been emptied from vessel to vessel. 
 Neither hath he gone into captivity : 
 Therefore his taste remained in him, 
 And his sent is not changed. 
 Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
 That I will send unto him wanderers, that shall cause 
 him to wander, 
 
 the plaht] the level country which stretched from the Arnon in the 
 south to Rabbath Ammon. 
 
 9. winos'l The word elsewhere in pure Heb. means a flower but in 
 later Heb. and in Chaldee has frequently the sense which it here bears. 
 The sense is that nothing short of wings would enable the Moabites to 
 escape before their enemies. 
 
 10. deceitfully} negligently. The commission to Moab's foe comes 
 from the Lord, and consequently he must not be slack in executing His 
 command. 
 
 11 — 25. Continuance of threatening and further detail. 
 
 11. Moab hath been at ease from his yoiit}i\ He hath not been driven 
 from his land hitherto. We gather from the inscription on the "Moabite 
 stone" that the Moabites were by no means driven out of Reuben's 
 lot, but maintained their position there more or less successfully along- 
 side the Jewish inhabitants. The feeling of horror at suffering expatria- 
 tion, as compared with the consequences of a more ordinary defeat in 
 battle such as the nation had often suffered in past time, is well exhi- 
 bited by these verses. 
 
 settled on his Ices'} Wine improved by being allowed to rest upon its 
 sediment (Is. xxv. 6). If emptied from vessel to vessel it would become 
 vapid, without fragrance and tasteless. Something like this was now to 
 happen to the nation by being taken captives. 
 
 12. wanderers} literally, lifters. The figure of earthenware jars 
 of wine is continued. They are emptied by lieing tilted on one side, 
 
vv. 13—18.] JEREMIAH, XLVIII. 299 
 
 And shall empty his vessels, and break their bottles. 
 
 And Moab shall be ashamed of Chemosh, 13 
 
 As the house of Israel was ashamed of Beth-el their con- 
 fidence. 
 
 How say ye. We are mighty and strong men for the war? m 
 
 Moab is spoiled, and gone up out of\v&x cities, 15 
 
 And his chosen young men are gone down to the 
 slaughter, 
 
 Saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. 
 
 The calamity of Moab is near to come, 16 
 
 And his affliction hasteth fast. 
 
 All ye that are about him, bemoan him ; "7 
 
 And all ye that know his name, 
 
 Say, How is the strong staff broken. 
 
 And the beautiful rod ! 
 
 Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon, 18 
 
 an operation which was performed slowly and carefully, that the jars ' 
 might be safe and the wine run off clear while the sediment was left. 
 This work however in the case of Moab shall be done roughly. 
 
 shall cause him to wander'\ shall lift him. 
 
 bottles'] literally, skins, but used elsewhere also for earthenware 
 bottles. 
 
 13. shall be ashamed of Chemosh'\ because he could not help them. 
 
 was ashamed of Beth- el their confide7ice'\ Bethel was the southern seat 
 of Jeroboam's idolatrous worship. But they found their confidence in 
 the worship there misplaced, when Shalmaneser carried them away. 
 
 15. and gone up out of her cities] The Heb. is difificult. The sense is 
 either {\) people (i.e. the enemy) have gotie up to her cities ; or (ii) her cities 
 have gone tip {in smoke and fame). The latter way of rendering is the 
 best. The difficulty which it presents in the original is that the verb 
 is singular, but this is not in the Heb. an insuperable difficulty, and may 
 here be caused by the prophet's mind dwelling upon the image of the 
 cities all vanishing in smoke. By a change in the vowels of one word 
 we might read, The waster of Moab and of her towns is coviing up 
 (to the attack), which gives an easy sense, and is held to be the right 
 meaning by Ewald. 
 
 16. The language of this verse is based upon Deut. xxxii. 35. 
 
 17. All ye that are about him. ..all ye that know his name] the near 
 and more remote nations respectively. 
 
 the strong staff... the beautiful rod] For these expressions, as implying 
 national glory and power over others, compare Ps. ex. 2; Is. xiv. 29; 
 Ezek. xix. ri, 12, 14. 
 
 18. Thou daughter that dost inhabit Dibon] literally, Thou inha- 
 bitress daughter of Dibon, a longer way of saying. Inhabitants of Dibon. 
 
300 JEREMIAH, XLVIIl. [vv. 19—21. 
 
 Come down from thy glory, and sit in thirst ; 
 For the spoiler of Moab shall come upon thee, 
 And he shall destroy thy strong holds. 
 
 19 O inhabitant of Aroer, 
 Stand by the way and espy ; 
 
 Ask him that fleeth, and her that escapeth. 
 And say, What is done ? 
 
 20 Moab is confounded ; for it is broken down : 
 Howl and cry ; 
 
 Tell ye it in Arnon, that Moab is spoiled, 
 
 21 And judgment is come upon the plain country ; 
 Upon Holon, and upon Jahazah, and upon Mephaath, 
 
 Dibon\ now Dhihan (the "Moabite stone" was found there) stands 
 on two hills. Hence the expression 'come down' in the text. The 
 language here is intensified in both clauses from the corresponding 
 passage relating to the daughter of Babylon in Is. xlvii. i. For "come 
 down" we have come down from thy glory ^ and for "sit in the dust" sit 
 in thirst. The picture is of the inhabitants driven forth from the 
 city and about to be led away, but obliged meanwhile to sit on the 
 ground hungry and thirsty and await their captors' pleasure. 
 
 thy strong holds'] the fortifications of the place are said to be still visible. 
 
 19. inhabitant] used collectively, as so constantly. 
 
 Aroer] not to be confounded with the Aroer of Numb, xxxii. 34, a 
 Gadite city, or with an Aroer belonging to Judah (i Sam. xxx. 28). 
 This was the southernmost city in the tribe of Reuben, and hence was that 
 * which would be mentioned next after Dibon in tracing the progress of 
 the Chaldaean enemy from north to south. Mesha records on the 
 "Moabite stone" that he "built (i.e. restored) the city and made the 
 road over the Arnon." The city stood on the north side of the river. 
 
 20. Moab is confounded ; for it is broken dowti] In the original the 
 first verb is mas. the second fem. The probable sense is, Moab is ashamed, 
 
 for it (Dibofi) is overthrown. 
 
 in Arnon] rather, on Arnon, i.e. in Aroer on its banks. 
 
 21. the plain country] the word rendered "the plain" in ver. 8, 
 where see note. Then follows an enumeration of the several towns 
 involved in the overthrow, in order that by particularizing these the 
 coming disaster might be the more thoroughly realized. They were 
 mostly towns enumerated in Joshua as withiin the portion allotted to 
 the tribe of Reuben and were afterwards reconquered by the Moabites. 
 
 Jahazah] one of the Levitical cities (Josh. xxi. 36). There Moses 
 defeated Sihon (Numb. xxi. 23, 24). 
 
 Mephaath] also a Levitical city (Josh. xxi. 37). It was afterwards a 
 Roman military post established to keep in check the desert tribes, and 
 hence we learn that it must have been in the eastern part of the 
 country. 
 
vv. 22—27.] JEREMIAH, XLVIIl. 301 
 
 And upon Dibon, and upon Nebo, and upon Beth- 22 
 
 diblathaim, 
 And upon Kiriathaim, and upon Beth-gamul, and upon 23 
 
 Beth-meon, 
 And upon Kerioth, and upon Bozrah, 24 
 
 And upon all the cities of the land of Moab, far or near. 
 The horn of Moab is cut off, 25 
 
 And his arm is broken, saith the Lord. 
 
 26 — 47. Co7iclusion of the lament over Moab. 
 
 Make ye him drunken : for he magnified himself against 26 
 
 the Lord : 
 Moab also shall wallow in his vomit. 
 And he also shall be in derision. 
 For was not Israel a derision unto thee ? 27 
 
 22. Dibon'\ See note on ver. 18. 
 Neb6\ See note on ver. i. 
 
 Beth-diblathaim^ literally, house of two fgs. Some identify it with 
 Almon-diblathaim of Numb, xxxiii. 46, but this is doubtful. 
 
 23. Kiriathaim^ See note on ver. i. 
 Beth-ganud'l not elsewhere mentioned. 
 
 Beth-meoJi] called also (Numb, xxxii. 38) Baal-meon, and (Josh. xiii. 
 17) Beth-baal-meon. 
 
 24. Kerioth'] It is thought with much probability that this is another 
 name for Ar, the old capital of Moab (Numb. xxi. 28), for in the lists 
 where either is mentioned the other name does not occur, while each 
 evidently denotes a place of importance. The place may have gi'own to 
 be a union of two or more towns, and hence the name Kerioth (towns). 
 
 Bozrah] not the Bozrah of chap. xlix. 13; Is. Ixiii. i, which belonged 
 to Edom, but either the Bezer of Deut. iv. 43, or better the Bosora of 
 Maccab. v. 26. "As the word means sheep/olds, it was no doubt a 
 common name for places in this upland region, fit only for pasturage." 
 
 far or near] the latter denoting nearer the borders of the country. 
 
 25. The horn is an emblem of strength, the arm of authority. For 
 the former see Ps. Ixxv. 4, 5, 10, for the latter chap, xvii. 5. 
 
 26 — 47. Conclusion of the lament over Moab. 
 
 26. Make ye him drtinken] The comparison of the exhibition of 
 God's wrath upon a nation to an intoxicating draught is illustrated by 
 chap. XXV. 15, where see note. 
 
 he magnified himself against the Lord] He resisted Reuben in his 
 occupation of the territory which the Lord had assigned him. 
 wallow] more literally, splash into, 
 he also shall be in derision] just as Israel has been. See next verse. 
 
302 JEREMIAH, XLVIII. [vv. 28— 31. 
 
 Was he found among thieves ? 
 
 For since thou spakest of him, thou skippedst for joy. 
 
 28 O ye that dwell in Moab, leave the cities, and dwell in 
 
 the rock, 
 And be like the dove that maketh her nest in the sides of 
 the hole's mouth. 
 
 29 We have heard the pride of Moab ; he is exceeding 
 
 proud : 
 His loftiness, and his arrogancy, and his pride, and the 
 haughtiness of his heart. 
 
 30 I know his wrath, saith the Lord ; but // shall not be so ; 
 His lies shall not so effect //. 
 
 31 Therefore will I howl for Moab, 
 
 27. was he found among thieves?^ i.e. Thou couldst not, O Moab, 
 have treated him with more contempt, hadst thou caught him in the act 
 of steahng. 
 
 skippedst for joy\ waggedst tliy head, in scorn. Compare Matt, 
 xxvii. 39. 
 
 28. dwell in the rock] seek the most secret or inaccessible hiding 
 places. See note on iv. 29. 
 
 in the sides of the hole's mouth] in the further side of the mouth of the 
 pit. 
 
 29. We] the prophet and his fellow countrymen. The character 
 of Moab for haughtiness is brought out forcibly by the accumulation of 
 synonyms that succeed. This and the following verse are in substance 
 the same as Is. xvi. 6. 
 
 30. / knotu his wrath] The Lord corroborates the assertion of the 
 prophet in the former verse. 
 
 but it shall not he so ; his lies shall not so effect it] and the unreality 
 of his lies; they have wrought what is unreal. The passage in Isaiah 
 shews us that the stop should be after and not before the word rendered 
 lies^ which is also found in the senses staves^ princes. It is in this latter 
 sense that those who added the stops in the ?Ieb. Bible seem to have 
 understood it, and hence the division of the clauses. The words 
 rendered not so here are those which appear as "not aright," "not 
 right" in chaps, viii. 6, xxiii. 10. See note on the former of those two 
 passages. 
 
 31. Therefore] not immediately connected with the two preceding 
 verses, but rather going back to the thought of the judgment that was 
 coming. 
 
 will I howl] In the corresponding passage in Isaiah it is first the 
 country that mourns itself, and only later the prophet also expresses 
 grief. The greater tenderness of Jeremiah's sorrow is shewn not 
 only by his personal lamentation in this verse, but in the later part 
 by the substitution of the word 'men' for the 'foundations' of the 
 
vv. 32, 33] JEREMIAH, XLVIII. 303 
 
 And I will cry out for all Moab ; 
 
 Mijte heart shall mourn for the men of Kir-heres. 
 
 O vine of Sibmah, I will weep for thee with the weeping 3a 
 
 of Jazer : 
 Thy plants are gone over the sea, 
 They reach even to the sea of Jazer : 
 The spoiler is fallen upon thy summer fruits and upon 
 
 thy vintage. 
 And joy and gladness is taken from the plentiful field, 33 
 
 and from the land of Moab ; 
 And I have caused wine to fail from the wine presses : 
 
 Isaiah passage. The two words in the original resemble each other 
 in sound. 
 
 mine heart shall motirn] The insertion of the words ' mine heart ' in 
 the Eng. Vers, here is hardly justified by their occurrence in the Heb. 
 of the Isaiah passage (xv. 5). Rather it is, one {they, indefinitely) shall 
 mourn. 
 
 Kir-heres^ the chief stronghold of Moab, the Kir-hareseth and 
 Kir-haresh of Is. xvi. 7, i c. 
 
 32. O vine of Sibmahl Sibmah according to St Jerome was only 
 five hundred paces from Heshbon, while Jazer was fifteen miles north 
 of the latter city. The grapes of the region of Heshbon are even now 
 excellent. 
 
 with the tveeping of Jazer'] more than the weeping of Jazer over its 
 ruins, and wasted vineyards. 
 
 thy plants] thy tendrils. 
 
 over the sea] to the western shore of the Dead Sea, a poetical way of 
 saying that the influence of this part of the Moabite nation had made 
 itself felt to that distance. 
 
 the sea of Jazer] Nothing like a sea is found now-a-days in the high 
 valley in which the town lies. It would seem however that a con- 
 siderable body of water was found there then, now represented by some 
 ponds. We must also remember that the word sea may easily convey 
 to our ears a very erroneous idea of the dimensions intended by the 
 corresponding Heb. word. Compare for this 1 Kings vii. 23. 
 
 the spoiler] Isaiah has "a shouting." 
 
 thy vintage] Isaiah, whose word differs only by a single letter, has 
 "thy harvest." 
 
 33. This verse corresponds closely to Is. xvi. 10. 
 
 the plentiful field] The Heb. is Carmel, but of course without any 
 particular reference to the promontory of that name on the west coast 
 of Palestine. 
 
 winepresses] zaine-yaXa, the receptacles in which the wine was stored, 
 not made. 
 
304 JEREMIAH, XLVIII. [vv. 34—37. 
 
 None shall tread with shouting ; 
 Their shouting shall be no shouting. 
 
 34 From the cry of Heshbon even unto Elealeh, 
 And even unto Jahaz, have they uttered their voice, 
 From Zoar even unto Horonaim, 
 
 As a heifer of three years old : 
 
 For the waters also of Nimrim shall be desolate. 
 
 35 Moreover I will cause to cease in Moab, saith the Lord, 
 
 him that offereth in the high places, 
 And him that burneth incense to his gods. 
 
 36 Therefore mine heart shall sound for Moab like pipes. 
 And mine heart shall sound like pipes for the men of 
 
 Kir-heres : 
 Because the riches that he hath gotten are perished. 
 
 37 For every head shall be bald. 
 And every beard dipt : 
 
 with shouting] For the shout of the wine treaders, see note on xxv. 
 30. The clause which here follows means that the vintage shout shall 
 be transformed into the battle cry. 
 
 34. This verse resembles Is. xv. 4. The sense is that the cry uttered 
 from Heshbon (see note on ver. 2) is heard at Elealeh (about two miles 
 distant) and is even carried on to Jahaz, a considerable distance south- 
 west. Again, the wail uttered from Zoar is borne to Horonaim, both 
 in the south of the land. Thus the lamentation shall be caught by one 
 from another and be universal. 
 
 a heifer of th'ee year's old] The corresponding Heb. is in the Isaiah 
 passage appended to Zoar. The sense is difficult in each place. The 
 probable rendering is either, the third Eglath, or, Eglath with the 
 other two (cities), and the sense either that there were three cities of that 
 name, numbered thus by way of distinction, or that Zoar, Horonaim, 
 and Eglath formed a group or league of cities corresponding to the 
 three cities named earlier in the verse. 
 
 Nimrim] not the place (" Beth-nimrah") mentioned in Numb. 
 xxxii. 36; Josh. xiii. 27, which is much too far north, but probably the 
 modern Wady en-Nemeirah at the south-eastern end of the Dead Sea. 
 
 36. shall sotind for Moab like pip-'s] Their use was connected with 
 funerals, so that the word is appropriate as expressing mourning. 
 Isaiah's word is "an harp" (xvi. 11). 
 
 the riches] literally, the superfluity. His substance was much more 
 than a mere competency. 
 
 a7-e perished] There are but two cases in which the word riches 
 (French richesse) is treated as singular in the Eng. Vers. (Wisdom v. 8; 
 Rev. xviii. 17), although this seems merely to have arisen from the 
 word's happening to end in letters commonly used to denote the 
 plural. 
 
vv. 38— 43-] JEREMIAH, XLVIII. 305 
 
 Upon all the hands shall be cuttings, 
 
 And upon the loins sackcloth. 
 
 There shall be lamentation generally upon all the house- 38 
 tops of Moab, and in the streets thereof: 
 
 For I have broken Moab like a vessel wherein is no plea- 
 sure, saith the Lord. 
 
 They shall howl, saying, How is it broken down ! 39 
 
 How hath Moab turned the back with shame ! 
 
 So shall Moab be a derision and a dismaying to all them 
 about him. 
 
 For thus saith the Lord ; 40 
 
 Behold, he shall fly as an eagle. 
 
 And shall spread his wings over Moab. 
 
 Kerioth is taken, and the strong holds are surprised, 4^ 
 
 And the mighty men's hearts in Moab at that day 
 shall be 
 
 As the heart of a woman in her pangs. 
 
 And Moab shall be destroyed from being a people, 42 
 
 Because he hath magnified himself a.g3,mst the Lord. 
 
 Fear, and the pit, and the snare, shall be upon thee, 43 
 
 O inhabitant of Moab, saith the Lord. 
 
 37. All shall have the usual emblem of mourning. See notes on 
 chap. xvi. 6. 
 
 38. geha-ally'] wholly. 
 
 a vessel^ the same word as that rendered idol in xxii. 28, where 
 see note. 
 
 39. They shall howl, saying, Hozu is it broken down /] How is it 
 broken I they howl. 
 
 40. he shall fly as an eagle] See note on iv. 13. The simile 
 seems taken from Deut. xxviii. 49, but is used elsewhere (see chap. xlix. 
 22; Is. xlvi. 11; Ezek. xvii. 3). It well represented the Babylonian 
 empire, which "seemed to those who witnessed it like the rising of a 
 mighty eagle, spreading out his vast wings, feathered with the innu- 
 merable colours of the variegated masses which composed the Chaldaean 
 host, sweeping over the different countries, and striking fear in his 
 rapid flight." Stanley, J. Ch. ii. 451. 
 
 41. Kerioth] See note on ver. 24. The double sense (both a 
 proper name, and towns) gives rise to a play upon the word, which we 
 cannot translate. 
 
 are surprised] are seized. 
 
 43, 44. Substantially the same as Is. xxiv. 17, 18, and very pro- 
 bably a proverb in frequent use. See note on Lam. iii. 47. 
 
 JEREMIAH 20 
 
3o6 JEREMIAH, XLVIII. XLIX. [vv. 44— 47 ; i. 
 
 44 He that fleeth from the fear shall fall into the pit ; 
 
 And he that getteth up out of the pit shall be taken in 
 
 the snare : 
 For I will bring upon it, even upon Moab, the year of 
 
 their visitation, saith the Lord. 
 
 45 They that fled stood under the shadow of Heshbon be- 
 
 cause of the force : 
 But a fire shall come forth out of Heshbon, 
 And a flame from the midst of Sihon, 
 And shall devour the corner of Moab, 
 And the crown of the head of the tumultuous ones. 
 
 46 Woe be unto thee, O Moab ! 
 
 The people of Chemosh perisheth : 
 For thy sons are taken captives, 
 And thy daughters captives. 
 
 47 Yet will I bring again the captivity of Moab 
 In the latter days, saith the Lord. 
 
 Thus far is the judgment of Moab. 
 
 Chap. XLIX. i — 6. The Prophecy regardwg Ammon, 
 49 Concerning the Ammonites, thus saith the Lord ; 
 
 44. He that fleet Ji] or, He fleeth, but the former is the better reading. 
 
 45. They that fled stood tinder the shado7v of Heshbon because of the 
 forced In the shadow of Heshbon stand fugitives powerless. The 
 sense of the whole verse is that the fugitives of Moab shall take refuge 
 under the walls of the neighbouring city of the Ammonites, but as 
 they stand there in hopes of aid, there bursts forth from the city on 
 which their only hopes rest a flame kindled by the Chaldaean foe, but 
 like that which was in old days kindled in the same place by Sihon the 
 Amorite conqueror. Thus the passage Numb. xxi. 28 is quoted with 
 a new application. 
 
 the corner] either (a) the side, the region, or {b) the corner of the beard. 
 If the latter be the sense, as seems more likely, then this and the last 
 words of the verse together mean that Nebuchadnezzar shall destroy 
 all that is capable of destruction. 
 
 the ttcinnlttiotis ones] the proud Moabites. See ver. 29. 
 
 47. Yet wi// / bring again] Compare xlvi. 26, xlix. 6, 39. 
 
 Thus far is the judgment of Moab] probably not the words of 
 Jeremiah himself, but of Baruch, and inserted in editing the book. 
 
 Chap. XLIX. 1—6. The Prophecy regarding Ammon. 
 1. Concerning the Ammonites] This peojile's territory was north 
 of the Moabites, with whom they were, closely connected by descent. 
 
w. 2— 4j JEREMIAH, XLIX. 307 
 
 Hath Israel no sons ? Hath he no heir ? 
 
 Why the7i doth their king inherit Gad, 
 
 And his people dwell in his cities ? 
 
 Therefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 
 
 That I will cause an alarm of war to be heard in Rabbah 
 
 of the Ammonites ; 
 And it shall be a desolate heap. 
 And her daughters shall be burnt with fire : 
 Then shall Israel be heir unto them that were his heirs, 
 
 saith the Lord. 
 Howl, O Heshbon, for Ai is spoiled : 
 Cry, ye daughters of Rabbah, gird ye with sackcloth ; 
 Lament, and run to and fro by the hedges ; 
 For their king shall go into captivity, 
 And his priests and his princes together. 
 Wherefore gloriest thou in the valleys, 
 
 They seem to have originally possessed the country in which the tribe of 
 Gad was placed after the conquest of Sihon, who had probably wrested 
 it from Amnion, and no doubt their extirpation was never wholly 
 effected even in Jewish times. They were a more wandering people 
 than the Moabites, and had but one city of importance, Rabbah. The 
 carrying away of the tribes on the east of Jordan by Tiglath-pileser 
 king of Assyria {2 Kings xv. 29) strengthened their hands, and it is the 
 occupation of the portion of Gad on that occasion which forms the 
 crime dwelt on in this prophecy. 
 
 Hath Israel no sons ?] He has been carried captive, it is true, but is 
 he destitute of children, who will in due time return to claim the land 
 which Amnion has wrongfully seized? See note on xli. 15. 
 
 their king] Alilcom, the god of Amnion, and so in ver. 3. See 
 I Kings xi. 5. Compare Chemosh (xlviii. 7) used as equivalent to 
 Moab. 
 
 inherit] take possession of. See note on viii. 10. 
 
 2. Rabbah] See above on ver. i. 
 
 a desolate heap] See note on xxx. iS, The eminence on which it 
 stands shall be laid waste. 
 
 her daughters] the minor cities depending on her. Compare "daugh- 
 ters of Rabbah" in ver. 3, and the margin of Numb. xxi. 25. 
 
 3. dJozul, Heshbon] Recognise that thy time is at hand, now 
 that Ai has been captured and sacked by the enemy. 
 
 Ai] not the city of Joshua vii. 2 etc., but one in the Ammonite terri- 
 tory, and not elsewhere mentioned. Perhaps however we should read 
 Ar (Is. XV. 1). 
 
 hedges] inclosures of the vineyards. Hedge's in our sense of the word 
 did not exist in those days. 
 
 their king shall go] See note on ver. i. This part of the verse is taken 
 with some modification from Amos i. 15. 
 
 20 — 2 
 
3o8 JEREMIAH, XLIX. [w. 5—7 
 
 Thy flowing valley, O backsliding daughter ? 
 That trusted in her treasures, saying, Who shall come 
 unto me ? 
 
 5 Behold, I will bring a fear upon thee, saith the Lord God 
 
 of hosts. 
 From all those that be about thee ; 
 And ye shall be driven out every man right forth ; 
 And none shall gather up him that wandereth. 
 
 6 And afterward I will bring again the captivity of the 
 
 children of Ammon, saith the Lord. 
 
 7 — 22. The Prophecy regarding Edom. 
 
 7 Concerning Edom, thus saith the Lord of hosts ; 
 
 4. Thy flowing valley\ This has been variously explained thy valley 
 (i) flows (with abundance), (ii) flows away, i.e. the inhabitants are 
 carried off. The Septuagint render, in the valleys of the Anakim. See 
 note on xlvii. 5. 
 
 5. every man right forth] Compare Josh. vi. 5, eve^y man straight 
 before hbn. The sense here is that each without thought of his neigh- 
 bour shall flee the shortest way. 
 
 none shall gather up him that wandereth] No one shall collect or 
 rally the fugitives. 
 
 6. And afterward] Compare xlviii. 47. 
 
 7 — 22. The Prophecy regarding Edom. 
 
 ' 7. Concerning Edom] Much of the earlier part of this section (viz. 
 verses 7 — 16) is almost verbally the same as Obadiah r — 8. The latter 
 prophet seems to have written (ver. 1 1) after the destruction of Jeru- 
 salem, and yet the verses, which are by no means in the same order 
 in both, appear to come in more natural sequence in Obadiah. To 
 meet the difficulty hence arising it has been suggested [a) that the 
 earlier part of Obadiah was written before Nebuchadnezzar's destruction 
 of Jerusalem, the later part after that event, [b) that both prophets 
 embodied in their writings an earlier prediction. It has also been 
 conjectured by some that Obadiah refers not to the overthrow under 
 Zedeiciah, but to that of Jehoram's time (2 Chron. xxi. 17). The bitter- 
 ness of the tone in which Edom is addressed finds parallels in Lam. 
 iv. 71, as also in Ps. cxxxvii. 7; Ezek. xxv. 12 — 14, xxxv. 15; Obad. 
 10—16, and is no doubt based upon a sense of the closeness of the tie 
 of kinship between Edom and Israel. On the principle ' corruptio 
 optimi pessima' the afBnity which existed made the unnatural exultation 
 of Edom over the fallen fortunes of the Jews most offensive. See, in 
 addition to the above passages, Amos i. 11, and for an apparent 
 reference to the fulfilment of this prophecy against Edom, Mai. i. 3. 
 
vv. 8— lo.] JEREMIAH, XLIX. 309 
 
 Is wisdom no more in Teman ? 
 
 Is counsel perished from the prudent ? 
 
 Is their wisdom vanished ? 
 
 Flee ye, turn back, 8 
 
 Dwell deep, O inhabitants of Dedan ; 
 
 For I will bring the calamity of Esau upon him. 
 
 The time that I will visit him. 
 
 If grapegatherers come to thee, would they not leave 9 
 
 sotne gleaning grapes ? 
 If thieves by night, they will destroy till they have 
 
 enough. 
 But I have made Esau bare, 10 
 
 I have uncovered his secret places. 
 And he shall not be able to hide himself: 
 His seed is spoiled, and his brethren, and his neighbours, 
 
 and he is not. 
 
 Is wisdom no more in Teman ?] Teman seems to have been re- 
 nowned for this quality. See ver. 20. This and the succeeding ques- 
 tions are a pointed way of calling attention to the stupefying suddenness 
 and completeness of the calamity. Is it really so that the wisest of the 
 nation are astonied, and incapable of tendering advice ? 
 
 Teman'] in the northern part of Edom, the birthplace of Eliphaz 
 (Job ii. 11). 
 
 vanished] literally, poured out. The figure seems to be much the 
 same as in chap. xix. 7 (see note), where however a different verb is used 
 in the Hebrew. 
 
 8. Dwell deepf inhabitants of Dedari] For the position, etc. of the 
 Dedanites, see note on chap. xxv. i^. They are here warned to retire 
 from their accustomed intercourse with Edom, and keep well out of the 
 way in the deserts, lest they should be involved in its ruin. 
 
 9. would they not leave some gleaning grapes ?] they will not leave 
 g'leaning's. The Eng. Vers, makes the passage interrogative in order 
 to bring it into closer correspondence with that in Obadiah. But 
 there thieves and grape-gatherers are only introduced by way of illustra- 
 tion, whereas in this case the enemy are absolutely called such. Thus 
 Jeremiah, while adopting the language in Obadiah (if it be really so; see 
 above), changes the whole form of the thought. 
 
 till they have etiough] more literally, their fill. 
 
 10. But] For. The success of the enemy is to be attributed to the 
 fact that they have God on their side. 
 
 his secret places] the retreats and fastnesses of Edom. 
 
 he shall not be able to hide himself] literally, he hides (i.e. tries to hide) 
 himself, he is not able. 
 
 his brethren] those who shared his countiy, e.g. the Amalekites 
 (Amalek being a grandson of Esau, Gen. xxxvi. 12). 
 
3IO JEREMIAH, XLIX. [vv. ii— 15. 
 
 Leave thy fatherless children, 1 will preserve them alive ; 
 
 And let thy widows trust in me. 
 
 For thus saith the Lord ; 
 
 Behold, they whose judgment 7vas not to drink of the cup 
 
 have assuredly drunken \ 
 And art thou he that shall altogether go unpunished? 
 Thou shalt not go unpunished, but thou shalt surely 
 
 drink of it. 
 For I have sworn by myself, saith the Lord, 
 That Bozrah shall become a desolation, 
 A reproach, a waste, and a curse ; 
 And all the cities thereof shall be perpetual wastes. 
 I have heard a rumour from the Lord, 
 And an ambassador is sent unto the heathen, sayings 
 Gather ye together. 
 
 And come against her, and rise up to the battle. 
 For lo, I will make thee small among the heathen, 
 And despised among men. 
 
 his 7icighbours\ those mentioned in xxv 23. 
 
 11. Leave thy fatherless chiidreii] The apparent abruptness of this 
 verse has given rise to much questioning among commentators. The 
 most natural way of explaining it in connexion with the context is this. 
 All that bear arms shall be cut off, none but their widows and orphans 
 shall remain. Bereft however as these are, they may yet look to me 
 for protection. 
 
 12. they whose judgment was 7iot to drhik"] For the metaphor, see 
 note on xiii. 12. 'i'he reference is to Israel. If the chosen people of 
 God shall not escape, how should Edom? 'Judgment' may either 
 mean the Divine deci'ee., or perhaps better, rule., ciistofn. For an 
 illustration of the latter sense, compare chap. viii. 7, with note. 
 
 have assuredly drunken^ shall assuredly drink. 
 
 13. Bozrah {el-Busaireh)'] half way between Petra and the Dead 
 Sea. Considerable ruins remain to this day. See note on chap, xlviii. 
 
 24. 
 
 14 — 18. These verses form the second part of the prophecy, and 
 describe further the source and completeness of Edom's overthrow. 
 
 14. This and the following verse are in substance identical with the 
 beginning of Obadiah. 
 
 a ru7?iour'\ literally, a heari^ig, news. 
 
 afubassador'] rather, messenger, since no negotiations but only a 
 command was in question. 
 
 15. the heathen^ the nations. The Heb. would bear either render- 
 ing, but the latter is better suited to the clause which follows. 
 
vv. 16-19.] JEREMIAH, XLIX. 311 
 
 Thy terribleness hath deceived thee, a7id the pride of 16 
 thine heart, 
 
 thou that dwellest in the clefts of the rock, 
 That holdest the height of the hill : 
 
 Though thou shouldest make thy nest as high as the 
 eagle, 
 
 1 will bring thee down from thence, saith the Lord. 
 
 Also Edom shall be a desolation : x^ 
 
 Every one that goeth by it shall be astonished, 
 And shall hiss at all the plagues thereof 
 As in the overthrow of Sodom and Gomorrah x8 
 
 And the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord, 
 No man shall abide there. 
 Neither shall a son of man dwell in it. 
 
 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of 19 
 Jordan 
 
 16. Thy terribleness] This is in all probability right, though the 
 word does not occur elsewhere in the Bible, not even in the correspond- 
 ing passage (ver. 4) of Obadiah. The sense is that Edom had duped 
 herself into believing that the strongholds and mountain fastnesses of 
 the country, which were a source of such alarm to an invader, made her 
 impregnable. 
 
 the clefts of the rock] The Heb. rendered rock is Sclah, and may 
 therefore well be at least an allusion to the town of that name (2 Kings 
 xiv. 7; Is. xvi. i) in the territory of Edom, whose position was as 
 here described. It was probably the same as Petra, and "lay, though 
 at a high level, in a hollow shut in by mountain-cliffs, and approached 
 only by a narrow ravine" (Sm. Bible Diet., Art. 'Selah '). Similarly, the 
 next clause 'the height of the hill' will contain an allusion to the 
 position of Bozrah (ver. 13). 
 
 17. a desolation... shall be astonished] The substantive and verb are 
 from the same root in the Heb., a fact which should be marked in 
 the translation, an astonishment... shall be astonished, or, a dismay ...shall 
 be dismayed. For these as well as for the words which follow, see note 
 on xviii. 16. 
 
 18. Sodom and Gomorrah] The comparison appears to be taken 
 from Deut. xxix. 23, where the neighbour cities are mentioned by name 
 {Admah and Zeboim). It is repeated by Jeremiah in the next chapter 
 (ver. 40). It may contain an allusion to Is. xiii. 19. 
 
 a son of man] an amplification of the preceding *man' for greater 
 force. 
 
 19. he shall come up] viz. the enemy who is to prevail over Edom. 
 like a lion] The same comparison was used in chap. iv. 7. 
 
 the swelling of yordaft] See note on chap. xii. 5. 
 
312 JEREMIAH, XLIX. [v. 20. 
 
 Against the habitation of the strong : 
 But I will suddenly make him run away from her : 
 And who is a chosen man, that I may appoint over her? 
 For who is like me? and who will appoint me the time? 
 And who is that shepherd that will stand before me ? 
 Therefore hear the counsel of the Lord, 
 That he hath taken against Edom ; 
 
 And his purposes, that he hath purposed against the inha- 
 bitants of Teman : 
 Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out : 
 Surely he shall make their habitations desolate with them 
 
 Against the habitation of the strong\ The word here translated 
 strongs rather means permanent, lasting (see note on mighty^ chap. 
 V. 15), while habitation may as well be rendered pasturage (see note 
 on chap. ix. 10). Accordingly a preferable sense here is, to the peren- 
 nial pasturage. As that is the spot in which a lion searching for 
 the flock would most naturally find his prey, so the enemy shall advance 
 to the quarter where the Edomites are most thickly gathered, and 
 vanquish them. In the following clause the masc. pronoun refers 
 to Edom, the fem. to the habitation 01 pasturage. 
 
 •who is a chosen juan, that I may appoint] rather, / will appoint 
 him who is (my) chosen. 
 
 appoint me the time] rightly explained in the Eng. margin, convent 
 (i.e. convene) me in judgment, in other words, by naming, as the 
 plaintiff in a suit had a right to do, the time of trial, claim the power of 
 protesting against God's decision. 
 
 20. that he hath purposed against the inhabitants ofTetnan] Even 
 the wisdom of the Temanites shall not protect them. That this was a 
 feature of the place we gather both from ver. 7 above and from Obad. 8, 9. 
 
 Surely the least of the flock shall draw them otit] or, Siirely they will 
 drag them about, the little ones of the flock, the last words being in this 
 case, in apposition to 'them' not to 'they.' With the latter rendering 
 the sense will be, The enemy will do violence to the feeble Edomites 
 crowding for shelter like sheep ; with the former. The feeblest among 
 the Israelites shall suffice for the rooting out of Edom. The verb is 
 used elsewhere in Jeremiah (xv. 3, "the dogs to /t-dir," and xxii. 19, 
 *■' drawn and cast forth." Compare 2 Sam. xvii. 13) of dragging 
 about. In adopting the Eng. Vers, thus modified, there is a certain 
 amount of difficulty in speaking of the enemies of Edom as a flock, 
 inasmuch as that nation has just been likened itself to one, but in the 
 mouth of Jeremiah such a sudden change of figure is not after all very 
 surprising, while this certainly appears the more natural mode of un- 
 derstanding the Heb., which however is confessedly obscure. For a 
 repetition of the passage, see 1. 45. 
 
 he shall make their habitations desolate with them] better, their habi- 
 tation (pasturage) shall be dismayed on account of them. The 
 
vv. 21—23.] JEREMIAH, XLIX. 313 
 
 The earth is moved at the noise of their fall, 21 
 
 At the cry, the noise thereof was heard in the Red sea- 
 Behold, he shall come up and fly as the eagle, 22 
 And spread his wings over Bozrah : 
 And at that day shall the heart of the mighty vien of 
 
 Edom 
 Be as the heart of a woman in her pangs. 
 
 23 — 27. The Prophecy regarding Dafuasacs. 
 Concerning Damascus. 23 
 
 Hamath is confounded, and Arpad : 
 For they have heard evil tidings : they are fainthearted ; 
 There is sorrow on the sea ; it cannot be quiet. 
 
 very dwelling-place of these dispirited fugitives shall be confounded at 
 their fall. 
 
 21. is moved] quakes, trembles. 
 
 At the cry. .."X The Heb. is purposely less smooth. A cry — at the Red 
 Sea is heard its noise. Edom in its prosperity extended thither, as we 
 gather from i Kings ix. 26. 
 
 22. hel the enemy. As he is strong as a lion, so also he is swift as 
 an eagle. See note on xlviii. 40. 
 
 23—27. The Prophecy regarding Damascus. 
 
 23. Co7icer7iing Damascus'] In Syria, as it existed in the time of 
 David, there were at least three cities of importance, Hamath, Zobah, 
 and Damascus. The kingdom, of which the second of these was the 
 capital, soon disappeared, and Damascus came to be held by a power- 
 ful dynasty of kings, who reduced the other cities under their own sway. 
 It is not known however what was the political condition of Syria 
 at the time that Jeremiah wrote, but it is clear that it was to be no 
 more exempt than other countries from the tread of the conqueror. 
 The tidings of his approach reach one city after another, and fill them 
 with dismay. 
 
 Hamath] in the northern part of Syria, now Hamah. It was more 
 than once subjected to Israel (2 Chron. viii. 4 ; 2 Kings xiv. 25). 
 
 Arpad] Its position is not known with certainty. However, as 
 being invariably mentioned along with Hamath (2 Kings xviii. 34, xix. 
 13 ; Is. X. 9, xxxvi. 19, xxxvii. 13), it must have been situated near it. 
 
 they are fainthearted] literally, they waste {fnelt) away. The same 
 word is used of the Canaanites, Exod. xv. 15. 
 
 Thcj-e is soi-row on the sea] If we keep this reading, which is much 
 the better supported of the two, the sense will be, the trouble extends 
 to the very shore, i.e. throughout the country. It is objected that a 
 certain number of Heb. MSS. read as the sea, thus agreeing with the 
 accepted reading in Is. Ivii. 20, from which the next clause seems 
 taken. It is unlikely that the change from as to on, although involving 
 
314 JEREMIAH, XLIX. [vv. 24—28. 
 
 24 Damascus is waxed feeble, and turneth herself to flee, 
 And fear hath seized on her: 
 
 Anguish and sorrows have taken her as a woman in 
 travail. 
 
 25 How is the city of praise not left, 
 The city of my joy ! 
 
 26 Therefore her young men shall fall in her streets, 
 And all the men of war shall be cut off in that day, 
 Saith the Lord of hosts. 
 
 27 And I will kindle a fire in the wall of Damascus, 
 And it shall consume the palaces of Ben-hadad. 
 
 28 — ^iZ- ^^^ Prophecy regarding Kedar and Hazor. 
 
 28 Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kingdoms of 
 
 but a slight alteration in the shape of one Heb. letter, would have been 
 made in this place. If, in consideration of the borrowing of the last 
 clause from Is., we seek the same sense for the word 'sea' here as 
 holds in that passage, we must explain it of the trouble-tossed, anxious 
 hearts, saddened by the ill news. 
 
 24. is waxed feeble] literally, has become slack, discou7'aged. 
 and turneth'] The and is best omitted : she turneth. 
 
 25. These, which are clearly still the words of the prophet la- 
 menting over the fortunes of so fair a city as Damascus, have been 
 understood as meaning, either. How sad that the city has not been 
 left untouched, or (and much better). How sad that she has not been 
 forsaken by her inhabitants before her fall. This agrees both with the 
 preceding verse, describing the paralysis that has taken possession 
 of the people, and prevented them from saving themselves by flight, 
 and also with the following words, which tell of the destruction to be 
 wrought in the streets of the town. 
 
 26. shall be act off] Some would render shall be silent (the Heb. 
 being somewhat ambiguous in sense). See, however, note on viii. 14J 
 in which verse the same word is rendered twice in the latter sense [silent, 
 silence). 
 
 27. / will kindle a fire] This verse is made up of Amos i. 4, 14. 
 The expression, kindle a fire, denotes elsewhere also the ravages of war, 
 e.g. Numb. xxi. 28 ; Deut. xxxii. 32. Benhadad (son of Hadad) was 
 the name, possibly rather the title, of several kings of Syria. 
 
 28—33. The Prophecy regarding Kedar and Hazor. 
 
 ^ 28. Concerning Kedar, and concerning the kini^doms of Hazor] This 
 section may be divided into two sub-sections, which closely correspond 
 in length, sense and structure. Each consists of three verses, and 
 the three consecutive thoughts in each are (i) a summons of the enemy 
 
w. 29—31.] JEREMIAH, XLIX. 315 
 
 Hazor, which Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon shall 
 
 smite, thus saith the Lord ; 
 Arise ye, go up to Kedar, 
 And spoil the men of the east.> 
 
 Their tents and their flocks shall they take aivay : 29 
 
 They shall take to themselves their curtains, 
 And all their vessels, and their camels ; 
 And they shall cry unto them, Fear is on every side. 
 Flee, get you far off, dwell deep, O ye inhabitants of 30 
 
 Hazor, 
 Saith the Lord ; 
 For Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath taken counsel 
 
 against you, 
 And hath conceived a purpose against you. 
 Arise, get you up unto the wealthy nation, - 31 
 
 That dwelleth without care, saith the Lord, 
 
 to the attack, (ii) a promise of booty, (iii) an intimation that safety 
 would be sought only in flight. 
 
 For Kedar, see note on chap. ii. 10. As regards Hazor, in all its 
 other occurrences it denotes some town in Palestine, a sense which 
 cannot belong to it here. It is generally agreed, that as Kedar means 
 the nomad Arabs, so Plazor, from the Heb. hazir, an unwalled town, 
 refers to that part of the nation which used fixed dwellings, and this fits 
 in with the fact that "the stationary Arabs... are still called Hadariye. 
 ...hadar is a fixed abode." Clark's Delitzsch^s Isaiah^ Vol. il. p. 
 182. 
 
 shall smite] literally, hath smitten. It is therefore probable, that 
 this clause was subsequently inserted, as perhaps that of chap, xlvii. i 
 ("before that Pharaoh smote Gaza"), where see note. 
 
 29. curtains'] See note on chap. iv. ^o. 
 
 Fear is on every side] See note on chap. vi. 25. 
 
 30. dwell deep] See ver. 8, with note. 
 
 agaijist yoji (2'') ] against them, which is the other reading in the Heb., 
 is much the more probable one. The pronouns J(3M and thetn will both 
 indeed refer to the people of Hazor, but as in the clause following 
 (ver. 31) that people are spoken of in the third person, while the 
 Chaldaeans have begun to be addressed as 'you,' this reading in ver. 
 30 will supply a transition. The people of Hazor are no longer 
 addressed with eagerness, but are spoken of as at a greater distance 
 from the speaker's point of view. 
 
 31. Arise] Addressed to the Chaldaeans. 
 
 wealthy] rather, tranquil, dwelling at ease. Three grounds of 
 encouragement are given to the invading army, {a) the people have felt 
 hitherto secure against attack, (b) they have no walled towns, {c) they 
 have no powerful neighbours, from whom to seek aid. 
 
3i6 JEREMIAH, XLIX. [vv. 32—35. 
 
 Which have neither gates nor bars, which dwell alone. 
 
 32 And their camels shall be a booty, 
 
 And the multitude of their cattle a spoil : 
 
 And I will scatter into all winds them that are in the 
 
 utmost corners ; 
 And I will bring their calamity from all sides thereof, 
 
 saith the Lord. 
 
 33 And Hazor shall be a dwelling for dragons. 
 And a desolation for ever : 
 
 There shall no man abide there, 
 Nor a7iy son of man dwell in it. 
 
 34 — 39. The Prophecy regarding Elam. 
 
 34 The word of the Lord that came to Jeremiah the prophet 
 
 against Elam in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah 
 king of Judah, saying, 
 
 35 Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; 
 Behold, I will break the bow of Elam, 
 The chief of their might. 
 
 32. them that are in the utmost corner s\ See note on chap. ix. 26. 
 
 33. dragons] jackals. See note on chap. ix. 11. 
 
 34 — 39. The Prophecy regarding Elam. 
 
 34. The LXX., who place this prophecy as chap. xxv. 14, etc., 
 headed simply by the words to, AlXdp., the Elam, subsequently have 
 the substance of the present verse as chap. xxvi. i, followed however 
 by the prophecy against Egypt (our xlvi. 2, etc.), thus shewing some 
 confusion in their manuscripts, or in those from which their translation 
 was derived. According to the Heb. order, Jeremiah proceeds from 
 the nations bordering on Palestine to the more remote. 
 
 £/am] now Chitzistan, a country west of the Tigris, which river 
 separated it from Chaldaea. We see from Ezra iv. 9, that Elam once 
 was subject to Assyria. As in the case of so many others, we are with- 
 out materials for determining anything as to the date or manner of 
 fulfilment of this prophecy, and are thus quite uncertain whether it 
 points to an overthrow on the part of the Babylonian power (which 
 however the prophecy itself in no way even suggests) or on the part of 
 any other. 
 
 in the beginning of the reign of Zedekiah] thus about seven years later 
 (chap. xlvi. 1) than the preceding prophecies of this group, but some- 
 what earlier than the long prophecy against Babylon that follows. See 
 chap. li. 59. 
 
 35. the bow of Elam] the weapon on which the nation chiefly relied. 
 Compare Is. xxii. 6. 
 
vv. 36—39.] JEREMIAH, XLIX. 317 
 
 And upon Elam will I bring the four winds 36 
 
 From the four quarters of heaven, 
 
 And will scatter them towards all those winds ; 
 
 And there shall be no nation 
 
 Whither the outcasts of Elam shall not come. 
 
 For I will cause Elam to be dismayed before their 37 
 
 enemies. 
 And before them that seek their life : 
 And I will bring evil upon them, 
 Even my fierce anger, saith the Lord ; 
 And I will send the sword after them, 
 Till I have consumed them : 
 
 And I will set my throne in Elam, 38 
 
 And will destroy from thence the king and the princes, 
 Saith the Lord. 
 
 But it shall come to pass in the latter days, 39 
 
 That I will bring again the captivity of Elam, 
 Saith the Lord. 
 
 36. the four winds] invaders from all sides. 
 38. set my throne in] sit in judgment upon. 
 
 the king atid the princes] king and princes. No particjilar persons 
 are meant. 
 
 Chap. L. The Prophecy regarding Babylon. 
 
 This and the following chapter have been held by some commenta- 
 tors not to be a genuine part of Jeremiah's writings, but to have been 
 written by Baruch or some other at a time considerably later than that 
 assigned to them in li. 59, perhaps about the middle of the exile. 
 The chief reasons for the above view are these : — 
 
 {a) Jeremiah elsewhere speaks in friendly terms of the Chaldaeans ; 
 here he predicts their overthrow. 
 
 {b) Style and words betray a writer other than the prophet. 
 
 {c) There is a greater knowledge of Babylonian customs, of topo- 
 graphy, etc. than could be expected from Jeremiah. 
 
 To {a) we may reply : Jeremiah elsewhere is pointing out the 
 Chaldaeans as the ministers of God's vengeance, and urging upon 
 his countrymen the necessity of yielding to them. Thus he could not 
 help appearing as though on the Chaldaean side, being opposed to 
 the transgressions of his countrymen, which were bringing punishment 
 in this form. Already however, viz. in chap. xxv. 12, 26, we have 
 the thoughts of which these chapters are the natural development. 
 
 To {b), The style, to say the least of it, so closely resembles Jeremiah's, 
 that we cannot suppose it to be the product of an imitator, working in 
 accordance with the theory above-mentioned at a distance from Jerusa- 
 lem. This is shewn by such a passage as chap. 1. 5, "They shall ask 
 
3i8 JEREMIAH, L. [vv. i, 2. 
 
 Chap. L. The Prophecy regarding Babylon. 
 I — 7. Babylon shall fall and Israel return. 
 50 The word that the Lord spake against Babylon and 
 against the land of the Chaldeans by Jeremiah the 
 prophet. 
 2 Declare ye among the nations, and publish, and set up a 
 standard ; 
 
 the way to Zion with their faces hithey-zuard." "How certainly any 
 one not living at Jerusalem would have said thitherward is shewn by 
 our translators having actually so rendered it in the Eng. Vers. One 
 little undesigned touch like this is more convincing than elaborate argu- 
 ments" {Sp. Conifji.). As regards the words quoted as of later date 
 than Zedekiah's time, the contrary can be conclusively shewn in the 
 case of each. 
 
 To (r), The knowledge here referred to is nothing but what might 
 naturally be expected in the case of a prophet living in frequent inter- 
 course with the Chaldaeans, and who may very possibly have already 
 spent some time in Babylon. (See note on xiii. i.) 
 
 In general we may add that the words of li. 51 are much more in 
 accordance with the time after Nebuchadnezzar's phmdcring of the 
 Temple in Jehoiakim's reign than with the period which followed its 
 destruction, and further that the mention of the "kings of the Medes " 
 (li. II, 28) and not the Persians, as the conquerors of Babylon, points 
 to a time when the former power was still in the ascendant, and conse- 
 quently precludes the supposition entertained by those who would main- 
 tain that the prediction was made only just before its fulfilment. By the 
 time of the actual capture of Babylon the Persians had acquired the 
 ascendancy, and the Medes, though sharing with them in the attack 
 and thus fulfilling what is here predicted, played but a subordinate part. 
 
 This prophecy against Babylon forms an appropriate conclusion to 
 the series. The nations immediately bordering upon Palestine have had 
 their fate foretold, and then the more remote, but none the less is that 
 Empire, which is to execute God's vengeance upon them, destined 
 in its turn to fall. And this, the climax of the prophecies against 
 foreign nations, is marked by the grandeur of the images employed by 
 the prophet. 
 
 Babylon is a golden cup, from which all the nations have been forced 
 to drink the wine of God's wrath (li. 7); God brings forth from His 
 armoury the weapons of His indignation for her destruction (1. 25); 
 Babylon is a volcano which has poured out flames upon all the nations 
 round, and now shall itself be consumed, while Israel the people of 
 God shall at length be delivered from her oppressors and restored to 
 her land. 
 
 1—7. Babylon shall fall and Israel return. 
 2. set up a standard] lift up a standard, as the speediest way of 
 calling attention to the news. 
 
vv. 3—5.] JEREMIAH, L. 319 
 
 . Publish, and conceal not : 
 Say, Babylon is taken, Bel is confounded, Merodach is 
 
 broken in pieces ; 
 Her idols are confounded, her images are broken in 
 
 pieces. 
 For out of the north there cometh up a nation against 3 
 
 her. 
 Which shall make her land desolate. 
 And none shall dwell therein : 
 
 They shall remove, they shall depart, both man and beast. 
 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, 4 
 
 The children of Israel shall come, 
 They and the children of Judah together, 
 Going and weeping : they shall go. 
 And seek the Lord their God. 
 They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thither- 5 
 
 ward, sayi7ig^ 
 
 Bel... Merodach'] If the first of these was the sun-god, he was no 
 doubt the same as Baal. It is more likely however that he is to be 
 identified with Jupiter, and that Merodach is not a distinct deity, but 
 only another name (perhaps originally a title) of Bel. He was the 
 guardian divinity of Babylon, but under the name Merodach (Marduk 
 of the cuneiform inscriptions) does not seem to have been worshipped 
 till the time of Pul and onwards. The inscriptions of Nebuchadnezzar's 
 time speak of him as ** the great lord, the senior of the gods, the most 
 ancient." His name is contained in that of two Babylonian kings, Evil- 
 Merodach, son of Nebuchadnezzar (lii. 31 ; 2 Kings xxv. 27), and 
 Merodach-Baladan (margin of 2 Kings xx. 12 ; Is. xxxix. i), 
 
 is confounded... are confounded] is ashamed... ar*? ashamed. The 
 words 'idols' and 'images' would be better transposed in the Eng. 
 Vers. The Heb. for the latter is a term of contempt, meaning literally, 
 what may be rolled about, senseless logs or lumps. 
 
 3. Old of the north] The Medo- Persian Empire is meant. Media 
 was north-west of Babylon. 
 
 cof?ieih up] This and the last two v-erbs of the verse ('shall remove 
 ...shall depart') will be more forcibly as well as literally rendered by 
 the (prophetic) past {hath cojjie up... have fled... are gone). 
 
 Which shall 7?iake] It shall make. 
 
 4. The overthrow of Babylon shall be the signal for the deliverance 
 and return of the people of God. 
 
 They and the children of Judah together] See ch. iii. 18 with note. 
 Going and weeping: they shall go] The colon should be placed before 
 going. They shall go up weeping as they go. 
 
 5. They shall ask the way to Zion with their faces thitherward] more 
 
320 JEREMIAH, L. [vv. 6—9. 
 
 Come, and let us join ourselves to the Lord 
 
 In a perpetual covenant that shall not be forgotten. 
 
 My people hath been lost sheep : 
 
 Their shepherds have caused them to go astray, they 
 have turned them away on the mountains : 
 
 They have gone from mountain to hill. 
 
 They have forgotten their resting place. 
 
 All that found them have devoured them : 
 
 And their adversaries said, We offend not. 
 
 Because they have sinned against the Lord, the habita- 
 tion of justice. 
 
 Even the Lord, the hope of their fathers. 
 
 8 — 16. ChaldaecCs Exultation over Israel shall he ptinished. 
 
 Remove out of the midst of Babylon, 
 
 And go forth out of the land of the Chaldeans, 
 
 And be as the he goats before the flocks. 
 
 For lo, I will raise and cause to come up against Babylon 
 
 literally, They shall enquire about Zion ; to the %vay hitlieii-vard are their 
 faces turned. For hitherward see introductory note to this chapter. 
 
 6. they have turned them away on the mountains'] If we take the 
 present (Massoretic) text in the Heb., where however the reading is very 
 doubtful, we should rather render on seducing mountains, to be con- 
 nected immediately with ' have caused them to go astray.' The refer- 
 ence is to the mountains as the favourite seats for idolatry, and to their 
 enticing influence as such upon the people. 
 
 They have gone from motintain to hill ] they have simply passed from 
 one idolatrous picture to another. 
 
 resting place\ literally, crouching place, the fold in which they should 
 lie. 
 
 7. We offend not] For this v^^ord see note on ii. 3. The enemy's 
 plea is, Israel is no longer holy to the Lord, and thus it is no sacrilege, 
 though we devour her, 
 
 the habitation 0/ justice] The same expression is used of Jerusalem 
 in xxxi. 23. 
 
 8 — 16. Chaldaea's Exultation over Israel shall be punished. 
 
 8. Having told of the repentance of Israel, and of their sufferings in 
 the land of exile, he now calls upon them to set out upon their return. 
 
 Babylon] See note on ver. 16. 
 
 be as the he goats] strive each to outstrip his neighbour in your alacrity 
 and joy. A better reading perhaps is, let them go forth... and let 
 them be... 
 
 9. raise] awaken. 
 
vv. lo— 12.] JEREMIAH, L. 321 
 
 An assembly of great nations from the north country : 
 
 And they shall set themselves in array against her ; 
 
 From thence she shall be taken : 
 
 Their arrows shall be as of a mighty expert 77ian ; 
 
 None shall return in vain. 
 
 And Chaldea shall be a spoil : 
 
 All that spoil her shall be satisfied, saith the Lord. 
 
 Because ye were glad, because ye rejoiced, 
 
 O ye destroyers of mine heritage, 
 
 Because ye are grown fat as the heifer at grass. 
 
 And bellow as bulls ; 
 
 Your mother shall be sore confounded ; 
 
 She that bare you shall be ashamed : 
 
 Behold, the hindermost of the nations 
 
 Shall be a, wilderness, a dry land, and a desert. 
 
 an assembly of great nations'] the Medo- Persian Empire. See the 
 names of individual nations who helped to compose it in li. 27, 28, 
 
 expert man'] This is much better than the reading in the Eng. 
 margin, viz. destroyer. In the Heb. the two differ by the position of a 
 dot. 
 
 none shall return] Arrows do not in any case return, as does e.g. a 
 sword. Therefore we may not on the analogy of the expression con- 
 tained in 2 Sam. i. 22 understand none of the arrows, but rather of the 
 warriors. 
 
 11. This verse is probably to be connected with the preceding, and 
 thus gives the reason why Chaldaea is to be spoiled. We should there- 
 fore make ver. 12 begin a new sentence, and not form part of this one, 
 as in the Eng. Vers. If on the other hand we retain the punctua- 
 tion adopted in our Vers., we had best render not Because but 
 Although. The verbs in the Heb. are in the fern, sing., but have been 
 altered to the plural through a failure to perceive that the former might 
 be used of the nation. In the English however we must keep the 
 plural on account of the word ' destroyers.' 
 
 destroyers] plunderers. 
 
 are grown fat] leap. 
 
 at grass] better, threshing. The command not to mu/zle the mouth 
 of the ox that trode out the corn (Deut. xxv. 4) would bring about 
 special playfulness on the part of the animals thus unusually well fed. 
 
 bellow as bulls] neigh as steeds. For the last word see note on 
 viii. 16. 
 
 12. confomided] ashamed, a word closely akin to that used twice in 
 ver. 2. 
 
 shall be ashamed] shall blush. 
 
 the hindermost of the nations shall be...] rather, she shall he the 
 hindermost of the nations, a wilderness, a desert, and a waste. r>aby]on, 
 
 JEREMIAH 2 I 
 
322 JEREMIAH, L. [vv. 13- 16. 
 
 Because of the wrath of the Lord it shall not be inha- 
 bited, 
 
 But it shall be wholly desolate : every one that goeth by 
 Babylon shall be astonished, 
 
 And hiss at all her plagues. 
 
 Put yourselves in array against Babylon round about : 
 
 All ye that bend the bow, shoot at her, spare no arrows : 
 
 For she hath sinned against the Lord. 
 
 Shout against her round about : 
 
 She hath given her hand : 
 
 Her foundations are fallen, her walls are thrown down : 
 
 For it is the vengeance of the Lord : take vengeance 
 upon her ; 
 
 As she hath done, do unto her. 
 
 Cut off the sower from Babylon, 
 
 which was as Amalek of old (Numb. xxiv. 20) ** the first of the nations," 
 shall now take the lowest place. 
 
 13. For the language of this verse see chaps xviii. 16, xix. 8, 
 xlix. 17, with notes. 
 
 14. Babylon's enemies are called upon to begin the siege, and that 
 the picture may be the more graphic, the archers in particular are 
 addressed. 
 
 15. Shout] Raise the battle cry. 
 
 she hath given her hand] This expression denotes to make an agree- 
 ment^ bargain, and hence to submit oticself. Its application is illustrated 
 by the following passages: Gen. xxiv. 2, xlvii. 29; 2 Kings x. 15; 
 I Chron. xxix. 24 (margin) ; 2 Chron. xxx. 8 (margin) ; Ezra x. 19 ; 
 Lam. v. 6. Compare the Eatin phrase manus dare. 
 
 foundations] rather, supports, battlements, that on which the city 
 rests her strength : so the Septuagint. 
 
 her walls are thrown down] This was not done by Cyrus, who 
 entered the city beneath the walls by the river bed, after diverting. the 
 stream. It therefore points on to the later capture of Babylon by Darius, 
 who "having become master of the place, destroyed the wall, and tore 
 down all the gates ; for Cyrus had done neither the one nor the other 
 when he took Babylon." Herod. Bk. iii. 159 (Rawl.). See however 
 Rawlinson's note, shewing that breaches in the wall are all that can 
 have been here meant. 
 
 // is the vengeaftce of the Lord] because Babylon has afflicted His 
 people. 
 
 16. Cut off the sower from Babylon] As the word used is Babylon, 
 not Chaldaea, it has been thought that the reference is to the large 
 spaces which we know were reserved within the city for agricultural 
 and pastoral purposes in case of siege. It is better however to take 
 Babylon (as probably in ver. 8 above) to be equivalent to Babylonia, 
 
vv. 17—19.] JEREMIAH, L. 323 
 
 And him that handleth the sickle in the time of harvest ; 
 For fear of the oppressing sword 
 They shall turn every one to his people, 
 And they shall flee every one to his own land. 
 
 17 — 20. While punishment is decreed for Baby lo ft, Restora- 
 tion and Forgiveness shall be the Lot of Israel. 
 
 Israel is a scattered sheep ; 17 
 
 The lions have driven him away : 
 
 First the king of Assyria hath devoured him ; 
 
 And last this Nebuchadrezzar king of Babylon hath 
 
 broken his bones. 
 Therefore thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God ofi3 
 
 Israel ; 
 Behold, I will punish the king of Babylon and his land, 
 As I have punished the king of Assyria. 
 And I will bring Israel again to his habitation, 19 
 
 whose fertility is thus described by Herod. Bk. i. 193 (Rawl.), "in grain 
 it is so fruitful as to yield commonly two hundred-fold, and when the 
 production is the greatest, even three hundred-fold." As Cyrus was 
 careful to spare the country about Babylon, this feature of the attack 
 may also point to a subsequent siege (see ver. 15). 
 
 sickle\ better than the marginal scythe, as a small instrument is 
 meant, such as was used for cutting grapes (Joel iii. 13). 
 
 they shall turn... "l taken from Is. xiii. 14. The members of different 
 conquered nations, whom Nebuchadnezzar had brought together to 
 servitude in Babylon, shall be freed. 
 
 17 — 20. While punishment is decreed for Babylon, Restora- 
 tion AND Forgiveness shall be the Lot of Israel. 
 
 17. The people of God are like a stray sheep, driven hither and 
 thither and preyed upon by savage beasts. 
 
 the lions'] lions. 
 
 first the king of Assyria hath devoured hini] the first (lion) devoured 
 him, (even) the king of Assyria. 
 
 attd last... bones'] and this one, the last, hath... (even) Nebuchadrezzar 
 king' of Babylon. The people, thoroughly weakened by the wars with 
 Assyria, and by the captivity of the Ten Tribes, have afterwards had 
 the feeble remnant of their strength crushed at the hands of Babylon. 
 Assyria was a mighty Empire, but it has already paid the penalty for 
 its cruelty towards the people of God. Such too shall be the fate of 
 Babylon. 
 
 19. habitation] pasture-ground. This, while an equally accurate 
 rendering of the Heb., accords better with the figure of speech found in 
 
324 JEREMIAH, L. [vv. 20—23. 
 
 And he shall feed on Carmel and Bashan, 
 And his soul shall be satisfied upon mount Ephraim and 
 Gilead. 
 3 In those days, and in that time, saith the Lord, 
 
 The iniquity of Israel shall be sought for, and there shall 
 
 be none ; 
 And the sins of Judah, and they shall not be found : 
 For I will pardon them whom I reserve. 
 
 21 — 32. Babylon^ both city and country, is hopelessly doo?ned. 
 
 t Go up against the land of Merethaim, even against it, 
 And against the inhabitants of Pekod : 
 Waste and utterly destroy after them, saith the Lord, 
 And do according to all that I have commanded thee. 
 
 . A sound of battle is in the land, 
 And of great destruction. 
 
 ; How is the hammer of the whole earth cut asunder and 
 broken ! 
 
 the remainder of the verse. The parts of the land which follow are 
 chosen as those which were most productive. 
 
 20. In those days and in that time] the fonnula for introducing a 
 prophecy which has to do with the times of the Messiah. Compare 
 note on chap, xxiii. 5. Thus we see that the return of the people from 
 Babylon is to be itself typical of the great and glorious period to follow 
 for the Church of God. 
 
 whom I reserve] literally, whom I cause to remain, the remnant, who 
 come forth at the end out of the long tribulation. 
 
 21—32. Babylon, both city and country, is hopelessly 
 
 DOOMED. 
 
 21. Merethaim... Pekod] Modern investigations have ascertained 
 the existence of the latter name as that of a place in Babylonia ; it is 
 therefore at least possible that the former may also have existed. 
 Whether however Jeremiah intended to play upon the names of actually 
 existent places or not, he doubtless meant to emphasize the senses of 
 these two names, viz. double rebellion... punishment. The former, which 
 has the Ileb. termination of the dual number, is formed on the analogy 
 of such words as Mizraim, Aram-Naharaim, etc., and double seems not 
 to have reference to any two distinct acts of rebellion, but rather to 
 mean intense, that which exceeds the rebellion of other nations. Com- 
 pare ver. 31. See also note on xvii. 18. 
 
 waste] better, slay, as the context in ver. 27 shews that the same 
 verb is there to be rendered. 
 
 23. the hammer] For the figure itself compare xxiii. -29. The title, 
 
vv. 24—27.] JEREMIAH, L. 325 
 
 How is Babylon become a desolation among the nations ! 
 I have laid a snare for thee, and thou art also taken, O 24 
 
 Babylon, 
 And thou wast not aware : 
 Thou art found, and also caught, 
 Because thou hast striven against the Lord. 
 The Lord hath opened his armoury, 25 
 
 And hath brought forth the weapons of his indignation : 
 For this is the work of the Lord God of hosts 
 In the land of the Chaldeans. 
 
 Come against her from the utmost border, 26 
 
 Open her storehouses : 
 
 Cast her up as heaps, and destroy her utterly : 
 Let nothing of her be left. 
 Slay all her bullocks ; let them go down to the slaughter : 27 
 
 here given to Babylon, has been applied in other times to individuals, 
 to Judas Maccabaeus (Heb. Makkabh = a hammer, though this derivation 
 for the name is but dubious), for his victories over Syria, to Charles 
 Martel (French), who was grandfather of Charles the Great, and 
 conquered the Saracens in a decisive battle at Tours in 732 a. D., and 
 to Edward I. of England, on whose tomb at Westminster Abbey are 
 inscribed the words " Scotorum. Malleus.'''' 
 
 24. / have laid a snare for thee'] If this refer to the capture by 
 Cyrus, see note on ver. 1 5 above for the manner in which it was effected. 
 "Whether however it applies to that occasion, or to Darius's later 
 capture by Zopyrus's stratagem, the following words "thou wast not 
 aware" will have equal point, as Herodotus speaks in each case of the 
 amazement of the inhabitants (Bk. i. 191, iii. 158). 
 
 25. armoury] literally, store-house. 
 
 the weapons of his indignation] used also in Is. xiii. 5 of the nations 
 who unconsciously discharge God's bidding in war. 
 
 for this is the work of the Lord God of hosts] for the Lord, the Lord of 
 hosts, hath a work. 
 
 26. from the utmost bordei'] The Heb. is 'from the end,' which 
 may mean either as in Eng. Vers., or, all from every quarter, eve7y one 
 from first to last. 
 
 store-houses] quite a different word from that so rendered in ver. 25, 
 and meaning granaries. 
 
 cast her tip as heaps] pile up the treasures of grain which are contained 
 in her and consume them in the midst of her. 
 
 27. Slay] See note on ver. -2 1 . 
 
 her bullocks] her choice youths, the flower of her army. For 
 the expression 'go down to the slaughter' compare xlviii. 15, and for 
 'the time of their visitation' xlvi. 11. 
 
326 JEREMIAH, L. [vv. 28—32. 
 
 Woe unto them ! for their day is come, 
 The time of their visitation. 
 
 28 The voice of them that flee and escape out of the land of 
 
 Babylon, 
 To declare in Zion the vengeance of the Lord our 
 
 God, 
 The vengeance of his temple. 
 
 29 Call together the archers against Babylon: 
 
 All ye that bend the bow, camp against it round about; 
 
 Let none thereof escape : 
 
 Recompense her according to her work; 
 
 According to all that she hath done, do unto her : 
 
 For she hath been proud against the Lord, against the 
 
 Holy One of Israel, 
 jo Therefore shall her young men fall in the streets, 
 
 And all her men of war shall be cut off in that day, saith 
 
 the Lord. 
 
 31 Behold, I am against thee, O thou most proud, 
 Saith the Lord God of hosts : 
 
 For thy day is come, the time that I will visit thee. 
 
 32 And the most proud shall stumble and fall, 
 And none shall raise him up: 
 
 And I will kindle a fire in his cities, 
 And it shall devour all round about him. 
 
 28. them that flee\ the liberated Jews. 
 
 the vengeance of his temple\\\\^ xt.Q;^x\\.2\ for having burned it in their 
 final capture of Jerusalem. 
 
 29. the archers\ This is no doubt right, as is shewn by the context, 
 although the old rendering of the word was many. 
 
 against zV] against her, so as 16 agree with the subsequent pronouns, 
 which have the same reference. 
 proudi presvimptuous. 
 
 30. This verse has occurred in words almost absolutely the same 
 viith regard to Damascus (xlix. 26, where see note). 
 
 31. O thou most proud] literally, O (thou who art) Presumption 
 (itself); so also in next verse. Compare ver. ai. 
 
 32. raise him] raise her, the reference being to Babylon as before. 
 In the Heb. indeed the pronoun is masc, but only because that is the 
 gender of the noun by which Babylon is here called (Presumption). 
 
 and 1 zvill kindle...] The latter part of the verse is almost a tran- 
 script of xxi. i^h, except that for in his cities that passage has "in the 
 forest thereof." 
 
vv. 33—36.] JEREMIAH, L. 327 
 
 33 — 40. The Prophet enlarges upon the thoroughness with 
 which Babylon shall be destroyed. 
 Thus saith the Lord of hosts ; 33 
 
 The children of Israel and the children of Judah were 
 
 oppressed together: 
 And all that took them captives held them fast; 
 They refused to let them go. 
 
 Their redeemer is strong; 34 
 
 The Lord of hosts is his name : 
 He shall thoroughly plead their cause, 
 That he may give rest to the land. 
 And disquiet the inhabitants of Babylon. 
 A sword is upon the Chaldeans, saith the Lord, 35 
 
 And upon the inhabitants of Babylon, 
 And upon her princes, and upon her wise men. 
 A sword is upon the liars; and they shall dote: 36 
 
 33 — 40, The Prophet enlarges upon the thoroughness 
 WITH which Babylon shall be destroyed. 
 
 33. were oppressed'] are oppressed. 
 
 held...refiised'\ have held . . .hz^Ye refused. The Babylonian oppressors 
 are acting like Pharaoh of old. 
 
 34. redeemer'] The Heb, is Goel^ the title of the near kinsman, to 
 whom according to Jewish law belonged the duty of revenging a murder, 
 as well as that of advocate and general protector. In like manner the 
 Lord is about to rescue His people and take vengeance upon their foe, 
 
 he shall thoroughly plead their cause] hieraWy, pleading he will plead 
 their plea. 
 
 may give rest] It is all one word in the Heb., and some would on 
 the contrary render may trouble^ a sense which another part of the same 
 Heb, verb is found to bear. This however neither fits the require- 
 ments of the passage here so well, nor is it in harmony with Is, xiv. 
 7, 16, where, as here, the overthrow of Babylon is the subject. 
 
 land] eartli. All known nations had been more or less troubled by 
 Babylon. 
 
 35. upon her princes, and upon her wise men] The former were the 
 rulers in civil the latter in religious matters. Astrology was much 
 practised in Chaldaea, 
 
 36. liars] more literally, babblers, utterers of random prophecies, 
 dote] be mad, foolish. So i Tim, vi, 4. The derived sense, to be 
 
 foolishly yi7m/, occurs in Ezek, xxiii, 5, etc. Compare, as illustrating 
 the sense in the present passage : 
 
 Unless the fear of death doth make me dote, 
 I see my son Antipholus and Dromio. 
 
 Shakespeare, Cotn. of Err., v, r. Bible Word Book. 
 
328 JEREMIAH, L. [vv. 37—40 
 
 A sword is upon her mighty men; and they shall be disr 
 mayed. 
 
 37 A sword is upon their horses, and upon their chariots, 
 And upon all the mingled people that are in the midst of 
 
 her; 
 And they shall become as women: 
 A sword is upon her treasures; and they shall be robbed. 
 
 38 A drought is upon her waters ; and they shall be dried up : 
 For it is the land of graven images, 
 
 And they are mad upon their idols. 
 
 39 Therefore the wild beasts of the desert 
 
 With the wild beasts of the islands shall dwell f/iere^ 
 
 And the owls shall dwell therein : 
 
 And it shall be no more inhabited for ever; 
 
 Neither shall it be dwelt in from generation to generation. 
 
 40 As God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah 
 
 37. their... their\ literally, his.. .his, referring either to the king of 
 Babylon, or to Babylon itself. See note on ver. 32. 
 
 the mingled people\ See note on xxv. 20. 
 
 38. A droughtl The words for drought and sword (dififering by one 
 vowel only) are sufficiently like to make it quite possible that here as at 
 the beginning of the two previous verses the latter should be read. In 
 that case s^uord will be equivalent to war, and the reference will be to the 
 stratagem by which Cyrus captured the city. Drought on the contrary 
 will more naturally refer to the drying up of the many canals by which 
 the water of the Euphrates was distributed throughout the whole 
 country for drainage and irrigation as well as for commercial purposes. 
 Compare li. 13. 
 
 the land'\ a land. 
 
 their idols'\ idols, literally, terrors, as meaning probably the grotesque 
 objects by which the heathen often represent their gods. 
 
 39. the wild beasts of the desert] The whole is expressed by one 
 word in the Heb., and means those who dwell in the desert, either men 
 as in Ps. Ixxii. 9, or beasts, as here. 
 
 the 7uild beasts of the islands'] the jackals, literally, the shriekcrs. The 
 word here used probably denotes the whole class, Tannin on the other 
 hand (see chap. ix. 1 1 with note) being a particular species. 
 
 owls] ostriclies. It appears however that the former animals are 
 also found there. " Shapeless heaps of rubbish cover for many an acre 
 the face of tlie land. The lofty banks of ancient canals fret the country 
 like natural ridges of hills. ..Owls" (which are of a large grey kind, and 
 often fountl in flocks of nearly a hundred) "start from the scanty 
 thickets, and the foul jackal skulks through the finiows. " (Layard's 
 Nineveh and Babylon,^. 484, quoted by Rawln., Herod, vol. i. p. 434). 
 
 40. See xlix. 18. 
 
vv. 41— 44-] JEREMIAH, L. 329 
 
 And the neighbour cities thereof, saith the Lord; 
 
 So shall no man abide there. 
 
 Neither shall any son of man dwell therein. 
 
 41 — 43. Picture of the enemy's approach. 
 
 Behold, a people shall come from the north, 4, 
 
 And a great nation, and many kings 
 
 Shall be raised up from the coasts of the earth. 
 
 They shall hold the bow and the lance: 42 
 
 They are cruel, and will not shew mercy: 
 
 Their voice shall roar like the sea, 
 
 And they shall ride upon horses, 
 
 Every one put in array, like a man to the battle, 
 
 Against thee, O daughter of Babylon. 
 
 The king of Babylon hath heard the report of them, 43 
 
 And his hands waxed feeble : 
 
 Anguish took hold of him, 
 
 And pangs as of a woman in travail. 
 
 44 — 46. // is the Lord's decree and therefore inevitable and 
 terrible. 
 
 Behold, he shall come up like a lion from the swelling of 44 
 
 Jordan 
 Unto the habitation of the strong: 
 But I will make them suddenly run away from her: 
 And who is a chosen man^ that I may appoint over her? 
 For who is Hke me? and who will appoint me the time? 
 And who is that shepherd that will stand before me? 
 Therefore hear ye the counsel of the Lord, 15 
 
 41 — 43. Picture of the enemy's approach. 
 41 — 43. A repetition, with the necessary changes, of vi. 22 — 24, 
 where Jerusalem is the object of the threat. See notes on that passage. 
 Here 'and many kings' (ver. 41) is added to suit the present appli- 
 cation. 
 
 44—46. It is the Lord's decree and therefore inevitable 
 
 AND terrible. 
 
 44 — 46, This passage also is adapted from a preceding one, viz. that 
 concerning Edom (xlix. 19—21, where see notes), the difference in the 
 comparative importance of the two being well marked by the fact that 
 now the cry is no longer heard ' ' in the Red Sea " only, but in general 
 among the nations. 
 
330 JEREMIAH, L. LI. [vv. 46;!— 3. 
 
 That he hath taken against Babylon ; 
 
 And his purposes, that he hath purposed against the land 
 
 of the Chaldeans : 
 Surely the least of the flock shall draw them out : 
 Surely he shall make their habitation desolate with them. 
 46 At the noise of the taking of Babylon the earth is moved, 
 And the cry is heard among the nations. 
 
 Chap. LI. i — 14. // only remains for Israel to depart and 
 leave Babylon to its fate. 
 51 Thus saith the Lord; 
 
 Behold, I will raise up against Babylon, 
 
 And against them that dwell in the midst of them that 
 
 rise up against me, 
 A destroying wind ; 
 
 2 And will send unto Babylon fanners, that shall fan her, 
 And shall empty her land : 
 
 For in the day of trouble they shall be against her round 
 about. 
 
 3 Against hint that bendeth let the archer bend his bow, 
 
 Chap. LI. i — 14. It only remains for Israel to depart and 
 LEAVE Babylon to its fate. 
 
 1. in the 7nidst of theni that rise up against me'] For the figure of 
 Atbash, by which the expression in the text is equivalent to Chaldaeans, 
 see note on xxv. 26. Another proof that Jeremiah was a sharer in the 
 love which his countrymen had for artificial arrangement of the letters of 
 the alphabet is given by the fact that the greater part of the Lamenta- 
 tions (chaps, i— iv) is alphabetical. See Introduction to Lamentations, 
 Chap. 1. § 4. 
 
 a destroying wind] or, the spirit of a destroyer, but the former reading 
 is better suited to the subsequent context. 
 
 2. fanners] The Heb., as it stands, is strangers, but by a very 
 slight change can be rendered as in the Eng. Vers,, so as to correspond 
 to the verb that follows. 
 
 empty] the same verb as that which is translated "make void" in xix. 
 7, where see note. 
 
 3. Although the Babylonians post themselves on the walls with 
 their weapons and arrayed in armour, yet the archer is to attack them 
 from without, and not one of the fighting men is to be spared. Some 
 grammatical difficulty is presented by the first words of the verse in the 
 original: and it is somewhat tempting to alter them (as we easily may) 
 thus, Let not the archer bend his bow, and let none lift, etc. The words 
 which follow however shew that it is not the attacked but the attacking 
 host that are addressed. The Eng. Vers, is therefore to be preferred. 
 
vv. 4—8.] JEREMIAH, LI. 331 
 
 And against him that lifteth himself up in his brigan- 
 
 dine : 
 And spare ye not her young men; 
 Destroy ye utterly all her host. 
 
 Thus the slain shall fall in the land of the Chaldeans, 
 And they that are thrust through in her streets. 
 For Israel hath not been forsaken, 
 Nor Judah of his God, of the Lord of hosts; 
 Though their land was filled with sin 
 Against the Holy One of Israel. 
 Flee out of the midst of Babylon, 
 And deliver every man his soul : 
 Be not cut off in her iniquity; 
 For this is the time of the Lord's vengeance ; 
 He will render unto her a recompence. 
 Babylon hath bee?i a golden cup in the Lord's hand, 
 That made all the earth drunken : 
 The nations have drunken of her wine ; 
 Therefore the nations are mad. 
 
 Babylon is suddenly fallen and destroyed : 1 
 
 Howl for her ; 
 
 brigandtne] see note on xlvi. 4. 
 
 4. Thjis the slain shall fall... and they that are thrust throtigh"] 
 rather, And they shall fall slain... and thrust through. 
 
 5. For'] The reason of the overthrow of the Chaldaeans is that God 
 remembers Israel, and again the reason of His remembering Israel is 
 the wickedness of Chaldaea. This is the connexion of thought and 
 consequently though of the Eng. Vers, should also be for, their referring 
 to the Chaldaeans. Forsaken is literally widowed. 
 
 sin] rather, guiltiness. 
 
 the Holy One] The Septuagint here, as elsewhere also, render holy 
 oneSy without any authority. 
 
 6. soul] life. 
 
 be not cut off] See note on xlix. 26. 
 
 7. a golden cup] In chap. xxv. 15, 16 it was Jeremiah himself who 
 was commanded to make the nations drink of the wine of God's wrath. 
 Inasmuch however as Babylon was the means which God employed 
 for their overthrow, she is here spoken of under the same figure, as 
 having made all the nations drunk. She is called a golden cup from 
 the splendour and glory which belonged to her as an empire. For the 
 New Test, application of the figure to the spiritual Babylon see Rev. 
 xvii. 4, 5. 
 
 8. howl for her] This is addressed to the Jews and other nations, 
 held captive in Babylon. The terrible character of her fall is most 
 
332 JEREMIAH, LI. [vv. 9-12. 
 
 Take balm for her pain, 
 If so be she may be healed. 
 I We would have healed Babylon, but she is not healed : 
 Forsake her, and let us go every one into his own 
 
 country : 
 For her judgment reacheth unto heaven, 
 And is lifted up even to the skies. 
 The Lord hath brought forth our righteousness : 
 Come, and let us declare in Zion 
 The work of the Lord our God. 
 Make bright the arrows : gather the shields : 
 The Lord hath raised up the spirit of the kings of the 
 
 Medes : 
 For his device is against Babylon, to destroy it ; 
 Because it is the vengeance of the Lord, 
 The vengeance of his temple. 
 Set up the standard upon the walls of Babylon, 
 
 skilfully suggested by the prophet when he thus calls upon those who 
 had suffered most grievously at her hands to have compassion upon 
 the ills of their former oppressor. 
 take baling compare xlvi. 1 1. 
 
 9. We would have healed^ literally, We have healed, i.e. We have 
 tried to heal. The Jews speak in the name of all the exiles in Babylon. 
 
 her judgment] her guilt, 
 skies] literally, clouds. 
 
 10. hath brought forth our righteousness] hath made known the 
 justice of our cause (by thus delivering our enemy over to the sword). 
 God has at length judged that the idolatry of the people has been 
 sufficiently punished, and thus they are again to be treated as righteous. 
 
 11. Make bright] or, sharpen. 
 
 gather] Hterally, fill, i.e. place your arms within, or your bodies 
 behind, them. Compare the expression in margin of 2 Kings ix. 24, 
 *' filled his hand with a bow," i.e. grasped it. 
 
 shields] The Septuagint, who vary much in their rendering of the Heb. 
 word, here and in Ezek. xxvii. 1 1 have quivers, and they are followed by 
 the Vulgate, but this rendering seems to have been adopted merely as 
 being apparently most suited to the present context. Both here and in 
 the other passages where the Hebrew word occurs, it is best taken to 
 mean shields. 
 
 the kings of the Medes] Media was a country lying north-west of 
 Persia. It consisted in early times of a number of small tribes, whos^ 
 leaders are here called 'kings.' It was the Medo-Persian empire that 
 succeeded by conquest to the dominions of Babylon. For the last 
 words of this verse compare 1. 28 with note. 
 
 12. upon] against. Although the Heb. preposition is not free from 
 
vv. 13—16.] JEREMIAH, LI. 333 
 
 Make the watch strong, set up the watchmen, 
 
 Prepare the ambushes : 
 
 For the Lord hath both devised and done 
 
 That which he spake against the inhabitants of Babylon. 
 
 O thou that dwellest upon many waters, abundant in 13 
 
 treasures, 
 Thine end is come, and the measure of thy covetousness. 
 The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, sayings 14 
 
 Surely I will fill thee with men, as with caterpillars ; 
 And they shall lift up a shout against thee. 
 
 15 — 19. The Creator of the Universe alone is God. 
 
 He hath made the earth by his power, is 
 
 He hath established the world by his wisdom. 
 And hath stretched out the heaven by his understanding. 
 When he uttereth his voice, there is a multitude of waters 16 
 
 in the heavens ; 
 And he causeth the vapours to ascend from the ends of 
 
 the earth : 
 
 ambiguity, yet the words 'prepare the ambushes' that follow, seem to 
 decide that throughout the verse the besiegers and not the besieged are 
 addressed. 
 
 the ambushes] to attack any of the besieged that ventured beyond the 
 walls. 
 
 13. upon many waters'] See note on 1. 38. 
 
 abundant in treasures] conveyed to Babylon from the conquered 
 provinces. 
 
 the measure of thy covetousness] the measure of thy gain. Some would 
 render the last word cutting off, i.e. in the web of thy destiny the limit 
 has been reached, at which the thread is to be cut. Although the Heb. 
 root may in itself bear this sense, it is best to render it in its more 
 usual sense, as above, which is also better adapted to the mention of 
 treasures immediately preceding. 
 
 14. / will fill] literally, I have filled, the thing is viewed as though 
 it had already taken place. Babylon shall swarm with the hostile 
 armies. They shall effect an entrance. 
 
 caterpillars] locusts. 
 
 a shout] the vintage song, see note on xxv, 30. 
 
 15 — 19. The Creator of the Universe alone is God. 
 
 15—19. These verses are all but identical with x. 12 — 16. This 
 need not the least surprise us in the case of a writer like Jeremiah. It 
 is obvious however, that the other, and not this, is the original place 
 for the words. There they form a natural sequence with that 
 
334 JEREMIAH, LI. [vv. 17—20. 
 
 He maketh lightnings with rain, 
 
 And bringeth forth the wind out of his treasures. 
 
 Every man is brutish by his knowledge ; 
 
 Every founder is confounded by the graven image : 
 
 For his molten image is falsehood, and there is no breath 
 
 in them. 
 They are vanity, the work of errors : 
 In the time of their visitation they shall perish. 
 The portion of Jacob is not like them ; 
 For he is the former of all things: 
 And Israel is the rod of his inheritance : 
 The Lord of hosts is his name. 
 
 20 — 58. Amplification of the description of Babylon's doom. 
 Thou art my battle axe and weapons of war : 
 For with thee will I break in pieces the nations, 
 
 which precedes, assurir.5 the Israelites that they need not fear the 
 power of false gods, while here they are quoted by the prophet as a 
 solemn declaration to the Chaldaeans that their idols will prove worthless 
 in the day of their calamity. The omission of the word Israel in the 
 Heb. of ver. 19 here, and one or two minor differences in the original, 
 are the only points of distinction between the two passages. 
 
 Pascal gives verse 18 an application which shews that he understands 
 it, not of the idols, but apparently of their worshippers. "Thus you 
 see, fathers, that ridicule is in some cases a veiy appropriate means 
 of reclaiming men from their errors, and that it is accordingly an act of 
 justice, because, as Jeremiah says, 'the actions of those that err are 
 worthy of derision, because of their vanity'." {^Provincial Letters, xi.) 
 
 20—58. Amplification of the description of Babylon's 
 
 DOOM. 
 
 20. Thou art my battle axe] Although Cyrus, and again Israel have 
 been suggested by some, there can be little doubt that Babylon is 
 the subject of the address in this and the succeeding verse. Compare 
 chap. 1. 23, where she is likened to a hammer. It is clear from the tense 
 of the oft repeated verb in the original that she is thought of as still in 
 the height of her power and in the midst of her oppressive treatment 
 of the nations of the earth. 
 
 dattle axe] mace. "The Assyrian mace was a short thin weapon, and 
 must either have been made of a very tough wood, or — and this is more 
 probable — of metal. It had an ornamented head, which was sometimes 
 very beautifully modelled, and generally a strap or string at the lower 
 end, by which it could be grasped with greater firmness." (Rawlinson's 
 Afic. Mon. I. p. 458.) 
 
 for] and. 
 
w. 21— 25-] JEREMIAH, LI. 335 
 
 And with thee will I destroy kingdoms : 
 
 And with thee will I break in pieces the horse and his 21 
 
 rider; 
 And with thee will I break in pieces the chariot and his 
 
 rider ; 
 With thee also will I break in pieces man and woman ; 22 
 And with thee will I break in pieces old and young ; 
 And with thee will I break in pieces the young man and 
 
 the maid ; 
 I will also break in pieces with thee the shepherd and his 23 
 
 flock ; 
 And with thee will I break in pieces the husbandman and 
 
 his yoke of oxen ; 
 And with thee will I break in pieces captains and rulers. 
 And I will render unto Babylon 24 
 
 And to all the inhabitants of Chaldea 
 All their evil that they have done in Zion 
 In your sight, saith the Lord. 
 Behold, I a7n against thee, O destroying mountain, saith 25 
 
 the Lord, 
 
 22. old and young\ literally, old man and boy, 
 
 23. captains and rulers] The two original words are uncertain in 
 their origin and exact sense. They both occur again in ver. 28 and the 
 second {sdgdn) also in ver. 57. The former {pekhdh) seems a title given 
 to provincial governors below the first rank. It is applied to Tatnai 
 (Ezra V. 6), Nehemiah (Neb. v. 14), and Zerubbabel (Hag. i. i). It 
 may possibly be identical in root with the word pasha, but almost all 
 that can be ascertained about the word is that it is probably Assyrian. 
 Thus Babylon carried her severity even to the extent of ill-treating 
 her own subordinate governors. 
 
 24. / will render... in your sight\ These words are to be joined 
 in sense. The Jews are to have the satisfaction of seeing the requital 
 of their enemy. For this thought compare Ps. xci. 8. 
 
 25. O destroying mountain] The same phrase is used in 2 Kings xxiii. 
 13 (Eng. Vers, "the mount of corruption ) of the Mount of Olives the 
 scene of pernicious idolatry. Here Babylon receives the title, as at 
 once hurtful and conspicuous. It is not quite clear whether the figure 
 of a volcano is meant throughout the verse, with rocks mingled with 
 burning lava rolling down its sides. At any rate the last words mean 
 that it will be reduced, as it were, to a cinder, its power for evil 
 exhausted. "Such was Babylon. Its destructive energy under Ne- 
 buchadnezzar was like the first outbreak of volcanic fires, its rapid 
 collapse under his successors was as the same volcano when its flames 
 have burnt out, and its crater is falling in upon itself." i^Sp. Cofnm.) 
 
336 JEREMIAH, LI. [vv. 26—28. 
 
 Which destroyest all the earth : 
 
 And I will stretch out mine hand upon thee, 
 
 And roll thee down from the rocks, 
 
 And will make thee a burnt mountain. 
 a6 And they shall not take of thee a stone for a corner, 
 
 Nor a stone for foundations ; 
 
 But thou shalt be desolate for ever, saith the Lord, 
 37 Set ye up a standard in the land, 
 
 Blow the trumpet among the nations, 
 
 Prepare the nations against her. 
 
 Call together against her the kingdoms of Ararat, Minni, 
 and Ashchenaz ; 
 
 Appoint a captain against her ; 
 
 Cause the horses to come up as the rough caterpillars. 
 28 Prepare against her the nations with the kings of the 
 Medes, 
 
 26. The figure of stones, which by the action of fire have been ren- 
 dered unfit for use in building, is continued in this verse. No empire 
 shall again have Babylon for its centre. Its position as a capital city is 
 for ever shattered, and its glory burnt out. 
 
 27. in the land\ on the eaxtli. 
 
 prepare] sanctify. See notes on vi. 4, xxii. 7. 
 
 Ararat, Minni] These were respectively the central or southern, 
 and the western portions of Armenia, which word is possibly = Har- 
 Minni = the mountainous country of Minni. Armenia was by this 
 time under Median sway, and so would contribute to the force of that 
 army, when marching against Babylon. 
 
 Ashchenaz] Its position we can only gather from this passage to 
 have been near the former two places. Rawlinson (Herod, vol. iv. 
 204) suspects a wrong reading in the Heb. text. 
 
 captain] The Heb. word is rare, occurring only once besides, Nah. 
 iii. 17. There also the context concerns locusts, and the "captains" 
 are likened to grasshoppers. Even in the time of the Septuagint the 
 meaning of the word seems to have been doubtful, and it probably 
 denotes some particular kind of troops, as this will best suit the Nahum 
 passage. 
 
 as the rough caterpillars] as the rough locusts. If we retain this 
 rendering, we are to understand it of the "locusts in their third stage, 
 when their wings are still enveloped in rough horny cases, which stick 
 up upon their backs. It is in this stage that they are so destructive" 
 {^Sp. CoTHfu.). The rough of the Eng. Vers, however may mean, 
 according to another sense of the verb, causing terror, destruction. In 
 any case the enemy's horsemen are to advance to the attack in num- 
 bers which shall suggest a plague only too familiar to Eastern countries. 
 
 28. Prepare] See note on previous verse. 
 
vv. 29—32.] JEREMIAH, LI. 337 
 
 The captains thereof, and all the rulers thereof, 
 
 And all the land of his dominion. 
 
 And the land shall tremble and sorrow : 29 
 
 For every purpose of the Lord shall be performed against 
 
 Babylon, 
 To make the land of Babylon a desolation 
 Without an inhabitant. 
 
 The mighty men of Babylon have forborn to fight, 30 
 
 They have remained in their holds : 
 Their might hath failed ; they became as women : 
 They have burnt her dwelling places; 
 Her bars are broken. 
 
 One post shall run to meet another, 31 
 
 And one messenger to meet another, 
 To shew the king of Babylon 
 That his city is taken at one end, 
 
 And that the passages are stopped, 32 
 
 And the reeds they have burnt with fire, 
 
 captains... ruler s\ the same words as in verse 23. 
 
 his dominion] The pronoun refers to the king of Media, who is to 
 gather together the various tribes over which he rules, with their 
 governors. 
 
 29. shall tremble] trembles, and so for the other verbs of the verse. 
 
 30. forborn] ceased. 
 
 they have burnt] i.e. the enemy. 
 bars] defences generally. 
 
 31. post] The word is not used in modern English in this sense, 
 except in the expression post-haste. For the sense, running messenger, 
 compare 
 
 " Your native town you entered like a post.''^ 
 
 Shakespeare, Coriolanus, Act v. sc. 5. 
 
 First denoting that which is placed {positum), it came to denote a fixed 
 spot, e.g. a military post, or a place where horses are kept for tra- 
 vellers, then the person so travelling, and then any one travelling 
 quickly. See Bible Word-book. 
 
 shall run to meet another] Bearing the tidings from opposite quarters, 
 they shall meet at the king's castle in the heart of the city. 
 
 at one enct] better, from all sides. See note on 1. 26. 
 
 32. passages] not shallow places, fords, for such did not, as far as 
 we know, exist in the Euphrates at Babylon, but probably ferries. 
 There was but one bridge within the city. 
 
 reeds] pools. The word reeds has been substituted to avoid the 
 difficulty of declaring that pools of water are to be burned. It is only 
 
 JEREMIAH 2 2 
 
33^ JEREMIAH, LI. [w. 33,-35. 
 
 And tlie men of war are affrighted. 
 
 33 For thus saith the Lord of hosts, the God of Israel ; 
 The daughter of Babylon is like a threshingfloor, 
 
 If is time to thresh her : 
 
 Yet a little while, and the time of her harvest shall come. 
 
 34 Nebuchadrezzar the king of Babylon hath devoured me, 
 
 he hath crushed me. 
 He hath made me an empty vessel, 
 He hath swallowed me up like a dragon, 
 He hath filled his belly with my delicates, 
 He hath cast me out. 
 
 35 The violence done to me and to my flesh ^^upon Babylon, 
 
 in a figure however that this is said of them, and the meaning of the 
 statement is, that the reservoirs and pools round Babylon, made to 
 contain the overflovi^ of the river, and so to prevent inundations, shall, 
 like all the other adornments of Babylon, disappear as completely as 
 that which is inflammable does by the action of fire. 
 
 33. it is time to thresh her] at the time that it is trodden. " The 
 most common mode of threshing is with the ordinaiy slab called 
 m(nvrejy which is drawn over the floor by a horse, or yoke of oxen, 
 until not only the grain is shelled out, but the straw itself is ground 
 into chaflf. To facilitate this operation, bits of rough lava are fastened 
 into the bottom of the mowrej, and the driver sits or stands upon it.... 
 The intention of the farmer is to beat and grind down his hills of grain 
 to chaff, and much of it is reduced to fine dust, which the wind carries 
 away." Thomson, The Land and the Book, p. 53S. For the same 
 figure used in reference to Babylon, see Is. xxi. ro. 
 
 the time of her harvest shall come] the harvest time shall come to 
 her. 
 
 34. For 'me' we should probably read tis throughout this verse, 
 *my' remaining in the singular. The speaker is of course the oppressed 
 Israel. 
 
 hath made me] hath pushed me aside. 
 
 d/ni^'-on] The singular noun Tannin (plural Tanninim), to be dis- 
 tinguished from Tannin ( = Tannim), a plural of Tan, a jackal (see 
 note on ix. 11), denotes any great monster, such as a serpent, that 
 might naturally inhabit the plains of Babylon. In Is. li. 9, however, 
 and elsewhere also, it is used of Pharaoh or Egypt, and hence there, 
 and possibly here as well, means a crocodile. In Gen. i. 21, it is used 
 oi sea-f?ionsters (Eng. Vers, whales). 
 
 delicates] used as a substantive here only in the Bible. Compare 
 Shakespeare (3 Hen. VI. II. 5), where the king speaks of the shep- 
 herd's homely curds as 'far beyond a prince's delicates.'' {Bible Word 
 Book.) 
 
 36. The violence done to me and to my flesh] literally, 7ny violence^ 
 and my flesh, i.e. the violence done by devouring me. 
 
vv. 36—40.] JEREMIAH, LI. 339 
 
 Shall the inhabitant of Zion say ; 
 
 And my blood upon the inhabitants of Chaldea, 
 
 Shall Jerusalem say. 
 
 Therefore thus saith the Lord ; 36 
 
 Behold, I will plead thy cause, 
 
 And take vengeance for thee ; 
 
 And I will dry up her sea, 
 
 And make her springs dry. 
 
 And Babylon shall become heaps, 37 
 
 A dwelling place for dragons, 
 
 An astonishment, and a hissing. 
 
 Without an inhabitant. 
 
 They shall roar together like lions : 33 
 
 They shall yell as lions* whelps, 
 
 In their heat I will make their feasts, 39 
 
 And I will make them drunken, that they may rejoice. 
 
 And sleep a perpetual sleep. 
 
 And not wake, saith the Lord. 
 
 I will bring them down like lambs to the slaughter, t.o 
 
 Like rams with he goats. 
 
 36. sea] not used metaphorically, as some have supposed, for the 
 restless multitude of Babylon, but rather of the great lake or reservoir, 
 four hundred and tvi'enty furlongs in circumference, made by queen 
 Nitocris (Herod., Bk. i. 185). 
 
 springs'] The word is the same as that rendered "fountain" in the 
 Eng. Vers, of ii. 13, where see note. The literal sense is digging, and 
 the noun is in the singular. It refers to the network of canals dug 
 throughout the country, which were necessary not only for commerce 
 but also for irrigation. It is through the drying up of them that the 
 country is barren to this day. See ver. 13, and 1. 38. 
 
 37. heaps'] "Vast 'heaps' or mounds, shapeless and unsightly, are 
 scattered at intervals over the entire region where it is certain that 
 Babylon anciently stood." (Rawl. Anc. Mon. ii. 521.) 
 
 dragons] jackals, not the same word as in ver. 34 (see note there 
 and on ix. 11), but Tannim = Tannin, plural of Tan. 
 hissing] See note on xviii. 16. 
 
 39. In their heat I will make their feasts] While they are exulting 
 over the spoil which they have won from the conquered nations, I wilt 
 allow them to carouse {feasts should be drinking bouts), and then 
 destroy them at unawares. This found a signal fulfilment in the capture 
 of Babylon during a feast. 
 
 40. lambs... rams... he-goats] all classes of the people. See Is. 
 xxxiv. 6; Ezek. xxxix. 18. 
 
 22 — 2 
 
340 JEREMIAH, LI. [vv.41— 46. 
 
 4' How is Shcshach taken ! 
 
 And how is the praise of the whole earth surprised ! 
 
 How is Babylon become an astonishment among the 
 nations ! 
 42 The sea is come up upon Babylon: 
 
 She is covered with the multitude of the waves thereof. 
 4i Her cities are a desolation, 
 
 A dry land, and a wilderness, 
 
 A land wherein no man dwelleth, 
 
 Neither doth any son of man pass thereby. 
 4< And I will punish Bel in Babylon, 
 
 And I will bring forth out of his mouth that which he 
 hath swallowed up : 
 
 And the nations shall not flow together any more unto 
 him: 
 
 Yea, the wall of Babylon shall fall. 
 
 45 My people, go ye out of the midst of her, 
 And deUver ye every man his soul 
 From the fierce anger of the Lord. 
 
 46 And lest your heart faint. 
 
 And ye fear for the rumour that shall be heard in the 
 
 land; 
 A rumour shall both come 07ie year, 
 And after that in another year shall come a rumour, 
 
 41. Sheshachl See note on xxv. ■26. 
 the p7-aise\ the object of praise. 
 surprised^ seized. 
 
 42. The sea is cojne up\ Tlae approach of the hostile army is thus 
 represented. Compare xlvi. 7, 8. 
 
 43. a wilderness\ a desert, a place absolutely without vegetable life. 
 See note on ii. 6. 
 
 44. Ber\ See note on 1. 1. 
 
 that which he hath swallowed up\ the riches of the subjugated 
 nations. 
 
 the wall of Babylon shall fall'\ and so the city shall lose that which 
 was its main source of strength as a fortress. 
 
 45. go ye out'\ See 1. 8. 
 
 46. lest voter heart fainf] (beware) that your heart faint not. 
 
 a rumour... a rumour'\ literally, and there shall come in [the course of) 
 the year the rumour, and aftenvard in [the course of) the year the 
 rumour. Rumour shall succeed rumour, as the years go on, and revolts 
 and intestine disputes shall foreshadow the fmal break up of the 
 Babylonian empire. 
 
vv. 47— 53.] JEREMIAH, LI. 341 
 
 x\nd violence in the land, ruler against ruler. 
 
 Therefore behold, the days come, 47 
 
 That I will do judgment upon the graven images of Ba- 
 bylon : 
 
 And her whole land shall be confounded, 
 
 And all her slain shall fall in the midst of her. 
 
 Then the heaven and the earth, and all that is therein, 48 
 shall sing for Babylon: 
 
 For the spoilers shall come unto her from the north, 
 saith the Lord. 
 
 As Babylon hath caused the slain of Israel to fall, 49 
 
 So at Babylon shall fall the slain of all the earth. 
 
 Ye that have escaped the sword, go away, stand not still: 50 
 
 Remember the Lord afar off. 
 
 And let Jerusalem come into your mind. 
 
 We are confounded, because we have heard reproach: 5, 
 
 Shame hath covered our faces : 
 
 For strangers are come into the sanctuaries of the Lord's 
 house. 
 
 Wherefore behold, the days come, saith the Lord, 52 
 
 That I will do judgment upon her graven images: 
 
 And through all her land the wounded shall groan. 
 
 Though Babylon should mount up to heaven, S3 
 
 And though she should fortify the height of her strength, 
 
 47. confounded] ashamed. See note on chap, xlviii. 20. 
 
 48. shall sing for Babylon'] shall rejoice over her fall. 
 
 49. The Eng. Vers, is probably correct. There is a brevity and 
 consequent obscurity about the Heb., which has made it possible to 
 propose other renderings, e.g. that of the Eng. margin {Both Babylon 
 is to fall, O ye slain of Israel, and with Babylon, etc.). The sense is, 
 that the fact of Babylon's having caused the death of Israelites, shall be 
 visited upon the representatives of many nations, which shall be mixed 
 up in her overthrow. 
 
 60. This is addressed to the Israelites, who were in exile in 
 Babylon, and had thus escaped death in the preliminary struggles be- 
 tween that empire and Israel. 
 
 afar off] from afar, from Babylon. 
 
 51. confounded] ashamed. The exiles speak, while yet in exile, 
 and lament the reproaches that are cast in their teeth for worshipping a 
 God who will not defend Mis people from misfortune, and His Temple 
 from sacrilege. 
 
 53. the height of her strength] either the height of her walls, or that 
 of the tower of Belus. 
 
342 JEREMIAH, LI. [w. 54- 58. 
 
 Yet from me shall spoilers come unto her, saith the Lord. 
 
 54 A sound of a cry cometh from Babylon, 
 
 And great destruction from the land of the Chaldeans: 
 
 55 Because the Lord hath spoiled Babylon, 
 And destroyed out of her the great voice; 
 When her waves do roar like great waters, 
 A noise of their voice is uttered : 
 
 56 Because the spoiler is come upon her, even upon Babylon, 
 And her mighty meti are taken, 
 
 Every 07ie ^ their bows is broken: 
 
 For the Lord God of recompences shall surely requite. 
 
 57 And I will make drunk her princes, and her wise men, 
 Her captains, and her rulers, and her mighty men : 
 And they shall sleep a perpetual sleep, and not wake, 
 Saith the King, whose name is the Lord of hosts. 
 
 58 Thus saith the Lord of hosts; 
 
 The broad walls of Babylon shall be utterly broken, 
 And her high gates shall be burnt with fire; 
 And the people shall labour in vain, 
 
 55. hath spoiled'\ spoileth. 
 destroyed^ will destroy. 
 
 the great voice] the hum of the city's life. 
 
 when her waves] and their waves, the surging hosts which encom- 
 pass the city. 
 
 a noise] See note on xxv. 31. 
 
 56. every one of] These words do not occur in the Heb., but the 
 verb is sing, {is broken). This however is not as much of an obstacle 
 in Heb. as it would be in Eng. to our rendering simply their bows are 
 broken, 
 
 for the Lord God of recompences shall surely requite] for a God of 
 recompences is tlie Lord ; he will assuredly requite. 
 
 68. The broad walls] According to Herodotus, the outer wall of 
 Babylon was -200 royal cubits (about 373 English feet) high, while it 
 was fifty cubits wide. This, however, both from the nature of the case, 
 and from the conflicting testimony of other writers, seems exaggerated. 
 Probably the height was about 60 or 70 English feet. The walls may 
 have been 30 or 40 feet wide, as they allowed of a team of four horses 
 being driven along them. See Herod., 13k. i. 179, and Rawlinson's 
 notes on that passage. 
 
 utterly broken] literally, made bare, destroyed, so that the very 
 foundations shall be uncovered. 
 
 high gates] " In the circuit of the wall are a hundred gates, all of 
 brass, with brazen lintels and side-posts." Herod. I. 179. 
 
 the people shall labour...] a quotation from Hab. ii. 13, transposing 
 
vv. 59—62.] JEREMIAH, LI. 343 
 
 And the folk in the fire, and they shall be weary. 
 
 59 — 64. Appendix^ containing the history of this prophecy. 
 
 The word which Jeremiah the prophet commanded Se- 59 
 raiah the son of Neriah, the son of Maaseiah, when he went 
 with Zedekiah the king of Judah into Babylon in the fourth 
 year of his reign. And this Seraiah was a quiet prince. So 60 
 Jeremiah wrote in a book all the evil that should come upon 
 Babylon, eveti all these words that are written against Baby- 
 lon. And Jeremiah said to Seraiah, When thou comest to 61 
 Babylon, and shalt see, and shalt read all these words; then 62 
 
 however the words for Mn vain' and 'the fire'. Jeremiah throws 
 light on Habakkuk's meaning, and at the same time gives it a more 
 particular application. The fact that the Chaldaean conquests involve 
 nothing in the end but exhaustion and suffering to the nations who 
 have to do the behests of their ambitious rulers ("quicquid delirant 
 reges, plectuntur Achivi") is by Jeremiah applied to the final overthow 
 of the Babylonian empire. 
 
 59—64. Appendix, containing the history of this prophecy. 
 
 59. Seraiah^ brother of Baruch, both being sons of Neriah. See 
 xxxii. \i. 
 
 ■when he went with Zedekiah"] This journey to Babylon was probably 
 made as an act of homage to Nebuchadnezzar. Possibly it was in 
 consequence of suspicions aroused in the mind of that king by the 
 coming of ambassadors in the same year to Zedekiah from Edom, 
 Moab, and Ammon (xxvii. 3). (The order of these two events may how- 
 ever have been just the converse; see note on lii. 3.) The command 
 to Seraiah is not actually stated till ver. 61, etc., the intermediate words 
 being explanatory and so of the nature of a parenthesis. 
 
 a quiet prince] a prince of the camping- place, what we should now 
 call a quarter-master-general. It seems to have been his duty, as in 
 attendance on the king in a journey, to ride forward each day, and 
 arrange that matters should be in readiness at the next halting place. 
 
 60. in a book] literally, in one book. Although the numeral is 
 sometimes used in Heb. simply as an indefinite article, yet it may well 
 have its proper force here, implying that the whole i:)rophecy of chap- 
 ters 1., li., was written upon one parchment, that so it might be the 
 more conveniently sunk in the river. 
 
 61. and shalt see and shalt read] then see that thou read, not to 
 the people of Babylon, nor even perhaps to a solemnly convoked 
 assembly of Jews, as either course would have been at least attended 
 with much danger, and the first of them probably impo<^ible to carry 
 out. The words are nevertheless to be pronounced in the presence of 
 Jewish witnesses, who could in after days testify that thus, long before 
 the overthrow of Babylon, these words had been read in the midst of 
 
344 JEREMIAH, LI. [vv. 63, 64. 
 
 shalt thou say, O Lord, thou hast spoken against this place, 
 to cut it off, that none shall remain in it, neither man nor 
 
 63 beast, but that it shall be desolate for ever. And it shall be, 
 when thou hast made an end of reading this book, that 
 thou shalt bind a stone to it, and cast it into the midst of 
 
 64 Euphrates: and thou shalt say, Thus shall Babylon sink, and 
 shall not rise from the evil that I will bring upon her: and 
 they shall be weary. Thus far are the words of Jeremiah. 
 
 the very city where they were to take effect, and then buried in the 
 heart of the same. 
 
 64. and they shall be weary\ This utterance by Seraiah of that 
 which forms the (one) last word of the prophecy in the original, is for 
 the solemn coupling of the symbolic act with the prophecy which has 
 thus been read. 
 
 Thus far ai-e the words of J ere77iiah\ These words are added in all 
 probabihty by the writer of the concluding chapter, and shew how 
 careful he was that he should not be identified with the prophet by 
 future generations. See Introd., chap. iii. § 6. 
 
 Chap. LIL Historical Appendix to the Book. 
 
 With respect to this concluding portion, two questions at once arise; 
 (i) is its author Jeremiah? (ii) what relation does it bear to the two other 
 portions of the Bible with which it has much in common, viz. chap. 
 xxxix. of this Book, and 1 Kings xxiv. 18 — xxv. 30? 
 
 As regards (i), this question seems already settled by the last words of 
 chap. Ii. We find moreover a certain diversity from Jeremiah's style, 
 the most noteworthy instance of which perhaps is the use of the name 
 Jehoiachin (Coniah and Jeconiah being the forms always used in the 
 early part of this Book). Moreover, verses 31 — 34 refer to events 
 which in all probability Jeremiah did not live to witness, though it is just 
 possible that he may have recorded them in extreme old age. Much of 
 this chapter may be in a sense the worlc of Jeremiah, as we shall now 
 see in replying to the second enquiry mentioned above. 
 
 In answer to (ii) we note that while a considerable portion of the 
 three narratives is almost verbally identical, yet the account now before 
 us contains, in common with that of the Kings, particulars relating to 
 the Temple vessels, etc., which are omitted in chap, xxxix., while Nebu- 
 chadnezzar's charge concerning Jeremiah's safety (xxxix. 11 — 14), and 
 the subsequent Jewish history connected with Gedaliah {1 Kings xxv. 
 1% — 26, and given also in full, Jer. xl. — xlii.), are not found in the 
 present narrative. Practically, we have to choose between these two 
 solutions of the question, (a) that the present passage was taken from 
 the Book of the Kings, held ])y many persons to be the work of Jeremiah, 
 while the modifications and additions represent independent sources 
 of information possessed by the person who introduced it here, or {Ii), 
 that the only connexion between the passages lies in their being both 
 derived from some older historical record, which has been therefore 
 made use of in a somewhat difl'erent manner and degree in each. 
 
w. 1—4.] JEREMIAH, LII. 345 
 
 Chap. LII. Historical Appendix to the Book. 
 
 I — II. Capture of the City. 
 
 Zedekiah was one and twenty year old when he began to 52 
 reign, and he reigned eleven years in Jerusalem. And his 
 mother's name was Hamutal the daughter of Jeremiah of 
 Libnah. And he did that which was evil in the eyes of the 2 
 Lord, according to all that Jehoiakim had done. For 3 
 through the anger of the Lord it came to pass in Jerusalem 
 and Judah, till he had cast them out from his presence, that 
 Zedekiah rebelled against the king of Babylon. And it 4 
 
 Other differences, as in the matter of numbers, have doubtless arisen 
 from corruptions of the text in the hands of copyists, and are by no 
 means peculiar to these passages, which, however, form an easy and in- 
 teresting method of testing the extent (hereby shewn to be extremely 
 slight) to which such corruptions may be considered to have affected 
 the sacred Text. The Septuagint Version, which omits xxxix. 4 — 13 
 (see introductory notes to that chapter for further remarks), contains 
 the whole of lii. with the exception of verses 2, 3, 15, 28 — 30. 
 
 Chap. LII. 1 — 11. Capture of the City. 
 
 1. Zedekiah was one and twenty year old'\ So 2 Chron. xxxvi. 11, 
 but, if we compare i Chron. iii. 15 with 2 Kings xxiii, 31 ( = 2 Chron. 
 xxxvi. 2), we find that, supposing the numbers which we now read 
 there to be correct, Zedekiah should by this time have been thirty-four 
 or thirty-five years of age. We must therefore assume that an error 
 in the figures has somewhere crept into the text. 
 
 year] This and not years is the original reading of the Eng. Vers. : so 
 in 2 Kings xxiii. 36 ("twenty and five year"); Dan. v. 31 ; Am. i. i; 
 Rom. iv. 19; so "mile" in marg. of John xi. 18. 
 
 his mother's na?ne was Hamutal] Hamital is the other reading 
 both here, and in the parallel passage in 2 Kings. So in the Heb. of 
 I Sam. XXV. 18, we have Abugail, but in the rest of the chap. Abigail. 
 Zedekiah was thus brother of Jehoahaz but half-brother of Jehoiakim 
 (2 Kings xxiii. 31, 36). 
 
 2. did that which was evil] We have already noticed Zedekiah's 
 weakness of character in xxxvii. 2, 3, xxxviii. 5, 24, etc. 
 
 3. it came to pass] this caf?ie to pass, i.e. the evil courses of the king. 
 that Zedekiah rebelled] and Zedekiah rebelled. It has been suggested 
 
 that as there was an impression prevalent both at Jerusalem (xxviii. i — ■ 
 11) and at Bal^ylon (xxix.), that Jehoiachin and tlie rest would return 
 soon from exile, Zedekiah's personal visit to Nebuchadnezzar (li. 59) 
 may have been in consequence of this, while his failure may possibly 
 have been the cause of the assembling of the ambassadors of Edom, 
 etc. (xxvii. 3), and of Zedekiah's overtures to Egypt (Ezek. xvii. 15). 
 Then came open revolt on the part of the Jews, encouraged by the 
 
346 JEREMIAH, LII. [vv. 5—9. 
 
 came to pass in the ninth year of his reign, in the tenth 
 month, in the tenth day of the month, that Nebuchadrezzar 
 king of Babylon came, he and all his army, against Jerusa- 
 lem, and pitched against it, and built forts against it round 
 
 5 about. So the city was besieged unto the eleventh year of 
 
 6 king Zedekiah. And in the fourth month, in the ninth day 
 of the month, the famine was sore in the city, so that there 
 
 7 was no bread for the people of the land. Then the city 
 was broken up, and all the men of war fled, and went forth 
 out of the city by night by the way of the gate between the 
 two walls, which was by the king's garden; (now the Chal- 
 deans were by the city round about:) and they went by the 
 
 8 way of the plain. But the army of the Chaldeans pursued 
 after the king, and overtook Zedekiah in the plains of Jeri- 
 
 9 cho ; and all his army was scattered from him. Then they 
 took the king, and carried him up unto the king of Babylon 
 to Riblah in the land of Hamath; where he gave judgment 
 
 successful resistance of Tyre year after year (Ezek. xxix. 18), while 
 Nebuchadnezzar was engaged in a distant part of the empire. 
 
 4. in the tenth inonth\ A fast was instituted in memory of this 
 time, Zech. viii. 19. 
 
 in the tenth day of the month'] On that very day it was revealed to 
 Ezekiel (xxiv. 2;, that the siege was commencing. See note on 
 xxxix. I. 
 
 Nebuchadrezzar] a more accurate form than Nebuchadnezzar. See 
 note on chap. xxi. 1. 
 
 pitched] i.e. they pitched. In 2 Kings the verb is singular. 
 
 forts] moveable towers, sometimes with battering rams, such as 
 Assyrian sculptures shew. 
 
 6. in the fourth month] In memory of this date also, a fast was 
 appointed (Zech. viii. 19). 
 
 faj}iine] described in detail in the Lamentations. Compare Ezek. 
 iv. 16, 17, V. 16, 17. 
 
 the people of the land] the poorer classes, who had taken refuge in 
 Jerusalem, or who had dwelt there. 
 
 7. was broken up] rather, was broken into. No doubt the north 
 wall of the city is referred to, its most vulnerable point. For further 
 particulars, see notes on xxxix. 3, 4. 
 
 by nii^ht] So Ezekiel foretold (xii. 12). 
 they went] 2 Kings, he went. 
 
 8. Lam. iv. 19, 20 may refer to this, in which case the circum- 
 stances probably were these, that one body of Chaldaeans followed, 
 and another laid wait in the plain. Compare Ezek. xii. 13. 
 
 Zedekiah] 2 Kings, him. 
 
 9. Riblah] See note on xxxix. 5. 
 
w. 10—13.] JEREMIAH, LTI. 347 
 
 upon him. And the king of Babylon slew the sons of Zede- 10 
 kiah before his eyes: he slew also all the princes of Judah 
 in Riblah. Then he put out the eyes of Zedekiah; and the n 
 king of Babylon bound him in chains, and carried him to 
 Babylon, and put him in prison till the day of his death. 
 
 12 — 27. Severities following upon the Capture. 
 Now in the fifth month, in the tenth day of the month, ^^ 
 which was the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar king of 
 Babylon, came Nebuzar-adan, captain of the guard, which 
 served the king of Babylon, into Jerusalem, and burnt the 13 
 
 in the land of Hamath'\ not found in 1 Kings. 
 
 he gave Judg?nent upon himi See note on i. 16. In 2 Kings it is 
 they gave. 
 
 10. the king of Babylon slew] 1 Kings, they slew. 
 
 he slew also all the princes of Judah in Riblah] omitted in 2 Kings. 
 the princes'] See note on nobles, xxxix. 6. 
 
 11. he put out the eyes] See note on xxxiv. 3, and on xxxix. 7. 
 the king of Babylon] not found in 2 Kings. 
 
 and put him in prison till the day of his death] an addition to the 
 narrative in 2 Kings, which takes leave of Zedekiah at Riblah, since 
 that record vi^as probably made before anything further could be 
 learned of him. 
 
 prison] The Septuagint render mill, and hence it has been infeiTcd 
 that they ascribed to him the same fate in his old age, as that to which 
 the Philistines consigned Samson (Jud. xvi. 21). 
 
 12 — 27. Severities following upon the Capture. 
 
 12. From this to ver 23, a part of the narrative which has been 
 summarized in xxxix. 8 — 10, we find an almost verbal accord with 
 2 Kings XXV. 8 — 17. 
 
 in the fifth month] See Zech. vii. 3 for the commemorative fast. 
 
 tenth] 2 Kings has seventh. Such discrepancies in numerals are 
 often explained by supposing that the numbers were denoted originally 
 by letters, so that similar letters miglit well be mistaken one for another 
 by copyists. Here however it is easy to allow such a margin of time 
 between the arrival of Nebuzar-adan in the neighbourhood of Jeru- 
 salem and his actual entry upon the work which he had been sent to do. 
 He is not mentioned in xxxix. 3 in the list of generals who entered the 
 city at once. 
 
 the nineteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar] B.C. 586 or 587, according as 
 we reckon his reign from the time of his father's actual decease or from 
 the previous year. 
 
 captain of the guard] See note on xxxix. 9. 
 
 served] stood before. The expression implies close personal attend- 
 ance on the king. (Compare note on xv. 19). The mass, even of 
 those about the palace, would not have access to his presence. 2 Kings 
 
348 JEREMIAH, LII. [vv. 14—18. 
 
 house of the Lord, and the king's house; and all the 
 houses of Jerusalem, and all the houses of the great men, 
 
 14 burnt he with fire; and all the army of the Chaldeans, that 
 were with the captain of the guard, brake down all the walls 
 
 15 of Jerusalem round about. Then Nebuzar-adan the cap- 
 tain of the guard carried away captive certain of the poor of 
 the people, and the residue of the people that remained in 
 the city, and those that fell away, that fell to the king of 
 
 16 Babylon, and the rest of the multitude. But Nebuzar-adan 
 the captain of the guard left certain of the poor of the land 
 
 17 for vinedressers and for husbandmen. Also the pillars of 
 brass that were in the house of the Lord, and the bases, 
 and the brasen sea that was in the house of the Lord, the 
 Chaldeans brake, and carried all the brass of them to Baby- 
 
 18 Ion. The caldrons also, and the shovels, and the snuffers, 
 
 has simply a servant of the king of Babylon. The Heb. by itself is 
 ambiguous, and but for our knowing otherwise that Nebuchadnezzar 
 was not at Jerusalem at this time, might mean, as the Syr. and Vulg. 
 actually render, stood before the king at Jerusalem. 
 
 13. all the houses of the great men] Both here and in the parallel 
 passage in 2 Kings xxv. 9 (where however the Heb. is slightly different), 
 the rendering should rather be every great house. The words are 
 intended to prevent a misconception arising out of those which imme- 
 diately precede them. All the houses of importatice were burned. 
 
 14. 'with' and 'all' are omitted in the Kings, the former doubtless 
 by accident. 
 
 15. The whole verse is omitted by the Septuagint. The words 
 * certain of the poor of the people and ' seem to have come in from the 
 next verse through an error of sight on the part of a copyist. The three 
 classes of persons actually spoken of in the verse appear to be {a) those 
 found within the city at the time of its capture, {b) those who had gone 
 out to the Chaldaeans during the siege (see note on xxxix. 9), [c] the 
 country people. The word denoting this last {the multitude) occurs 
 once (Prov. viii. 30) in the sense of workman (Eng. Vers, "one 
 brought up with him"). From a comparison of the parallel passages 
 however it is not likely that such is its sense here. 
 
 16. Nebiczar-adan'] omitted in Kings. 
 
 17. This description of tlie fate of the Temple furniture is much 
 fuller than in the Kings' passage, and has no parallel whatever in chap, 
 xxxix. For the vessels here mentioned see chap, xxvii. 19 with note. 
 They were too large to be conveniently carried as they were, and so 
 were broken and taken to Babylon for the sake of the material. In 
 Kings all is omitted before the brass. 
 
 18. caldrons] for carrying away the ashes after sacrifice, the shoz'els 
 being for a similar purpose. 
 
vv. 19-22.] JEREMIAH, LII. 349 
 
 and the bowls, and the spoons, and all the vessels of brass 
 wherewith they ministered, took they away. And the ba- 19 
 sons, and the firepans, and the bowls, and the caldrons, and 
 the candlesticks, and the spoons, and the cups; thai which 
 was of gold in gold, and that which was of silver iji silver, 
 took the captain of the guard away. The two pillars, one 20 
 sea, and twelve brasen bulls that were under the bases, 
 which king Solomon had made in the house of the Lord: 
 the brass of all these vessels was without weight. And 21 
 co7icerning the pillars, the height of one pillar was eighteen 
 cubits; and a fillet of twelve cubits did compass it; and the 
 thickness thereof was four fingers : // was hollow. And a 22 
 chapiter of brass was upon it; and the height of one cha- 
 piter was five cubits, with network and pomegranates upon 
 the chapiters round about, all of brass. The second pillar 
 
 spoons\ incense-cups. This we gather from Numb. vii. 14, etc. 
 
 19. fire pans] or, snuff-dishes. 
 
 boTvls] This word should probably stand but once (see ver, 18). In 
 the Kings it is omitted on the earlier occasion. Caldrons and spoons 
 also occur twice in this enumeration, while in Kings these articles as 
 well as candlesticks and cups do not appear. 
 
 20. The repetition marks the regretful contemplation of these things 
 by the writer, as he connects them with the golden age of the kingdom 
 and the reign of Solomon. 
 
 twelve brasen bulls that were uftder"] These words do not occur in 
 the Kings' passage, and hence it is possible that they may be an erroneous 
 addition made at some time to the sacred Text. This is however far 
 from certain, as the figures in question were probably at Jerusalem up 
 to this date, and so would naturally form a conspicuous feature in the 
 spoil. There remains however a certain amount of difficulty in the 
 description of their position. In the Temple as built by Solomon the 
 bases were under the lavers, while the bulls supported the sea. (i Kings 
 vii. 25, 43.) 
 
 21. eighteen cubits'] a cubit was about 18 inches. 
 fillet] literally, thread. 
 
 four fingers] about four inches. Thus as the diameter was something 
 under six feet (the circumference being twelve cubits = eighteen feet), 
 about five feet of the diameter were hollow. 
 
 22. a chapiter] a capital. 
 
 five cubits] From this, which agrees with i Kings vii. 16, we must 
 correct the ''three cubits" of 2 Kings xxv. 17, unless we take the 
 smaller number to denote the actual measurement of the network of the 
 chapiter, excluding the pomegranates. 
 
 potnegraftates] a very common ornament in Assyria both for buildings 
 and weapons. 
 
350 JEREMIAH, LI I. [vv. 23—27. 
 
 23 also and the pomegranates were like unto these. And there 
 were ninety and six pomegranates on a side; and all the 
 pomegranates upon the net work were an hundred round 
 
 24 about. And the captain of the guard took Seraiah the chief 
 priest, and Zephaniah the second priest, and the three 
 
 25 keepers of the door; he took also out of the city an eunuch, 
 which had the charge of the men of war; and seven men of 
 them that were near the king's person, which were found in 
 the city; and the principal scribe of the host, who mustered 
 the people of the land; and threescore men of the people 
 
 26 of the land, that were found in the midst of the city. So 
 Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard took them, and 
 
 27 brought them to the king of Babylon to Riblah. And the 
 king of Babylon smote them, and put them to death in 
 
 23. There is an apparent discrepancy between the number of the 
 pomegranates as given here and in i Kings vii. 20. From the latter 
 passage we gather that each pillar had two rows, a hundred in each, 
 the one above and the other below the ornamental network of the chapi- 
 ters. It is possible that the account here may not be inconsistent with 
 the existence of such a double row upon each chapiter, though it certainly 
 does not suggest it, or again, one of the rows may have been removed 
 before this period, leaving one hundred on each chapiter, probably 
 twenty-four on each side, (Heb. windivard, i.e. directly facing each 
 wind,) and one at each corner. We should thus render on a side, on 
 tlie (four) sides, in order to bring out the sense. 
 
 24 — 27. This passage is omitted in xxxix., but is almost identical 
 with 2 Kings xxv. 18 — 21. 
 
 24. Seraiah the chief priest'] Nebuzar-adan chose out those who 
 v/ere highest in authority and therefore most responsible for the pro- 
 longed resistance. His conduct in this respect has been remarked on, 
 as shewing a very pleasing contrast with the indiscriminate vengeance 
 so often wreaked by Eastern conquerors. This Seraiah is identified by 
 some with him who is mentioned in Ezra vii. i. 
 
 Z'phaniah] See note on xxi. i. 
 
 keepers of the door] See note on xxxv. 4. 
 
 25. which had the charge of] The Heb. is 7uho was Pakfd [lieittenafit) 
 over. For remarks on the sense of Pakid see note on x». i. 
 
 scvejt men] in the King's passage yi'z'^ men. 
 
 were near the king's person] literally, saw the king's face. See note 
 on ver. 12. 
 
 principal scribe of the host] or, scribe of the commander in chief, a 
 rendering which the words that follow make the more probable of 
 the two. 
 
 threescore men of the people of the land] perhaps leading men whose 
 homes were in the country parts. 
 
w. 28— 3T.] JEREMIAH, LIT. 351 
 
 Riblah in the land of Hamath. Thus Judah was carried 
 away captive out of liis own land. 
 
 28 — 30. Enumeration of Nebuchadnezzar' s captives. 
 
 This is the people whom Nebuchadrezzar carried away 28 
 captive: in the seventh year three thousand Jews and three 
 and twenty: in the eighteenth year of Nebuchadrezzar he 29 
 carried away captive from Jerusalem eight hundred thirty 
 and two persons : in the three and twentieth year of Nebu- 30 
 chadrezzar Nebuzar-adan the captain of the guard carried 
 away captive of the Jews seven hundred forty and five per- 
 sons : all the persons were four thousand and six hundred. 
 
 31 — 34. Last notice of JehoiacJiin. 
 And it came to pass in the seven and thirtieth year of 31 
 
 28 — 30. Enumeration of Nebuchadnezzar s captives. 
 
 28. in the seventh year\ This passage does not occur in the Septua- 
 gint, perhaps as coming out of a separate document from the rest, 
 and containing certain difficulties. In the seventh year the reference 
 can hardly be to the captivity of Jehoiakim, as that was in the 
 eighth year of Nebuchadnezzar, and the number of captives was 
 far greater than is here specified (2 Kings xxiv. 12, 14). Probably 
 therefore the Heb. for tenth has dropped out before seventh, and we 
 are to read seventeenth year. If then we consider the document from 
 which this is taken to have dated from Nebuchadnezzar's formal (one 
 year later than his actual) accession (see note on ver. 12), we make the 
 reference to be to the time when the siege was going on (his eighteenth 
 year, according to the common reckoning). Thus this captivity would 
 consist chiefly, at any rate, of inhabitants of the country parts. In the 
 next year, his ^eighteenth'' (nineteenth), Jerusalem was taken, and the 
 second of these three deportations took place, while five years later in 
 his ^ three and twentieth (four and twentieth) year\ (and therefore a 
 considerable time after the troubles related chaps, xl. — xlii.), a third 
 deportation occurred, of which we have no other account than this. 
 To reconcile the total given here (ver. 30) with the much larger 
 number who returned with Ezra (Ezra ii. 64) leaving many behind 
 in Babylon, we have only to remember (a) those who were carried 
 away with Jehoiachin before any of the three captivities here mentioned, 
 (b) the probably constant emigration of Jews to Babylon, and {c) the 
 lapse of time, equal to two generations, which intervened before the 
 return. 
 
 31 — 34. Last notice of Jehoiachin. 
 
 31. This passage occurs also with slight variations in 2 Kings xxv. 
 «7— 30- 
 
 the seven and thirtieth year] B.C. 561, as his captivity had begun 
 B.C. 597. 
 
352 JEREMIAH, LII. [vv. 32—34. 
 
 the captivity of Jehoiachin king of Judah, in the twelfth 
 month, in the five and twentieth day of the month, that 
 Evil-merodach king of Babylon in the first year of his 
 reign lifted up the head of Jehoiachin king of Judah, and 
 
 32 brought him forth out of prison, and spake kindly unto him, 
 and set his throne above the throne of the kings that were 
 
 33 with him in Babylon, and changed his prison garments: 
 and he did continually eat bread before him all the days of 
 
 34 his hfe. kwAfor his diet, there was a continual diet given 
 him of the king of Babylon, every day a portion until the 
 day of his death, all the days of his life. 
 
 the five and twentieth day of the months in 1 Kings xxv. 27 the seven 
 and twentieth day of the month. 
 
 Evil-vierodach'\ son of Nebuchadnezzar. He reigned two years, and 
 was slain by his brother-in-law Neriglissar (the Nergal-sharezer of xxxix. 
 3, 13) who succeeded him. 
 
 lifted up the head] For the phrase in this sense compare Gen. xl. 13, 
 20. 
 
 32. set his throne above] in general, paid him more honour. 
 
 the kings'] captured kings were kept at the court of their conqueror as 
 a means of perpetuating the memory of his triumph. Compare Jud. i. 
 7. So Croesus dwelt at the court of Cyrus. 
 
 33. changed his prison gai'ments] Compare Gen. xli. 42 ; Esth. 
 viii. 15 ; Dan. v. 29; Luke xv. 22. The frequent mention of such a 
 circumstance shews the importance attaching in the Oriental mind 
 to the style of a person's dress. 
 
 did contimialiy eat bread before him] was admitted to the king's 
 own table. Compare 2 Sam. ix. 7, xix. 33, etc. So this privilege was 
 accorded to Democedes the Greek physician after his cure of IJarius, 
 (Herod, iii. 132). 
 
 34. until the day of his death, all the days of his life] The latter of 
 these clauses, as the text now stands, is probably either an addition to, 
 or originally a substitution for, the former, in order to avoid the in- 
 auspicious ending with the word death. The general object too of the 
 paragraph seems to have been somewhat similar, viz. to leave the 
 reader with a parting ray of comfort and encouragement in the thonc:ht 
 that even in exile the Lord remembered His people and softened the 
 heart of the heathen tyrant towards David's seed. See note on Lam. 
 
THE 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 INTRODUCTION. 
 CHAPTER I. 
 
 NAME, POSITION, DATE AND STRUCTURE OF THE BOOK. 
 
 1. The name Lamentations corresponds to that under which 
 this Book appears in the Latin Vulgate, and which is a trans- 
 lation of the Septuagint Threni, itself a rendering of the Heb. 
 word Khioth. This last, though not prefixed to the Book, is 
 yet of frequent occurrence in the Hebrew Scriptures : Jeremiah 
 uses the word three times (vii. 29, ix. 10, 20 [in the Heb. 9, 
 19]; each time rendered "lamentation")- It is the title of 
 David's funeral song over Saul and Jonathan in 2 Sam. i. 17, 
 while the corresponding verb is used in the Heb. of 2 Sam. iii. 
 33. This last is also used of the dirge composed by Jeremiah 
 on the death of Josiah in battle (2 Chron. xxxv. 25). The title 
 of the Book itself in the Heb. Canon is Aichah, { = Hozv\ the 
 word which commences the first, second and fourth of the five 
 songs to which the five chapters correspond. It is in accord- 
 ance with Jewish custom to name a Book of the Bible by a 
 conspicuous word at or near its beginning. 
 
 2. This book is placed in the Heb. in the last division 
 {Cthubhim = Psalms, etc.) according to the threefold classification 
 of the Jewish Scriptures (see Luke xxiv. 44). It is thus rightly 
 reckoned by them among the poetical books of the Canon. It 
 is now placed for synagogue use as one of the five Megilloth 
 
 JEREMIAH 23 
 
354 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 (or Rolls^ appointed to be read on special occasions), which 
 stand thus, Canticles, Ruth, Lamentations, Ecclesiastes, Esther. 
 
 3. The date, as determined by Josephus, is considerably- 
 earlier than the one generally received. That writer {Antiq. X. 5) 
 says, referring no doubt to this Book, that " Jeremiah composed 
 a dirge for Josiah's funeral, which rejnains unto this day." He 
 was apparently misled by the statement in 2 Chron. xxxv. 25 
 (see § I above) that the dirges composed by Jeremiah and others 
 on that occasion were "written in the Lamentations" St 
 Jerome supported this view, and in particular chap. iv. was 
 referred to this event and not to the capture of Zedekiah. 
 Both the earliest external testimony, however, viz. that of the 
 Septuagint (see chap. ii. § i), and the contents of the Book 
 itself, point to the events of which a brief sketch is given in 
 Jer. xxxix. and Hi. That the Book could not have been written 
 long after this time is clear from the graphic manner in which 
 the horrors of the siege are portrayed. We know from the 
 history that Jeremiah was well off in comparison with many 
 of his countrymen after the capture of the city, and the favour 
 shewn him by the Chaldaeans may well have allowed him the 
 opportunity of writing this Book some time before he went down 
 to Egypt. " In the face of a rocky hill, on the western side 
 of the city, the local belief has placed 'the Grotto of Jeremiah.' 
 There in that fixed attitude of grief, which Michael Angelo has 
 immortalised, the Prophet may well be supposed to have 
 mourned the fall of his country." — Stanley's J. Ch. 11. 473. 
 
 4. Four out of the five poems of which this Book consists, 
 may be divided into as many parts (viz. twenty-two) as there are 
 letters of the Heb. alphabet, beginning with the letters consecu- 
 tively, except in one case, where in the second, third and fourth 
 chapters the order of certain two letters is reversed. More 
 than one of the alphabetical Psalms also shews breaks in the 
 strict order of succession of the letters. The peculiar and 
 hitherto unexplained feature however in the present Book is 
 that it is the sajne pair of letters in each of the three cases 
 which are thus transposed. Further, if we take the four alpha- 
 betical poems separately, we find that in the first three each of 
 
INTRODUCTION. 355 
 
 the twenty-two parts (or verses, but note that in chap. iii. each 
 part = tJij-ee Eng. verses) itself may as a rule be subdivided into 
 three, in chapter iv. into two only, while in the third chapter 
 each of these three subdivisions (or verses) begins with the 
 same letter, and is itself divisible into two. In chap, v., 
 although the number of the verses is the same, the alphabetical 
 order is dropped. The above mentioned artificial arrangement, 
 by which a definite rule for the beginning of verses was attained, 
 may be compared with modern rhymed endings, as well as with 
 the more complicated Greek and Latin metres. In such a 
 structure of the poems we may easily discern an additional 
 advantage here, as aiding the memory of the captives to recall 
 them in their distant exile. 
 
 CHAPTER II. 
 
 AUTHORSHIP OF THE BOOK. 
 
 1. That the Book of the Lamentations is the work of Jeremiah 
 the prophet has been the apparently universal belief first of 
 the Jewish and then of the Christian Church from the earliest 
 times until recently. The Hebrew indeed contains no direct 
 assertion of the fact. The earliest extant translation however, 
 that called by the name Septuagint, ascribes it to him in a note 
 prefixed to the first chapter to the following effect, ''^ And it 
 came to pass after Israel was taken captive and J erusalem 
 made desolate, Jeremiah sat weeping and lamented with this 
 lafnentation over Jerusalem, and said^'' This evidence brings 
 us back to at least one or two centuries before Christ. Other 
 early authorities also ascribe the Book to Jeremiah, while the 
 Latin Vulgate (4th cent. A.D.) repeats the assertion of the 
 Septuagint, as given above, amplifying however the last words 
 into " and in bitterness of hea?'t sighing and crying said." 
 
 2. A few persons in recent times, assuming that the pro- 
 phecies commonly attributed to Jeremiah are at any rate in the 
 main rightly so ascribed, have suggested the following objections 
 
 23—2 
 
356 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 to the received view that the Lamentations are the composition 
 of the same author : 
 
 {a) Contradictions between the tv^^o Books; 
 
 {b) Inconsistencies in language ; 
 
 {c) Inconsistencies in form ; 
 
 {d) The occurrence of quotations from Ezckiel, shewing 
 therefore that the Book in which they occur must be of a later 
 date than that prophet. 
 
 3. Taking these objections singly (and marking the answers 
 by the same letters), we may reply as follows : 
 
 {a) But one alleged contradiction is cited, viz. the teaching of 
 Jer. xxxi. 29, 30 (that children shall not be punished for the 
 misdeeds of their ancestors) when compared with Lam. v. 7, 
 " we have borne their (i. e. our fathers') iniquities ". And here 
 the charge, if it were made at all, should rather have been that 
 Jeremiah in his prophecies was inconsistent with himself, for in 
 chap, xxxii. 18 we read " Thou...recompensest the iniquity of the 
 fathers into the bosom of their children after them." In point 
 of fact however all these passages are quite in harmony as well 
 with each other as with the teaching of the second Command- 
 ment. Suffering as the consequence of sin naturally propagates 
 itself through successive generations of sinners, but the operation 
 of this law of God is at once, in the case of the repentant 
 sinner, arrested by His gracious law of forgiveness and mercy 
 towards those who love Him and keep His commandments. 
 
 {b) The less prominence given in the Lamentations to the 
 sins of the people (which are however spoken of frequently, viz. 
 chaps, i. 5, 8, 14, 18, 22, ii. 14, iii. 39, 42, iv. 6, 13, v. 7) quite falls 
 in with the respective characters and objects of the two works. 
 In the earlier, addressed as it was directly to the people, rebuke 
 found naturally a prominent place. In the latter the prophet is 
 pouring out his grief to God, and the case is thereby made 
 materially different. It is now the language of a sufferer rather 
 than of a teacher. In general however the peculiarities of Jere- 
 miah which fall naturally under the head of /(7;;^/^^^t', are found 
 in the most striking manner throughout the Lamentations. Be- 
 
INTRODUCTION. 357 
 
 sides the "union of strong passionate feeling and entire sub- 
 mission to Jehovah which characterizes both... In both we 
 meet, once and again, with the picture of the 'Virgin daughter 
 of Zion' sitting down in her shame and misery (Lam. i. 15, 
 "• 13; Jer. xiv. 17). In both there is the same vehement out- 
 pouring of sorrow. The prophet's eyes flow down with tears 
 (Lam. i. 16, ii. 11, iii. 48, 49; Jer. ix. i, xiii. 17, xiv. 17). There 
 is the same haunting feehng of being surroimded with fears and 
 terrors on every side (Lam. ii. 22 ; Jer. vi. 25, xlvi. 5). In both 
 the worst of all the evils is the iniquity of the prophets and 
 the priests (Lam. ii. 14, iv. 13; Jer. v. 30, 31, xiv. 13, 14). The 
 sufferer appeals for vengeance to the righteous Judge (Lam. iii. 
 64 — 66; Jer. xi. 20). He bids the rival nation that exulted in 
 the fall of Jerusalem prepare for a like desolation (Lam. iv. 21 ; 
 Jer. xlix. 12)" (Prof. Plumptre in Sm. Bibl. Diet.). To this we 
 may add the expressions concerning personal bodily sufferings 
 on the part of the writer of Lam. iii. 52 — 55 as compared with 
 Jer. xxxviii. 6 — 13. Besides the explanation of the differences 
 of language as arising from the difference of character between 
 the two Books, which has been already noticed, we may note 
 the fact that one is the language of prose, the other of poetry, 
 and we find moreover in both the strongly marked tendency 
 to quote from older Books of the Bible, but, in accordance 
 with what has just been said, in the case of the Prophecy, 
 from Deuteronomy, in that of the Poems, from the Psalms 
 as being a poetical Book. We find also that in both Books 
 the writer repeats himself much. 
 
 {c) The principle of the reply has been already shewn under 
 the head of [b). To the particular objection e. g. arising from 
 the alphabetical structure of the poems (see last chapter) we may 
 answer as before that as prophecy and history are essentially 
 different from poetry, so the same writer when turning to a 
 new kind of composition may well be allowed to adopt the pecu- 
 liarities which belong to it. 
 
 {d) Taking the two supposed instances of quotation from 
 Ezekiel (viz. Lam. ii. 14 compared with Ezek. xii. 24, xiii. 6, etc., 
 and Lam. ii. 15 compared with Ezek, xxvii. 3, xxviii. 12) we 
 
358 INTRODUCTION. 
 
 may shew (i) that even though they be quotations from that 
 prophet, this is no argument against Jeremiah's authorship ; and 
 (ii) that there is no reason in point of fact to assume that these 
 two passages are quotations from him. 
 
 (i) There must have been frequent intercourse between the 
 Jews taken captive with Jehoiakim and those who remained 
 behind (see Jer. xxix, 25), and nothing is more likely under such 
 circumstances than that Jeremiah and Ezekiel were made 
 speedily aware each of the other's utterances. 
 
 (ii) In Lam. ii. 14, " vain and foolish things " is literally 
 '■^unreal and foolish things," while the word thus used is the 
 same as Ezekiel's elsewhere, but differing from that commonly 
 employed by Jeremiah, who uses a word expressive rather of 
 moral obliquity than simple unreality. The aims of the two 
 Books however, as we noticed above, differ. In the former, 
 addressed directly to the people, the iniquity of their deeds 
 would be insisted on, while the latter, addressed as an appeal 
 to the mercy of God, would dwell upon the folly and tinreality 
 of their aims. In the second instance Jerusalem is called " the 
 perfection of beauty," while a similar expression is applied to 
 Tyre twice by Ezekiel. Almost the same word however occurs 
 in Ps. 1. 2 of Zion, and as the words which conclude the verse 
 in the Lamentations are obviously a quotation from Ps. xlviii, 2 
 (which also refers to Zion), it seems clear that the earlier part of 
 the verse is but supplying us with one more instance of a 
 quotation of the kind which we have just noticed (see {b) above) 
 to be so frequent in the Lamentations. 
 
 On the whole therefore we conclude that Jeremiah was beyond 
 question the writer of this Book. 
 
INTRODUCTION. 359 
 
 CHAPTER III. 
 
 SUBJECT-MATTER AND PURPOSE OF THE BOOK. 
 
 1. The subject, as we have seen already, is undoubtedly the 
 capture of the city under Nebuchadnezzar, and the sorrow and 
 suffering which were thereby entailed. Herewith is united both 
 the confession that this has come upon the people on account 
 of their sins, and entreaties for deliverance. 
 
 2. Taking the poems severally, 
 
 Chap. i. dwells upon the solitary condition and grief of the 
 city; 
 
 Chap. ii. sets forth the destruction that has come upon her, 
 and acknowledges that it is the result of sin ; 
 
 Chap, iii., which although framed for the most part in the 
 singular number, yet includes the nation throughout, complains 
 of the bitter cup which God's people have to drink, and yet 
 acknowledges that the trials which are come upon them are 
 inflicted by a Father's hand ; 
 
 Chap. iv. describes the reverses in fortune that have been 
 brought about by recent events, and again acknowledges sin ; 
 
 Chap. V. recapitulates the pitiful details of their condition, and 
 ends by an earnest prayer for deliverance. 
 
 3. The Book from an historical point of view thus forms a 
 supplement to the Book of Jeremiah. There we traced the life 
 and thoughts of the prophet while events were gradually leading 
 to the final catastrophe. Here we see him after that catastrophe 
 has been reached, and mark that it is the same man still, clearly 
 recognizing the sin of his fellows, but as full as ever of sympathy 
 for them and of love for his country. " All feehng of exultation 
 in which, as mere prophet of evil, he might have indulged at the 
 fulfilment of his forebodings, was swallowed up in deep over- 
 whelming sorrow " (Prof. Plumptre in Sm. Bibl. Did). 
 
 4. It was not in one who had faithfully warned his country- 
 men for so long, to keep silence now, and doubtless the very 
 
36o INTRODUCTION. 
 
 pouring out of his heart in this form gave his sorrow a certain 
 relief. As he had probably lamented for Josiah in some such 
 manner (2 Chron. xxxv. 25), so now he was moved to come 
 forward and embody in language those thoughts which an 
 inspired prophet like him would be guided to publish and 
 record. 
 
 5. "There are perhaps few portions of the Old Testament 
 which appear to have done the work they were meant to do 
 more effectually than this." It has not been connected with 
 the theological or ecclesiastical disputes of any age, while it has 
 supplied the earnest Christian of all times with words in which 
 to confess his sins, and shortcomings, as well as with a picture 
 of Him Who bore our sins and carried our sorrows, on Whom 
 was "laid the iniquity of us all." 
 
 6. The Book is annually read among the Jews to com- 
 memorate the burning of the Temple. The following is Schafif's 
 description {Through Bible La7ids, pp.250 — 252) of the scene 
 at the 'Wailing Place of the Jews' at Jerusalem. "There 
 the Jews assemble every Friday afternoon and on festivals to 
 bewail the downfall of the holy city. I saw on Good Friday a 
 large number, old and young, male and female, venerable rab- 
 bis with patriarchal beards and young men kissing the stone 
 wall and watering it with their tears. They repeat from their 
 well-worn Hebrew Bibles and Prayer-books the Lamentations 
 of Jeremiah and suitable Psalms. . . . The key note of all these 
 laments and prayers was struck by Jeremiah, the most pathetic 
 and tender hearted of prophets, in the Lamentations, that fu- 
 neral dirge of Jerusalem and the theocracy. This elegy, written 
 with sighs and tears, has done its work most effectually in 
 great public calamities, and is doing it every year on the ninth 
 of the month Ab (July), when it is read with loud weeping in all 
 the synagogues of the Jews and especially at Jerusalem. It 
 keeps alive the memory of their deepest humiliation and guilt 
 and the hope of final dehverance. The scene of the Wailing 
 Place was to me touching and pregnant with meaning." 
 
THE 
 
 LAMENTATIONS OF JEREMIAH. 
 
 Chap. I. i — 22. The Miseries of Jerusale?7i. 
 
 (X) J TOW doth the city sit solitary, that was full of 1 
 iT people ! 
 How is she become as a widow ! she that was great 
 among the nations, 
 
 Chap. I. 1 — 22. The Miseries of Jerusalem. 
 
 The general subject running through this first chapter may be thus 
 subdivided. Verses i — ii lament the sufferings which Jerusalem is 
 now undergoing, while twice in the course of this portion (verses 9, ii) 
 the city itself breaks out into a wail of distress, and thus leads up to the 
 second division of the chapter, verses 12—22, where the city itself is 
 the speaker. In that second part also, their suffering is from time to 
 time (ver. 14, etc.) spoken of as the consequence of sin, and thus we 
 arrive at chap, ii., where that is the leading thought. See Introduction, 
 chap. III. § 2. 
 
 We may compare these opening verses with Is. xlvii. i. In both 
 places we are reminded of the figure on the medal struck by Titus, to 
 commemorate his capture of Jerusalem (a.d. 71), a woman weeping 
 beneath a palm-tree with the inscription below, Judaea capta. The 
 same picture is here presented to us, and we see thus personified the 
 inhabitants shortly after the siege, while the miseries which accompanied 
 and succeeded it were still fresh. 
 
 1. H(rw\ The Heb. {Aichah), which occurs also at the commence- 
 ment of chaps, ii. and iv., as well as in ver. 2 of the latter, has supplied 
 the Jewish name for this book, the custom of naming the books of 
 the Bible by the first word being a common one with them. 
 
 sit solitary] as emptied by the departure of the captives, and deserted 
 by her friends, and by God Himself. 
 
 how is she become] We must amend the Heb. (Masoretic) punctua- 
 tion of the verse, by which it is divided into two main portions, the 
 former of them ending with widow. The division should be threefold, 
 the second and third parts running thus. She is become as a widow, 
 she that was great among the nations ; a princess among the pro- 
 vinces, she is become tributary. A threelold division of this kind 
 prevails almost throughout. 
 
362 LAMENTATIONS, I. [vv. 2—4. 
 
 And princess among the provinces, Aow is she become 
 
 tributary ! 
 O) She weepeth sore in the night, and her tears are on 
 
 her cheeks : 
 Among all her lovers she hath none to comfort /ler : 
 All her friends have dealt treacherously with her, they 
 
 are become her enemies. 
 Q) Judah is gone into captivity because of affliction, 
 
 and because of great servitude : 
 She dwelleth among the heathen, she findeth no rest : 
 All her persecutors overtook her between the straits. 
 (*1) The ways of Zion do mourn, because none come to 
 
 the solemn feasts : 
 
 a widow"] From Is. xlvii. 8. Some have thought the reference here 
 to be to the loss of her king, or of great men and friends in general. When 
 however we compare the use of the figure of widowhood in Is. liv. 4, 
 5, as well as such passages as Jer. ii. 2, it appears that the Lord is the 
 husband who has been lost. 
 
 provinces] This name is once used of the peoples dependent on the 
 king of Syria (i Kings xx. 17), and afterwards frequently of those 
 subject to the Persian empire (Esth. i. i, etc.), and is used of Judah 
 itself in Ezra ii. i ; Neh. vii. 6. Here it seems to be used of the 
 neighbouring nations, Moab, Edom, etc., which were now falling under 
 the Babylonian yoke, but had formerly been subject to the (undivided) 
 kingdom of Israel. 
 
 tributary] a, vassal. The original word implies bond-service, and it 
 was only in later times that it was used of tribute, e.g. Esth. x. i. 
 
 2. in the night] The time of natural silence and darkness is made 
 a part of the picture in order to heighten the effect. 
 
 her lovers... her friends] the neighbouring states, with whom in the 
 sunshine of prosperity she was on friendly terms. Such were Egypt, 
 etc. For Edom, as having turned against her at this time, see latter 
 part of note on Concerning Edom, Jer. xlix. 7, and for a similar charge 
 against the Ammonites, Ezek. xxv. 3, 6. 
 
 3. is gone into captivity because of ajffliction] The better rendering 
 is, is gone into exile because of affliction, i.e. the long sufferings of the 
 Jews at the hands of Egypt and Chaldaea had induced many of them 
 to go voluntarily to dwell in other lands. That there were many such 
 persons, we gather from Jer. xl. 11. Others however would explain 
 the passage of the Babylonish captivity, and render {taken) out of 
 affliction, etc. 
 
 between the straits] The figure is taken from hunting. The Jews 
 have been like animals, driven into a narrow space, that they may be 
 the more easily attacked. 
 
 4. The ways of Zion do mourn] The approaches to Jerusalem are 
 
w. 5— 7-] LAMENTATIONS, I. 363 
 
 All her gates are desolate : her priests sigh : 
 
 Her virgins are afflicted, and she is in bitterness. 
 
 (n) Her adversaries are the chief, her enemies prosper ; s 
 
 For the Lord hath afflicted her for the multitude of her 
 
 transgressions : 
 Her children are gone into captivity before the enemy. 
 (^) And from the daughter of Zion all her beauty is t 
 
 departed : 
 Her princes are become like harts that find no pasture, 
 And they are gone without strength before the pursuer. 
 (T) Jerusalem remembered in the days of her affliction 7 
 
 and of her miseries 
 All her pleasant things that she had in the days of old, 
 When her people fell into the hand of the enemy, and 
 
 none did help her ; 
 
 meant. They are desolate, without the usual throng of those coming 
 up to the feasts at the Holy City, which, since its religious aspect is 
 here referred to, is spoken of as ' Zion '. 
 
 For the thought of inanimate objects as sympathizing with human 
 affairs, we may compare the well-known passage (Scott's Lay of the 
 Last Minstrel, canto v.), beginning 
 
 Call it not vain — they do not err, 
 
 Who say, that, when the Poet dies, / 
 
 Mute Nature mourns her worshipper. 
 
 And celebrates his obsequies. 
 
 all her gates are desolate] Compare Jer. xiv. 1, with note. 
 
 her virgins are abided] They are mentioned as taking part in 
 religious ceremonies. See Exod. xv. 20; Jud. xxi. 19, 21 ; Ps. Ixviii. 
 «5- 
 
 6. are the chief] In the Heb. the phrase is the same as that used 
 in Deut. xxviii. 44 ("he shall be the head''), where this is foretold as 
 the result of Israel's obstinacy. 
 
 prosper] literally, are at peace. See Jer. xii. i, where the Eng. 
 Vers, has "are... happy". 
 
 before the enemy] driven like a flock of cattle. 
 
 6. beauty] glory. 
 
 her princes are become like harts] The prophet is thinking of the 
 flight and capture of Zedekiah and his princes, Jer. xxxix. 4, 5. 
 
 7. remembered] has remembered. 
 
 miseries] The original word is a rare one, and means compulsory 
 wanderings, persecutions. 
 
 enemy] adversary. The word is the same as that which is so 
 rendered immediately afterwards. 
 
364 LAMENTyVTIONS, T. [w. 8— 11. 
 
 The adversaries saw her, and did mock at her sabbaths, 
 (n) Jerusalem hath grievously sinned; therefore she is 
 
 removed : 
 All that honoured her despise her, because they have 
 
 seen her nakedness : 
 Yea, she sigheth, and turneth backward, 
 (to) Her filthiness is in her skirts; she remembereth 
 
 not her last end ; 
 Therefore she came down wonderfully : she had no 
 
 comforter. 
 O Lord, behold my affliction ; for the enemy hath mag- 
 nified himself. 
 (^) The adversary hath spread out his hand upon all 
 
 her pleasant things : 
 For she hath seen that the heathen entered into her 
 
 sanctuary, 
 Whom thou didst command that they should not enter 
 
 into thy congregation. 
 O) All her people sigh, they seek bread ; 
 They have given their pleasant things for meat to relieve 
 
 the soul : 
 
 sabbaths] either, (i) the regularly recurring day of rest, which was, 
 we know, a subject in regard to which other nations displayed as much 
 ignorance as wonder, e.g. "Where kings the sabbath barefoot cele- 
 brate", Juvenal, Sat. vi. Gifford's Translation, 1. 233; or, (ii) com- 
 pulsory rest [sabbatism ; compare the Greek in Heb. iv. 9), which the 
 land now had. See Lev. xxvi. 34, 35. 
 
 8. is removed] is become an abomination. This and the next 
 verse in figurative language describe the Jewish people, as having 
 brought upon itself through sin and consequent national humiliation 
 the contempt of all its neighbours, while it is painfully conscious of 
 its own ignominy (compare iv. 7,1). 
 
 9. she came down 7uonde7'ftilly\ Compare Is. xlvii. i. 
 O Lord, behold] See introductory note to chapter. 
 
 10. pleasant] literally, desirable, precious. 
 
 the heathen entered into her sanctuary] Those who were forbidden, 
 at any rate as nations, ever to enter into a religious covenant with 
 Israel (e.g. Ammonites and Moabites, Deut. xxiii. 3, 4), now, as part of 
 the invading host, entered the very Holy of Holies for plunder. No 
 worse humiliation could befall a Jew than this. 
 
 11. The people have already given up their most valuable possessions, 
 that they had hitherto hoarded, for bread. There is therefore nothing 
 now between them and starvation. 
 
 meat] food. Compare note on meat offerings, Jer. xvii. 26. 
 
vv. 12—14.] LAMENTATIONS, I. 365 
 
 , See, O Lord, and consider ; for I am become vile. 
 (7) Is it nothing to you, all ye that pass by? behold, 12 
 
 and see 
 If there be any sorrow like unto my sorrow, which is done 
 
 unto me. 
 Wherewith the Lord hath afflicted me in the day of his 
 
 fierce anger. 
 ()b) From above hath he sent fire into my bones, and it 13 
 
 prevaileth against them : 
 He hath spread a net for my feet, he hath turned me 
 
 back; 
 He hath made me desolate and faint all the day. 
 Q) The yoke of my transgressions is bound by his 14 
 
 hand: 
 They are wreathed, and come up upon my neck : he hath 
 
 made my strength to fall. 
 The Lord hath delivered me into their hands, fro7n whojn 
 
 I am not able to rise up. 
 
 to relieve the souf] literally, to bring back the life. Compare verses 
 16, 19. 
 see^ O Lord^ Compare introductory note to chapter. 
 
 12. The beginning of the second section of the chapter. See 
 introductory note. 
 
 Is it nothing to yoti\ This is almost certainly right, although the 
 words have also been translated as not interrogative, either, Look not 
 on yourselves, or, by a slightly difterent reading of the Heb., / adjure 
 all you, etc. This latter seems that which was originally followed by 
 the Septuagint, whose reading now however is obscure. 
 
 13. From above'] i.e. from heaven. 
 it prevaileth against] it subdueth. 
 
 he hath spread a net for my feet] For the figure compare Jer. 1. 24. 
 
 turned me back] The metaphor from hunting is continued (see ver. 3). 
 The people are driven into a corner, and then the way is blocked, and 
 they are headed back. 
 
 14. is bound] The Heb. verb occurs here only, and hence the 
 sense is not quite certain. The Eng. however is probably correct. The 
 manifold sins of the people are likened to a complication of cords, 
 attaching a yoke on the neck of a beast of burden, and keeping it 
 secure in its place. Compare note on "bonds and yokes" of Jer. 
 xxvii. 1. 
 
 ■wreathed] twisted together. 
 to fall] literally, to stumble. 
 
366 LAMENTATIONS, I. [w. 15—17. 
 
 ; (D) The Lord hath trodden under foot all my mighty 
 
 men in the midst of me : 
 He hath called an assembly against me to crush my 
 
 young men : 
 The Lord hath trodden the virgin, the daughter of Judah, 
 
 as in a winepress. 
 (J^) For these things I weep ; mine eye, mine eye run- 
 neth down with water, 
 Because the comforter that should relieve my soul is far 
 
 from me : 
 My children are desolate, because the enemy prevailed. 
 (^) Zion spreadeth forth her hands, and there is none to 
 
 comfort her : 
 The Lord hath commanded concerning Jacob, that his 
 
 adversaries should be round about him : 
 Jerusalem is as a menstruous woman among them. 
 
 15. hath trodden underfoot all my mighty men] rather, hatli made of 
 no account all my strong ones. Compare Ps. cxix. 1 18, where the same 
 word ("hast trodden down," Eng. Vers.), should be rendered hast 
 made light of. The verb means properly to lift up, and hence that 
 which can be easily lifted, which is easily outweighed, here, e.g. by 
 the Chaldaeans when they are placed as it were in the opposite 
 scale. 
 
 hath called an assembly] hath summoned a solemn assembly. This 
 is the ordinary application of the substantive, which primarily means an 
 appointed time and hence a solemn asse?nbly, ox festival. The festival is 
 for the enemy, and that which is to be celebrated, the overthrow of 
 the flower of the Jewish army. 
 
 hath trodden...] hatli trodden the wine press for the virgin daughter 
 of Judah. For treading the winepress, as a phrase to express the 
 wrath of God, compare Is. Ixiii. 3 ; Rev. xiv. 19, xix. 15, and for the 
 virgin daughter of Judah, Jer. xiv. 17. 
 
 16. For these things] The particulars rehearsed in the last three 
 verses open again the floodgates of tears. 
 
 mine eye, mine eye] This repetition is quite in Jeremiah's style. 
 Compare Jer. iv. 19, vi. 14 (and again, viii. 11), xxii. 29, xxiii. 25. 
 
 m.ine eye runneth down with water] See iii. 48, and compare the 
 phrase "to weep one's eyes out." 
 
 relieve my souf] Compare ver. 11. 
 
 17. spreadeth forth her hands] in supplication. Compare Exod. ix. 
 29 ; 1 Kings viii. 38, etc. 
 
 that his adversaries should be round about him] those who are about 
 him are his adversaries. The neighbouring nations look upon Jeru- 
 salem at once with hatred, and, as the last words express, with con- 
 tempt. 
 
W. 18—22.] LAMENTATIONS, I. 367 
 
 (V) The Lord is righteous ; for I have rebelled against 18 
 
 his commandment : 
 Hear, I pray you, all people, and behold my sorrow: 
 My virgins and my young men are gone into captivity, 
 (p) I called for my lovers, but they deceived me : 19 
 
 'My priests and mine elders gave up the ghost in the city, 
 While they sought their meat, to relieve their souls. 
 Cn) Behold, O Lord ; for I am in distress : my bowels 20 
 
 are troubled ; 
 Mine heart is turned within me; for I have grievously 
 
 rebelled : 
 Abroad the sword bereaveth, at home then is as death. 
 0) They have heard that I sigh ; there is none to com- 21 
 
 fort me : 
 All mine enemies have heard of my trouble; they are 
 
 glad that thou hast done it: 
 Thou wilt bring the day that thou hast called, and they 
 
 shall be like unto me. 
 (Jl) Let all their wickedness come before thee ; 2a 
 
 And do unto them, as thou hast done unto me for all my 
 
 transgressions : 
 
 18. / have rebelled against his commandment'\ This confession of 
 sin is an anticipation of that which is so prominent in the next chapter. 
 Compare, in the next verse but one, ** I have grievously rebelled." 
 
 people'\ peoples. 
 
 19. for my lovers'] to my lovers. 
 
 to relieve their souls'] Compare ver. i r. The Septuagint add (but 
 unnecessarily, as it is sufficiently understood from the context), and 
 found it not. 
 
 20. my bowels] the vital parts (specially the heart), as the seat of 
 the emotions. 
 
 are troubled] literally, are red, inflamed (with sorrow) ; a strong 
 figure. 
 
 is turned] cannot rest, is violently agitated. 
 
 at home there is as death] As violent death is imminent for those 
 who stir abroad, so even those who remain within are like to die of 
 famine and pestilence. See Jer. ix. 21. 
 
 21. thou wilt bring] thou bringest. The day here spoken of is the day 
 of punishment for Judah, but viewed as involving also the punishment 
 of her enemies. This is shewn by the last words of the verse. Com- 
 pare Jer. XXV. 1 7 — 26, in which passage Jerusalem and the neighbour- 
 ing nations are all united in the same figure, as drinking in common of 
 the cup of God's wrath. 
 
368 LAMENTATIONS, II. [w. i, 2. 
 
 For my sighs are many, and my heart is faint. 
 
 Chap. II. i — 22. God^ s judgments upon the city. 
 Lamentation. Supplication. 
 
 i^) How hath the Lord covered the daughter of Zion 
 
 with a cloud in his anger, 
 And cast down from heaven unto the earth the beauty of 
 
 Israel, 
 And remembered not his footstool in the day of his 
 
 anger ! 
 (^) The Lord hath swallowed up all the habitations of 
 
 Jacob, and hath not pitied : 
 He hath thrown down in his wrath the strong holds of the 
 
 daughter of Judah ; 
 He hath brought them down to the ground : he hath 
 
 polluted the kingdom and the princes thereof. 
 
 22. for my sighs are many] The connexion is, I have had my 
 punishment. Do thou then proceed to inflict upon them their share. 
 
 Chap. II. 1 — 22. God's judgments upon the city. Lamenta- 
 tion. Supplication. 
 
 This chapter may be subdivided as follows. Verses i — 10 describe 
 in detail the punishment sent upon Jerusalem, 11 — 17 bewail the same 
 together with the cruelty of the lookers on, 18, 19 call upon the city to 
 address herself to God, and 20 — 22 gives us the supplication which she 
 accordingly offers. In this chapter we have not simply a renewed 
 setting forth of miseries, but rather the same viewed now more in the 
 light of a judgment sent from God, and therefore as the consequences 
 of sin. 
 
 1. How] See note on chap. i. i. 
 hath... covered] doth... cover. 
 
 the beauty of Israel] possibly the Temple, as in Is, Ixiv. 11, but more 
 naturally, Jerusalem herself. 
 
 his footstool] here again either the city or the Temple may be meant, 
 or thirdly, the ark, which is actually called God's "footstool" in i Chron. 
 xxviii. 2. In Ps. cxxxii. 7, the word seems used of the sanctuary (com- 
 pare Is. Ix. 13). 
 
 2. habitations] The word is that which is used for the dwellings 
 and pasture grounds of shepherds, and thus refers to the country parts 
 of Judaea, as opposed to the fortresses, 'strongholds', that follow. 
 
 hath polluted] By their fall they have been deprived of that sanctity 
 which has hitherto been their character. Compare Ps. Ixxxix. 39, 
 where the original word ("hast profaned ") is the same as here. 
 
w. 3—6.] LAMENTATIONS, II. 369 
 
 (J) He hath cut off in his fierce anger all the horn of 3 
 
 Israel : 
 He hath drawn back his right hand from before the 
 
 enemy, 
 And he burned against Jacob like a flaming fire, which 
 
 devoureth round about. 
 (*1) He hath bent his bow like an enemy : he stood with 4 
 
 his right hand as an adversary, 
 And slew all that were pleasant to the eye, 
 In the tabernacle of the daughter of Zion : he poured 
 
 out his fury like fire. 
 (n) The Lord was as an enemy : he hath swallowed up s 
 
 Israel, 
 He hath swallowed up all her palaces : he hath destroyed 
 
 his strong holds. 
 And hath increased in the daughter of Judah mourning 
 
 and lamentation. 
 (1) And he hath violently taken away his tabernacle, as 6 
 
 3. all the horn] every horn, every means of defence, the horn being 
 the symbol of power. 
 
 He hath dratun back his right hand'\ God has withdrawn His aid 
 from His people. 
 
 burned against ^acob] burned amidst Jacob. He carries destruction 
 into the heart of the nation. 
 
 4. with his right hand'\ that which has hitherto been the symbol of 
 His help. 
 
 all that were pleasant'\ This suggests persons only, whereas inani- 
 mate things are doubtless meant as well. Therefore, we had best 
 translate all that was pleasatit. 
 
 in the tabernacle... '\ This belongs to the third division of the verse, 
 and therefore there should be a stop after eye, while the colon which 
 follows 'Zion' should be removed. 
 
 tabernacle\ the city, daughter being, as is usual in such a connexion, 
 a noun of multitude. 
 
 5. The stops do not accord with the threefold division of the verse, 
 as rightly made in the text above. The Heb. on the other hand is 
 correctly stopped. 
 
 her palaces. ..his strong holds'] Jeremiah, in the former case, was 
 thinking of the city, in the second of the people at large ; hence the 
 change in the gender of the pronouns. 
 
 mourning and lamentation] groaning and moaning, if we are to keep 
 up the similarity of the original words, which are substantives from the 
 same root, like our tribulation and trouble. 
 
 6. The comparison in the earlier part of the verse, as it stands in 
 
 JEREMIAH 
 
 24 
 
370 LAMENTATIONS, II. [w. 7— 9. 
 
 if it were of a garden : he hath destroyed his places of 
 
 the assembly: 
 The Lord hath caused the solemn feasts and sabbaths to 
 
 be forgotten in Zion, 
 And hath despised in the indignation of his anger the 
 
 king and the priest. 
 (I) The Lord hath cast off his altar, he hath abhorred 
 
 his sanctuary, 
 He hath given up into the hand of the enemy the walls of 
 
 her palaces ; 
 They have made a noise in the house of the Lord, as in 
 
 the day of a solemn feast. 
 (H) The Lord hath purposed to destroy the wall of the 
 
 daughter of Zion : 
 He hath strerched out a Hne, he hath not withdrawn his 
 
 hand from destroying : 
 Therefore he made the rampart and the wall to lament ; 
 
 they languished together, 
 (to) Her gates are sunk into the ground; he hath 
 
 destroyed and broken her bars : 
 Her king and her princes are among the Gentiles : the 
 
 law is no more; 
 Her prophets also find no vision from the Lord. 
 
 the Eng. Vers., is of the Temple (called the tabernacle) to a pleasure 
 booth in a garden, and this is perhaps the most natural sense of the 
 Heb., although it leaves something to be supplied. If we take the 
 more literal as a garden, we get the thought that the Temple was 
 destroyed and broken up with as much ease as a garden that had failed 
 to please its owner. The Septuagint, misreading the Heb., have "And 
 he scattered his tabernacle as a vine". 
 
 his places of the assembly\ y^zV festivals. The same word in the Heb. 
 as that which is immediately afterwards rendered solemn feasts. These 
 were the annual, as the sabbaths the weekly, solemnities. 
 
 7. her palaces^ her high buildijigs, according to the primary mean- 
 ing of the word, which, as the context shews us here, refers to the 
 Temple. 
 
 8. He hath stretched out a line^ The Lord has used as much pre- 
 cision in the destruction of the place, as a builder shews in construction. 
 
 9. are sunk into the ground] have disappeared as completely as 
 though actually swallowed up. 
 
 the law is 710 more\ The overthrow of Jerusalem involved the 
 cessation of the legal ritual, as the sacrifices could not be carried on 
 elsewhere. 
 
6) 
 
 \ lo— 13.1 LAMENTATIONS, II. 37i 
 
 (^) The elders of the daughter of Zion sit upon the 10 
 
 ground, afid keep silence : 
 They have cast up dust upon their heads; they have 
 
 girded themselves with sackcloth : 
 The virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the 
 
 ground. 
 (5) Mine eyes do fail with tears, my bowels are troubled, " 
 My liver is poured upon the earth, for the destruction of 
 
 the daughter of my people ; 
 Because the children and the sucklings swoon in the 
 
 streets of the city. 
 
 They say to their mothers, Where is corn and wine ? i« 
 When they swooned as the wounded in the streets of the 
 
 city, 
 When their soul was poured out into their mothers' 
 
 bosom. 
 02) What f/iing- shall I take to witness for thee ? what 13 
 
 t^wg shall I liken to thee, O daughter of Jerusalem ? 
 What shall I equal to thee, that I may comfort thee, O 
 
 virgin daughter of Zion ? 
 For thy breach is great like the sea : who can heal thee ? 
 
 10. T/ie elders of the daughter of Zion\ Each city and district had 
 a ruling body of this kind. See i Sam. xvi. 4 ; 1 Kings x. i. 
 
 they have cast up dust upon their heads'] Compare 2 Sara. xiii. 19 ; 
 Neh. ix. I ; Job ii. 12. 
 
 11. Here begins the lamentation over Zion's condition, exposed to 
 the mockeiy of her enemies. 
 
 my bowels are troubled] See notes on chap. i. 20. 
 
 my liver is poured upon the earth] The liver was looked upon in 
 common with the rest of the vitals as the seat of the emotions, and 
 hence the expression in the text merely denotes strong and painful 
 excitement. 
 
 the destruction of the daughter of my people] See note on tabernacle^ 
 ver. 4. 
 
 12. corn and wine] a general designation for solid and liquid food. 
 
 13. shall I take to witness for thee] rather, shall I testify to thee ? 
 The prophet casts about for some sort of message of comfort, that he 
 may bear to Jerusalem in her sorrow. 
 
 equal] liken, compare. * Equal ' is not elsewhere used in the Bible 
 as a transitive verb. 
 great like the sea] ^vithout measure. 
 
 14. For the assertion that in rhis and the next verse the author 
 makes use of the prophecies of Ezekiel, see Introduction, chap. ii. 
 § 2 {d\ and § 3 [d). 
 
 24 2 
 
372 LAMENTATIONS, II. [vv. 14—17. 
 
 14 Q) Thy prophets have seen vain and foolish things for 
 
 thee : 
 
 And they have not discovered thine iniquity, to turn away 
 thy captivity ; 
 
 But have seen for thee false burdens and causes of banish- 
 ment. 
 
 15 (D) AH that pass by clap f/iei'r hands at thee ; 
 
 They hiss and wag their head at the daughter of Jerusa- 
 lem, saying, 
 
 Is this the city that men call The perfection of beauty, 
 The joy of the whole earth ? 
 
 16 (^) All thine enemies have opened their mouth against 
 
 thee: 
 
 They hiss and gnash the teeth : they say. We have swal- 
 lowed Agr up : 
 
 Certainly this is the day that we looked for; we have 
 found, we have seen it. 
 
 17 (y) The Lord hath done f/iaf which he had devised ; 
 
 foolish things] virtually the same word as that which is rendered 
 "folly" in Jer. xxiii. 13, where see note. 
 
 discovered] uncovered, revealed (to thee), a use of the word now 
 obsolete. Compare Shakespeare : 
 
 " Go, draw aside the curtains and discover 
 The several caskets to this noble prince." 
 
 Merch. of Ven. Act. II. Sc. 7. 
 
 to turn away thy captivity] by producing in thee repentance. 
 
 false burdens] See note on Jer. xxiii. 30 — 33. 
 
 causes of banishment] The Heb. word is not elsewhere found, and 
 probably here points to the consequences which, as Jeremiah has already 
 said, will follow the teaching of the false prophets (Jer. xxvii. 10, 15). 
 
 15. they hiss] Since the context contains expressions which imply 
 contempt, this word probably does the same here, as it certainly does 
 in Job xxvii. 23. 
 
 16. For the inverted order of the initial letters in the Heb. of this 
 and the next verse, see Introduction, chap. i. § 4. 
 
 all thine enemies... against thee] almost identical with iii. 46. 
 
 gnash the teeth] in token of rage. Compare Ps. xxxv. 16, xxxvii. 12. 
 
 lue have seen it] "we have seen. The it is best omitted, as also the 
 her in an earlier clause of the verse. Thus the clauses are made more 
 abrupt in consonance with the joyful emotions of those supposed to be 
 uttering them. For a parallel to the last words of this verse, see Ps. 
 
 xxxv. 2 1. 
 
w. i8, 19.] LAMENTATIONS, It. 373 
 
 he hath fulfilled his word that he had commanded in 
 
 the days of old : 
 He hath thrown down, and hath not pitied : and he hath 
 
 caused thine enemy to rejoice over thee, 
 He hath set up the horn of thine adversaries. 
 (^) Their heart cried unto the Lord, 18 
 
 O wall of the daughter of Zion, let tears run down Hke a 
 
 river day and night : 
 Give thyself no rest ; let not the apple of thine eye cease, 
 (p) Arise, cry out in the night : in the beginning of the 19 
 
 watches, 
 Pour out thine heart like water before the face of the 
 
 Lord : 
 Lift up thy hands toward him for the life of thy young 
 
 children, 
 That faint for hunger in the top of every street. 
 
 17. in the days of old] That which had happened was merely a 
 fulfilment of the threats, Lev. xxvi. 14 etc.; Deut. xxviii. 15 etc. 
 
 he hath set up the horn of thine adversaries] See ver. 3, and compare 
 I Sam. ii. i. 
 
 18. In this and the following verse we have the thought consequent 
 on the main one on which the prophet has been dwelling, viz. that the 
 calamity is from the Lord, and is the result of disobedience. The 
 people cry to Him whom they have offended, to help them now in 
 their hour of need. 
 
 Their heart] that of the people. 
 
 wall] The rampart and wall have been already (ver. 8) said to 
 lament. Here the wall, meaning those who had hitherto been sheltered 
 by it, is called upon in its ruins to cry out for help. 
 
 river] torrent, a mountain stream, rushing down its rugged channel. 
 
 no rest] The verb corresponding to the Heb. substantive here used, 
 is found in Psal. Ixxvii. 1, where the reference is to the hattd (so 
 margin, not "sore" as in Eng. Text) stretched out in prayer, ''and 
 ceased not,'' literally, attd grew not cold. Such then is the meaning of 
 the word here also. 
 
 apple] For this word, meaning pupil (of the eye), compare Deut. xxxii. 
 10 ; Ps. xvii. 8. 
 
 19. cry out] in prayer. 
 
 in the beginning of the watches] i.e. of each watch. In New Testa- 
 ment times the Jews had adopted the Roman division of the night into 
 four watches of three hours each (see Matt. xiv. 25; Mark xiii. 35). 
 Up to that time the division was threefold, each consisting of four hours. 
 Compare Exod. xiv. 24 ; Ps. Ixiii. 6, etc. 
 
 pour out thine heart like water] Compare ver. 1 1. 
 
 lift up thy hands] in supplication. 
 
374 LAMENTATIONS, II. [vv. 20-22. 
 
 Cl) Behold, O Lord, and consider to whom thou hast 
 
 done this. 
 Shall the women eat their fruit, and children of a span 
 
 long? 
 Shall the priest and the prophet be slain in the sanctuary 
 
 of the Lord ? 
 (^) The young and the old lie on the ground in the 
 
 streets : 
 My virgins and my young men are fallen by the sword ; 
 Thou hast slain them in the day of thine anger; thou 
 
 hast killed, and not pitied. 
 (Xl) Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors 
 
 round about, 
 So that in the day of the Lord's anger none escaped nor 
 
 remained : 
 Those that I have swaddled and brought up hath mine 
 
 enemy consumed 
 
 20. Here begins the prayer made in response to the prophet's exhor- 
 tation. 
 
 consider to whom thou hast done this'] Remember that the people 
 whom Thou thus afflictest are Thy chosen ones of old. 
 
 and children] children. 
 
 of a span long] The word properly means stretched out, and thus a 
 better sense is given us by the Eng. margin, swaddled with their hands, 
 the objects of their care, the thought of maternal tenderness in the 
 forms in which it would ordinarily be displayed towards children of 
 that age heightening the effect of the picture. See note on Jer. xix. 9. 
 
 21. The young] the same word as that used in Jer. i. 6 ("child"), 
 where see note. The words in Italics in the Eng. text {them — and) 
 rather weaken the passage and are best omitted. 
 
 22. Thou hast called as in a solemn day my terrors round about] As 
 though proclaiming a festival Thou hast summoned aloud my terrors. 
 Jeremiah here alludes, as is shewn by the form of the Heb. for 
 terrors (wrongly translated neigJtbouring villages by the Septuagint). to 
 the word Magor-missabib, which had been so constantly in his mouth 
 (see note on Jer. vi. 25, xx. 3), and which, though disregarded and no doubt 
 mocked, the people had now come to recognise as but too well war- 
 ranted by realities. 
 
 have suvaddled] the same word as that so rendered in margin of ver. 
 20 (see note). 
 
vv. 1—5.] LAMENTATIONS, III. 375 
 
 Chap. III. i — 21. llie prophet^ as represe?iting the nation^ 
 bewails their sjiffermgs. 
 
 (^) I am the man that hath seen affliction by the rod of 3 
 
 his wrath. 
 (X) He hath led me, and brought 7?ie into darkness, but 2 
 
 not i7ito light. 
 {1^) Surely against me is he turned ; he turneth his 3 
 
 hand against 7?ie all the day. 
 (!l) My flesh and my skin hath he made old; he hath 4 
 
 broken my bones, 
 (i) He hath builded against me, and compassed nie 5 
 
 with gall and travail. 
 
 Chap. III. 1 — 21. The prophet, as representing the nation, 
 
 BEWAILS their SUFFERINGS. 
 
 1. For remarks upon the character and leaching of this chapter 
 and upon its structure, see Introduction, chaps, i. § 4, iii. § 2. 
 
 affliction'] the whole series of calamities, which had now reached their 
 climax in the capture and burning of Jerusalem. 
 
 by the rod of his wrath] For the figure itself compare Job ix. 34, 
 xxi. 9; Is. X. 5, and for an expansion of the thought of Babylon acting 
 as the instrument of God's wrath see Jer. li. 20 — 23. 
 
 3. is he turned; he turneth] he turneth again and again. For the 
 Heb. idiom see note on Jer. xii. 15. 
 
 4. made old] wasted. The Heb. verb means to rub away. 
 
 he hath broken my bones] For this phrase compare Is, xxxviii. 13. 
 The flesh, skin, and bones are taken as comprising the whole man, the 
 former two denoting the softer portions, the last the harder, which must 
 be fractured, in order to destroy it. 
 
 6. He hath builded against me, and compassed] Here as in ver. 3 we 
 have to deal with the idiom by which two verbs are used where we 
 should in English have a verb and adverb. Translate therefore He hath 
 builded against me round about. 
 
 gall] For the primary sense of the word see note on Jer. viii. 14. In 
 a case like the present it had no doubt ceased to be a metaphor apd 
 come to mean simply bitterness, and so it illustrates, along with the words 
 that follow, Jeremiah's custom of suddenly dismissing a figure and falling 
 back upon the subject itself. See Introd. to Jer. chap. ii. § 8 {d), and 
 compare verses 13 and 14 of the present chapter. 
 
 travail] From i6ii to the American edition of 1867 all editions of 
 the Authorized Version had travel both here and in the case of Numb. 
 XX. 14. It was probably in comparatively recent times that the two 
 modes of spelling were definitely appropriated to distinct meanings of 
 the word, as they now are. The Heb. word here (and in Numbers) is 
 clear in its sense, viz. weariness. 
 
376 LAMENTATIONS, III. [vv. 6— 14. 
 
 6 (2) He hath set me in dark places, as they that be 
 
 dead of old. 
 
 7 (J) He hath hedged me about, that I cannot get out: 
 
 he hath made my chain heavy. 
 
 8 (jl) Also when I cry and shout, he shutteth out my 
 
 prayer. 
 
 9 (Jl) He hath inclosed my ways with hewn stone, he 
 
 hath made my paths crooked. 
 
 10 (*7) He was unto me as a bear lying in wait, and as a 
 
 lion in secret places. 
 
 11 (*7) He hath turned aside my ways, and pulled me in 
 
 pieces : he hath made me desolate. 
 
 12 (*7) He hath bent his bow, and set me as a mark for 
 
 the arrow. 
 
 13 (n) He hath caused the arrows of his quiver to enter 
 
 into my reins. 
 
 14 (n) I was a derision to all my people ; and their song 
 
 all the day. 
 
 6. This verse is identical with the last part of Ps. cxliii. 3. 
 sei me] made me dwell. 
 
 dark places] darkness is used as an equivalent for misery, as light for 
 happiness. Compare Jer. xiii. 16. 
 
 dead of old] for ever dead, i. e. unable to return to the life of this 
 world, as opposed to the state of those in a sleep or swoon. 
 
 7. my chain] literally, my brass. In Eng. we speak of irons in 
 the same sense. 
 
 9. hath inclosed] the same verb as "hath hedged" in ver. 7. 
 
 hath made my paths crooked] The prophet, finding that the direct 
 way was as it were blocked, tried side paths, but finds that they also 
 fail to lead him in the direction he wishes to go. The whole figure ex- 
 presses perplexity and dismay. 
 
 10. Not only is there misery, but active forms of danger too. 
 was] Is. 
 
 11. hath turned aside my ways] hath driven me from the path, and 
 then sprung upon me and devoured me. 
 
 desolate] appalled, stupified. For this sense of the word see notes on 
 Jer. V. 30, xviii. i6. 
 
 12. The enemy is now likened not to the beast of prey, but to the 
 hunter. 
 
 13. arrows of his quiver] The Heb. has the more poetical children 
 of his qui^'er. 
 
 my reins] See note on Jer. xii. -2. The word therefore here expresses 
 the sharpness of the prophet's grief at that which he hears and sees. 
 
 14. a derision] See note on Jer. xx. 8. 
 
vv. 15—21.] LAMENTATIONS, III. 377 
 
 (n) He hath filled me with bitterness, he hath made me 15 
 
 drunken with wormwood. 
 (1) He hath also broken my teeth with gravel stones, he 16 
 
 hath covered me with ashes. 
 (1) And thou hast removed my soul far off from peace : 17 
 
 I forgat prosperity. 
 (•|) And I said, My strength and my hope is perished 18 
 
 from the Lord ; 
 (I) Remembering mine affliction and my misery, the 19 
 
 wormwood and the gall. 
 (T) My soul hath them still in remembrance, and is 20 
 
 humbled in me. 
 (t) This I recall to my mind, therefore have I hope. 21 
 
 15. He hath filled me] literally, He hath satiated me. 
 bitterness] literally, bitternesses, i.e. bitter pains. 
 wormwood] See notes on Jer. ix. 15, xxiii. 15. 
 
 16. broken my teeth with gravel stones] The metaphor from food is 
 continued. The prophet is like one whose teeth are worn away by the 
 continued action of grit mixed with his bread. 
 
 covered] The Heb. word does not occur elsewhere. It may mean 
 made to eat (Septuagint), but more probably A^noX.^?, pressed down. 
 
 17. thou hast removed my soul] thou hast rejected my soul. The 
 Heb. words are taken from Ps. Ixxxviii. 14 (Heb. 15), and but for the 
 fact that there the construction must be as above, we might well here have 
 adopted a translation, which the original will equally bear, my soul is 
 rejected (from prosperity). We should thus avoid the introduction of a 
 direct address to God, which seems not to come earlier than ver. 19. 
 
 peace] health, prosperity. 
 
 prosperity^ good, i.e. The very thought became a stranger to me. 
 
 18. And I said] within myself, i.e. I thought. 
 
 19. Remembering] Remember. God is now directly invoked. 
 
 my misery] See note on i. 7. This word as well as gall and worm- 
 wood are gathered into this verse, as suggesting the whole of the 
 previous lament, in which they have taken a prominent place. 
 
 20. My soul hath them still in remembrance, and] This is better 
 than the alternative rendering, Thou wilt surely remember that my soul, 
 etc. 
 
 21. The previous verse and this are apparently suggested by Ps. xlii. 
 4, 5 (Heb. 5, 6), and, inasmuch as the words corresponding to This I 
 recall of the present passage have reference to that which follows, it has 
 been proposed to make these words also to relate to the more hopeful 
 thoughts that come in ver. 22 and onwards. But the structure of the 
 poem, ver. ^l being the third (and last) of its group, as well as the 
 previous context rather point to the last words of ver. 10 as being 
 what the prophet recalls for his comfort. The humility arising from 
 
S7^ LAMENTATIONS, III. [vv. 22—29. 
 
 22 — 36. Words of Submission a7id Hope. 
 
 22 (n) It is of the Lord's mercies that we are not con- 
 
 sumed, because his compassions fail not. 
 
 23 (n) They are new every morning : great is thy faithful- 
 
 ness. 
 
 24 (n) The Lord is my portion, saith my soul; therefore 
 
 will I hope in him. 
 
 25 (to) The Lord is good unto them that wait for him, to 
 
 the soul that seeketh him. 
 
 26 (tD) It is good that a man should both hope and quietly 
 
 wait for the salvation of the Lord. 
 
 27 (to) It is good for a man that he bear the yoke in his 
 
 youth. 
 23 (^) He sitteth alone and keepeth silence, because he 
 
 hath borne // upon him. 
 2^ (^) He putteth his mouth in the dust; if so be there 
 
 may be hope. 
 
 sin dwelt upon and acknowledged produces in due course a sense that 
 contrition will be accepted and deliverance granted. Hence arises the 
 change of tone in the section which follows. 
 
 22 — 36. Words of Submission and Hope. 
 
 24. The Lord is my portion'] For the expression, which is a frequent 
 one, we may compare Ps. xvi. 5. Its origin is probably to be looked 
 for in the Lord's words to Aaron (Num. xviii. ^o). 
 
 25. good is the leading word of this group (25 — 27), The knowledge 
 of the Lord's goodness is that which makes it good that man should be 
 hopeful and submissive. 
 
 26. should both hope and quietly wait] should wait, and that in 
 silence. 
 
 27. in his youth] in the time when his passions are strongest and 
 therefore most need the discipline, which, if established in its seat 
 then, will hold sway throughout his life. The words by no means imply 
 that the writer was young at the time he used them. Rather he is look- 
 ing back through a long life of trouble and the experience which he has 
 gained in the course of it. 
 
 28. In this verse and the rest of the group the verbs should be trans- 
 lated by the hortative form, Let him sit alone — let him keep — let him 
 put, etc. The connexion is, if suffering is really attended with benefit 
 to the sufferer, then let him submit readily to it. 
 
 hath borne] hath laid. The subject is God. 
 
 29. He putteth his fnouth in the dust] the Eastern way of expressing 
 absolute submission. 
 
vrv. 30—37-] LAMENTATIONS, III. 379 
 
 (^) He giveth his cheek to him that smiteth him : he is 30 
 
 filled full with reproach. 
 (!D) ^or the Lord will not cast off for ever : 31 
 
 (^) But though he cause grief, yet will he have compas- 32 
 
 sion according to the multitude of his mercies. 
 O) For he doth not afflict willingly nor grieve the 33 
 . children of men. 
 
 (7) To crush under his feet all the prisoners of the 34 
 . earth, 
 
 (7) To turn aside the right of a man before the face of 3s 
 . the most High, 
 
 (7) To subvert a man in his cause, the Lord approveth 36 
 not. 
 
 37 — 54. Renewed expressions of suffering joined with appeal 
 to God for help. 
 (lb) Who is he that saith, and it cometh to pass, whefi 37 
 the Lord commandeth // not ? 
 
 30. He giveth his cheek"] Here we have the climax, the exhortation of 
 ver. 29 being more difficult to obey than that in the first of the group, 
 and this the most difficult of all. Compare Matt. v. 39. 
 
 31 — 33. This group contains the two thoughts which produce the 
 resignation, [a) because punishment will be only for a time, and will be 
 succeeded by a renewal of mercy, [b) because even in punishment it is 
 in no angr>- or vindictive spirit that God acts. 
 
 33. willinglyX literally, fro7n His heart. 
 
 34 — 36. Three species of wrong-doing are here enumerated ; {a) To 
 treat prisoners with cruelty : words to which the spectacles daily seen 
 in Jerusalem at the time must have added much point, {b) To obtain 
 an unrighteous decision at law: for the judges as representing God 
 were called by His name (e.g. in the original of Exod. xxi. 6; see 
 Ps. Ixxxii. 6), and hence the expression ' before the face of the Most 
 High,' [c) To defraud a man of his legal rights, which might be done 
 without an actual trial. The sense of the whole will depend upon 
 the view we take of the last words. They may be explained either, 
 (i) the Lord regardeth not (i.e. turneth a deaf ear) to such things, 
 the words being then spoken by unbelievers or those who despaired of 
 obtaining help from God, or, (ii) as a question. Doth not the Lord regard 
 (such acts), or, (iii) as the Eng. Vers. In favour of this last is the 
 use of the same expression in i Sam. xvi. 7. 
 
 37 — 54. Renewed expressions of suffering joined with 
 
 APPEAL TO God for help. 
 37. The verse is no doubt suggested by Ps. xxxiii. 9. The order 
 of thought in this group is, All events are absolutely in the hands of 
 
SSo LAMENTATIONS, III. [vv. 38— 47. 
 
 38 (12) Out of the mouth of the most High proceedeth not 
 
 evil and good. 
 
 39 (^) Wherefore doth a living man complain, a man for 
 
 the punishment of his sins ? 
 
 40 Q) Let us search and try our ways, and turn again to 
 
 the Lord. 
 
 41 Q) Let us lift up our heart with our hands unto God in 
 
 the heavens. 
 
 42 (^) We have transgressed and have rebelled : thou hast 
 
 not pardoned. 
 
 43 (D) Thou hast covered with anger, and persecuted us : 
 
 thou hast slain, thou hast not pitied. 
 
 44 (D) Thou hast covered thyself with a cloud, that our 
 
 prayer should not pass through. 
 
 45 (D) Thou hast made us as the offscouring and refuse in 
 
 the midst of the people. 
 
 46 (^) All our enemies have opened their mouths against us. 
 
 47 (^) Fear and a snare is come upon us, desolation and 
 
 destruction. 
 
 God. Thus evil comes from Him as well as good. But it is man's sin 
 that procures for him the former; he therefore may not complain. 
 
 39. The verse has had two interpretations proposed, (i) Why should 
 a man all his life long complain that his sins are punished? (ii) Why 
 should a man lament, while all the time he has more than he merits, 
 viz. life ? Let each one lament his sins. 
 
 40. Z(f/ us search] As it is through our sins that this evil is come 
 upon us, let us seek out what has been amiss in us. 
 
 41. wt^A our hands] literally, unto our hands. Let it not be a 
 mere formal expression of prayer, but let our hearts follow the direction 
 in which our hands point. 
 
 42. We... thou] The pronouns are emphatic in the original. Thou 
 and we have been at variance. 
 
 43. Thou hast covered] Thou hast covered thyself, literally, Thou 
 hast made a covering for thyself. 
 
 46. On the peculiarity of the alphabetic arrangement here see 
 Introduction, chap. i. § 4, and for this verse compare chap. ii. 16. 
 
 47. Fear and a snare] See note on Jer. xlviii. 43, from which this is 
 a quotation, fear probably meaning, if not an actual huntins; trap 
 (compare 'L,z.\\xi formido), at any rate the cause of itzx, formidable object, 
 as in Gen. xxxi. 42, 53. So {Bible Word Book), 
 
 Or in the night, imagining some fear. 
 How easy is a bush supposed a bear ! 
 
 Midsummer Nighfs Dream, Act v. Sc i. 
 
vv. 48—54.] LAMENTATIONS, III. 381 
 
 (£)) Mine eye runneth down iviih rivers of water for the 48 
 
 destruction of the daughter of my people, 
 (y) Mine eye trickleth down, and ceaseth not, without 49 
 
 any intermission, 
 (J^) Till the Lord look down, and behold from heaven. 50 
 (J^) Mine eye affecteth mine heart because of all the 51 
 
 daughters of my city. 
 (V) Mine enemies chased me sore, like a bird, without 52 
 
 cause. 
 (5f) They have cut off my life in the dungeon, and cast 53 
 
 a stone upon me. 
 (V) Waters flowed over mine head ; then I said, I am S4 
 
 cut off. 
 
 desolation^ devastation. The original is not any of Jeremiah's 
 words rendered so often desolation in the Eng. Version, but occurs 
 here only. 
 
 48. rumieth down with rivers of water] a still stronger expression 
 than that of i. 16, where see note. 
 
 49. trickleth down] pouretli down. The Eng. Vers, is hardly strong 
 enough. 
 
 ceaseth not] literally, is not silent, compare Jer. xiv. 17, where the 
 Heb. word is the same. 
 
 51. affecteth mine heart] eauseth pain to my soul. The inflamma- 
 tion of eyes caused by continual weeping is added to the mental suffering 
 which already exists. 
 
 the daughters of my city] those whose untoward fate Jeremiah has 
 already lamented (i. 4, 18, ii. 10, 21). The verse has been taken in 
 two other ways, which commend themselves less : (i) that the daughters 
 are the villages, daughter towns of Jerusalem, (ii) that the sense is 
 / weep more than cdl the daughters, i.e. the prophet's tears exceeded 
 those even of the most tender hearted woman. 
 
 52. This group of verses according to some has reference solely to 
 the prophet himself, as persecuted by his countrymen. In that case 
 verse 53 will refer to the incident of Jer. xxxviii. 6, and 'cast a stone' 
 will mean, not probably that the princes there mentioned flung stones 
 at Jeremiah as he lay in the dungeon, but that they covered it in with a 
 stone, so as to increase the prophet's sufferings. The other way of 
 understanding it is of the Israelites generally in their hour of suffering, 
 and specially of the godly, among whom the prophet in his sufferings 
 would be a typical instance. 
 
 Mine enemies... without cause] These words should probably go to- 
 gether. For the comparison to a chased bird compare Ps. xi. i. 
 
 53. They have cut off] They have destroyed, i.e. have tried to 
 destroy. 
 
 54. Waters flowed over mine head] Whether the reference be to the 
 prophet as an individual or not, this must be merely a figure to express 
 
382 LAMENTATIONS, III. [w. 55— 63. 
 
 55 — 66. Thanksgiving and a prayer for vengea7ice. 
 
 55 (p) I called upon thy name, O Lord, out of the low 
 
 ' dungeon. 
 
 56 (p) Thou hast heard my voice ; hide not thine ear at 
 
 ' my breathing, at my cry. 
 
 57 (p) Thou drewest near in the day that I called upon 
 
 ' thee : thou saidst, Fear not. 
 
 58 (1) O Lord, thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul ; 
 
 thou hast redeemed my life. 
 
 59 (*l) O Lord, thou hast seen my wrong : judge thou my 
 
 cause. 
 
 60 (^) Thou hast seen all their vengeance and all their 
 
 imaginations against me. 
 
 61 (^) Thou hast heard their reproach, O Lord, and all 
 
 ^ their imaginations against me ; 
 
 62 (^) The lips of those that rose up against me, and 
 
 their device against me all the day. 
 
 63 (^) Behold their sitting down, and their rising up; I 
 
 a7n their musick. 
 
 intense misery. The dungeon into which Jeremiah was cast was dry 
 (Jer. xxxviii. 6). See further in note on ver. 55. 
 
 I am cut Ojff~\ an expression found in the same sense Ps. Ixxxviii. 5, 
 and Is. hii. 8, which latter serves to connect in thought the sufferings 
 here spoken of with those undergone by Him who became sin for us. 
 
 65 — 66. Thanksgiving and a prayer for vengeance. 
 
 65. / called upon thy name] It has been conjectured that Ps. Ixix. 
 is the composition of Jeremiah, and was uttered by him on this occasion. 
 Compare ver. 54 with the opening verses of that Psalm. See note on 
 Jer. xviii. 23. 
 
 66. at 77iy breathing;, at my cry] or, as the words may be translated, 
 at my crying for relief, inasmuch as in the only other place where 
 the word here rendered breathing occurs ("respite" Exod. viii. 15, 
 in Heb. ver. 11) relief \% its sense. 
 
 67. Thou drewest near] Compare Ps. cxlv. 18. 
 
 68. thou hast pleaded the causes of my soul] The enemy are likened 
 to opponents in a suit at law. The Lord is the prophet's advocate 
 against them. 
 
 62. The lips] i.e. the utterances, and hence properly governed by 
 Thou hast heard of the preceding verse. 
 
 63. musick] song. Compare Job xxx. 9, where the word trans- 
 lated song is from the same Heb. root as here; also Ps. Ixix. 12, where 
 however the word is a different one. 
 
vv. 64—66; 1—3.] LAMENTATIONS, III. IV. 383 
 
 (n) Render unto them a recompence, O Lord, ac- 64 
 
 cording to the work of their hands, 
 (n) Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them. 65 
 (n) Persecute and destroy them in anger from under ee 
 
 the heavens of the Lord. 
 
 Chap. IV. i — 22. The sufferings of the people are consequent 
 on sin. 
 
 (X) How is the gold become dim ! how is the most fine 4 
 
 gold changed I 
 The stones of the sanctuary are poured out in the top of 
 
 every street. 
 (^) The precious sons of Zion, comparable to fine gold, 2 
 How are they esteemed as earthen pitchers, the work of 
 
 the hands of the potter ! 
 (jl) Even the sea monsters draw out the breast, they 3 
 
 give suck to their young ones : 
 
 64. For the language compare Ps. xxviii. 4, and for the general 
 character of the prayer in this and the two following verses, note on 
 Jer. xviii. 23. 
 
 65. sorro7v of heart] blindness of heart. Compare 2 Cor. iii. 15. 
 
 Chap. IV. 1 — 22. The sufferings of the people are conse- 
 quent ON SIN. 
 
 1. This chapter differs from the earlier ones, {a) in dwelling more 
 on the sufferings of various classes of people, {b) in bringing out more 
 clearly that these sufferings were the consequences of the national sin. 
 Verses i — 12 set forth the miseries attendant on the siege, 13 — 16 
 point out that the prophets and priests are guilty, 17 — 20 the hopeless- 
 ness of human aid, 21, 22 that Edom's triumph will be but short-lived. 
 
 Hoiv is the gold become dijn ./] In this and the rest of the verse there 
 is no reference to the literal gold of the Temple, or, as some have 
 thought, to the onyx stones on the shoulders of the high priest's robe 
 (Exod. xxviii. 9 — 12). The next verse shews that the expressions 
 are metaphorically used for the people themselves, similarly called 
 elsewhere (Zech. ix. 16) "the stones of a crown". 
 
 are poured out in the top of every street] It falls in witli the above 
 interpretation, that this has been already said of the starving little ones 
 (chap. ii. 19). 
 
 2. work of the hands of the potter] They are treated thus, who are 
 in fact specially moulded by God's hand, the people whom He "formed 
 for" Himself (Is. xliii. 21). 
 
 3. the sea monsters] the Jackals. See notes on Jer. ix. r i , li. 34. 
 
384 LAMENTATIONS, IV. [vv. 4—6. 
 
 The daughter of my people is become cruel, like the 
 
 ostriches in the wilderness. 
 (^) The tongue of the sucking child cleaveth to the 
 
 roof of his mouth for thirst : 
 The young children ask bread, and no man breaketh // 
 
 unto them, 
 (n) They that did feed delicately are desolate in the 
 
 streets : 
 They that were brought up in scarlet embrace dunghills. 
 (1) For the punishment of the iniquity of the daughter 
 
 of my people is greater than the punishment of the sin 
 
 of Sodom, 
 
 is become cruel] The italics are hardly needed in the Eng. Vers., the 
 whole being virtually contained in the Heb. ; literally, is for a cruel 
 one. 
 
 like the ostriches in the wilderness] "The outer layer of eggs is 
 generally so ill-covered that they are destroyed in quantities by jackals, 
 wild-cats, etc., and that the natives carry them away, only taking care 
 not to leave the marks of their footsteps, since, when the ostrich comes 
 and finds that her nest is discovered, she crushes the whole brood and 
 builds a nest elsewhere. ...To this it may be added that the female 
 ostrich forsakes her nest at the least alarm." (Sp. Comm. on Job 
 xxxix. 15, 16. See that passage.) 
 
 4. the sucking child... the young children] The Heb. expressions 
 {ydn^k...6lel; compare babes and sucklings as rendering of same Heb. in 
 Ps. viii. 2) seem to denote respectively the second and the third stage, 
 when the child passed beyond babyhood. "The dlel is still sucking, 
 but it is no longer satisfied with only this nourishment and is asking 
 bread." (Edersheim's Sketches ofycwish Social Life^ p. 104.) 
 
 breaketh] See note on Jer. xvi, 7. 
 
 6. delicately] luxuriously. In the Old Testament the word occurs 
 elsewhere only in i Sam. xv. 32, and Prov. xxix. 21. In the latter 
 case the sense is the same, while the Heb. word differs from that used 
 here ; in the former the Heb. is as here, but the sense probably 
 is cheerfully. 
 
 desolate] See note on chap. iii. 11. 
 
 brought tip in scarlet] literally, resting upon scarlet, whose very 
 swaddling clothes were rich and costly. 
 
 embrace dunghills] for want of a better couch. 
 
 6. For the punishment of the iniquity] For the Iniquity. 
 
 the punishment of the sin] the sin. There is no assertion in this 
 part of the verse as to the comparative amount of punishment, but 
 from the admitted fact that the sufferings of Jerusalem exceeded those 
 of Sodom, it is inferred that the sin must have been in like proportion. 
 Sodom perished in a moment, there were no prolonged sufferings. 
 
w. 7— lo.] LAMENTATIONS, IV. 3^5 
 
 That was overthrown as in a moment, and no hands 
 
 stayed on her. 
 (T) Her Nazarites were purer than snow, they were 7 
 
 whiter than milk, 
 They were more ruddy in body than rubies, their polish- 
 ing was of sapphire : 
 (n) Their visage is blacker than a coal ; they are not 8 
 
 known in the streets: 
 Their skin cleaveth to their bones; it is withered, it is 
 
 become like a stick. 
 (^) They that be slain with the sword are better than 9 
 
 they that be slain with hunger : 
 For these pine away, stricken through for want of the 
 
 fruits of the field. 
 (^) The hands of the pitiful women have sodden their 10 
 
 own children : 
 
 such as are brought about or directly administered by the hand of 
 man. 
 
 stayed on her\ literally, went round about her (inflicting the punish- 
 ment). 
 
 7. Nazarites] This is probably right, although it is also rendered 
 princes. There is probably a reference to the Rechabites (Jer. xxxv.), 
 who were among the most prominent examples of men following out the 
 Nazarite rule of life in the matter of abstinence from intoxicating drinks. 
 
 rubies'] corals. Others render pearls, but this involves also a sub- 
 stitution of glowing for ruddy, which is not permissible. 
 
 their polishing was of sapphire] their shape was that of a sapphire. 
 Not only their bright, glowing appearance, but also their well-shaped 
 figures suggested a carefully cut precious stone. 
 
 8. Their visage is blacker than a coal] Their form is darker than 
 blackness. Here comes the contrast, shewn in their present state. 
 Compare Job xxx. 30. 
 
 it is withered, it is become] it is become dry. 
 
 9. See note on Jer. xxxvii. 10. The two modes of death experienced 
 in the siege are contrasted. From the primary sense of the word 
 translated pine away, viz., fow out, as well as from the fact that the 
 Heb. for stricken through is a verb used elsewhere only for those 
 literally transfixed, the latter part of the verse has been by some 
 referred to those slain with the sword, and translated, The foryner pour 
 out their lives, pierced from (i.e. going into battle direct from the 
 yet remaining) y^iVj of the field. 
 
 10. For the general subject of the verse see chap. ii. 20, and Jer. 
 xix. 9. 
 
 pitiful] (hitherto) compassionate. The word is found elsewhere in 
 the Bible only in Jam. v. 11 ; i Pet. iii. 8. Its modem use is not as 
 
 JEREMIAH 25 
 
386 LAMENTATIONS, IV. [w. 11-15. 
 
 They were their meat in the destruction of the daughter 
 
 of my people. 
 O) The Lord hath accomplished his fury; he hath 
 
 poured out his fierce anger, 
 And hath kindled a fire in Zion, and it hath devoured 
 . the foundations thereof. 
 (7) The kings of the earth, and all the inhabitants of 
 
 the world, would not have believed 
 That the adversary and the enemy should have entered 
 
 into the gates of Jerusalem. 
 {f2>) For the sins of her prophets, and the iniquities of 
 
 her priests, 
 That Aave shed the blood of the just in the midst of her, 
 Q) They have wandered as blind men in the streets, 
 
 they have polluted themselves with blood, 
 So that men could not touch their garments. 
 (D) They cried unto them, Depart ye; // is unclean; 
 
 here, in the sense full of pity, but mtich to be pitied. For the former, 
 compare (Latimer, Sermons, p. 391). *' Because I speak here of orphans, 
 I shall exhort you to be pitiful unto them." — Bible Word Book. 
 
 sodden] boiled ; the participle of to seethe, for which last see 2 Kings 
 iv. 38, and for sodden, Exod. xii. 9. 
 
 11. Ikath kindled a fire in Zion] The literal burning of Jerusalem 
 was typical of the Lord's anger, which had blazed forth against it. 
 
 12. all the inhabitants of the world] an ordinary form of Eastern 
 hyperbole, suggesting to their minds only the same notion as our every 
 body, the obvious limitations being given by the sense in each case. 
 Probably from and after the overthrow of Sennacherib (2 Kings xix. 
 34> 35)> it came to be believed that Jerusalem was impregnable. Its 
 fortifications had been much strengthened by Uzziah (2 Chron. xxvi. 9), 
 Jotham {ib. xxvii. 3), and Manasseh [ib. xxxiii. 14). 
 
 13. The reason for the event which has thus amazed the world is 
 now given, and at the beginning of the verse by way of connexion we 
 must supply some such words as, This has happened. 
 
 the sins of her prophets and the iniquities of her priests] See Jer. vi. 
 13, xxiii. II, xxvi. 8, etc. 
 
 14. They] these prophets and priests. 
 
 ivandered] literally, staggered. The last part of the verse expresses 
 forcibly how terribly reckless they had been of human life. 
 
 15. Those who met these blood-stained priests and prophets in 
 the street, abhorred them, and warned them off with the leper's cry, 
 Unclean, unclean! (Lev. xiii. 45). The words 'it is' need not have 
 been inserted in the Eng. Vers. The adjective indeed is in the sing., but 
 only as meant to correspond the more absolutely with the cry which in 
 the case of leprosy the afflicted man was himself to raise. 
 
vv. 16—19.] LAMENTATIONS, IV. 387 
 
 depart, depart, touch not, when they fled away and 
 
 wandered : 
 They said among the heathen. They shall no more 
 
 sojourn there, 
 (15) The anger of the Lord hath divided them ; he will 16 
 
 no more regard them : 
 They respected not the persons of the priests, they 
 
 favoured not the elders, 
 (y) As for us, our eyes as yet failed for our vain help : 17 
 In our watching we have watched for a nation that could 
 
 not save 21s. 
 (V) They hunt our steps, that we cannot go in our 18 
 
 streets : 
 Our end is near, our days are fulfilled; for our end is 
 
 come, 
 (p) Our persecutors are swifter than the eagles of the 19 
 
 heaven : 
 They pursued us upon the mountains, they laid wait for 
 
 us in the wilderness. 
 
 7uhen they fled away and wandered\ -when they fled away, then they 
 wandered. It was the same thing when they went abroad. They 
 travelled with step as uncertain as at home (see ' wandered' of ver. 14), 
 and abroad also men would have none of them. 
 
 They said among the heatheti] men said, etc. See previous note. 
 
 These two verses may well be not merely a graphic way of setting 
 forth the horrible crimes of the prophets and priests, but an actual 
 record of facts of which this is the only trace remaining to us. 
 
 16. hath divided theni] hath scattered ihem (among the nations). 
 they"] men, as in the previous verse. 
 
 17. As for Its, otir eyes as yet failed for our vain help] rather, Our 
 eyes still waste away (as we look) for our help in vain. The expecta- 
 tion that Egypt or some other nation might come to the rescue, was 
 cherished to the end of the year and a half of the siege, and here is set 
 forth the heart-sickness caused by this hope deferred, 
 
 z« our watching] or, according to some, on our watch-tower. 
 
 18. They hunt our steps] This expresses either the definite danger 
 which existed in the more exposed parts of the city, from the towers 
 advanced gradually nearer to the walls by the besiegers, in which they 
 lay in wait and let fly at the citizens, or in general it denotes the constant 
 dread which beset their hearts under the figure of game for which the 
 hunter lays wait. 
 
 19. swifter than the eagles] a favourite simile, taken from Deut. 
 xxviii. 49. See note on Jer. iv. 13. 
 
 They pursued us upon the mountains] See Introduction, chap. i. § 3. 
 
388 LAMENTATIONS, IV. [w. 20—22. 
 
 .0 (*l) The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the 
 Lord, was taken in their pits, 
 (9/" whom we said, Under his shadow we shall live among 
 the heathen. 
 :i (^) Rejoice and be glad, O daughter of Edom, that 
 dwellest in the land of Uz ; 
 The cup also shall pass through unto thee : thou shalt be 
 drunken, and shalt make thyself naked. 
 2 (n) The punishment of thine iniquity is accomplished, 
 O daughter of Zion ; he will no more carry thee away 
 into captivity : 
 He will visit thine iniquity, O daughter of Edom ; he will 
 discover thy sins. 
 
 This passage was supposed by those who chose the earlier date for the 
 Lamentations to have special reference to the overthrow and death 
 of Josiah. The real reference is no doubt either to the circum- 
 stances attendant on the capture of Zedekiah (Jer. xxxix. 4, 5, lii. 8.) 
 who is referred to more distinctly in the following verse, or in general to 
 the condition of the Jews at the taking of the city. 
 
 20. The breath of our nostrils\ With this, as applied to a king, a sen- 
 tence of Seneca {ad Neronem de Clementia, i. 4) has well been compared: 
 "He (the Emperor) is the breath of life, which these many thousand 
 (subjects) draw." As regards its application to Zedekiah individually 
 we are to remember that whatever may have been his personal weak- 
 nesses (and he was weak rather than vicious), he was the one on whom 
 the whole of the people's hopes depended for the continuance of their 
 national life. 
 
 was taken in their pits\ a metaphorical expression drawn from hunting. 
 Compare i. 3, 13. 
 
 of whom we said...] See last note but one. 
 
 21. Rejoice and be glad] Enjoy thy shortlived triumph, while thou 
 mayest. For the joy of Edom over the destruction of Jerusalem see 
 latter part of note Concerning Edom, Jer. xlix. 7. 
 
 that dwellest in the land of Uz\ See note on Jer. xxv. 20. 
 
 the cup] the figurative expression for God's wrath ; compare Jer. 
 xxv. 17. 
 
 thou shalt be drunken...] a figurative way of saying, thou shalt be ex- 
 posed in the eyes of the world to the contempt which attends upon 
 liisaster (compare i. 8). 
 
 22. The punishment of thine iniquity] Thine iniquity. See ver. 6 
 above. The prophet, as he looks into the future with its Messianic 
 hopes, sees the time when the Jews shall be delivered alike from the 
 sinful courses which have weighed upon them for generations and from 
 the punishment which has ensued. 
 
 he will discover thy sins] The reading of the Eng. margin {he will 
 
w. 1—6.] LAMENTATIONS, V. 389 
 
 Chap. V. 1 — 18. A sorrowful enwjieration of the insults 
 
 heaped on Zion because of her sins. 
 Remember, O Lord, what is come upon us : 
 Consider, and behold our reproach. 
 Our inheritance is turned to strangers. 
 Our houses to aliens. 
 We are orphans and fatherless. 
 Our mothers are as widows. 
 We have drunken our water for money ; 
 Our wood is sold imto us. 
 Our necks are under persecution : 
 AVe labour, a7id have no rest. 
 We have given the hand to the Egyptians, 
 And to the Assyrians, to be satisfied with bread. 
 
 carry thee captive for thy sins) depends upon the fact that the verb in 
 the Heb. is the same as that so rendered earlier in the verse. It is 
 however common in both senses, and thus the present case must rather 
 be looked on as an untranslateable play on words. For discover used 
 virtually in the sense of punish compare the converse use of cover in 
 Ps. xxxii. I, Ixxxv. 2. 
 
 Chap. V. 1—18. A sorrowful enumeration of the insults 
 
 HEAPED ON ZiON BECAUSE OF HER SINS. 
 
 1. This final poem, although its verses are equal in number with the 
 letters of the Heb. alphabet, yet does not, like its predecessors, adhere 
 to any rule as to the initial letters of the verses. 
 
 2. Our inheritance\ our land. 
 
 our houses'] either the houses throughout the country parts of Judaea, 
 or those in Jerusalem as well, which had been spared. See note on 
 Jer. lii. 13. 
 
 3. orphans and fatherless] not, as having lost our king, as some 
 would explain, but desolate and without protectors, as the mothers of 
 Israel are for the same reason likened in the second part of the verse to 
 widows. 
 
 4. The bitterness of their captive state is shewn by the fact that 
 they the rightful owners were compelled to buy from the enemy who 
 had come into possession the commonest necessaries of life. 
 
 5. Our necks are under persecution] The simile of an actual pursuit 
 is used. We are as it were hard pressed and harassed in flight by a foe 
 who is gaining upon us. 
 
 6. The nadon has been starved into willingness to submit to either 
 of the two great powers, Egypt or Babylon. For ' we have given the 
 hand' see note on Jer., 1. 15, and for Assyria meaning Babylon, note on 
 Jer. ii. 18. 
 
390 LAMENTATIONS, V. [w. 7—15. 
 
 Our fathers have sinned, a7td a7'e not ; 
 
 And we have borne their iniquities. 
 
 Servants have ruled over us : 
 
 There is none that doth deliver 11s out of their hand. 
 
 We gat our bread with the peril of onr lives 
 
 Because of the sword of the wilderness. 
 
 Our skin was black like an oven 
 
 Because of the terrible famine. 
 
 They ravished the women in Zion, 
 
 A7td the maids in the cities of Judah. 
 
 Princes are hanged up by their hand : 
 
 The faces of elders were not honoured. 
 
 They took the young men to grind. 
 
 And the children fell under the wood. 
 
 The elders have ceased from the gate, 
 
 The young men from their musick. 
 
 The joy of our heart is ceased ; 
 
 Our dance is turned into mourning. 
 
 7. and are not\ or, better, they are not. 
 
 we have borne their iniquities^ See Introduction, chap. i. § 3 (^). 
 
 8. Servants have ruled] Slaves have ruled. The Chaldaeans are 
 meant, among whom it was nothing unusual for a slave to rise through 
 abiHty or favour to the highest station. 
 
 9. We gat our bread] We get our bread. The reference is to the 
 bands of wild Arabs (Bedaween), seeking opportunities for the plunder 
 of those who venture from the shelter of the city to reap the harvest. 
 
 10. was black like an oven because of the terrible famine] glows like 
 an oven because of the burning blast of famine. The feverishness 
 brought on by hunger is meant. 
 
 12. Princes are hatiged up by their hand] The reference probably 
 is not to death by crucifixion, but to subsequent impalement in order to 
 expose to the utmost ignominy. Both death by crucifixion and impale- 
 ment after death were regarded with the utmost abhorrence by the Jews. 
 For the former see Deut. xxi. ■23. 
 
 13. They took the young tnen to grind] The young men have borne 
 the mill. This involves the thought of their also being employed to 
 grind the corn, and thus the general sense of the verse is that as rank 
 and advanced age was no safeguard, neither did tenderness of age secure 
 against the most oppressive and menial of labours. 
 
 14. from the gate] the place of social enjoyment and conversation, 
 answering to our clubs and other places of entertainment. Compare 
 Jer. xiv. 1 with note. 
 
vv. 16—22.] LAMENTATIONS, V. 39i 
 
 The crown is fallen from our head : »6 
 
 Woe unto us, that we have sinned ! 
 
 For this our heart is faint ; 17 
 
 For these things our eyes are dim. 
 
 Because of the mountain of Zion, which is desolate, 18 
 
 The foxes walk upon it. 
 
 19 — 22. Final appeal to Godfo r deliverance. 
 
 Thou, O Lord, remainest for ever ; 19 
 
 Thy throne from generation to generation. 
 
 Wherefore dost thou forget us for ever, 20 
 
 A7id forsake us so long time ? 
 
 Turn thou us unto thee, O Lord, and we shall be turned; 21 
 
 Renew our days as of old. 
 
 But thou hast utterly rejected us ; 22 
 
 Thou art very wroth against us. 
 
 16. The croxvn is fallen from our headi The crown upon (literally 
 of) our head is fallen, i.e. our honour is brought to the dust. 
 
 woe unto us, that we have sinned !\ These words shew that ver. 7 is 
 not intended to imply that the generation which utters it does not 
 inherit the sins of its ancestors quite as much as the punishment which 
 is their due. 
 
 18. foxes'\ jackals. This shews what a comparative desert it was be- 
 come. 
 
 19 — 22. Final appeal to God for deliverance. 
 
 19. 7-emaijtest] literally, sittest. The thought is that though the 
 sanctuary of God on earth is desolate, yet there is hope and comfort in 
 remembering that His heavenly dwelling is and must be unshaken. 
 
 20. Since this is so, why is Israel left desolate? 
 
 21. Turn thou us..."] taken from Jer. xxxi. 18. The appeal to God as 
 the only source from which repentance could arise in the people has for 
 its underlying thought the same which appears in 2 Cor. iii. 5. 
 
 22. But~\ rather, unless. The whole sentence is an hypothesis 
 not to be accepted as fact, and to express this, there should be a 
 note of interrogation after us in both parts of the verse and we should 
 also insert an unless before thou art. God's anger cannot last for ever, 
 and thus there is yet hope. 
 
 Although the Book of Lamentations, like so many even of the saddest 
 of the Psalms, does in fact close with the language of hope, that 
 is in the present case so little apparent on the first reading that in many 
 Heb. manuscripts ver. 21 is repeated at the end, that so its words 
 may rather be the last to fall upon the ear. A similar expedient is used 
 in the case of Ecclesiastes, Isaiah, and Malachi. See note on Jer. 
 Hi. 34- 
 
APPENDIX, 
 
 NOTE I. 
 
 Traditions relating to Jeremiah. 
 
 1. That Jeremiah addressed a severe rebuke to the Jews in Egypt 
 is the last undoubted fact which we possess in connection with him 
 (chap. xliv. ; see note on ver. i), and it has been conjectured that it was 
 in accordance with his own desire that his faithful minister Baruch 
 refrained from inserting in the Book of his prophecies any further parti- 
 culars of his life or record of his end — so slender at the outset and even 
 inconsistent are the traditional notices. 
 
 2. The Christian tradition was that the Jews in Egypt, provoked 
 by his rebukes, stoned him to death "Jeremias lapidatur" Tert. adv. 
 Gnost. c. 8; "Jeremias lapidatus...a populo," Hieron. adv. Jov. ii. 37. 
 See also beginning of § 8 below. 
 
 3. The Jewish tradition, perhaps however invented by way of 
 hiding the truth of the charge brought against them by the Christians, 
 was that the prophet had escaped from Egypt to Babylon, and there 
 died. 
 
 4. In the (Apocryphal) Book of Ecclesiasticus (chap. xlix. 7), the 
 date of which is very uncertain, Jeremiah is referred to thus: — " They 
 entreated him evil, who nevertheless was a prophet, sanctified in his 
 mother's womb, that he might root out, and afflict, and destroy ; and 
 that he might build up also, and plant." See Jer. i. 10. 
 
 5. In 2 Mace. ii. i — 7 we are toll that Jeremiah at the exile "com- 
 manded them that were carried away to take of the fire," and that 
 "the prophet, being warned of God, commanded the tabernacle and the 
 ark to go with him, as he went forth into the mountain, where Moses 
 climbed up, and saw the heritage of God. And when Jeremy came 
 thither, he found an hollow cave, wherein he laid the tabernacle, and 
 the ark, and the altar of incense, and so stopped the door. And some 
 of those that followed him came to mark the way, but they could not 
 find it. Which when Jeremy perceived, he blamed them, saying, As 
 
394 APPENDIX. 
 
 for that place, it shall be unknown until the time that God gather his 
 people again together, and receive them unto mercy." 
 
 6. Judas Maccabaeus before his conflict with Nicanor sees in a 
 vision (2 Mace. xv. 12 — 16) "a man with grey hairs, and exceeding 
 glorious, who was of a wonderful and excellent majesty,. .a lover of the 
 brethren, ...Jeremias the prophet of God," who presents him with a 
 sword of gold, by which to prevail. 
 
 7. The following is the form which the tradition had assumed in 
 the time of Polyhistor (brought from the East to Rome by Sylla the 
 Dictator). He is quoted by Eusebius [Praepar. Evajig. ix. 39). In 
 the time of Jehoiakim Jeremiah prophesied. He found the Jews 
 sacrificing to a golden idol, named Baal, and announced the impending 
 disaster. Jehoiakim was for burning him alive, but he said that they 
 (the Jews) should as captives cook food for the Babylonians and dig 
 canals for the Tigris and Euphrates. The historian adds that Nebuchad- 
 nezzar hearing of these prophecies came with Astibar, king of the 
 Medes, and captured Jerusalem, removing to Babylon the treasures of 
 the Temple, "except the Ark and the Tables which were in it; these 
 remained with Jeremiah." On this last point, see § 5 above. 
 
 8. In our Lord's time there are traces of a popular belief that 
 Jeremiah's work on earth was not yet done, and this was one of the 
 phases of Messianic hope. See Matt. xvi. 14, and compare John i. 2r, 
 where "that" (rather the) "prophet" is by some thought to have 
 reference to him. 
 
 For other prophecies attributed to him, see Note il. 
 
 9. The treatise De Vitis Prophetariim attributed to St Epiphanius 
 (died A.D. 402) relates as follows (shewing that meanwhile the tradition 
 had grown considerably), "Jeremiah the prophet was of Anathoth, 
 and he was stoned to death by the people at Taphnae in Egypt. And 
 he lies at the site of Pharaoh's house, for the Egyptians honoured him, 
 having received benefits from him; for asps and... crocodiles were 
 destroying them, and at the prayer of the prophet Jeremiah both the 
 venomous asps were driven from that land, and in like manner the 
 treacherous beasts from the river, and all the faithful to the present day 
 pray at that spot, and taking of the dust cure the bite of asps and put 
 the crocodiles themselves to flight. This prophet gave a sign to the 
 Egyptian priests, saying, that all their idols must be overthrown and all 
 the works of their hands [see note on Jer. xxv. 7] collapse, when there 
 should set foot in Egypt a virgin about to bear a Divine Child [Matt. ii. 
 14]. And so it was." Epiphanius adds that the memory of this 
 prophecy is kept up by a ceremony continued to his own time. He 
 continues: — "This prophet before the capture of the temple seized the 
 Ark of the Law with all its contents, and caused it to be swallowed up 
 in a rock, and said to the priests of the people and to the elders who 
 stood by. The Lord departed from Sinai into the heavens, and He will 
 co7ne again in sacred might. And this shall be the sign of His coming, 
 when all nations boiv dozun before wood (the Cross, see Tvlatt. xxiv. 14). 
 And he said to them, N'o one of the priests or prophets shall disclose this 
 
APPENDIX. 395 
 
 Ark, save Moses the chosen of God. The Tables that are in it none shall 
 open save Aaron. And in the Resurrection the Ark shall rise first, and 
 shall go forth from the rock and be placed on the Mount Sifiai, and all 
 the saints shall be gathered together to it, there azvaiting the Lord, ajid 
 shunning the enemy who desires to destroy them. And with his finger he 
 impressed upon the rock the name of the Lord, and the impression was 
 as though it had been cut with an iron tool, and a cloud overshadowed 
 the rock, and no one knows that spot till the end of the world. And 
 this rock is in the wilderness, where the Ark was first made, between 
 the two mountains where Moses and Aaron lie. And at night a cloud 
 like fire rests upon the spot, after the likeness of those of olden time, 
 inasmuch as the glory of God will never desert His Law." 
 
 NOTE II. 
 Other prophecies ascribed to Jeremiah. 
 
 1. The 6th chapter of the (Apocryphal) Book of Baruch purports 
 to be an Epistle from Jeremiah to the captives in Babylon. 
 
 2. A quotation is attributed to "Jeremy the Prophet" in Matt, 
 xxvii. 9, really found however in Zech. xi. \i, 13. Lightfoot {Horae 
 Hebraicae) on this N. T. passage quotes a Talmudic treatise [Baba 
 Bathra, fol. 14 a) which makes the order of O. T. Books Joshua, 
 Judges, Samuel, Kings, Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Isaiah, giving as the reason, 
 that since the Books of Kings end with disaster, and Jeremiah and 
 Ezekiel also deal with disaster, while Isaiah contains comfort, the 
 former class should go together. Lightfoot accordingly explains the 
 passage on this principle, and takes "Jeremy" to denote the whole 
 section of which it was the opening Book; comparing Luke xxiv. 44, 
 where by "the psalms" are denoted all the Books not included under 
 the two other divisions there mentioned. 
 
 3. Justin Martyr [Dialogue with Trypho, p. 646 § 72, Migne Edition) 
 ascribes evidently by mistake to Jeremiah a passage resembling i Pet. 
 iii. 19. 
 
 4. Eph. V. 14, "Av/ake, thou that, etc." Grote in his commentary 
 on this passage remarks that certain (among whom he mentions, appa- 
 rently by error, St Epiphanius) say that this is from the Apocryphal 
 writings of Jeremiah. He adds that at any rate the word "Christ" 
 does not agree with such a view. 
 
 5. In the works of Pseudo Abdias (about the latter part of the 
 rth century a.d.) these words (see Fabricius, Codex Pseudepigr. V. T. 
 p. 1109) are quoted as Jeremiah's: "Behold thy redeemer shall come, 
 Jerusalem, and this shall be his token, He shall open the eyes of the 
 blind, he shall restore to the deaf their hearing, and with his voice shall 
 raise the dead". 
 
 6. Other portions of Scripture which have been at one time or an- 
 other ascribed to Jeremiah are Deuteronomy, Kings, many of the 
 Psalms, e.g. v., vi., xiv., xxii., xxxi , xli.. Hi — Iv., Ixix — Ixxi., Isaiah, 
 chaps, xlix. — Ixvi., Zechariah, chaps, ix. — xiv. 
 
396 APPENDIX. 
 
 NOTE III. 
 
 .Jeremiah as a type of Christ. 
 
 St Jerome {Commentary on ^er. xxiii. 9) speaks of this prophet as 
 one who (i) as leading a single life, (ii) as a prophet, (iii) as sanctified 
 from the womb (compare Luke i. 15) and (iv) in his very name, the 
 Lord's exalted one, prefigured Christ. To state the parallel more fully 
 in the words of a modem writer: *'In both there is the same early 
 manifestation of the consciousness of a Divine mission (Luke ii. 49). 
 The persecution which drove the prophet from Anathoth has its 
 counterpart in that of the men of Nazareth (Luke iv. 29). His protests 
 against the priests and prophets are the forerunners of the woes against 
 the scribes and Pharisees (Matt, xxiii.)- His lamentations over the 
 coming miseries of his country answer to the tears that were shed over 
 the Holy City by the Son of Man. His sufferings come nearest, of those 
 of the whole army of martyrs, to those of the Teacher against Whom 
 princes and priests and elders and people were gathered together. He 
 saw more clearly than others that New Covenant, with all its gifts of 
 spiritual life and power, which was proclaimed and ratified in the death 
 upon the cross." (Professor Plumptre, Sm. Bibl. Diet., Art. Jeremiah.) 
 
 NOTE IV. 
 
 Approximation to a chronological arrangement of the 
 contents of the book. 
 
 Chaps. 
 I — 12 Josiah. 
 
 14 — 20 Jehoiakim. 
 
 26 ist year of Jehoiakim. 
 
 25 4th ,, ,, 
 
 I46— 49 do. 
 
 35, 3^ do. 
 
 45 do. 
 
 13 Jehoiachin. 
 
 29 (? ist year of) Zedekiah. 
 
 27 do; ,, 
 
 50, 5r 4th year of Zedekiah. 
 
 28 do. ,, ,, 
 
 '21—24 9th „ „ 
 
 34 do. „ „ 
 
 37 9th(ioth) 
 
 30— .^3 loth .. M 
 
 38 loth „ 
 
 52 nth ,, 
 
 39 — 44 Period of exile. 
 
 * Except 46, 13 — 28 Period of exile. 
 
 49, 34 — 39 ist year of Zedekiah. 
 
 ' Rut originally spoken at various times. See 22, i. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 *»* Italics are used in modern names of places, the less fajuiliar foreign words, 
 and in cases where words or phrases, or particular senses of them there noted, are 
 wholly or partially obsolete. 
 
 Abarim, 156 
 
 Abdeel, 245 
 
 Abner, 268 
 
 access to God shall be direct, 215 
 
 Achbor, 184, 243 
 
 Adaiah, 102 
 
 Ahab, 196 
 
 Ahikam, 185 
 
 Ai, 307 
 
 Atchah, 353, 361 
 
 Alexandria, Jews at, 281 
 
 almond tree, see Jeremiah, visions con- 
 nected with 
 
 alphabetical arrangement, 330 
 
 Amasis, 282, 290 
 
 ambassadors, 345 
 
 Ammonites, bands of, 97 
 
 Amon (Ammon), see No Amon 
 
 Anata, xii 
 
 Anathoth, xi. ; Jeremiah conspired a- 
 gainst by people of, 95 ; their punish- 
 ment, 96, 97 
 
 Apis, 289 
 
 appendix to Jeremiah (chap, lii.), genuine- 
 ness of, 344 
 
 apple (of the eye), 373 
 
 Apries, 247, 282 
 
 Ax, 301 
 
 Ararat, 336 
 
 ark, 30 ; see also footstool 
 
 arm, emblem of authority, 301 
 
 Armenia, 336 
 
 Amon, 295 
 
 Aroer, 300 
 
 Arpad, 313 
 
 Asa, 267 
 
 asceticism of Rechabites, 236; of Naba- 
 thaeans, 238 
 
 Ashdod, 175 
 
 Ashkelon, 175, 295 
 
 Ashkenaz, 336 
 
 ass, the burial of, 155 
 
 Assyria = Babylon, 19; vacillation of the 
 Jews between Egypt and, ib. 
 
 Assyrians, cruelty of, 59; battle axe of 
 the, 291 
 
 Atbash, 176, 330 
 
 Athens, crowded during invasion of At- 
 tica, illustration from, 36; the plague 
 at, 121 
 
 Aven, 275 
 
 avenger of blood, 327 
 
 Azariah, 269 
 
 Azekah, 233 
 Azriel, 245 
 Azur, 189 
 Azzah (=Gaza), 175 
 
 Baal, 15, 69, 224; =Bosheth, 32 
 
 Baalim, 21 
 
 Baalis, 264, 268 
 
 Baasha, 267 
 
 Babylon, presumption of, 326; date of 
 prophecy (1. li) regarding, 317; capture 
 of, 322, 325, 337, 339 ; Zedekiah's visit 
 to, 192, 343; =Assyria, 19; =Baby- 
 lonia, 322; likened to a golden cup, 
 331; to a battle axe, 334; called a 
 destroying mountain, 335 ; a burnt 
 mountain, 336; exiles commanded to 
 pray for, 193; see also canals, and 
 gates, and walls 
 
 Babylonia, fertility of, 323 
 
 baker, 250 
 
 baldness, 18, 304, 306; see mourning 
 
 balm, 76, 332 
 
 Baruch, minister to Jeremiah, 221, 241; 
 lesson of humility taught him, xxxiii. 
 282; did he write chap. 1. etc.? 317 
 
 Barzillai, 269 
 
 bases, 189, 348 
 
 basons, 349 
 
 battle-axe, Assyrian, 291, 334; Babylon 
 likened to a, 334 
 
 beard, shaving the corners of, 82; cut 
 in mourning, 122, 266, 304 
 
 beauty, figures expressive of, 385 
 
 Bedaween, 26, 390 
 
 Bel, 319, 340 
 
 Ben-hadad, 314 
 
 Benjamin, territory of, i 
 
 Beth-aven, 39 
 
 Beth-diblathaim, 301 
 
 Bethel, 39, 299 
 
 Beth-gamul, 301 
 
 Beth-haccerem (Beth-acharna), 53 
 
 Bethlehem, 269 ; see also Ephrath 
 
 Beth-meon, 301 
 
 Beth-shemesh, 275 
 
 bird, the people likened to a, 100; bird- 
 catchers, ib. 
 
 bondmen, house of, 234 
 
 Book of the Law, discovery of, xv. xvii 
 
 Boscath, 102 
 
 Bosheth, see Baal 
 
 bottle, 104, 299 
 
398 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 bowels, 212, 367, 371 
 bowls, 349 
 
 bowmen, 43; of Elam, 316 
 Bozrah, 301, 310, 311 
 Branch, the, 159 
 brasen bulls, 349 
 
 bread, cake of, 250; scarcity of, 252 
 " breath of our nostrils," 388 
 brick-kiln, 196, 273 
 brigand, 285 
 brigandifie, 285 
 
 brightness, gleams of, in Jeremiah, 19S 
 bruit, 89 
 buckler, 285 
 
 built ( = established), 102, 206, 270 
 bullocks ( = choice youths), 325; merce- 
 nary troops likened to, 290 
 bulls, see brasen bulls 
 burden, 166 
 
 burial, lack of, as punishment, 112, 155 
 Buz, 176 
 
 cabins, 249 
 
 cage, 50 
 
 cakes (sacrificial), 65, 279 
 
 caldrons, 348, 349; see also Jeremiah, 
 
 visions connected with 
 canals about Babylon, 328, 339 
 candlesticks, 349 
 cane, the sweet, 58 
 cannibalism, 140, 374 
 Caphtor, 294 
 captivities, Nebuchadnezzar's successive, 
 
 351 
 
 caravanserai, 76, 269 
 
 Carchemish, 284, 286, 297 ; turning point 
 in history, 170 
 
 Carmel, 13, 290, 324 
 
 carpenters, 168, 193 
 
 Cassandra, Jeremiah likened to, xxvii 
 
 cast about, 268 
 
 caterpillars, 333, 336 
 
 cedars ( = chief men), 152 
 
 celibacy, 121 
 
 ceremonial, if heartless, useless, 58, 90, 
 94 ; comes second to the moral law, 66 
 
 Chaldaean army composed of many dis- 
 tinct nations, 231 
 
 chapiters, 349 
 
 Chemosh, 297 
 
 childhood, stages of, 384 
 
 children bear the sins of their parents, 
 356; much prized by the Jews, 60, 117, 
 121, 153, 158, 246 
 
 children of the people, 130 
 
 Chimham, 268 
 
 Chittim, 15 
 
 Christ typified by Jeremiah, see Je- 
 remiah 
 
 Chuzistan, 316 
 
 cistern, 16, 17, 109 
 
 cleansing (forgiveness), a distinctive fea- 
 ture of the new covenant, 214, 227 
 
 " Cleopatra's Needle," 275 
 
 clothes rent in mourning, 266 
 
 clouds, enemy likened to, 38 
 
 clouts. 253 
 
 cockatrice, 75 
 
 Commandment, bearing of Jeremiah's 
 teaching on Second, 356 ; breach of 
 Fourth, 131; Rabbinic view of the 
 Fourth, ib. 
 
 compass, 212 
 
 Coniah, see Jehoiachin 
 
 consolation, the cup of, 122 
 
 correct, 20 
 
 counting, Heb. mode of, 234 
 
 court of law, figure taken from, 178 
 
 court of the Temple, 180 
 
 covenant, ceremonies attendant on, 235 ; 
 superseding of the legal, 214; illustra- 
 tion of certainty of God's, 230 
 
 crane, 72 
 
 C'thubhim, 353 
 
 C7tnning, 80 
 
 cup, Babylon likened to a golden, 331 
 
 cups, 349 
 
 Cushi, 243 
 
 Cyaxares, xx 
 
 Cyrus, 187, 322, 323, 334 
 
 Damascus, 313 
 
 Dan, town of, 39, 74 
 
 Daniel, date of his captivity, xx. ; his 
 dumbness removed by touching, 4 
 
 Dante, Jeremiah likened to, xxvii.; quo- 
 tation from, 46 
 
 Daphnae Pelusii, see Tahapanes 
 
 darkness, symbol of ignorance or of mise- 
 ry. io5> 376 
 
 days come, 159 
 
 Dedan, 175, 309 
 
 deed of purchase, 220 
 
 defaming, 145 
 
 Delaiah, 243, 245 
 
 delicately, 384 
 
 delicates, 338 
 
 desperately wicked, 128 
 
 Dhiban, 300 
 
 diamond, 125 
 
 Dibon, 299 
 
 disaster, likened to a bitter draught, 174 
 
 discovered, 372 
 
 divorce, 25 
 
 doings, see ways 
 
 dragons, 78 
 
 draught, see disaster 
 
 dreams, 163, 187, 193 
 
 dress, importance attached to, 352 
 
 door, keeper of the, 237 
 
 dote, yi-j 
 
 double, 130, 324 
 
 drought, 26, 50, 98, 108, log, 140, 190, 
 328, 346, and often in Lamentations; 
 johied with sword and pestilence, iii, 
 115, 195, 271. See also famine 
 
 dungeon, 249, 252, 381, etc. 
 
INDEX. 
 
 399 
 
 eagle, 305 ., , 
 
 eagles, enemy swifter than, 39, 387 
 
 ears, tingling of, 138 
 
 eat, 119 
 
 Ebedmelech, 252, 260 
 
 eclipse, 117 
 
 Edom, 82, 175, 308; king of, 186 
 
 Eglath, 304 
 
 Egypt, Jewish colonists in, 281 ; study 
 of medicine in, 287 ; mercenary troops 
 of, 290 ; the Holy Family's flight into, 
 
 ^ 275, 394 
 
 Ekron, 175 
 
 Elam, 316; bowmen of, ib. 
 
 Elasah, 193 
 
 el-Bjisaireh, 310 
 
 " elders of Israel," 183 
 
 Elealeh, 304 
 
 Elishama, 245, 265 
 
 Elnathan, 184, 243, 245 
 
 Emims, 295 
 
 ending, fenr of an ill-omened, 352, 391 
 
 enemies of Israel, their punishment to 
 be temporary, loi, 292, 306, 308, 317 
 
 enfranchisement of slaves, 233 
 
 English history, illustration from, 11 
 
 Ephai, 263 
 
 Ephraim, 65, 208; position of mount, 39 
 
 Ephrath (? Euphrates = ), 103 
 
 equal, 371 
 
 Ethiopia, 107 
 
 Ethiopians, 107, 286 ; see also Ebed- 
 melech 
 
 Et Teim, 29'; 
 
 eunuch, 252 
 
 Euphrates, 103, 337 
 
 Evil-merodach, 157, 172, 352 
 
 exiles commanded to pray for Babylon, 
 
 193 
 
 evelid-staining, 43 
 
 Ezekiel, special revelation to, 346; al- 
 leged quotation from in Lamentations, 
 356 
 
 fallow ground, simile from, 34 
 
 falsehood = idolatry, 108, 112 
 
 false prophets, 189 
 
 faine, 59 
 
 familiars, 145, 253 
 
 family, 29 
 
 family feuds, 77 
 
 famine, cannibalism produced by, 140, 
 374 ; see also drought 
 
 fan, 116 
 
 fasts, 242, 265, 347 
 
 fatness, a mark of prosperity, 51 
 
 fear, 380 
 
 fear is on every side, 59, 374 
 
 ferries, 337 
 
 fet, 184 
 
 field, 219, 225 
 
 fire, a signal, 52; a part of Moloch- 
 worship, 69, 139; a strong motive- 
 power, 144; a punishment, 48, 118, 
 
 127, 149, 150, 152, 223, 306, 314, 326, 
 342, 365, 369, 386; on the hearth, 244; 
 God's Word likened to a, 165; roast 
 in the (as a punishment), 196 
 
 fire-pans, 349 
 
 firstfruits at Passover, 50; at Feast of 
 Weeks, ib. 
 
 fishing, metaphor from, 124 
 
 flow, used of the tribes, 209 
 
 folds, 159 
 
 folly = idolatry, i6r ; see also vain (vanity; 
 
 footstool, 368 
 
 forest, 150, 291; forest of Lebauon, 152 
 
 forgiveness, see cleansing 
 
 former rain, 26, 50 
 
 fountain, 16, 76, 129 
 
 foxes, 391 
 fray, 70 
 
 fruit dedicated, 207 
 
 funerals, distribution of bread and wine 
 at, 122 
 
 furnace, the iron, 91 
 
 furniture of Temple, 348 
 
 gadfly, 290 
 
 gall, 74, 162, 375, 377 
 
 Gamaliel, parallel to argument of, 182 
 
 Gareb, 217 
 
 gate, 1 16 ; = inhabitants of city, 109; the 
 
 seat of justice, etc. 8, log, 150, 390: 
 
 gates of the Temple, 62, 142, 182 ; 
 
 gates of the city, 138, 217, 249, 258; 
 
 gates of Babylon, 342 
 Gath, 175, 294 
 Gaza, 293, see also Azzah 
 Gedaliah, son of Ahikam, 185, 260, etc.; 
 
 = Igdaliah, 237; son of Pashur, 251 
 Gehenna, 22, 69 ; see Hinnom 
 Gemariah, son of Shaphan, 185, 242, 
 
 245 ; son of Hilkiah, 193 
 ghetto, 296 
 Gibeon, 189, 268 
 Gilead, 76, 152, 287, 324 
 gird up thy loins, 9 
 give glory, 105 
 give the hand, 322 
 glaziers, diamond used by, 126 
 Goath, 217 
 Goel, 327 
 
 gold, the people likened to, 383 
 Gomorrah, 162, 311, 328 
 grapes, sour, 214 
 grasshopper, 291 
 groves, 126 
 
 habitation, 228, 312, 323, 368 
 
 hadariye, 315 
 
 hair cut in mourning, 122, 266, 304; in 
 
 ceremonial uncleanness, 68 
 Hamath, 258, 313, 346, 351 
 Hammeiech, 245 
 hammer, God's Word likened to a, 1655 
 
 Babylon likened to a, 324 
 Hamutal (Hamital), 345 
 
400 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Hanameel, 219 
 
 Hanan, 237 
 
 Hananeel, 217 
 
 Hananiah, son of Azur, 189 ; father of 
 
 Zedekiah, 243; grandfatherof Irijah, 249 
 hand ( = palm), 99, 121 ; stretched out in 
 
 prayer, 373 
 hanging, 390 
 
 harvest, a proverb taken from, loi 
 hasten, 6, 281 
 Hazor, 315 
 
 head covered in mourning, 109 
 heap, 204, 212, 339 
 heard, 234 
 heart, seat of the intellect, or of the will, 
 
 37; of the emotions, 373 
 hearth, 244 
 heath, 127, 297 
 
 heavenly bodies, worship of, 71, 140 
 hedges, 307 
 Heliopolis, 275 
 Heshbon, 296, 304, 306, 307 
 Hezekiah, quoted as a precedent, 183 
 Hierapolis, 285 
 high places (as a seat of idolatry,) 26, no; 
 
 see also mourning 
 Hilkiah, x., i 
 
 hind, careful of its young, 1 10 
 Hinnom, 21, 69, 138, 139, 217, 224 
 hissing, 136, 139, 172, 195, 339, 372 
 Holon, 300 
 
 honey, flowing with milk and, 92 
 hope, gleams of in Jeremiah, 198 
 hope of Israel, a title of God, no 
 Hophra, see Pharaoh-Hophra 
 horn, as emblem, 301, 369, 373 
 horns (of altar), 126 
 Horonaim, 296, 304 
 Hosannah, meaning of, 208 
 Hoshaiah, 269 
 hospice, see caravanserai 
 host of heaven, see heavenly bodies 
 houses thrown down to make room for 
 
 defensive works, 227 
 humbled, 277 
 hunting, metaphor from, 124, 325, 362, 
 
 365, 380, 387, 388 
 husband, the word used of God, 215 
 
 Igdaliah, see Gedaliah 
 
 image and thing imaged blended, see 
 Book of Jeremiah 
 
 imagination, 30, 67, 79, 92, 104, 123, 135, 
 163 
 
 Immer, see Pashur 
 
 imprecations, 137, 146 
 
 inanimate objects spoken of as sympa- 
 thizing with sorrow, 363 
 
 incense, 58 
 
 incurable, 128 
 
 iniquity of fathers visited on children, 214 
 
 Innocents, slaughter of, 210 
 
 instruct, 211 
 
 interest, see usury 
 
 in those days, 30, 324 
 
 Isaiah, list of quotations from, 84 
 
 Ishmael, 263, etc. 
 
 isles, 175 
 
 Jaazaniah, i, 236 
 
 jackals, 78^ 328, 383 
 
 Jahaz, 304 
 
 Jahazah, 300 
 
 Jazer, 303 
 
 Jeconiah, see Jehoiachin 
 
 Jedidah, 102 
 
 Jehoahaz, other name of, 153; Jeremiah's 
 grief at his fate, 152 
 
 Jehoiachin, xxi., 157; childless, 158 
 
 Jehoiada, 197 
 
 Jehoiakim, character of, xviii, 151, 154, 
 156; murder of Urijah, 184; burning of 
 the Roll, 244; his end, 155, 246; mis- 
 reading for Zedekiah, 185 
 
 Jehucal (=Jucal), 247, 251 
 
 Jehudi, 243, 244 
 
 Jerahmeel, 245 
 
 jeremiad, xvi 
 
 Jeremiah, meaning of name, ix. ; paren- 
 tage, X.; family dwelling place, xi.; 
 dedicated before birth, 3; distinctive 
 features of his call, xvi.; age when 
 called, 4 ; parallels in secular history, 
 xxvii.; visions connected with, 5 — 7, 
 167 ; opposition to him, xxvi., 145 ; he 
 advises submission to Chaldaea, xvii., 
 19; symbol of the potter's clay, 132; 
 of the broken vessel, 138—140; of the 
 linen girdle, 102; of the yoke, 186, 
 191 ; of the wine cup, 174 ; the prophet's 
 Roll, 240 ; its burning meffectual, illus- 
 tration of this, XX.; letter to the exiles, 
 192 ; charged with desertion, 249 ; buys 
 a field, xxiii., 219: rescued by Ebed- 
 melech, 253 ; Nebuchadnezzar friendly, 
 103, 259; in Egypt, 273 : traditions con- 
 cerning him, 393; Grotto of, 354; a 
 type of Christ, 396; other prophecies 
 ascribed to him, 395 ; other portions of 
 O. T. ascribed to him, ib. ; references 
 to him in N. T., 394 ; other Jeremiahs, i 
 
 Jeremiah, Book of, language of chap. x. 
 1—16; unlike the rest, 83, Chaldee 
 verse, 86; parallels with Deut. xv.; 
 with Lamentations, 357 ; repetitions of 
 language, or thougnt or an image, 
 xxviii., 63; examples of image and 
 thing imaged blended, xxix.; use of 
 cypher (Atbash), xxx., 176; analysis 
 of contents, xxxi.; clue to their ar- 
 rangement, xxxii.; prophecies chrono- 
 logically arranged, 396 ; Septuagint, 
 xxxiv., 173, 284, 316; differences in 
 Heb. and Sept. order discussed, xxxvi.; 
 Table shewing the two orders, xxxviii 
 
 Jerusalem, name of street in, 250; be- 
 lieved impregnable, 386; called God's 
 throne, 30, 114; called a mountain, 
 
INDEX. 
 
 401 
 
 126, 213; a valley and a rock, 150; 
 "that killcst the prophets," 23; the 
 Jew's "wailing place" at, 360; see 
 also footstool 
 
 Jezaniah, 263, 269 
 
 Joab, 268 
 
 Johanan, 263, etc. 
 
 Jonadab, 237 
 
 Jonathan, the scribe, 249, 250, 256; son 
 of Kareah, 263 
 
 Jordan, the swelling of, 99 
 
 Josiah, reformation, x. xii., his end xvii., 
 353, 354, 360 
 
 journey of Zedekiah to Babylon, 192, 343 
 
 Jucal, see Jehucal 
 
 Judaea, exposed position of, xii. ; its his- 
 tory from Hezekiah's time, xiii. ; its 
 overthrow shall not be final, 42; medal 
 representing, 361 
 
 Justin Martyr, his quotation as though 
 from Jeremiah, 395 
 
 Kareah, see Johanan 
 
 Kedar, 15, 314 
 
 keeper of the door, 237 
 
 Kericth. 301, 305 
 
 Khan, see caravanserai 
 
 kiln, see brick-kiln 
 
 Kingly office, in what sense permanent, 
 229 
 
 Kings, kept at the court of the con- 
 queror, 352 
 
 Kindih, 353 
 
 Kinsman's right to redeem, 219 
 
 Kir-heres, 303 
 
 Kiriathaim, 295, 301 
 
 Kirjath-jearim, 184 
 
 know, 3, 123 
 
 Kolaiah, play on the word, 196 
 
 Kronos, legend of, 224 
 
 Kureiyat, 296 
 
 Lachish, 233 
 
 lamb, a pet, 95 
 
 Lamentations, Book of, its name, 353 ; 
 position, ib.; date, 354; structure, ib.; 
 authorship, 355 ; alleged inconsistencies 
 with Book of Jeremiah, 356, etc. ; paral- 
 lelisms, 357, 359 ; subject matter and 
 purpose, 359; use, 360 ; see also Ezekiel. 
 
 latter rain, 26, 50 
 
 Law, undue boasting in the, 73, 136 
 
 Lebanon, 135, 152 
 
 lees, of wine, 298 
 
 leopard, 46, 107 
 
 leper, 386 
 
 Libyans, 286 
 
 //// up the head, 352 
 
 lions, in literal sense, 46; figurative, 17, 
 23, 36, 99, 179, 311, 323, 329, 339 
 
 little ones = servants, io9;=abject ones, 
 296 
 
 liver, 371 
 
 Livy, illustration from, xxiii 
 
 JEREMTAH 
 
 locusts, 291, 333, 336 
 
 lodging place, see caravanserai 
 
 lovers = allied nations, 156 
 
 Luhith, 297 
 
 Lydians, 286 
 
 Maaseiah, father of Neriah, 221, 343; 
 son of Shallum, 237 ; father of Zede- 
 kiah, 196; father of Zephaniah, 148, 
 197, 247 
 
 Mabog, 285 
 
 Maccabaeus, meaning of, 325 
 
 Madmen, 296 
 
 madness, 197, 274 
 
 Magormissabib, 59, 374 
 
 Malleus Scotorum, 325; hereticorum, ib. 
 
 Manasseh, irreligion of, xiv. 24 
 
 Marduk = Merodach', 319 
 
 mark, 21 
 
 marriage, festivities of, 70, 172; forbid- 
 den to Jeremiah, 121 
 
 Martel, Charles, 325 
 
 Mattan, 251 
 
 Mattaniah, see Zedekiah 
 
 meat-offeritigs, 132, 266, 364 
 
 Medes, 176, 332, 336 
 
 medicine studied in Egypt, 287 
 
 Megiddo, xvii., 353 
 
 Megilloth, 353 
 
 Mephaath, 300 
 
 mercenary troops of Egypt, 290 
 
 Merethaim, 324 
 
 Merodach, 319 
 
 Merodach-Baladan, 319 
 
 Mesha, 295, 300 
 
 Messiah called David, 201 
 
 Messianic prophecies, 159, 210 
 
 metals, refining of, 120 
 
 Micah, quotation from, 183 
 
 Michaiah, 183, 243 
 
 Migdol, 275, 288 
 
 Milcom, 307 
 
 milk, see honey 
 
 mill, 390 
 
 mingled people, 175 
 
 Minni, 336 
 
 Misgab, 296 
 
 mixture of metaphors, 29 
 
 Mizpah, 262, 267 
 
 Moab, 82, 175, 264, 295, etc. 
 
 Moabites, bands of, 97; " Moabite stone," 
 295. 298, 300 
 
 Moloch, worship of, 69, 224 
 
 moon worship, 65, 71, 278, etc. ; see also 
 new moon 
 
 morning, the business time, 150 
 
 Moses, 114 
 
 mount, a besieger's, 53, 223, 227 
 
 mountain, as a hindrance, 105; title of 
 Jerusalem or Zion, 126 
 
 mourners, hired, 80 
 
 mourning, on high places, 32; hand laid 
 on head in, 25 ; head covered in, lop ; 
 dust on head in, 371; clothes rent m, 
 266; cutting of beard, etc. in, 122, 266, 
 
 26 
 
402 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 304; odours burnt in, 232 ; Jeremiah to 
 avoid the house of, 121 
 
 mouth put in the dust to shew submis- 
 sion, 378 
 
 mutiny, illustration from Indian, 267 
 
 Nabathaeans, 238 
 
 Nablus, 266 
 
 Nabonedus, 172 
 
 Nabopolassar, xx 
 
 Nagd, 141 
 
 name, change of, on accession, etc., xvn., 
 153; play upon names, 39, 52, 196, 
 296, 324; a Book named from a con- 
 spicuous word in it, 353, 361 
 
 nations, the wine cup administered to the, 
 174; order of prophecies against, 284 
 
 naughty, 168 
 
 Nazarites, 385 
 
 Nebo, 295, 301 
 
 Nebuchadnezzar = Nebuchadrezzar, 148 
 
 Nebuzar-adan, 260, etc., 273, 347 
 
 Necho, see Pharaoh Necho 
 
 neck, hardening of, 67 
 
 Nehelamite, 197 
 
 Nehemiah, 335 
 
 Nehushta, 102, 106 
 
 Nei^al-sharezer, 257, 258, 260 
 
 Neriglissor, 172 
 
 net, 365 
 
 Nethaniah, 243 
 
 Netophathite, 263 
 
 new moon, signal of, 52 ; watchers for, 207 
 
 New Test, references to Jeremiah, 394 
 
 Nile, 286 
 
 Nimrim, 304 
 
 Nitocris, 70, 339 
 
 nitre, 21 
 
 No Amon, 292 
 
 Nob, 262 
 
 noon, S3, 116, 147 
 
 Noph, 18, 27s, 290 
 
 numbers, difficulties connected with,i57; 
 Jewish love of certain, 172; see also 
 counting, Heb. mode of 
 
 Obadiah, 308 
 obelisk. 274 
 old paths, 57 
 olive, 94 
 On, 27s 
 Ophir. 8s 
 ostriches, 328, 384 
 owls, 328 
 ox, 95 
 
 pakid, 141, 350 
 
 Palestine, see Judaea 
 
 palm tree, upright as the, 84 
 
 partridge, 128 
 
 pasha, 335 
 
 Pashur, son of Immer, 133, 141, 251; 
 
 son of Melchiah, 141, 148, 251 
 Passover, first fruits at, 50 
 pastors, 14, 29, 129, 156, 158 
 
 pastures (pasturage), 53, 78, iS9, 177, 179. 
 
 312 ; see also habitation 
 Pathros, 275 
 pavilion, 274 
 pekhah, 335 
 Pekod, 324 
 Pelusium, 275 
 pen-knife, 244 
 pestilence, joined with sword and famine, 
 
 III, 115, 195, 271 
 Petra, 311 
 Pharaoh, 174 (meaning of), 247, 248, 289, 
 
 293 
 Pharaoh-Hophra, 247, 281, 282, 290, 293 
 Pharaoh-Necho, xvii., 284, 290, 293 
 Phocion, Jeremiah likened to, xxvii 
 phrases imitated by the false prophets, 
 
 165, 190 
 pillory, 142 
 pit, see cistern 
 pitiful, 385 
 plague, 139 
 plaister, 202, 203, 287 
 play upon proper names, 39, 52, 196, 296, 
 
 324 
 polygamy, 106 
 
 Pomegranates, 349 
 'orte, the Sublime, no 
 post, 337 
 
 potter, vessel of, wheel of, see Jeremiah 
 prayer, hand stretched out in, 373 
 present a supplication, 242 
 prey, thy life shall be for a, 261 
 priestly office, permanence of. 229 
 priests, not spread through country, xi 
 prophets, false ; see false prophets ; three 
 
 modes of deception as practised by 
 
 them, 112 
 prophets, schools of the, xv 
 prosperity of the wicked, 97, 98 
 proverbs, 98, 99 
 provinces, 362 
 Psammetichus, xvii 
 Pseudo-Abdias, Jeremiah alleged to be 
 
 quoted by, 395 
 Ptolemy Lagi, 281 
 
 quarter-master general, 343 
 
 queen (= queen mother), 106, 193; queen 
 
 of heaven, 65, 278 
 quiet prince, 343 
 
 Rabbah, 307 
 
 Rab-mag, 258, 260 
 
 Rab-saris, 258, 260 
 
 Rachel, 210 
 
 rain, see former rain, latter rain 
 
 Ramah, 210, 261, 267 
 
 Rechab. meaning of, 237 
 
 Rechabites, 236, 385 ; their reward, 239 . 
 
 later references to, 240 
 redeemer, 327 
 
 redemption of property, 219 
 reeds, 337 
 
INDEX. 
 
 403 
 
 reins, seat of the aflfections, 96, 98, 128, 
 
 376 
 rent (=rend), 43 
 
 repentance, used of God, 115, 134 
 revenues, 101 
 reward^ 262 
 Riblah, 254, 258, 346 
 riches, not properly a plural, 304 
 righteousness, the Lord our, 160 
 rising up early and speaking, 65 
 roast in the fire, a punishment, 196 
 rod of his inheritance, 87 ; rod implying 
 
 strength, 299; implying wrath, 375 
 roll, see Jeremiah 
 roofs of houses, uses of, 140 
 rubies, 385 
 
 sabbaths, hallowing of 131 ; Gentile ignor- 
 ance concerning, 364 
 sabbatical rest, the land forced to keep 
 
 a, 127 
 sagan, 335 
 
 Salem, 266, see also Jerusalem 
 Samgar-nebo, 257 
 Samuel, 114 
 sapphire, 385 
 Sarsechim, 257 
 Savonarola, 117, 144 
 schools of the prophets, xv 
 Scilun, 64 
 
 Scotorum malleus, 325 
 scribes, 73 
 
 Scythian invasion, xiv., 36 
 sea-monsters, 383 
 sea, sorrow on the, 313 ; —reservoir, 339; 
 
 of brass, 189, 348 
 seething pot, see Jeremiah 
 Selah, 311 
 
 Septuagint, see Jeremiah, Book of 
 Seraiah, son of Azriel, 245; son of Ne- 
 
 riah, 343 ; the chief priest, 350 
 served, 347 
 Shallum (king), see Jehoahaz ; father of 
 
 Hanameel, 219 
 Shaphan, 184, 193, 242 
 Sheba, 58 
 Shechem, 266 
 shekel, 220 
 
 Shelemiah, 243, 245, 247, 249, 251 
 Shemaiah, father of Urijah, 184; the 
 
 Nehelamite, 197; father of Delaiah, 
 
 243 
 Shephatiah, 251 
 
 shepherds, 320; see also pastors 
 Sheshach, 176, 340 
 shields, 332 
 Shiloh, 64, 266 
 Shishak, 18 
 
 shout (vintage), 177, 333 
 shovels, 348 
 Sibmah, 303 
 sickle, 323 
 
 sides of the earth, 59 
 Sidon, see Zidon 
 
 sight, deprivation of, a common punish- 
 ment, 259 
 
 sign sometimes followed the thing sig- 
 nified, 281 
 
 signet, 157 
 
 Sihor, 19 
 
 singular, collective sense of, 60 
 
 sirocco, 38, 108 
 
 sith, 116 
 
 slaughter, valley of, 139 
 
 slavery, 17; enfranchisement of slaves, 
 233 ; the Chaldaeans called slaves, 390 
 
 smiths, 168, 193 
 
 snow of Lebanon, 335 
 
 snuffers, 348 
 
 sodden, 386 
 
 Sodom, 162, 311, 328, 384 
 
 sope, 21 
 
 sorrow, as on the sea, 313; inanimate- 
 objects spoken of as sympathizing with, 
 363 ; figure for intense, 381 
 
 spoons, 349 
 
 staff, implying strength, 299 
 
 stand before, 64, 120. See also served 
 
 standard (standards), 36 
 
 star-worship, see heavenly bodies 
 
 steel, 118 
 
 stocks, 142 
 
 stores, custom of hiding, 267 
 
 stork, 72 
 
 stripes, 142 
 
 stubble, 108 
 
 sun worship, 71 
 
 swallow, 72 
 
 swift (the bird), 72 
 
 sword of the Lord, spoilers likened to, 
 101 
 
 sword, joined with famine and pestilence, 
 III, 115, 195, 271 ; the oppressing, 289 
 
 Sychar, 266 
 
 Syrians, bands of, 97 
 
 tabernacle, see tents 
 
 table, admission to the king's, a special 
 honour, 352 
 
 Tabor, 289 
 
 tabor, tabret, 206 
 
 Tahapanes (Tahpanes), 18, 273, 275, 288 
 
 tale, •2'2<) 
 
 tank, see cistern 
 
 Taphnae, see Tahapanes 
 
 Tarshish, 85 
 
 Tatnai, 335 
 
 TekOa, 52 
 
 Tel, 204 
 
 tell, 228 
 
 Tema, 175 
 
 Teman, 309, 312 
 
 Temple, position of, 133, i8r, 213; fur- 
 niture of, 348; called God's throne, 
 114, 129; invaded by the heathen, 364; 
 see also footstool 
 
 tents, still used in Jeremiah's time, 41, 38 
 
 terror, 130, 169, 222 
 
404 
 
 INDEX. 
 
 Threni, 353 
 
 threshing, 338 
 
 throne, title of Jerusalem, 30, 114; of 
 
 Temple, 114, 129 
 Tiglath-pileser, 307 
 timbrel, 206 
 Titus, medal struck by (Judaea capta), 
 
 361 
 Tophet, 69, 139, 140, 141 
 travail (travel), 375 
 tree, men described under figure of, 
 
 97, 127 
 trumpet, a signal of danger, 41, 52, 57 
 turtle (dove), 72 
 Tyrus (Tyre), 175, 186, 254 
 
 uncircumcised ears, 55 
 unclean (the leper's cry), 386 
 Uphaz, 85 
 Urijah, 184 
 usury, 117 
 Uz, 175 
 
 vain (vanity), used of idols, 12, 39, 75, 
 
 85, 112, 114, 125, 13s ; see also folly 
 valley of Hinnom, see Hinnom 
 vermilion, 154 
 vessel, meaning of water poured from, 
 
 139; vessels of the Lord's house, 188 
 vine, 20; vinedressers, 259 
 vineyard ( = Israel), 100 
 vintage-songs, 177, 333 
 virgin, the people spoken of as a, 113, 
 
 135, 206; virgins taking part in religious 
 
 ceremonies, 363 
 visit for good or evil, 219; Zedekiah's 
 
 visit to Babylon, 192 ; iniquity of fathers 
 
 visited on children, 214 
 volume, derivation of, 241 
 vows, obstinacy in idolatrous, 278 
 
 IVady en-Nemeirah, 304 
 
 walls, Babylon's broad, 342 
 
 war, a religious act, 53 
 
 •ward, 249 
 
 watch (verb), 281 ; watch (subst.), 373 
 
 watchers for new moon, 207 
 
 waters, an army likened to, 293 
 
 waters, cold, 135 
 
 way (your ways and your doings), 62 
 
 way-marks, 212 
 
 Weeks, firstfruits at Feast of, 50 
 
 weeping, excessive, 366 
 
 whirlwind, enemy's chariots likened to 
 a, 38 
 
 widow, Judaea as a, 361 
 
 wilderness, 12; wind from the, 38, 108 
 
 wine, 298 ; filled with (figurative sense), 
 .104, 301. 310. 331 
 
 winepress, 366 
 
 winter house, 244 
 
 works of the hands, 8, 171; also 84, 223 
 
 wormwood, 79, 162, 377 
 
 writing on earth or sand, 129; the pro- 
 phecies committed to, 199, 241, 343 
 
 year (for years), 345 
 
 yoke, symbol of the, see Jeremiah; 
 Babylon's dominion called a, 200 
 
 Zedekiah (king) xxii., his capture, 258, 
 346, 363, 388 ; his end, 347 ; conflicting 
 prophecies connected with, 232; see 
 also breath of our nostrils ; son of 
 Maaseiah, 196; son of Hananiah, 243 
 
 Zephaniah, 148 
 
 Zerubbabel, 335 
 
 Zidon (Sidon), 175 
 
 Zimri, 176 
 
 Zion, 29, 36, 113, 183, 203, 207, 209, 258 
 319, 339; a mountain, 126; see Jera 
 salem and Temple 
 
 Zoar, 304 
 
 Zobah, 313 
 
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 Book of Joshua. Rev. G. F. Maclear, D.D. 2s. 6d. 
 Book of Judges. Rev. J. J. Lias, M.A. 3s. 6d. 
 First Book of Samuel. Prof. Kirkpatrick, D.D, Ss. M. 
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 Book of Job. Prof. Davidson, D.D. 5s, 
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 Book of Bcclesiastes. Very Rev. E. H. Plumptre, D.D. 5s. 
 Book of Isaiah. Chaps. I.-XXXIX. Rev. J, Skinner, D.D. 4s. 
 
 Chaps. XI..— I.XVI. Rev. J. Skinner, D.D, In the Press 
 
 Book of Jeremiah. Rev. A. W. Streane, D.D, 4s. 6d, 
 
 Book of Ezekiel. Prof, Davidson, D.D. 5s. 
 
 Book of Hosea. Rev. T. K. Cheyne, M.A., D.D. 3s. 
 
 Books of Joel and Amos. Rev. S. R. Driver, D.D. 3s. 6^. 
 
 Books of Obadiah and Jonah. Arch. Perowne. 2s. 6(i. 
 
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 Nahum, Habakkuk &; Zephaniah. Prof. Davidson, D.D. 3s. 
 
 Books of Haggai, Zechariah & Bflalachi. Arch . Perowne . 3.< . 6rf. 
 
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 Book of Josliua. Eev. J. S. Black, LL.D. 
 
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 Second Book of Samuel. Prof. Kirkpatrick, D.D. 
 
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THE CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR 
 SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES. 
 
 General Editors: 
 
 J. J. S. Perowne, D.D., Bishop of Worcester. 
 
 A. F. KiRKPATRiCK, V>X^., Regius Professor of Hebrew. 
 
 (20pinionsJ of tfie ^xt^^. 
 
 Guardian. — * * It is difficult to commend too highly this excellent series.''^ 
 
 Academy. — ^^The modesty of the general title of this series has, we 
 believe, led ma?iy to misunderstand its character and underrate its value. 
 The books are -well suited for study in the upper forms of our best schools, 
 but not the less are they adapted to the wants of all Bible students who 
 are not specialists. We doubt, indeed, whether any of the numerous 
 popular commentaries recently issiied in this country will be fotmd more 
 serviceable for general use." 
 
 Baptist Magazine. — " One of the most popular and useful literary 
 enterprises of the nineteenth century.^'' 
 
 Sword and Trowel. — " Of great value. The whole series of com- 
 fnents for schools is highly esteemed by students capable of fori7iing a 
 judgment. The books are scholarly without being pretentious : and in- 
 formation is so given as to be easily understood.''^ 
 
 Sunday School Chronicle. — " There are no better books in exposition 
 of the different parts of Scripture than those contained in the Cambridge 
 Bible for Schools and Colleges. The series has long since established its 
 claim to an honourable place in the front rank of first-rate commentaries; 
 and the teacher or preacher who masters its volumes will be, like Apollos, 
 ' mighty in the Scriptures.^ All conscientious and earnest students of the 
 Scriptures owe an im,mense debt to the Cambridge University Press for its 
 Bible for Schools and Colleges. Take it for all in all, it is probably the 
 most useful commentary alike on the Old Testament and on the New that 
 has been given us in recent years. ^* 
 
 IL Samuel. Acade?ny. — *' Small as this work is in mere dimensions, 
 it is every way the best on its subject and for its purpose that we know 
 of. The opening sections at once prove the thorough competence of the 
 writer for dealing with questions of criticism in an earnest, faithful and 
 devout spirit ; and the appendices discuss a few special difficulties with a 
 full knowledge of the data, and a judicial reserve, which contrast most 
 favourably with the superficial dogmatism which has too often made the 
 exegesis of the Old Testament a field for the play of unlimited paradox 
 and the ostentation of personal infallibility. The notes are always clear 
 and suggestive ; never trifling or irrelevant ; and they ever}'where demon- 
 strate the great difference in value between the work of a commentator 
 who is also a Hebraist, and that of one who has to depend for his 
 Hebrew upon secondhand sources." 
 
 I. Kings and Ephesians. Sword and Trozvel. — " With great hearti- 
 ness we commend these most valuable little commentaries. We had 
 
2 CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS &- COLLEGES. 
 
 rather purchase these than nine out of len of the big blown up exposi- 
 tions. Quality is far better than quantity, and we have it here." 
 
 Ezra and Nehemiah. Guardian. — *' Professor Ryle's Commentary 
 is quite the best work on these books accessible to the English reader." 
 
 Christian World. — " This book should be in the library of every 
 Bible Student." 
 
 The Book of Job. Spectator.—'' Able and scholarly as the Introduc- 
 tion is, it is far surpassed by the detailed exegesis of the book. In this 
 Dr Davidson's strength is at its greatest. His linguistic knowledge, 
 his artistic habit, his scientific insight, and his literary power have full 
 scope when he comes to exegesis." 
 
 Methodist Recorder. — "Already we have frequently called attention 
 to this exceedingly valuable work as its volumes have successively ap- 
 peared. But we have never done so with greater pleasure, very seldom 
 with so great pleasure, as we now refer to the last published volume, 
 that on the Book of Job, by Dr Davidson, of Edinburgh.... We cordially 
 commend the volume to all our readers. The least instructed will under- 
 stand and enjoy it ; and mature scholars will learn from it." 
 
 Psalms. Book I. Church Times. — "It seems in every way a most 
 valuable little book, containing a mass of information, well-assorted, 
 and well-digested, and will be useful not only to students preparing for 
 examinations, but to many who want a handy volume of explanation to 
 much that is difficult in the Psalter We owe a great debt of grati- 
 tude to Professor Kirkpatrick for his scholarly and interesting volume. " 
 
 Literary Churchman. — "In this volume thoughtful exegesis founded 
 on nice critical scholarship and due regard for the opinions of various 
 writers, combine, under the influence of a devout spirit, to render this 
 commentary a source of much valuable assistance. The notes are 
 'though deep yet clear,' for they seem to put in a concentrated form 
 the very pith and marrow of all the best that has been hitherto said on 
 the subject, with striking freedom from anything like pressure of personal 
 views. Throughout the work care and pains are as conspicuous as 
 scholarship." 
 
 Psalms. Books II. and III. Critical Review. — " The second volume 
 of Professor Kirk Patrick's Commentary on the Book of Psalms has 
 
 all the excellent qualities which characterised the first It gives what 
 
 is best in the philology of the subject. Its notes furnish what is most 
 needed and most useful. Its literary style is attractive. It furnishes all 
 that is of real value in the form of introduction, and it has a studious 
 regard for the devout as well as intelligent understanding of the Psalms." 
 
 Baptist. — "This volume of the Cambridge Bible for schools and 
 colleges is a very valuable contribution to the expository literature of 
 the Old Testament. The introduction, which occu[)ies some 70 pages, 
 is a compact compendium of explanatory and critical information upon 
 the whole Psalter. The notes are brief, but full, and very suggestive." 
 
 Job — Hosea. Guardian. — " It is difficult to commend too highly 
 this excellent series, the volumes of which are now becoming numerous. 
 The two books before us, small as they are in size, comprise almost 
 everything that the young student can reasonably expect to find in the 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 way of helps towards such general knowledge of their subjects as may 
 be gained without an attempt to grapple with the Hebrew ; and even 
 the learned scholar can hardly read without interest and benefit the very 
 able introductory matter which both these commentators have prefixed 
 to their volumes." 
 
 Isaiah. Chapters I — XXXIX. Professor W. H. Bennett in the 
 British Weekly. — " Dr Skinner's name on the title-page of this book 
 is a guarantee for extensive and exact scholarship and for careful and 
 accurate treatment of the subject. This little volume will more than 
 sustain the high reputation of the series in which it appears... readers 
 will look forward with much interest to Dr Skinner's second volume on 
 chapters xl — Ixvi." 
 
 School Guardian. — "This last addition to 'The Cambridge Bible for 
 Schools and Colleges,' is a most valuable one, and will go far to 
 increase the usefulness of what we have no hesitation in calling the 
 most useful commentary for school purposes. There ought to be two 
 copies, at least, of this in every parish — one in the clergyman's and the 
 other in the teacher's library." 
 
 Jeremiah. Church Quarterly Reviezv. — "The arrangement of the 
 book is well treated on pp. xxx., 396, and the question of Baruch's 
 relations with its composition on pp. xxvii., xxxiv., 317. The illustra- 
 tions from English literature, history, monuments, works on botany, 
 topography, etc., are good and plentiful, as indeed they are in other 
 volumes of this series." 
 
 Ezekiel. Guardian. — "No book of the Old Testament stands 
 more in need of a commentator than this, and no scholar in England 
 or Scotland is better qualified to comment upon it than Dr A. B. 
 Davidson. With sound scholarship and excellent judgement he com- 
 bines an insight into Oriental modes of thought which renders him a 
 specially trustworthy guide to a book such as this.... His commentary 
 may be safely recommended as the best that has yet appeared. Nor is 
 it unlikely that it will remain the best for some time to come." 
 
 Nahum, Habakkuk and Zephaniah. Literary World. — "An ad- 
 mirable little book, worthy of Dr A. B. Davidson's high scholarship 
 and of the excellent series to which it belongs. The introductions are 
 so comprehensive and thorough, and the notes so entirely useful, that 
 one feels the book is all that can be required for the study of these 
 prophecies by most biblical students, and by many Christian ministers." 
 
 Guardian. — " Prof. Davidson has laid all students of the Old 
 Testament under a fresh debt of gratitude by the publication of this 
 scholarly little volume. It is quite the best conunentary on these books 
 that has yet appeared.... Small as it is, the volume is well worthy to 
 take its place by the side of the same author's invaluable commentaries 
 on Job and Ezekiel." 
 
 Spectator. — "We may say without hesitation that Professor David- 
 son's guidance is amply satisfactory. The theological student or the 
 preacher who may have to deal with the subject cannot do better than 
 consult him." 
 
 Malachi. Academy. — "Archdeacon Perowne has already edited 
 
4 CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS ^ COLLEGES. 
 
 Jonah and Zechariah for this series. Malachi presents comparatively 
 few difficulties and the Editor's treatment leaves nothing to be desired. 
 His introduction is clear and scholarly and his commentary sufficient. 
 We may instance the notes on ii. 1 5 and iv. 2 as examples of careful 
 arrangement, clear exposition and graceful expression." 
 
 The Gospel according to St Matthew. English Churchman. — 
 "The introduction is able, scholarly, and eminently practical, as it bears 
 on the authorship and contents of the Gospel, and the original form 
 in which it is supposed to have been written. It is well illustrated by 
 two excellent maps of the Holy Land and of the Sea of Galilee." 
 
 St Mark. Expositor. — " Into this small volume Dr Maclear, besides 
 a clear and able Introduction to the Gospel, and the text of St Mark, 
 has compressed many hundreds of valuable and helpful notes. In 
 short, he has given us a capital manual of the kind required — containing 
 all that is needed to illustrate the text, i. e. all that can be drawn from 
 the history, geography, customs, and manners of the time. But as a 
 handbook, giving in a clear and succinct form the information which 
 a lad requires in order to stand an examination in the Gospel, it is 
 
 admirable I can very heartily commend it, not only to the senior 
 
 boys and girls in our High Schools, but also to Sunday-school teachers, 
 who may get from it the very kind of knowledge they often find it 
 hardest to get. " 
 
 St Luke. Spectator, — "Canon Farrar has supplied students of 
 the Gospel with an admirable manual in this volume. It has all that 
 copious variety of illustration, ingenuity of suggestion, and general 
 soundness of interpretation which readers are accustomed to expect 
 from the learned and eloquent editor. Anyone who has been accus- 
 tomed to associate the idea of 'dryness' with a commentary, should go 
 to Canon Farrar's St Luke for a more correct impression. He will 
 find that a commentary may be made interesting in the highest degree, 
 and that without losing anything of its solid value.... But, so to speak, 
 it is too good for some of the readers for whom it is intended." 
 
 The Gospel according to St Jolin. English Churchman. — "The 
 notes are extremely scholarly and valuable, and in most cases exhaust- 
 ive, bringing to the elucidation of the text all that is best in com- 
 mentaries, ancient and modern." . 
 
 Acts. School Gtiardian. — " We do not know of any other volume 
 where so much help is given to the complete understanding of one of 
 the most important and, in many respects, difficult books of the New 
 Testament." 
 
 Epistle to the Romans. Expositor. — " The 'Notes' are very good, 
 and lean, as the notes of a School Bible should, to the most commonly 
 accepted and orthodox view of the inspired author's meaning; while the 
 Introduction, and especially the Sketch of the Life of St Paul, is a model 
 of condensation. It is as lively and pleasant to read as if two or three 
 facts had not been crowded into well-nigh every sentence." 
 
 Galatians. Modern Church. — "Dr Pekowne deals throughout in 
 a very thorough manner with every real difficulty in the text, and in 
 
OPINIONS 01 THE PRESS 
 
 this respect he has faithfully followed the noble example set him in the 
 exegetical masterpiece, his indebtedness to which he frankly acknow- 
 ledges." 
 
 English ChurchuiaJt. — "This little work, like all of the series, is a 
 scholarly production ; but we can also unreservedly recommend it from 
 a doctrinal standpoint; Dr E. H. Perowne is one who has grasped 
 the distinctive teaching of the Epistle, and expounds it with clearness 
 and definiteness. In an appendix, he ably maintains the correctness of 
 the A. V. as against the R. V. in the translation of II. i6, a point of 
 no small importance." 
 
 Ephesians. Baptist Magazine. — " It seems to us the model of a 
 School and College Commentary — comprehensive, but not cumbersome; 
 scholarly, but not pedantic." 
 
 Guardian. — '* It supplies matter which is evidently the outcome of 
 deep study pursued with a devotional mind." 
 
 FMlippians. Record. — "There are few series more valued by 
 theological students than ' The Cambridge Bible for Schools and 
 Colleges,' and there will be no number of it more esteemed than that 
 by Mr H. C. G. Moule on the Epistle to the Philippians.'' 
 
 Colossians. Record. — "Those who have already used with pleasure 
 and profit Mr Moule's volumes of the same series on Ephesians and 
 Philippians will open this little book with the highest expectations. 
 
 They will not be disappointed No more complete or trustworthy 
 
 volume has been contributed to this series." 
 
 Expository Times. — "This is now the Commentary on Colossians and 
 Philemon to have at your hand, whether you are schoolboy or scholar, 
 layman or clergyman." 
 
 Thessalonians, Academy. — "Mr Findlay maintains the high level 
 of the series to which he has become contributor. Some parts of his 
 introduction to the Epistles to the Thessalonians could scarcely be 
 bettered. The account of Thessalonica, the description of the style and 
 character of the Epistles, and the analysis of them are excellent in style 
 and scholarly care. The notes are possibly too voluminous ; but there 
 is so much matter in them, and the matter is arranged and handled so 
 ably, that we are ready to forgive their fulness Mr Findlay's com- 
 mentary is a valuable addition to what has been written on the letters 
 to the Thessalonian Church, " 
 
 Baptist Magazine. — "Mr Findlay has fulfilled in this volume a 
 task which Dr Moulton was compelled to decline, though he has rendered 
 valuable aid in its preparation. The commentary is in its own way a 
 model — clear, forceful, scholarly — such as young students will welcome 
 as a really useful guide, and old ones will acknowledge as giving in 
 brief space the substance of all that they knew." 
 
 Timothy and Titus. The Christiati. — "The series includes many 
 volumes of sterling worth, and this last may rank among the most 
 valuable. The pages evince careful scholarship and a thorough acquaint- 
 ance with expository literature ; and the work should promote a more 
 general and practical study of the Pastoral Epistles." 
 
6 CAMBRIDGE BIBLE FOR SCHOOLS 6- COLLEGES. 
 
 Hebrews. Baptist Magazine. — •' Like his (Canon Farrar's) com- 
 mentary on Luke it possesses all the best characteristics of his writing. 
 It is a work not only of an accomplished scholar, but of a skilled 
 teacher." 
 
 James. Expositor. — **It is, so far as I know, by far the best 
 exposition of the Epistle of St James in the English language. Not 
 schoolboys or students going in for an examination alone, but ministers 
 and preachers of the Word, may get more real help from it than from 
 the most costly and elaborate commentaries." 
 
 Tlie Epistles of St John. Churchman. — " This forms an admirable 
 companion to the 'Commentary on the Gospel according to St John,' 
 which was reviewed in The Churchman as soon as it appeared. Dr 
 Plummer has some of the highest qualifications for such a task ; and 
 these two volumes, their size being considered, will bear comparison 
 with the best Commentaries of the time." 
 
 Revelation. Guardian. — "This volume contains evidence of much 
 careful labour. It is a scholarly production, as might be expected from 
 the pen of the late Mr W. H. SiMCOX. ...The notes throw light upon 
 many passages of this difficult book, and are extremely suggestive. It 
 is an advantage that they sometimes set before the student various 
 interpretations without exactly guiding him to a choice." 
 
 Wesleyan Methodist Sunday-School Record. — "We cannot speak 
 too highly of this excellent little volume. The introduction is of the 
 gi-eatest possible value to the student, and accurate scholarship is 
 combined with true loyalty to the inspired Word. There is much more 
 matter of practical utility compressed into this volume of pp. 174 than 
 is contained in many a portentous tome." 
 
 ^jbe Sbmaller (a^^ambriUge 23ibk for ^tbools. 
 
 Sunday-School Chronicle. — '■'■We can only repeat what we have 
 already said of this adtnirable series^ contaitiing, as it does, the scholar- 
 ship of the larger work. For scholars in our elder classes, and for those 
 preparing for Scripture examinations, no better commentaries can be put 
 into their hands. ""^ 
 
 Record. — ''■ Despite their small size, these volumes give the substance 
 of the admirable pieces of^voj'k on which they are founded. IVe can only 
 hope that in many schools the class-teaching will proceed on the lines these 
 cotnmentators suggest.^'' 
 
 Educational Review. — " The Smaller Cambridge Bible for Schools 
 is unique in its combination of small cotnpass with great scholarship.... 
 For use in lower forms, in Sunday-schools and in the family, we cannot 
 suggest better little manuals than these." 
 
 Literary World. — ''All that is necessary to be known and learned by 
 pupils in junior and elementary schools is to be found in this series. 
 Indeed, much more is provided than should be required by the examiners. 
 We do not knozu what more could be done to provide soisible, interesting, 
 and solid Scriptural instruction for boys and girls. The Syndics of the 
 
OPINIONS OF THE PRESS. 
 
 Camln-idge University Press are rendering great services both to teackei's 
 and to scholars by the publication of stick a valuable series of books, in 
 which slipshod work could not have a place. " 
 
 Christian Leader. — *'/^?r the student of the sacred oracles who utilizes 
 hours of travel or moments of waiting in the perusal of the Bible there 
 is nothing so handy, and, at the same time, so satisfying as these little 
 
 books Nor let anyone suppose that, because these are school-books, 
 
 therefore they are beneath the adult reader. They contain the very ripest 
 results of the best Biblical scholarship, and that in the very simplest 
 form" 
 
 Joshua. School Guardian. — "This little book is a model of what 
 editorial work, intended for the use of young students, should be ; and 
 we could scarcely praise it more highly than by saying that it is in 
 every way worthy of the volumes that have gone before it." 
 
 Schoolmistress. — "A most useful little manual for students or 
 teachers." 
 
 Judges. Educational Nezvs (Edinburgh). — "The book makes 
 available for teaching purposes the results of ripe scholarship, varied 
 knowledge, and religious insight." 
 
 Schoohnaster. — "The work shows first-rate workmanship, and may 
 be adopted without hesitation." 
 
 Samuel I. and II. Sattirday Review. — "Professor Kirkpatrick's 
 two tiny volumes on the First and Second Books of Samuel are quite 
 model school-books; the notes elucidate every possible difficulty with 
 scholarly brevity and clearness and a perfect knowledge of the subject." 
 
 Kings I. Wesley an Methodist Stmday- School Record. — "Equally 
 useful for teachers of young men's Bible classes and for earnest Bible 
 students themselves. This series supplies a great need. It contains 
 much valuable instruction in small compass." 
 
 St Mark. St Luke. Guardian. — "We have received the volumes 
 of St Mark and St Luke in this series.... The two volumes seem, on the 
 whole, well adapted for school use, are well and carefully printed, and 
 have maps and good, though necessarily brief, introductions. There is 
 little doubt that this series will be found as popular and useful as the 
 well-known larger series, of which they are abbreviated editions." 
 
 St Luke. Wesley an Methodist Stmday -School Record. — " We cannot 
 too highly commend this handy little book to all teachers." 
 
 St John. Methodist Times. — "A model of condensation, losing 
 nothing of its clearness and force from its condensation into a small 
 compass. Many who have long since completed their college curriculum 
 Mill find it an invaluable handbook." 
 
 Acts. Literary World. — "The notes are very brief, but exceedingly 
 comprehensive, comprising as much detail in the way of explanation as 
 would be needed by young students of the Scriptures preparing for 
 examination. We again give the opinion that this series furnishes as 
 much real help as would usually satisfy students for the Christian 
 ministry, or even ministers themselves." 
 
THE CAMBRIDGE GREEK TESTAMENT 
 
 FOR SCHOOLS AND COLLEGES 
 
 with a Revised Text, based on the most recent critical authorities, 
 
 and English Notes- 
 Expositor, — " Has achieved an excellence which puts it above criti- 
 cism.^'' 
 
 Expository Times. — *' We could not point out better handbooks for 
 the student of the Greeks 
 
 St Luke. Methodist Recorder. — "It gives us in clear and beautiful 
 language the best results of modern scholarship.... For young students 
 and those who are not disposed to buy or to study the much more costly 
 work of Godet, this seems to us to be the best book on the Greek Text 
 ofthe Third Gospel." 
 
 St John. Methodist Recorder. — "We take this opportunity of 
 recommending to ministers on probation, the very excellent volume of 
 the same series on this part of the New Testament. We hope that most 
 or all of our young ministers will prefer to study the volume in the 
 Cambridge Greek Testament for Schools.'" 
 
 II. Corinthians. Guardian. — *' The work is scholarlike, and main- 
 tains the high level attained by so many volumes of this series." 
 
 London Quarterly Review. — " Young students will not easily find a 
 more helpful introduction to the study of this Epistle than this.... There 
 is everything that a student of the Epistle needs in this little volume. 
 It deals clearly and thoroughly with every point, and is written in a 
 style that stimulates attention." 
 
 St James. AthencBum. — " This is altogether an admirable text- 
 book. The notes are exactly what is wanted. They shew scholarship, 
 wide reading, clear thinking. They are calculated in a high degree to 
 stimulate pupils to inquiry both into the language and the teaching of 
 the Epistle." 
 
 The Epistles of St John. Scotsman. — "In the very useful and well 
 annotated series of the Cambridge Greek Testament the volume on the 
 Epistles of St John must hold a high position.... The notes are brief, 
 well informed and intelligent." 
 
 Revelation. Journal of Education. — "Absolute candour, a feeling 
 for Church tradition, and the combination of a free and graceful style of 
 historical illustration with minute scholarship characterise this work. 
 We wish we had more work of the same kind in the present day, and 
 venture to think that a mastery of this unpretentious edition would 
 prove to many a means of permanently enlarging the scope of their 
 studies in sacred literature." 
 
 Gttardian. — "The volume is well worthy of its place in the ad- 
 mirable series to which it belongs." 
 
 CAMBRIDGE: PRINTED BY J. AND C. F. CLAY, AT THE UNIVERSITY PRESS. 
 
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